St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, also known asSt. Inigoes Church orThe Cove Church, is a historicCatholic parish located inSt. Inigoes,St. Mary's County,Maryland.[2] It is a direct descendant of Maryland's first Catholic chapel, inSt. Mary's City, whose communicants formed the first nucleus ofAmerican Catholicism.[2][3] The parish fell under the umbrella of the first establishment of religious freedom in America byGeorge Calvert and his sons, who established theMaryland colony as a refuge for persecuted Catholics.[2][4][5]
St. Ignatius and its adjacent burial ground are situated on about two acres of land that are enclosed within a late 19th-century iron fence. The church was constructed between 1785 and 1787, with thesacristy added in 1817. The church walls are 21 inches thick, of brick laid inFlemish bond. Atop the roof is a small woodenbelfry that in 1933 replaced a larger one in this same location.
The church contains artifacts from the original"The Ark" and"The Dove" sailing ships, which bore the first settlers to the Maryland colony in 1633–34.[2]
Stained glass depiction of local Indian chief in battle
The church also has a very old stained glass depiction of the local paramount Indian Chief in battle with rival Indians.[2] That Chief later converted to Christianity and was a member of the parish in the 1640s.
^Cecilius Calvert, "Instructions to the Colonists by Lord Baltimore, (1633)" in Clayton Coleman Hall, ed., Narratives of Early Maryland, 1633-1684 (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), 11-23.
^"Reconstructing the Brick Chapel of 1667" Page 1,See section entitled "The Birthplace of Religious Freedom""Archived copy"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 13, 2014. RetrievedDecember 10, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
