It's been 100 years since St. Michael the Archangel was founded in Auburn Alabama. At the moment, the parish sits just beyond the university campus, a bit further than it's previous location just outside the main entrance to the school, a throw of the football away from Toomer's corner.
Of course, I say at the moment. This is because, as Eddie Izzard pointed out, Americans think that buildings are really old at 50 years. The current buildings that St Mike's occupies is about three years old. They were erected just before I left Atlanta to move to Auburn in hopes of finding more a more peaceful way of life.
Jack is 4 years old now, and he loves swords. This is the reason for his feelings of affection all things St. Michael. He loves his Church and his parish and his priorities reflect both his age and his upbringing. For him faith consists of Jesus, Mary, Christmas and getting candy in his shoes from St Nicholas. Sometimes he asks to stop in to pray while we are in town, and once he decided that we should get flowers for Mommy and Mary. Lately he has started asking to pray the Saint Michael prayer before bed, calling it "my Night Prayer". Eventually we will learn the full prayer by heart, but he will be much closer to getting his driver's license by then.
For Jack, this is the parish where he is growing up. It's a Novus Ordo parish with a faithful priest, and ties to an occasional Latin mass in Troy. I've said several times that it's unfortunate that the parish in Troy isn't named after St Helen. That is how my humor runs. I wish that we had a closer weekly Latin Mass, but occasionally we can make the trip to Troy, Birmingham or Atlanta.
Several miles from St Mike's is Highway 280, which runs through Birmingham from Savannah. Here is where the journey begins. From the quiet of a small town parish in Auburn Alabama, the road leads north to the trailhead of route 66.
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