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Religious Life
Luxembourg
had always been a Roman-Catholic country, it was not touched by the
religious turmoil of the Reformation in the 16th century. The many
emigrants who left their country for the United States had a simple but
solid and authentic faith. Confronted to the hardships of a new
existence, it was in their faith where they found force and hope.
Catholic
faith was, apart from the language, an aspect of national identity in
their communities, a vector of unification in a vast land with such a
multitude of ethnic groups and denominations.
At
first pastoral care was administered only sporadically by missionaries
visiting the pionneer settlements, like in Seneca Co, Ohio: "Off and
on, they received a visit from a priest, usually Father Tschenhens of
Peru, Ohio. Mass was said in a log cabin and confessions were heard in
the loft". But as soon as the the first necessities of settling had
been taken care of, the Luxembourg communities started with the
construction of a church. A building, which at first was just a frame
church, but which was soon replaced by a brick or stone building.
Nicholas GONNER in 1889 (Die Luxemburger in der Neuen Welt, published
in Dubuque, IA) stresses the contributions for school and church
building in Luxembourg settlements and points out that the equipment
and interior furniture, even in rural areas, is of excellent quality.
He specifically mentions the churches in Luxembourg, Dubuque, Co, IA,
St. Peter, Alvada, Seneca Co, OH, Port Washington, Holy Cross both in
Ozaukee Co and Luxembourg, Kewaunee Co, WI.
Even
today, when Luxembourg rural communities are no longer such
closely-knit and isolated entities, many activities of social life are
linked with church activities or tend to gravitate around. For
instance, in Belgium, WI, at the yearly Luxembourg Fest in August, the
mass celebrated in the City park is a highlight of the festivities,
with lectures and songs part in English part in Luxembourgish. The
mass, which attracts an assistance by far larger that the community
itself, sees the active participation of representatives of the first
pioneer families.
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