Panna Maria (Polish for Virgin Mary) is a tiny community just five miles down the road from Cestohowa and is the oldest Upper Silesian settlement in the United States. It was settled on Christmas Eve, 1854, and its original citizens were from Silesia, which at that time was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Many of its residents still speak a dialect of the Silesian language which has come to be known as Texas Silesian. Its signature church is the Immaculate Conception.
The church is considered to be one of the painted churches of Texas, although it is much simpler than the other examples of Czech painted churches primarily located in Fayette County. I had not intended to post any pictures of the interior because for some reason most of the photos I took have these horizontal lines. But I decided to show you one and I hope that someone can tell me why this happened. All the photos on this trip were taken with the same camera, one that I use frequently when traveling because it is lightweight and has a good zoom. The only photos with this anomaly were of the Panna Maria church. Any ideas, folks?
A statue of Pope John Paul II stands near the main road on the side of the church. As you probably remember, John Paul was a native of Poland and he is revered by the Polish Catholics. The inscription on the sculpture reads as follows:
In Poland, Panna Maria, Texas is very famous. Everyone knows of Panna Maria and those first Polish immigrants who responded to the call of their pastor and spiritual leader, Father Leopold Moczygemba. All of our great American Polonia credits its origin to you, Panna Maria, as the first nest built on American soil by Polish immigrants inspiring others to follow in your footsteps. Pope John Paul II to Polish Texans and Parishioners of Panna Maria, September 13, 1987.
Even though Panna Maria is considered a ghost town it has a post office ...
... and a visitors center. Its current population is 10.
9 comments:
Your photo of the church is perfect! It is a lovely structure and the clouds behind it in the blue sky sets it off beautifully. I cannot imagine living in a "town" of 10 citizens.
It's such a great education to read your blog as I have always assumed that Texas was settled by the Spanish and people from the British Isles. Now I know Eastern Europeans settled Texas too!
An interesting collection of pictures. The sculpture looks very life-like. Did not know that TX and Poland were so connected.
I have no idea what could cause those white lines in the photo. I've never seen anything like it before. Before reading your text, I just assumed they were some kind of support beams inside the church. How odd. However, your first photo is a stunner! You couldn't have asked for a better sky to frame that beautiful little church.
I always thought that is such a pretty little church. Of course I don't know about cameras and the art of using them but that sure is interesting with those lines popping up. Hope some one can tell you what happened.
my first love is the grocery store... that is the kind of buildings i love to see. those stripes i have never seen in a photo. i wonder if there were wires up there that you could not see but the camera light did, like if you used a flash. very odd. and they don't look like any ghost i have ever seen.. Ha ha on that .
Beautiful interiors. Loving these shots of these buildings.
The church is impressive and that sky knocks it up a few more notches!
That is a beautiful church and the sky above with those fluffy clouds is just awesome! This was so interesting to read and learning about the Polish settling in Texas. About the lines, my first thought when I saw them that they must be some kind of support for the church?
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