Mass Excursions

Prince of Peace pastor in historic Madison invites visitors ‘anytime’

By Natalie Hoefer

Prince of Peace Parish in Madison might be just shy of 30 years old, but its roots reach back to the 1830s.

Four parishes founded between 1837-1861 were joined in 1993 to form Prince of Peace: St. Michael the Archangel,

St. Mary and St. Patrick, all in Madison, and St. Anthony in nearby China. In 2013, St. Mary Magdalene Parish in New Marion was merged into Prince of Peace as well.

The former St. Mary Church is now Prince of Peace Church, and the former St. Patrick Church serves as a chapel for the parish.

“We’ve got 1,072 families in the parish,” says Father Christopher Craig, the parish’s pastor. “It’s a very close-knit parish. We’ve got families who’ve remained in Madison for three to four generations still involved in the parish.”

He notes that young people of the parish might leave Madison for college or work elsewhere, but they “come back when they start having kids. We’ve got a lot of younger families. It’s amazing how many infants we’re baptizing now—a lot of COVID babies,” he adds with a chuckle.

Like many other archdiocesan faith communities, Prince of Peace’s largest ministry is in education: Pope John XXIII Elementary School and Father Michael Shawe Memorial Jr./Sr. High School.

“A lot of alumni work for the parish and school,” says Father Craig. He notes that he, the Prince of Peace Schools president and the high school principal “are all 12-year alumni.”

Both parishioners and students work to support the faith community’s St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, which operates twice a week. The elementary students hold a canned food drive for the pantry in the fall, and the high school students hold one during Lent, says Tim Hoffman, president of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul conference.

“Last spring, the high school [students] gathered 4,000 cans—I had to get a school bus to take it all!” he says.

As for the church’s most notable features, Father Craig struggles to narrow it down.

“The whole church is just beautiful,” he says of the 1850s structure. “We just completed an interior and exterior renovation of the church. Our stained-glass windows were completely cleaned and repaired. The Stations [of the Cross] are full-body stations. We just had new statues made in Italy. It’s just a beautiful church.”

Another new addition to the parish is a Divine Mercy grotto, located behind St. Patrick Chapel. Built with stone from a local creek and featuring an Italian-made Divine Mercy statue, the grotto was completed in 2016. (Go to cutt.ly/DMGrotto for an article in The Criterion about the grotto.)

“There’s always something going on in Madison,” says Father Craig. The parish and school hold an annual festival on the second weekend in September. And Madison has several large annual events, including a regatta on the Ohio River, a Chautauqua arts festival and several music festivals.

“Madison has really become a tourist destination,” he says. “Visitors are welcome anytime.”

For Mass times, go to www.popeace.org or call the parish at 812-265-4166.

Fast boats, historic homes and a 2-for-1 deal

Madison is teeming with sites to see and things to do. The Madison Regatta takes place around the Fourth of July weekend, the Chautauqua Festival of Arts occurs around the end of September and several music festivals take place during the summer. Additional events can be found at visitmadisonindiana.com.

According to that site, the city contains one of the country’s largest National Historic Landmark Districts, including the Lanier Mansion overlooking the Ohio River. Go to visitmadison.org for a list of historic sites and museums.

Among the historic sites available for touring is the former St. Michael the Archangel Church, completed in 1839. Tours must be arranged at least two weeks in advance. For more information or to schedule a tour, go to www.historicmadisoninc.com or call 812-265-2697 on weekdays.

The Christmas Candlelight Tour of Homes offers one way to see some of Madison’s historic homes up close. The 2022 tours will take place from 5-9 p.m. on Fridays and 3-9 p.m. on Saturdays on Nov. 25-26 and Dec. 2-3. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to cutt.ly/MadisonChristmas.

While in Madison, be sure to visit or even stay at Clifty Falls State Park. The park offers many trails, and its inn provides beautiful views of the Ohio River. Clifty Falls Inn (and most state park inns) offers a winter special: from Nov. 27-Mar. 2 (except on Dec. 25, 2022-Jan. 5, 2023), stay two consecutive nights Sunday-Thursday for the price of one night. For more information or to make a reservation, go to cutt.ly/2for1Night.
 

(Mass Excursions is a feature highlighting an archdiocesan parish and local attractions, encouraging a trip to the area that includes Mass with the members of that parish.) †