Annual Good Friday Pilgrimage to
“The Church of The Steps”
Commonly referred to as “The Church of the Steps”, Holy Cross Immaculata has been a destination for thousands of Catholics since its founding in 1860. Originally named Immaculate Conception and built on land donated by Archbishop John Purcell for the local German Catholics, it was one of many ethnic churches in Mount Adams.
The church houses five murals, the center three of which are pictured below and at the top of each page of this exhibit, painted by Johann Schmitt, a local German-American artist. The inscription on the lower portion of the center mural reads “O MARIA, ohne Sünde empfangen, bitte für die Bekehrung dieses Landes, Amerika.” or in English “O Maria, conceived without sin, pray for this land, America.” Schmitt was not only a painter, but a devout Catholic, and teacher and mentor to artist Frank Duveneck, whose works can be seen in the Cincinnati Art Museum, the New York Metropolitan museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Surprisingly though, the beautiful paintings are not the reason that most come to the church. Each year, as a Good Friday Pilgrimage, Catholics from the world over come to Holy Cross-Immaculata to climb the eighty– five steps to the church high on the hill, saying a prayer on each step. In 1970, when Holy Cross closed, Immaculata Church took on the congregation and changed its name to Holy Cross-Immaculata in order to honor their new members. See a wonderful 360° interactive photo tour of the church by Ron Rack of Rack Photography (http://rackphoto.com/pp/)
here. (http://rackphoto.com/pp/2009/08/27/holy-cross-immaculata-parish-cincinnati/)
Johann Schmitt Murals at Holy-Cross Immaculata Roman Catholic Church
Photo By Laura Laugle
Bibliographical Sources:
The Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati: A Portrait of Two Hundred Years, by Geoffrey J. Giglierano, Deborah A. Overmeyer, with Frederic L. Propas, The Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988, page 167
German Heritage Guide to the Greater Cincinnati Area, by Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Little Miami Publishing Company, Milford, Ohio, 2003, page 16
