Sitting on top of the bluff in rural Randolph County, St. Leo’s Church overlooks the Mississippi River Bottoms. 

The original church was built in 1893.  It was rebuilt in 1925 after a fire destroyed the church on Christmas Day in 1924.  For more than 100 years, St. Leo’s Church was home to the Catholic faithful near Modoc.  

That was until the Diocese of Belleville closed down several rural churches through the guise of the Pastoral Plan for Parish Renewal and Restructuring in 2013-2014. St. Leo’s was one of the parishes closed.  The last Mass was held there in February 2014.  While the parish was officially suppressed at the time, the church was never formally closed according to Canon Law.

At the time, a group of concerned parishioners had worked out an agreement with nearby St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Prairie du Rocher, which the parish of St. Leo’s was being merged with, and the Diocese of Belleville to provide funding necessary for the upkeep of St. Leo’s. 

The plan was to allow St. Leo’s to remain available for use for special occasions such as weddings, funerals, and baptisms.  This group called themselves the Friends of St. Leo’s, which eventually evolved into the Friends of St. Leo’s NFP.  

In 2015, FOSL learned Bishop Edward Braxton did not intend to honor this agreement and would not allow for any activities to take place at the church.  FOSL remained dedicated to efforts to raise funds to cover the expenses necessary to take care of the church and personally handled most of the repairs and upkeep required.  

The St. Leo’s quilters have steadily worked on handmade quilts that are featured in the monthly quilt raffle that serves as the group’s main source of funding.  

At the same time, FOSL pursued all avenues possible to have the church reopened for the special occasions that had originally been promised could take place.  This included an appeal to the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican, the highest court within the Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, this appeal did not end with a favorable decision.  

Having exhausted all means to have St. Leo’s remain a Catholic church, the Friends of St. Leo’s turned efforts toward finding a way to preserve the history of this country church.  They made an offer to purchase the church from St. Joseph’s with the purpose of preserving the church as a historical and religious site.  

That offer was accepted. On Oct. 3, after more than 10 years of hard work and dedication, St. Leo’s Church was officially turned over to the Friends of St. Leo’s.

The church will be preserved for generations to come. Most importantly, the doors will once again be opened for religious services. FOSL intends to hold events allowing the public to once again enter the church. It will be available for use for weddings, funerals, baptisms, and other religious-minded events.  

The first of these offerings will be a non-denominational Community Thanksgiving Service set for 7 p.m. Nov. 24.  Everyone is invited to come out for a time of prayer, singing, and thanksgiving.  

After that, St. Leo’s will be participating in the newly formed Randolph County Hometown Churches Celebrating Christ’s Birth Christmas Tour. On Dec. 11-12 from 2–8 p.m., the church will be open for people to stop by and see it in all of its Christmas splendor.

The Friends of St. Leo’s could not have done any of this without a tremendous amount of support and thanks all those who helped start the efforts. 

If interested in helping to preserve St. Leo’s Church, there are several options. There is a work day this Sunday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. to do clean-up and maintenance.

If interested in buying a quilt raffle ticket or making a donation, contact Ron Melliere at 618-284-3491.  If interested in renting the church for a wedding or other event, contact Sarah Pollard at 618-521-3331.