Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Fayette County. Now, every good story starts somewhere, and this one starts in 1854, out on the Texas frontier, in a place called Hottentot. That name alone ought to tell you something about what the land was like.

Into that frontier came Matej Novak, also known as Matthias, born in 1818, along with his four children and his brother Anton. They settled along Mulberry Creek, and they were not alone for long. Czech Catholic families began moving into the area, drawn to Fayette County, and a community started taking shape.

By 1864, those families had spiritual needs, and Father Victor Gury was making the trip periodically from Frelsburg to tend to them. Father Joseph J. Martiniere followed.

These were not men with a church to preach in, mind you. After the Civil War, the parishioners built themselves a small stone chapel, sometimes described as a hut, and a little cabin nearby for visiting priests to stay in, sitting one half mile east of where the current church stands today. Then came Christmas Eve, 1865.

Father Joseph Bittkowski delivered the first mass at midnight, right there in that humble stone chapel, and he became the parish's first resident priest. A midnight mass on Christmas Eve in a building some folks called a hut. That is a beginning worth remembering.

With Czech Catholic families continuing to arrive in Fayette County, that little chapel earned a distinction: it became the first predominantly Czech Catholic church in Texas. But distinction and square footage are two different things, and the congregation kept growing until the chapel simply could not hold them. So in 1866 and 1867, a new wood structure was built, closer to the town center, which by then had been renamed Praha.

Thirty years passed. The wood structure served its purpose. Then, in 1895, the parishioners erected something that was meant to last.

The current structure, built from hand cut, locally quarried stone, with much of the labor donated by the parishioners themselves. People giving their own hands to raise their own church. And then there are the ceilings.

Vaulted wooden ceilings painted with frescoes, created by a Swiss artist named Gottfried Flury, described as reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Masterfully created, the marker says, and standing inside that building in Praha, Texas, it is not hard to believe it. The year 1896 brought another milestone: the parish's first Catholic school opened in a two story building.

It was administered by the Sisters of the Divine Providence, and later by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. That same year, 1896, was also the year Matej Novak, the man who had come to Hottentot with his brother and four children back in 1854, passed from this world. He had lived to see what that settlement along Mulberry Creek became.

The parish and its church have stood for more than a hundred and fifty years, the marker tells us, not only as a source of hope, strength, and faith for the local community, but as a physical symbol of the pride Czech immigrants and their descendants carry for their religion, their culture, and their heritage. From a frontier place called Hottentot, to a church with ceilings that call Rome to mind. That is quite a journey for one congregation in Fayette County.

What the marker says

In 1854, Matej (Matthias) Novak (1818-1896), his four children and brother Anton Novak moved to the area and settled along Mulberry Creek in what was then a frontier area known as Hottentot. Other Czech Catholic families began to move to the area and, by 1864, Father Victor Gury from Frelsburg came through periodically to attend to their spiritual needs followed by Father Joseph J. Martiniere. After the Civil War, the parishioners built a small stone chapel, sometimes called a hut and another small cabin for visiting priests one-half mile east of the current site. Father Joseph Bittkowski delivered the first mass at midnight on Christmas Eve 1865 and became the new parish's first resident priest. With the high influx of Czech Catholic families, attracted to the Fayette County area, the little chapel became the first predominately Czech Catholic church in Texas and soon could not accommodate the growing congregation. In 1866-67, a new wood structure was built closer to the town center, now renamed Praha. Thirty years later, in 1895, the current structure with hand cut, locally quarried stone was erected with much of the labor donated by parishioners. Painted frescoes on the vaulted wooden ceilings reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican were masterfully created by Swiss artist Gottfried Flury. The parish's first Catholic school opened in 1896 in a two-story building administered by the Sisters of the Divine Providence and then the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. The parish and its church have stood for more than 150 years not only as a source of hope, strength and faith for the local community, but also as an outward physical symbol of the pride Czech immigrants and their descendants have for their religion, culture and heritage. (2016)