St. Mary's of the Assumption

St. Mary's of the Assumption in the community of Praha is the home of one of the famed painted churches my cousin and I visited on our wildflower and painted churches trip in April.  Unfortunately we were unable to view the inside because of a renovation which is currently taking place.

Praha was once a thriving little town settled by Czech immigrants in Central Texas.  Today it's population is 25, although many parishioners from surrounding areas call this their mother church.  The church renovations are scheduled to be complete by August 15th in time for the annual Feast of the Assumption homecoming festival when literally thousands come for the festivities which have been held on August 15 of every year since 1855.

Other than being the home to St. Mary's, Praha's only other distinction is being the town which suffered the largest ratio of war deaths during World War II than any other place in the U.S. when nine young men from Praha gave their lives between February 1944 and February 1945 fighting to defeat the Axis powers.  All good Czech boys, their names were Robert Bohuslav, Rudolph Barta, George Pavlicek, Jerry Vaculik, Joseph Lev, Eddie Sbrusch, Edward Marek, Adolph Rab, and Anton Kresta.  Three identical memorials have been built in their honor on the grounds of the church and they are remembered in services each Memorial Day.