I was trying to find some info out about the history and found a link at www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/8466.htm with some information including the following...

St. Joseph's was constructed in 1884 by Bohemian settlers in Cleveland Township, Leelanau County and is significant as the only church associated with a Bohemian community known as the Bohemian Settlement. Additionally, it is one of only a few surviving Catholic mission churches associated with Father Ignatius Mrak, an early Catholic missionary. Finally, the church was and still is the only church building in the relatively unpopulated, rural township. St. Joseph served its Bohemian Catholic congregation until 1970 when the parish was merged with a neighboring one and regular services in this building discontinued.

Here's a few photos that, for the most part, turned out...

Mass on May 7th at 7:00 PM

St. Joseph's Catholic Church

Still looking good!

The Beautiful Altar

A closer look at the Altar

Mass with Bishop Hebda and Father Libby

View from the Balcony

After Mass

Historical Marker

Thanks for viewing! As a bonus picture one of the men who helps take care of St. Joseph's took the picture below after Mass of Bishop Hebda, Father Libby, and the altar servers (my son is in the front on the left). A special thank you to him for taking this picture!

Bishop Hebda, Father Libby, and the Altar Servers after Mass

Here's some info about the Traverse City event...

The 9:30 am talk on Friday (at Traverse City St. Francis Church) will be followed by an 11:00 am Mass with Bishop Hebda. Students from St. Francis, Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s, and Gaylord St. Mary’s will be there. It is going to be a wonderful morning! This event is open to anyone and we are trying to invite families and students that may benefit from this "event." All of our 8th – 12th grade students are attending and, I believe 7th grade students have the option to attend. Leah Darrow best fits this type of age group.

Please also invite any friends or family that may find this day interesting – whether it's listening to Leah Darrow, Bishop Hebda, or both of them! Please come and enjoy next Friday.

You can download or print the flyer here

Here's the beginning of the story...

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Duncan G. Stroik is one of the foremost church architects in the English-speaking world, the acknowledged leader of a growing movement to return classical ideas of beauty and harmony to sacred architecture.

His recent commissions have included the 2008 Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI, the 2009 Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA and the renovation of St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD. A professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame, he authored the book Reconquering Sacred Space and is editor of the professional journal Sacred Architecture.

But his latest project is a tiny chapel for a small community of cloistered Carmelite nuns who live, work and pray at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus of Prague, in the northern Michigan resort town of Traverse City. Although the chapel is also open to visitors for daily Masses and prayer — and has a loyal following among local residents — it is central to the life of the monastic community.

"The beautification of the monastery chapel is exactly the type of project that we love to do," said Stroik. "The sisters have a great love of beauty, of the liturgy and of tradition, and want to do something worthy of Christ. I love that the project is in Traverse City because it gives me a great excuse to travel up there. The fascinating part of the project is the sisters’ desire that the sanctuary be designed to be beautiful and inspiring from the nave as well as from their cloister chapel."

Read HERE'S THE FULL SCOOP ON THE MONASTERY RENOVATIONS at Latin Mass Community of Kankakee

The first is Fiat Voluntas Dei written by seminarians of the Diocese of Gaylord. Recent posts have shared photos from their trip to Rome with Bishop Hebda, the famous "Spaghetti Bowl", thanksgiving, and the loss of Monsignor William Lyons.

The second is a blog and soon-to-be publication Vox Christi. Vox Christi is a new quarterly publication of the seminarians of Kenrick – Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Their website says...

Vox Christi seeks to share with the world the spiritual, the academic and the artistic fruits of our community to people of all ages and academic abilities in a manner that assists in building up the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Please keep all seminarians in your prayers as they are challenged everyday on the path to priesthood!

Diocese of Gaylord
Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Diocese-of-Gaylord/143730602354268
Twitter: twitter.com/DioceseGaylord
Web: www.dioceseofgaylord.org

Don't forget you can also follow my parish as well.

Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Cedar, Michigan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Rosary-Catholic-Church/127037747306908
Twitter: twitter.com/HolyRosaryCedar
Web: www.holyrosarycedar.org

And of course some self-promotion...

Good Saints on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Saints/187759991237503
Good Saints on Twitter: twitter.com/goodsaints
Web Design & Development: www.ignatiusweb.com

Come visit our Gothic style Church, established as the first Catholic Parish in Alpena by Bishop Frederick Baraga. The current Church structure constructed in 1884 is newly renovated and provides a warm, welcoming atmosphere to worship. We invite you to join us.

People were praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament during my visit. That was great to see. I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I was only able to take a couple of pictures.

St. Bernard Catholic Parish in Alpena, Michigan

Registered Historic Site in Michigan

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

The Sanctuary

St. Patrick

Love the steps!

Thanks for viewing my photos. I hope to add more parishes from the Diocese of Gaylord as time and travel permits. I have some great old parishes to visit right in Leelanau County which will probably be next.

A couple of weeks ago we went on a quick two-night trip to the other side of the state for our spring break (one of the perks of homeschooling!). We enjoyed lots of pool time at the Holiday Inn Holidome. The kids loved that our room opened right to the pool area. We had the hotel to ourselves the entire time.

We also visited the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which was alot of fun. The kids loved walking on the life-size replica of a 19th-century schooner "Western Hope of Alpena".

I wanted to stop by and see a couple of the parishes and St. Anne was first on our list. I became Catholic as an adult and so I am fascinated by the history and tradition of the Catholic Church and especially love visiting and admiring the beauty of older parishes. I didn't take many pictures and it was dark so I only ended up with a couple of pictures. Click on the photos for larger versions!

The kids loved the Angels

We were greeted by Our Lady

Beautiful Window

12th Station of the Cross, Jesus Dies on the Cross

My attempt at a picture of the Choir Loft and Organ

St. Anne Catholic Parish

St. Anne Catholic Parish (no kids in front)

I wasn't able to get a good picture of the sanctuary and the altar, but maybe I'll make it there again sometime. I'll try to add other parishes in our Diocese as time and travel permits.

The following is taken from the Diocese of Gaylord Website.

Bishop Hebda's 2011 Easter Message

I have had the undeserved privilege of celebrating Easter in some of the most famous and important sites in Christendom (St. Peter’s in Rome, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, St. Basil’s in Red Square, St. Patrick’s in New York City, to mention but a few) and in some of the most picturesque spots in the world (in a Baroque Abbey nestled in the Swiss Alps and in a medieval monastery blocked from the world by a parade of cedars, right out of Under the Tuscan Sun).

Yet none of those Easters can compare with the Easter of 2005, spent with my family keeping vigil in a cramped hospital room in Pittsburgh. My Mom was battling for her life, having suffered a severe stroke which prompted a craniotomy on Holy Thursday as the rest of us gathered in the hospital chapel to commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper and, of course, to pray for a successful surgery.

That Good Friday we experienced the reading of the Passion differently, having spent the day in an intensive care unit in which death lingered around every corner. Holy Saturday crept in and we devoured with renewed interest the readings of the Easter Vigil, which promised new and everlasting life to all who choose to follow Christ, and on Easter morning, three generations of Hebdas gathered for Mass around a makeshift altar in that hospital room, joining in song with the Church throughout the world and throughout the ages: Christ is risen! He is truly risen! It was a message that sustained us and gave us hope. Six years later, my Mom has no recollection of that Easter morning but it will always be the one that I remember most.

While two thousand years have passed since that Sunday morning when the faithful women went to take spices to Jesus’ tomb and found that he had risen, the world continues to thirst for Easter hope. In spite of spring snowstorms and economic doldrums , health concerns and budget cuts, that empty tomb in Jerusalem continues to proclaim to the world that nothing—absolutely nothing--is stronger than God's love.

The message is found credible, however, only to the extent that it is seen to have changed the lives of those of us who claim to believe. A life transformed by joy, radiating forgiveness and unwavering compassion, speaks to the essence of Easter much more eloquently than even the most beautiful bonnet or the most intricately decorated egg.

In this year in which the Diocese of Gaylord marks its 40th anniversary, please join me in praying that we might use well the 50 days of the Easter Season to renew our commitment to "know Christ and the power of His Resurrection." Through lives that strive to imitate Jesus’ love and his humble and joy-filled service, may we become credible beacons of hope as we proclaim throughout this portion of the Lord’s vineyard: "Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!"

Bishop Bernard Hebda of Gaylord, Michigan has decided to delay sending funds to CCHD from the 2010 collection while the organization is under review, LifeSiteNews has learned.

Candace Neff, communications director for the Gaylord diocese, emphasized that the bishop has not “discontinued” the collection for CCHD. “A tremendous amount of very important work is accomplished through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development,” she said

“After consulting with a number of advisors Bishop Hebda has decided that for this year (2010), while CCHD’s systems are under review, a donation will not automatically be sent to CCHD from funds donated through the Diocese of Gaylord’s Catholic Services Appeal Campaign,” she said.

Another step in the right direction for our diocese and Catholics everywhere!

Read Michigan Bishop Withholds CCHD Funds at LifeSiteNews.com

Also from the Diocese website:

On the eve of the ordination, Bishop Bernard A. Hebda will preside at Vespers for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The service, offered in thanksgiving to Almighty God for the generous response of Deacons Sylvestre and Gerald to the call to serve as a Priest of Jesus Christ in the Diocese of Gaylord and to pray for an increase in vocations, will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 11 at St. Mary Cathedral.

Read more about our two newest priests here.

I hope I can make it!