When Greene County was being settled in the late 1700s there were about 70 Catholic families scattered in around the Ten Mile Muddy Creek area. It fell to traveling missionaries on their way to Pittsburgh to celebrate the occasional mass and offer sacraments in private homes. It wasn’t until 1839, when St. Ann’s was built in Waynesburg.
It would take the faith and labor of the next wave of Catholic immigrants, both Byzantine and Roman, from Eastern Europe to build more churches, each in their own time. None of the mining communities that sprang up around Carmichaels in the early days of the 20th century had parish churches. They had to rely on two dedicated travelling priests from All Saints Church, Masontown and Our lady of Perpetual Help, Leckrone to go house to house for baptisms and death rites and hold irregular masses as the opportunity arose. The first mass celebrated at the new Our Lady of Consolation Church in Nemacolin on Christmas Day 1928 invited in all the faithful that lived nearby. When Robena Mine opened and new workers began arriving, Father Simko, pastor at Nemacolin, opened a parish mission in Carmichaels. Within a year it became St. Hugh, named after Bishop Hugh C. Boyle of the Pittsburgh Diocese. A 1965 newspaper clipping celebrating the church’s 10th anniversary notes that the historically serendipitous naming “in no way connected to early colonist Felix Hughes.” Services at St. Hugh were held in the vacant Lund Theater for the two plus years it took for the faithful to come together and build their church.
Mrs. Teresa Caravagio deeded a property on St. Route 88 in 1952 and the parish purchased property next door for a rectory. Ground was broken on “a sunny day in May” 1954 and the first mass was held February 19, 1955.
In the 1950s, bituminous coal was king, mining was becoming safer and the parish churches were the heart of every coal town. But as room and pillar coal reserves played out and those first mines began closing, the industry switched to long wall mining the deeper reserves in the western side of the county. Those living in the old mining towns around Carmichaels began leaving to find work. But the churches were the ties that kept them coming back for yearly festivals, weddings and funerals and gave those who still lived here a connection to a past that was changing with the times.
Once there were five parishes in the county, now there is one – St. Matthias – which includes St. Ann, St. Hugh, St. Ignatius in Bobtown and St. Marcellus in Jefferson. The new parish formed before the churches in Nemacolin, Crucible, Rices Landing and Clarksville closed their doors in 2019 and parishioners went forth to find a new spiritual home. Father Albin McGinnis, Father Francis Frazer and Father James Farnan are the pastors, and churchgoers had a hand in choosing the apostle Matthias as their parish saint. In the New Testament, Matthias was chosen by Lot to replace Judas and proved his worth at spreading the Good Word in trying times. His name, as a number of voters pointed out, also includes letters from names of all the parish churches.
From the outside, St. Hugh is beautiful colonial style house of worship surrounded by manicured walkways that are both evocative and serene. Inside is full of light and, according to the parishioner I spoke to who chooses to remain anonymous, cautiously filling with people grateful to be back to worship after a year of COVID-19 lockdown.
There were a few bumps in the road as people adjusted to new ways after leaving their old churches, but in a way COVID-19 was a bit of a blessing, she tells me. It made people aware of the importance of being together to share the joys of living. Mass is still broadcast in the parking lot on FM 87.9 when there’s overflow attendance and with spring weather here, there’s fun to be had outdoors.
Last year there was no celebration of the Feast of St. Matthias; this year there was a parking lot cookout after mass on May 14 with food served on the back porch and lawn chairs everywhere. Sounds like a blessed summer is right around the corner.
All the churches of the parish along with upcoming events and services can be found online at stmatthiasgreene.org