Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church

      440 St. Martins Road, Flaherty, KY 40175

        270.828.2552
     E-mail:  martinfl@bbtel.com

The idea for the new altar had its genesis several years ago. Reverend Paul Beach, Pastor of St. Martin of Tours, received a very generous donation from an anonymous donor. It was the wish of this donor that the money be used in connection with the Church. Father Paul said, "I came up with the idea to use some of the old articles that were stored in the attic of the St. Martin Center which I had stumbled across, and some items that were in the archives, to construct a new altar and pulpit for the Church." Part of the communion rail with one of the gates (Alpha) attached to it was in the archives in the basement of St. Martin Center. The other gate (Omega) was located by Anita Seymour after months of looking. These two gates were used as a base for the front of the new altar.

Steve Paulovich, a professional artist in Louisville, is a friend of Father Paul and has done work at various churches including St. Martin of Tours in Louisville. Paulovich agreed to do the work for St. Martin of Tours in Flaherty. The old pulpit had been constructed with five panels carrying portraits of the four Evangelists and one of our patron saint, St. Martin of Tours . Paulovich restored all of the original portraits. He removed a section of the original pulpit containing the portrait of St. Martin and placed it in the center of the new altar facing the congregation. He also painted two new panels portraying two scenes in the life of St. Martin which are located in the base of the altar. The one on the right, as we face the altar, is a depiction of St. Martin cutting his cloak in two and giving half to a beggar. Father Paul said, "The other painting opposite of this one on the bottom of the altar depicts St. Martin as a bishop, with a winding road which leads to our church in Flaherty. The painting done in relief at the center bottom of the altar is meant to depict the Eucharist. All these paintings are original works by Steve."

The altar stone is from the altar which used to be in convent chapel. The part of the stone containing the relic has been sealed, so we don’t know the source of the relic.

When asked about the identity of the original artist(s) of the evangelists and St. Martin, Father Paul responded, "I’ve heard a story that they were done by an unnamed Italian artist who was traveling through the area at the time (the early 1930's?). This is believed to be the same artist who did much of the painting that had decorated the church elsewhere. I also believe this artist to have done some work at churches in Louisville. If you look at some old pictures from our church there is a remarkable similarity to paintings that are still located at St. Martin of Tours parish church in Louisville."

The Prayer of Dedication and the Anointing of the new altar took place as a part of the Saturday evening Mass on October 13, 2007. After the Homily and Profession of Faith, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz gave an Invitation to Prayer.

Prior to the dedication and anointing, Archbishop Kurtz commented, "I can't imagine that there is a nicer one in all the Archdiocese.  It is beautifully presented with the images, icons and story of St. Martin of Tours."

To read the article that was in The Record written by Marnie McAllister go to

http://www.archlou.org/therecord/aroundarchdiocese/article100106c525478.htm