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YNN’s Russell Wilde is Wilde about Texas. Join Russell each Thursday as he travels throughout the state visiting the people and places that make Texas unique. Do you have an idea for our next Wilde About Texas? Send it to us by clicking here.



07/19/2012 09:50 AM

Wilde About Texas: World's smallest Catholic church

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Originally built in the late 1880’s, St. Martin's Catholic Church in Warrenton, Texas has a rich and interesting history.

In the early 1900s, much of the church's congregation had moved away from the area, and the church was dismantled to build a school in nearby Fayetteville. St. Martin's was rebuilt in 1915 with the leftover lumber, but at a much smaller scale - 14 feet 3 inches by 18 feet 1 inch.

St. Martin's, now labeled “The World’s Smallest, Active, Catholic Church,” holds Mass once a month for its parishioners. Because of the sanctuary's size and rustic nature, these worship services take special planning.

“We have to arrange our services according to the temperature. So in wintertime, we have them around noon and then in the summertime we have them usually at 7 a.m.," Reverend Stephen Nesrsta said.

Today, St. Martin’s pastoral setting is interrupted only by an occasional passing truck, making it an ideal place for personal communion.

“There are some people there in the Warrenton area that do go there, even though they don't sign in, they go in and they pray almost every day,” Reverend Nesrsta said.

Check out the video above for more on St. Martin's Catholic Church.