A visit to John Paul’s chair

My usual road trip takes me right by the little town of Panna Maria, the first permanent Polish settlement in Texas and probably the U.S.

After reading a Dallas News article (Sorry. I had trouble linking it.) on the town’s connections to John Paul, I decided to visit yesterday on the way to Corpus Christi. With his passing, I felt it was a very appropriate thing to do.

I went into the sanctuary of their Immaculate Conception Church to pray. There was a picture of John Paul on the right side. The chair he used during his 1987 trip to Texas was to the left of the altar.

The sanctuary as a whole is beautiful. A small triangular stained-glass window of the Holy Spirit as a dove above the altar especially stands out. I highly recommend a visit to anyone driving through the area (just north of Karnes City. There are signs from highway 123.).

I had a nice time of prayer, thanking God for John Paul and praying for other matters. For most of the time, I was the only one in there. Then I went to the visitor center across the street and bought a photo book and a jar of blackberry jam from the nice older lady there. It was a nice visit.