Brian D'Ambrosio is a writer/editor living in Missoula, Montana. D'Ambrosio is the author of more than 300 articles and five books related to Montana history, people, and travel.
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Montana represents the untamed, the wild, and the natural. Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks are only beginning points. Between them, many unnamed mountains, in expanses you’ve likely never heard of. In addition to the exploration of legendary mountains, and all the places in between, Montana’s vastness is dotted with historic missions and religious sites.
From St Xavier’s in Missoula to the Bitterroot’s splendid St. Mary’s – referred to as the birthplace of Montana – the Treasure State’s sacred architecture is uniquely beautiful.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Missoula
The stained-glass windows at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church unassumingly brighten the brick building’s striking, 119-year-old core. On sun-packed days, the windows produce golden sparkles inside the downtown Pine Street church. Ordinary glass windows were in place when Mass was first held in the A.J. Gibson designed church back on October 9, 1892. The clear panes were substituted for stained-glass decades ago (pre-1910), in an attempt to guard from sunlight the church’s magnificent frescos, painted by Brother Joseph Carignano, an untrained artist who worked as a cook at a nearby mission.
St. Ignatius Mission, St. Ignatius
Carignano’s paintings may also be viewed inside St. Ignatius Mission, a landmark Roman Catholic mission founded at its present in 1854 by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and Father Adrian Hoecken. That mission was built between 1891 and 1893, a simplified, vernacular example of Gothic revival architecture constructed of bricks made from native clay. While the backdrop is splendid, the most exceptional features of the interior are the 58 murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano. Regarded today as an accomplished artist, his art still summons for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Helena Cathedral
Columbia Construction Company of New York began construction of the Cathedral in 1908, with the cornerstone laid on October 4th that year. On November 8, 1914 the Catholic community of Helena gathered to celebrate the Eucharist for the first time in the new church. The first funeral held in the Cathedral was that of Mr. Thomas Cruse, loyal friend and Cathedral benefactor on December 26, 1914. The Cathedral was not completed for another 10 years. In June of 1924 the Cathedral was consecrated and set aside for the exclusive worship of God.
St. Mary’s Mission, Stevensville
St. Mary’s Mission chapel preserves the ingenious artistry of Jesuit priest Antonio Ravalli. Completed in 1879, the Stevensville, Mont., chapel stands amid a complex of restored buildings representing the state’s oldest permanently settled community, founded in the Bitterroot Valley in 1841 to bring Christianity to the region’s Native American people.
Mother Bottego House, Butte
Mother Bottego (1895-1980) was born Celestine Healy Bottego to an Italian father and Irish mother. She lived in Butte at 505 South Montana Street from 1896 to 1910 in the Travona District of town. At age 15, Celestine moved with her family to Parma, Italy, where she later founded the Xaverian Missionary Society of Mary. Although Mother Bottego never returned to Butte, she carried a picture of St. Patrick’s Church with her until she died in 1980, and attributed her religious impulse to her formative years in town.
~Brian D’Ambrosio lives in Missoula, Montana.