‘Steeple Chasers’ cultivate faith and friendship enroute to holy, historical places

The following is a narrative collaboration:

Take a love of travel, love of history and historical Catholic churches, inquiring minds, a desire to grow in faith, and friendship — mix these together — and a group called “Steeple Chasers” is born.

It all began around the dinner table almost 10 years ago.

Diane Cole mentioned to Helen Franken and Peggy Huhmann that she and her sisters had recently traveled to see the cathedrals of Cedar County in Northern Nebraska.

Her adventures excited the other two, and before the evening was over, plans had been made for the three to make the trip to see these historical churches … and a yearly custom began.

Diane and Peggy, who are members of St. Andrew Parish in Tipton, and Helen, a member of the Mission of St. Philip Benizi in Versailles, enjoyed this first trip so much that they have completed what has become a pilgrimage of faith each year since.

Two additional members of the group — Barbara Falotico of Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish in Jefferson City and Natalie Shackelford of the Versailles mission, joined the group more recently.

Over the years, the exploration list has grown to include historical churches in Kansas, North and South Dakota, Iowa, south of Jefferson City, north of Jefferson City, all the Holy Doors of the diocese (plus some in Illinois), churches in the St. Louis area and south to Perryville.

The group has completed nine trips thus far, taking turns planning where to go and making the necessary contacts to ensure that the churches would be open upon their arrival.

“The contact people are always very cooperative and thrilled that we have chosen their church as one of our visit sites,” said Mrs. Franken.

 Two years ago, at the end of their trip, the group decided to create T-shirts, with a different color to wear for each day of the trip.

The ultimate destination for this year’s excursion was Fort Wayne, Indiana.

By the end of the six-day trip, the group had visited many more amazing Catholic churches and wonderful, awe-inspiring shrines and museums; learned about saints they had not heard of previously; and met some amazing, faith-filled people who were thrilled to talk about their church and its history.

The people you meet

The people they’ve met over the years have always been an unexpected gift on these trips.

“We all believe that these people are truly sent by God,” said Mrs. Franken.

Examples include:

• a retired priest who just “happened” to come early to say Mass while they were in the church, and wound up chatting for 30 minutes about his life in the parish before the group joined him for Mass;
• another priest who “happened” to choose to have breakfast the same time as the travelers, and wound up joining them and sharing his life story as a priest pilot in Alaska;
• another lady who came into a church as group members were praying and began to share the story of her parish church, which was soon to be closed — which wound up leaving the entire group in tears.

“The faith stories of the remarkable people the group has met could fill a book,” said Mrs. Franken.

Prayerful art

A few of the highlights of this year’s pilgrimage included the Shrine of Christ’s Passion in St. John, Indiana; the Bishop Fulton Sheen Museum in Peoria, Illinois; and a guided tour of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana; along with many other cathedrals and churches.

“Amazing works of art created in stained glass helped make an impressive worship atmosphere in these historical churches,” Mrs. Franken stated.

For instance, the windows in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois, combine a mixture of traditional Catholic saints with American history.

“Thus Washington, Lincoln and the American flag were incorporated into the beauty of the stained glass,” said Mrs. Franken. “This was the first time the members of the group had encountered this concept on their trips.”

An interesting aspect of every church is the unique way the Stations of the Cross are displayed.

Many of the churches the group visited this year have Stations rendered in mosaics.

Other churches on the itinerary have painted, framed representations of Christ’s passion and death.

A concept that no one had seen before included painted stations with soldiers on horses in the early stations and a background behind the main characters in each.

“This was particularly striking in the Twelfth Station, where the viewer could see Jerusalem depicted in the background behind Jesus hanging on the cross,” Mrs. Franken noted. “It was uniquely prayerful!”

Chance encounters

The Steeple Chasers group prayed in 24 churches and three shrines, visited four museums and two Catholic college campuses and learned prodigiously during the six days of the trip.

They also made a few other stops along the way, including a Mennonite shopping area and the largest covered wagon in the world.

Among the interesting, faith-filled people they crossed paths with were Father Tony Steinacker from St. Peter and Paul Parish in Huntington, Indiana.

“When he found out that the group was from the Jefferson City diocese, he shared that he had been a student under Bishop (W. Shawn) McKnight,” Mrs. Franken recalled.

Fr. Steinacker gave the group a book that the church had published for its 175th anniversary. In it, he wrote a message including the names of other priests in the area who had been students under Bishop McKnight — whom he held in high regard as an instructor.

A local parishioner was just getting into her car when the group arrived at St. Mary Catholic Church, also in Huntington.

“She joined the group immediately and shared interesting stories of her church, including that it had one of only two stained-glass windows in the world depicting the Apostle John giving Holy Communion to Our Blessed Mother,” Mrs. Franken recounted.

She stayed and visited with the group.

“Neither of these people were scheduled to meet the Steeple Chasers,” Mrs. Franken noted.

“As a matter of fact, we had switched the trip schedule the night before, and the original plan would have prevented the group from meeting either of them,” she said.

Other interesting people included Father Kevin Mann of Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, parochial vicar of St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Springfield, Illinois, who is a member of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius.

He shared quite a bit of information with the Steeple Chasers during an impromptu meeting outside the church, while Mass was being celebrated in Spanish inside.

In South Bend, the group met another priest who came to unlock St. Stanislaus Church for them.

The rite stuff

South Bend is also where the group met Carl and Jane Littrell, who gave them a personal tour of University of Notre Dame campus, including the beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Mr. Littrell grew up near Louisiana, Missouri, and his sister is a friend of Barbara Fallotico, the organizer of this year’s trip.

He had attended Notre Dame, and he and Jane had many stories to share during the tour.

“His normal day to give tours at Notre Dame was Monday,” Mrs. Franken noted, “but he and his wife were excited to share our Tuesday morning with us.”

One of the many interesting churches scheduled for this trip was a Byzantine Catholic Church named in honor of St. Athanasius the Great.

A lady from the bakery behind the church came to guide the group on a tour.

She spoke at length of some of the the differences between the Roman and the Byzantine rites — both of which are in communion with Rome.

After discussing the history of the church, the Byzantine liturgy, the icons and how the Sacraments are celebrated, she invited the ladies to visit the bakery.

The bakers volunteer there during the week, creating goodies to sell at a local market each Saturday, with the proceeds benefitting their tiny church.

Conversation-starters

Although this year’s trip covered 1,254 miles in six days, praying the Rosary together each day, discussing the holy sites they had visited, the people they had encountered and the information they had acquired along the way made the time seem to fly by.

The Steeple Chasers travel as inexpensively as possible, taking along snacks to share as lunch along the way each day.

They stay at motels that offer complimentary breakfast, making the evening meal the only one that the group eats out.

This year, Barbara Falotico’s daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Chad Vanatta, provided their home as a “bed and breakfast” for two nights.

Mrs. Franken said the group’s excursions are like a trip through time and eternity.

“As it says on the backs of our shirts, we are ‘Steeple Chasers … In-SPIRE-ed by the heritage of faith our ancestors built,” she stated.

One of the first things each member of the group does upon entering a historical church is kneel and pray.

“Those prayers often include a word of thanks to God for the faith of the people of all heritages who built those churches so long ago,” said Mrs. Franken.

In many ways, their shirts give a whole new definition to evangelization.

“Many conversations are opened when others read the shirts,” she said.

On this year’s trip, a woman they met wanted to know if the women were in a bowling league, because everyone had the same color.

“She thought our idea was neat after she read the shirt and had our explanation,” said Mrs. Franken.

Another lady approached them at their table at a restaurant one evening and asked about the Steeple Chasers, noting that she could not find anything about the group online.

“Many people have suggested a website or blog … even a possible book of our adventures,” Mrs. Franken noted.

A gentleman they met in another restaurant suggested several churches the group should put on their next trip agenda.

New frontiers

People often ask the group’s members to disclose which church they’ve visited is their favorite.

“There is no possible answer to that,” said Mrs. Franken. “Our ancestors created beautiful places in which to worship, and we consider ourselves fortunate to be able to visit and share that beauty, perhaps worshipping in some small way with the people who built these testaments to our faith.”

She said the Steeple Chasers never know where next year’s trip will take them, but one thing is always certain.

“As long as we can physically do so, this group of ladies will be chasing steeples somewhere!”