A saint and a pig await pilgrims at St. Anthony in Cedar Rapids

A statue of St. Anthony the Great, with a pig at his feet, might seem a little unusual to visitors at St. Anthony Church in Cedar Rapids.

The statue also depicts St. Anthony holding a T-shaped cross and a book. Those items, together with the pig, symbolize the faith of the monk, also known as St. Anthony of Egypt.

St. Anthony holds a book because he is said to have preferred the “book of nature” over the written word. The cross and pig represent his battles with evil: the cross to overcome the enemy, and the pig a symbol of the devil. Another story, though, says he befriended a mother pig, whose piglets he healed of blindness, and she followed the saint around after that.

St. Anthony parishioners pass along their own story about St. Anthony and the little pig. 

More than a century ago, during the 1880s and 1890s, farmers in the area lost a great number of hogs to cholera. The faith-filled farmers prayed novenas for the intercession of the patron saint of their parish, according to parish accounts, and the cholera subsided. In gratitude, the congregation bought the statue of St. Anthony, who happens to be a patron saint of animals.

TINA SCHUMACHER

To this day, St. Anthony and the pig remain a unique part of the faith and history of the parish. And during this Jubilee Year of the Catholic faith, people are invited to make a pilgrimage to St. Anthony Church and the other seven pilgrimage sites in the archdiocese.

The other designated sites are St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church in Lynch, Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, St. Benedict Center in Schuyler, St. Augustine Indian Mission Church in Winnebago and Immaculate Conception Church in St. Helena.

The pig isn’t the only thing that stands out at St. Anthony Church. 

Its serenity becomes apparent for pilgrims approaching the church from the gently winding Nebraska Highway 56 and as they cross the Cedar River. Stepping into the church, dedicated in 1919, that peace becomes more palpable.

TINA SCHUMACHER

Upon entering the church through the heavy, solid double doors from the vestibule, the faithful will find themselves in a vast space filled with light and color from stained glass windows along the sides of the building, as well as from its three rose windows.

The aisles are wide. Original wood floors remain beneath the original carved wood pews. The lamps hanging from the pillars reminiscent of gas streetlights are in keeping with the carved finery throughout.

Parishioner Kate Sullivan provided a tour of the church, saying, “When you look at a community of this size, and the time when the church was built, under the leadership of a parish priest with [only] the support of the congregation, it is just amazing.” 

One of the rose windows at St. Anthony has the Immaculate Heart of Mary at its center. TINA SCHUMACHER

According to a church history provided by Sullivan, the congregation consisted of only 45 families in 1906. They worshipped in a 52-by-26-foot building that had been erected in 1888 but had plans to construct a church of brick and stone. In 1917, the parishioners contracted Anton Kettler of Dubuque, Iowa, and construction of the church – designed in the Romanesque Revival style – came to fruition.

Building began in April 1918 and the church was dedicated in May 1919.

The subtle earth tones of the walls allow for the high altar and altar table of white to shine with a brilliance meant for our King, drawing the eye and enhancing the importance of the sanctuary to the Catholic faith.

The altar table was once part of the high altar but was moved forward in the 1970s for front-facing liturgy. Upon the high altar are statues of Mary and St. John the Apostle on the sides of the crucifix, St. Rose of Lima, and, of course, St. Anthony, the parish patron, with the pig. 

There is so much to see inside this 100-plus-year-old church, adding to the natural beauty of the nave, not the least of which is a life-sized Pieta statue as well as one of the Resurrection. The molded Stations of the Cross, painted bronze, subtly emerge from the walls on each side of the church. Windows above the entry doors depict the four Gospel writers.

TINA SCHUMACHER

“There are symbols everywhere, I’m not sure I have even seen them all,” Sullivan said with gentle awe, pointing out the beauty of the place where she worships.

For those interested in history, a book called “The Book of Life,” compiled by a former parish priest and kept up-to-date by current parishioners, sits in the back of the church for the perusal of visitors. 

Even without opening the book, it is clear that the history of the parish and the faith of its members adds to the beauty of St. Anthony Church.

TINA SCHUMACHER

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