St. Michael’s Catholic Church in St. Florian is celebrating its sesquicentennial year during 2022. In 1872, Father John Hueser, a priest from Indiana, purchased a tract of 2,436 acres of what was once the Wilson plantation. The priest intended to establish a colony of German Catholics and families flocked to Alabama; hence, St. Michael’s was established, and for the last 150 years, Mass has been offered continually in St. Florian.

As part of the church’s celebratory activities, the parish reinstated the tradition of a Corpus Christi procession. Years ago, adoration and benediction took place at three different outdoor altars surrounding the church. This year’s procession went to the church’s cemetery.

Mirroring the diocesan Forty Hours Devotion in preparation for the national Eucharistic Revival, the parish held a Votive Mass of the Holy Eucharist on Friday, June 17 and concluded the devotion with a candlelight ceremony and benediction at an outdoor altar in St. Michael’s cemetery on June 19. Father Bede Marcy, O.S.B., of St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, was the principal celebrant of the weekend’s activities. Abbot Emeritus Cletus Meagher, O.S.B., present pastor of St. Michael’s, also participated in the procession. The church plans to continue the Corpus Christi procession in the year 2023.