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This is the beautiful old altar at St. Marcellus in Zetting, Moselle, Lorraine, France. In the photo, the ladies of the parish were decorating for a wedding. It has not changed much since the days that my cousin, Father Bartholomaus BARTH was the pastor, almost 200 years ago. Father Bartholomaus was a Benedictine priest in Rheinheim,Bavarian Pfalz in what later became Germany from 1787-1789. He progressed in assignments to Blieskastel and other parishes in what is now Germany and, in 1811, was named the resident priest of St. Marcellus in Zettingen, Lorraine, France.
That village was renamed Zetting under later French administration. Father Bartholomaus was much beloved and honored as one of the 14 “caregivers” of the Benedictine Order in Zettingen/Zetting and was cited in the parish records. The caregivers were those priests who were judged to be selfless and honored servants of their parishioners. He was buried under a chestnut tree in a grave adjacent to the church.
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