St. Peter - Colman
Physical address:
200 N Allen Ave Colman SD
Mailing address:
105 S Bates St Flandreau SD 57028
Weekend Mass: Sunday 11:15 AM
Parish Saint - St. Peter
St Peter the Apostle, our first Pope, is often depicted with keys. This is because our Lord said to him:
"You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
The keys represent the authority that our Lord has entrusted to his Church, especially to the Magisterium of the Church and in particular to the popes.
St Peter is sometimes shown with an upside down cross. He was sentenced to be executed for refusing to pay homage to the false gods of the Romans and St Peter said he was not worthy to be killed in the same way as our Lord. So he asked to be crucified upside down, and he was.
Pope Benedict XVI's General Audiences on St. Peter
Peter the Fisherman.pdfPeter the Apostle.pdfPeter the Rock.pdfParish History
St. Peter’s was founded in 1905 by Bishop Martin Marty. The first church building was built by Father McNally, then pastor of Dell Rapids. From 1907 - 1911, St. Peter's parish was in care of Charles City (Colton) and Huntimer, SD. The first resident pastor, Father Clement Caine, built a rectory.
The desire for a new church to accommodate the growing needs of the parish took shape under Father J.M. Rueter. A building fund was started and a site and building were obtained for the much needed parish hall. Father D.J. Quillan succeeded Fr. Rueter in 1944. In 1948 a parish meeting was held with a view to raising more funds for a new church - that had now become an imperative necessity. In 1951 Father Quillan retired due to ill health and Father Louis J. Miller was appointed with the specific assignment to build the new church.
Through an arrangement with E. J. Schoenrock & Sons, the contractor and architect, it was possible to utilize a large amount of local parish labor. A tallied count of 28,000 hours of labor of all kinds was donated by members of the parish. The corner stone of the new structure was laid by His Excellency Most Rev. Wm. O. Brady on May 17, 1952. Throughout 1952-53-54 the work continued at an unhurried pace because of the desire to utilize as much volunteer labor as possible. The church was finally dedicated, and the main altar consecrated on May 18, 1954 by Bishop Brady. Relics of the martyrs Saint Conneritus and Saint Verecunda are sealed in the marble mensa of the altar.
The artistic talents and the experience of Santa Fe Studios of Church Art was employed to design and execute something both beautiful and at times unique for the interior of St. Peter's Church at Colman. Throughout the structure an attempt was made to use only genuine materials wherever possible. The same idea carried through for enhancing the interior. All mass-produced, plaster of paris creations were eliminated, and all interior furnishings were executed in stone, marble, wrought-iron and bronze in varying combinations. For nearly two years Santa Fe Studios worked to bring this plan of a superbly furnished church to a reality.
The expense for building the church and rectory was $134,576. The cost of pews, bell, and church interior was an additional $41,190. And, the conservative estimated value of donated labor by parish members was about $35,000 to $40,000, ample proof that voluntary labor paid off handsomely.