Church Altar

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St. Anthony's Catholic Church Altar

The altar in St. Anthony's Catholic Church was forged out of a single block of coal. The building committee wanted the heart of the altar to be a representation of the counties primary resource and the communities largest industry. Many people including our Catholic immigrant miners gave their very lives to the mining industry.

Because of the low coal in Wise County, one large block could not be mined in the region. At the suggestion of one of the parishioners, the committee decided to have the large, single, block of coal mined in Pennsylvania and brought to Wise County. After three attempts the huge block was mined and hauled on Anthony Trigiani's Truck to Kingsport, Tennessee, where it was prepared.

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The coal was chiseled, shaped, cleaned, and polished. The altar is polished on the backside to protect the priests vestments and polished on the top for the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Fr. Robert Bond, the last Glenmary Mission Priest to serve our parish, the dedication of the miners, haulers, crafters, the Glenmary Brothers and especially the head of the building committee, Anthony Trigiani, made this precious earthly resource the sacred altar it is today.

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