St. Ignatius Mission

The grandest of all cathedrals couldn’t ask for a more dramatic setting, beneath the endless Montana sky, between the hills of the National Bison Range and the spectacular Mission Mountains. In the midst of this heavenly canvas stands a man-made work of art known as St. Ignatius Mission.

From the highway, the church created to serve the Salish and Kootenai Indian tribes appears suddenly—as if from nowhere.

“It’s really amazing,’’ says Tammy Matt, employee and volunteer at the National Historic Site. Along with the Jesuit missionaries they brought to the area, the two tribes began working on the church in 1891, laboring for two years to build it of a million bricks they made from local clay.

The greater surprise awaits inside the church in the town of St. Ignatius, Mont., (pop. 913) which grew up around the mission.

Adorning the walls and ceilings are 58 exquisite murals designed and painted by Brother Joseph Carignano. He was the cook and custodian and had no professional training in art.

In his rare free time, Carignano poured his energy into decorating the church with magnificence. The colorful paintings almost sing out like an angelic choir. Pictures of the saints—St. Joseph, St. Jude, St. Augustine—and biblical scenes such as the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, hover around and above.

Behind the main altar, three scenes reflect the visions of St. Ignatius Loyola, in whose name the mission was founded. Two murals at the rear of the church reflect American Indian culture. “The Salish Lord appears in native clothing, including a headdress; Mother Mary wears traditional Native American garments, moccasins, and braided hair,” Matt explains.

The artwork makes a lasting impression. New Yorker Rita McDonough tries to stop by whenever visiting family in Montana. “It’s so beautiful and rare, yet it’s also humble.”

Lenny Allison, a longtime volunteer, says the church attracts tourists from all over the world. “Most are headed up to the park (Glacier National Park), but many who come to see it stay over the weekend to attend Mass here.”

Allison has gathered pictures and articles on all the bishops and priests who’ve served the church—and information one of the fathers wrote about each mural—in seven scrapbooks. She’s also been an unofficial tour guide at the museum, a little log house, which is one of two original buildings remaining. “It was the first church, built in 1854,” the year Jesuits founded the mission on the Flathead Indian Reservation, she adds.

The mission once included schools, a hospital, flour mill, several shops, a printing press, and a sawmill where the workers sawed trees cut in the foothills and used them in building the church and the hand-hewn pews.

Today’s church membership includes both American Indians and non-Indians. “We have about 300 families,” says Father Andrew, the current pastor, who celebrates Mass, marries couples, baptizes babies, and presides over funerals.

Many attend other churches, but for major functions such as funerals or weddings: “They all want St. Ignatius,” Allison says with a hint of pride in her voice. She calls it the “Mother Church” and the “heart of the Catholic experience around here.”

It’s also something of a town social center.

“All the town’s musical presentations take place in the church because the acoustics are so good. And the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts all have their meetings here,” Matt says. “We also have a Native American ministry. Kateri Northwest Ministry consists of some 20 members from other states who gather to develop Native American leaders in the church.”

St. Ignatius Mission has witnessed many changes. But like the surrounding Montana mountainside, the church that Brother Joseph Carignano lovingly decorated continues to touch hearts and lift spirits.

Alice Ross is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

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