Morning sunlight spills across the brick paths of St. Anthony’s prayer garden, each stone inscribed with a story: a wedding celebrated, a beloved grandparent remembered, a child lost too soon. Together they tell of a resilient people—families who, for 175 years, have leaned on one another and built something lasting beneath the patronage of St. Anthony of Padua. One brick leans upon another, and all are strengthened by the Cornerstone, Christ himself.
The story began humbly in 1851, when a small 25-by-50-foot church rose at the corner of Meigs and Maple in Jeffersonville. The cornerstone was laid that August by Bishop John Martin Spalding of Louisville, and the first Mass was offered that October by Franciscan friar Otto Jair of St. Boniface, Louisville. From those simple beginnings, the parish has endured wars, floods, fires, and relocation—but never lost its Franciscan heart.
In 1867, following the Civil War, the Conventual Franciscan Friars officially arrived to care for St. Anthony Parish. Friar Bonaventure Keller was the first of our brothers to shepherd the people here, beginning an unbroken line of Conventual Franciscan pastors that continues to this day. For more than a century and a half, our friars have walked with this community through every challenge and change, guiding generations in faith and service.
Floods tested that faith early and often—the deluge of 1883, the devastation of 1937 that crested sixteen feet inside the old church, and the river’s repeated attempts to reclaim the land. Each time, parishioners rebuilt. In 1949, after another great rebuilding effort led by friar Mathias Schnieders, the community moved from downtown Jeffersonville to open fields in Clarksville, Indiana, where the parish campus continues to grow today.
That spirit of endurance has marked every era. The flames of 1970, sparked by lightning, destroyed the Clarksville church but not the people’s determination. Under friar Gerard Herman’s leadership, parishioners met in borrowed spaces until a new church rose from the ashes in 1972—a symbol of rebirth echoing St. Francis’s call to “go and rebuild my church.”
Today St. Anthony’s stands on seven acres filled with life and memory: a preschool and K-8 school, a vibrant parish community, and ministries that touch hearts across southern Indiana. I am humbled to serve as the 43rd pastor in a line of friars who have celebrated the sacraments here—from the joy of baptism and graduation to the sorrow of funerals and the quiet grace of hospital visits. Through every season, the people of St. Anthony’s embody the Franciscan charism of joy in all circumstances.
Our joy is the mortar that binds us, our unity the strength that holds each brick in place. We are still a people who rebuild after every storm—spiritual and literal. Like the generations before us, we continue to trust in the promise that faith, community, and gratitude can weather anything. Stronger than a lighthouse against a raging, storm-tossed sea, we are St. Anthony strong.
