Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity

87 Main St., Rollingstone, Minnesota, 55969
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Mass Times

Tuesday8:00 AM
Saturday4:30 PM

Parish details

87 Main St., Rollingstone, Minnesota, 55969
+15075232428http://www.st-rose.org/
Winona-Rochester

About Holy Trinity · Rollingstone, Minnesota

Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Rollingstone, Minnesota is a small historic parish serving the village of Rollingstone and the surrounding Bluff Country farmland of southeastern Minnesota. Founded by Luxembourg immigrants in the 1850s and worshipping in its present limestone church since 1869, the parish today is clustered with nearby St. Rose of Lima in Lewiston and St. Joseph in Rushford under a single pastor, forming the Tri-Parish Cluster served from Lewiston. Worship is offered in English, with weekday Mass on Tuesday morning and Saturday Vigil Mass, plus regular Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, and a parish-wide faith formation program for children.

Established
1857 (first Mass); church built and dedicated 1869
Patron
The Most Holy Trinity
Rector
Rev. Chinnappa Pothireddy
Diocese
Diocese of Winona-Rochester

Why belong here

Holy Trinity is a small, historic parish in the heart of Bluff Country, where the Luxembourg Catholic heritage of the 1850s is still part of the community's identity and its limestone church stands on the National Register of Historic Places. Parishioners gather for weekday Mass on Tuesdays, Saturday Vigil Mass, regular Eucharistic Adoration, and a strong faith formation program for children, and they are warmly welcomed to share in the volunteer life of the parish — from liturgical ministries and music to parish council, faith formation catechesis, and grounds care. For Catholics in the Rollingstone area it is a place to belong to a faithful, family-sized parish whose roots in this land go back more than 165 years.

Mass times at Holy Trinity

Weekly Mass schedule

Tuesday8:00 a.m.
Saturday (Vigil)4:30 p.m.

Confession times

  • Saturday 4:00 – 4:20 p.m. (before Vigil Mass at Holy Trinity)

Adoration times

  • Tuesday 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. (followed by 8:00 a.m. Mass) at Holy Trinity

About Holy Trinity Parish

Holy Trinity Catholic Church is the Catholic parish of Rollingstone, Minnesota, a small Bluff Country community in Winona County in southeastern Minnesota. It is one of three parishes in the Tri-Parish Cluster, joined with St. Rose of Lima in Lewiston and St. Joseph in Rushford and sharing a single pastor and parish staff. Worship at Holy Trinity centers on the Saturday Vigil Mass and a Tuesday morning Mass, supported by Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, and a parish faith formation program for children.

  • Address: 83 Main St., Rollingstone, MN 55969
  • Parish is part of the Tri-Parish Cluster with St. Rose of Lima (Lewiston) and St. Joseph (Rushford)
  • Diocese of Winona-Rochester

History of Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity is the Catholic expression of a Luxembourg American community that has worshipped on this spot for more than 165 years. Settlers from Luxembourg arrived in the 1850s, and the first Mass in the area was offered by Father Matthew Sternberger in 1857 in the log cabin of Peter Stoos. A wood-frame church and cemetery followed by 1861; in 1869 the whole village built the present limestone church on land donated by Peter Stoos, and it was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Grace of Saint Paul on July 22, 1869. By 1893 the parish had outgrown even that building, and volunteers enlarged it under architect Nicholas Arnoldy, doubling seating capacity and adding a transept chancel that gave the church its present cruciform plan; Bishop Joseph Cotter rededicated it on October 24, 1893.

  • 1857: first Mass offered by Father Matthew Sternberger in Peter Stoos's log cabin
  • 1850s: Luxembourg immigrants settle Rollingstone and found the parish
  • 1861: wood-frame church and cemetery established
  • 1869: limestone church built (architect Charles Wender); dedicated July 22, 1869 by Bishop Thomas Grace, Father Alois Plut assisting
  • 1893: church enlarged by community volunteers (architect Nicholas Arnoldy); rededicated October 24, 1893 by Bishop Joseph Cotter
  • Mass celebrated in Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesh) and Latin well into the 1920s
  • 1984: Holy Trinity placed on the National Register of Historic Places

Parish School & Catholic Education

Catholic education was an immediate priority for the Luxembourg settlers of Rollingstone. As early as 1860 they rented space in a secular school building to provide religious instruction for their children. In 1891 the Milwaukee Province of Franciscan nuns arrived in Rollingstone to take over the religious school, and in 1920 Father Anthony Hennekes directed the construction of a purpose-built Holy Trinity School. Direction of the school passed to the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester in 1922, and the school remained open for four decades as a center of faith and learning for the community.

  • 1860: religious education begins in rented space in a secular school
  • 1891: Milwaukee Province of Franciscan nuns arrive to teach
  • 1920: Holy Trinity School built under Father Anthony Hennekes
  • 1922: Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester assume direction
  • School remains open for four decades

Parish Staff & Tri-Parish Office

Because Holy Trinity is clustered with St. Rose of Lima and St. Joseph, many staff roles serve the three parishes together. The Tri-Parish Office, located with St. Rose of Lima in Lewiston, is the main point of contact for sacramental scheduling, records, and general parish business.

  • Pastor: Rev. Chinnappa Pothireddy — [email protected], 507-523-2428
  • Tri-Parish Secretary: Karin Peterson — [email protected], 507-523-2428 (office hours T, W, Th 9:00–11:00 a.m.)
  • Holy Trinity Secretary: Paula Harrigan — [email protected], 507-689-2351 (office hours Monday 10:00 a.m.–Noon)
  • St. Joseph Secretary: Arlene Hegge — [email protected], 608-406-1124
  • Bookkeeper: Elaine Mills — [email protected]
  • St. Rose Maintenance: Christine Brand (Church/Hall), Nancy Everson (Rectory)
  • Holy Trinity Faith Formation: Tina Lehnertz — 507-458-5384, [email protected]
  • St. Rose Faith Formation: Ashley Gossen — [email protected], 507-523-3548
  • St. Joseph Faith Formation: Nancy Schollmeier — [email protected], 507-251-0158

Faith Formation & Religious Education

Faith formation for the children of Holy Trinity is coordinated at the parish level by Tina Lehnertz and through the broader Tri-Parish program led by Ashley Gossen at St. Rose of Lima. The cluster offers classes for Kindergarten through Grade 10, with younger grades meeting on release time from the local elementary school and grades 7–10 gathering in the evening with a shared meal.

  • Holy Trinity Faith Formation contact: Tina Lehnertz, 507-458-5384, [email protected]
  • St. Rose Faith Formation contact: Ashley Gossen, [email protected], 507-523-3548
  • Kindergarten: 2 Wednesdays per month, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
  • Grades 1–5: Wednesday afternoons (1:00 – 3:00 p.m., varying by grade)
  • Grade 6: Wednesday 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
  • Grades 7–10: Wednesday 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., with supper served 5:45 p.m.
  • Annual Basket Raffle to support Faith Formation
  • VIRTUS safe-environment training required for all catechists and volunteers (Diocese of Winona-Rochester)

Parish Ministries & Volunteer Life

Like most small rural parishes, Holy Trinity depends on the gifts of its members to keep its worship, formation, and facilities running. The parish's volunteer sign-up form lists the councils, liturgical roles, and practical ministries currently active across the Tri-Parish Cluster.

  • Councils: Parish Council, Stewardship Council, Finance Council
  • Liturgical: Eucharistic Ministry, Altar Servers, Lectors, Ushers, Sacristans, Liturgical Music Ministry, Rosary Leader
  • Pastoral: Home Bound Visits, Bible Study
  • Community life: Hospitality, Event Planning
  • Stewardship of place: Spring/Fall Cleaning of Facilities, Church Grounds & Landscaping, Church Decorations
  • Youth Leadership

The Building & Historic Architecture

The Holy Trinity church building is a limestone Gothic Revival structure that has served the parish without interruption since 1869. Its 1893 expansion under architect Nicholas Arnoldy is the building's defining feature: a 35 × 60 foot addition with a transept chancel that turned the simple rectangle into a cruciform plan and effectively doubled seating capacity. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 9, 1984 (NRHP #84001721) for its local significance in architecture and in the exploration and settlement of southeastern Minnesota by Luxembourg Americans.

  • Style: Gothic Revival
  • Material: local limestone
  • Original architect (1869): Charles Wender; 35 ft × 60 ft
  • Expansion architect (1893): Nicholas Arnoldy; 35 ft × 60 ft with transept chancel
  • Plan: cruciform, after the 1893 addition
  • NRHP #84001721, listed August 9, 1984
  • Interior remodeled substantially; little original interior design remains

Tri-Parish Cluster & Wider Community

Holy Trinity belongs to the Tri-Parish Cluster of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, sharing one pastor and parish staff with St. Rose of Lima in Lewiston and St. Joseph in Rushford. The cluster publishes a single bulletin, runs joint faith formation and Vacation Bible School, and maintains the Tri-Parish Office in Lewiston as the hub for parish records and sacramental scheduling.

  • St. Rose of Lima — 180 S. Fremont St., Lewiston, MN 55952
  • St. Joseph — 103 N. Mill St., Rushford, MN 55971
  • Tri-Parish Office: 507-523-2428, [email protected]
  • Joint Summer Vacation Bible School (cluster-wide)
  • Joint faith formation program across parishes

Visiting & Contact

Visitors are warmly welcomed at Holy Trinity. For Mass, Reconciliation, or Adoration the easiest way to plan a visit is to check the current Tri-Parish bulletin or the parish website at st-rose.org. To arrange a baptism, marriage, anointing, funeral, or other sacramental need, contact the Tri-Parish Office during its regular hours.

  • Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 83 Main St., Rollingstone, MN 55969
  • Holy Trinity parish phone: (507) 689-2351
  • Tri-Parish Office phone: (507) 523-2428
  • Email: [email protected] (Holy Trinity) / [email protected] (Tri-Parish)
  • Tri-Parish Office hours: Tuesday–Thursday, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
  • Holy Trinity secretary hours: Monday, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

Pastors & rectors through the years

  1. William Lette

    Early pastor

  2. Philip Matthew OSB
  3. Theodore Venn
  4. Alois Plut

    Assisted Bishop Grace at the 1869 dedication of the original church

  5. Lawrence Zawadski
  6. Pius Schmid
  7. James Gessel
  8. Nicholas SchmitzAssigned 1877; still serving 1890

    Born in Luxembourg; first resident priest of the parish

  9. Anthony Hennekes

    Directed the construction of Holy Trinity School in 1920

  10. Stephen Majerus
  11. Peter Tibessar
  12. Raymond Redder
  13. Leland Smith
  14. Francis Klein
  15. Louis Cook
  16. Donald Loosbrock
  17. Edward McGrath
  18. Michael Cronin
  19. Donald Lovas
  20. James Steffes
  21. Thomas Melvin
  22. William Kulas
  23. Chinnappa PothireddyCurrent

    Current pastor of the Tri-Parish Cluster

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