uring harvest season, the whirling sound of grain elevators in Harmon gets drowned out around 8:30 a.m. each Sunday with church bells in the key of A. It’s a sound that’s heralded the start of Mass at St. Flannen Catholic Church for 125 years. Around 25 parishioners attend Sunday Mass these days, which is a far cry from the many who attended when St. Flannen Parish was organized on Oct. 5, 1898, but the group is no less dedicated to their humble house of The Lord — a house that’s truly one of a kind. They are unique among other Catholics in that they are members in the only St. Flannen church in the nation, one that bears the name of a seventh-century Irish bishop. The membership, some from families who’ve been attending the church for generations, also observed a historical milestone this year: its quasquicentennial.
ST. FLANNEN cont’d to page 32 30 | A Shaw Media Publication | Small Town Living East | Winter 2023
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