The historic Church of Mary Immaculate near Williamsburg will be the site for the special First Saturday devotions and daily Mass beginning May 14.
The church, built in 1901, is the third Catholic Church building in history to serve the Irish and German Catholics who settled the area and is the oldest Catholic Church building in Greenbrier County. With the neighboring cemetery, the grounds and building are maintained by area residents and neighbors whose families grew up as members of the church.
The devotions begin at 10:30 a.m. with the daily Mass at 11 a.m. A covered dish luncheon will be held on the grounds following the service, hosted by members of the Alleghany Highlands Council 8689 Knights of Columbus, St. Charles Borromeo parish in White Sulphur Springs, St. Catherine of Siena parish in Ronceverte, and its mission, St. Louis, King of France, in Lewisburg.
The public is invited to attend the services which are held May through October.
Father Chapin Engler Jr., pastor of St. Charles Borromeo and St. Catherine of Siena, and Father James Conyers, pastoral assistant for the two parishes and chaplain of the Alleghany Highlands Council 8689 Knights of Columbus, will alternate officiating at the devotions and Mass.
The Church is located on Catholic Church Road which is off the Williamsburg-Frankford Road, approximately 4 ½ miles west of US 219 in Frankford.
In its 115 years, the Church has been a part of the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena in Ronceverte; Sacred Heart in Rainelle; and the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley in the years after World War II when there was a shortage of Catholic priests and the priest stationed at White Sulphur Springs served nine Catholic churches and missions in Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pocahontas, and Summers counties.
For further information, telephone the office of the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley 304-536-1813 or the Knights of Columbus at 304-645-1373.
