About St. Anthony's Shrine Mission · Boomer, West Virginia
St. Anthony's Shrine Mission is a small Catholic mission church in the former coal-mining town of Boomer, West Virginia, along Route 60 (Midland Trail) in Fayette County. It is the only Catholic church in West Virginia officially venerated as a 'shrine,' owing to its possession of a first-class relic of St. Anthony of Padua. The mission was established in 1928 and is served as a mission of Immaculate Conception Parish in nearby Montgomery, within the Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston. Sunday Mass is offered once a week at 11:00 AM.
- Established
- 1928
- Patron
- St. Anthony of Padua
- Rector
- Father Dominikus Baok, S.V.D.
- Diocese
- Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston
Why belong here
St. Anthony's Shrine Mission offers Catholics in the upper Kanawha Valley a unique spiritual home: it is the only Catholic church in West Virginia formally venerated as a shrine because it houses a first-class relic of St. Anthony of Padua. As a small Italian-heritage mission in a former mining town, it gives visitors an intimate Sunday Mass at 11:00 AM and a tangible link to the immigrant Catholic faith of southern West Virginia. Pilgrims and parishioners come for the devotion to St. Anthony of Padua — patron of lost items and a beloved Doctor of the Church — in a setting that retains the character of early-20th-century mountain Catholicism.
Mass times at St. Anthony's Shrine Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. Anthony's Shrine Mission
St. Anthony's Shrine Mission is a small Catholic mission church in Boomer, West Virginia, on Route 60 (Midland Trail) in Fayette County. It was established in 1928 as a mission of Immaculate Conception Parish in nearby Montgomery and is part of the Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston. It is venerated as a shrine — the only Catholic church in West Virginia given that designation — because it enshrines a first-class relic of its patron, St. Anthony of Padua.
- Founded: 1928
- Type: Mission (Shrine)
- Diocese: Wheeling–Charleston
- Parent parish: Immaculate Conception, Montgomery (founded 1888)
- Sunday Mass: 11:00 AM
History of the Shrine
The mission was founded in 1928 to minister to the Italian-immigrant families who settled Boomer, a coal-mining town along the Midland Trail. By the 1950s it had been called a 'shrine' in church records, though its relic was not yet properly enshrined. Father McDonald later remodeled the sanctuary — elevating the main altar onto three steps, adding two side altars, and placing a reliquary with a first-class relic of St. Anthony of Padua in a marble niche beneath the saint's statue, making it 'a shrine in name only' no longer. The 1960s parish history of nearby Immaculate Conception also records the strange disappearance and return of the relic during Father Schmitt's pastorate, after which the niche was sealed. The exact origin of the relic remains undocumented; diocesan archivists have been unable to determine how the shrine was designated or how the relic arrived.
- 1928: St. Anthony Mission established in Boomer for Italian mining families
- Mid-20th c.: Father McDonald remodels altar and enshrines the first-class relic
- Father Schmitt era: relic briefly missing and then returned; niche thereafter sealed
- Today: relic's provenance remains a documented mystery
Patron: St. Anthony of Padua
The shrine is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231), a Portuguese-born Franciscan friar and Doctor of the Church who is widely invoked as the patron saint of lost items and lost people. The church's title as a 'shrine' comes specifically from the veneration given to the first-class relic of St. Anthony enshrined at the high-altar niche.
- Patron: St. Anthony of Padua
- Feast Day: June 13
- Title: Doctor of the Church; Franciscan friar
- Common devotion: patron of lost items
Clergy and Pastoral Care
As a mission of Immaculate Conception Parish in Montgomery, St. Anthony's Shrine is served by the pastor of that parish. On December 28, 2022, Bishop Mark E. Brennan appointed Father Dominikus Baok, S.V.D. — a member of the Society of the Divine Word — as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish (Montgomery), St. Anthony Shrine Mission (Boomer), and Good Shepherd Chapel (East Bank), effective immediately. Earlier pastors referenced in the surviving mission history include Father McDonald (who installed the relic shrine) and Father Schmitt (during whose pastorate the relic was briefly missing and later returned).
- Current Pastor: Father Dominikus Baok, S.V.D. (appointed Dec. 28, 2022)
- Religious order: Society of the Divine Word (S.V.D.)
- Bishop: Most Rev. Mark E. Brennan, Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston
- Pastors of record: Father McDonald, Father Schmitt
Mass and Service Schedule
Sunday Mass is offered at 11:00 AM at St. Anthony's Shrine Mission. A Saturday Vigil Mass at 5:30 PM alternates between St. Anthony Shrine and the parent parish of Immaculate Conception in Montgomery. Weekday Mass times are not published for the mission; visitors are encouraged to call the parish office for current scheduling, especially for Advent, Lent, and Holy Week services.
- Sunday: 11:00 AM
- Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PM (alternates with Immaculate Conception, Montgomery)
- Phone: (304) 442-2101
- Holy Week: Easter Vigil 8:00 PM and Easter Sunday 11:00 AM at St. Anthony Shrine
Holy Week and Seasonal Services
The diocesan Holy Week schedule lists St. Anthony Shrine as the Easter Vigil site for the Montgomery-area cluster, with Easter Sunday Mass also celebrated there at 11:00 AM. Lenten Stations of the Cross are offered weekly at the mission (per the parish bulletin), and a Lenten Penance Service has been scheduled at the shrine in past years.
- Easter Vigil: 8:00 PM
- Easter Sunday: 11:00 AM
- Stations of the Cross: weekly during Lent
- Lenten Penance Service: scheduled in past years at 6:00 PM
The Relic of St. Anthony
The defining feature of the shrine — and the reason it is formally a 'shrine' — is its first-class relic of St. Anthony of Padua, enshrined in a closed marble niche beneath the statue of the saint at the high altar. According to a typewritten 1960s history of Immaculate Conception Parish in Montgomery, the relic was installed during Father McDonald's pastorate when the main altar was elevated and two side altars were added. During Father Schmitt's pastorate the relic was once noticed missing from its open niche; it was returned soon after, and the niche has been sealed ever since. The exact origin and donor of the relic have not been documented — diocesan archivists and the current pastor have been unable to determine how the shrine was designated or how the relic arrived.
- Relic type: First-class relic of St. Anthony of Padua
- Location: closed marble niche beneath the saint's statue at the high altar
- Installed: under Father McDonald (mid-20th century)
- Provenance: unknown / a documented mystery of the Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston
Visiting the Shrine
St. Anthony's Shrine sits at 2764 Midland Trail (Route 60), Boomer, WV 25031, in the heart of southern West Virginia's coal-country plateau. Pilgrims and visitors are warmly welcomed at the 11:00 AM Sunday Mass; for weddings, baptisms, quinceañeras, or funeral Masses, arrangements are typically coordinated through the parent parish office at Immaculate Conception in Montgomery. The parish phone line — (304) 442-2101 — is shared with Immaculate Conception Parish.
- Address: 2764 Midland Trail, Route 60, Boomer, WV 25031
- Parent parish: Immaculate Conception, 708 1st Ave., Montgomery, WV 25136
- Phone: (304) 442-2101
- Website: dwc.org directory listing
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Schmitt
Pastor referenced in the 1960s parish history; during his pastorate the relic of St. Anthony was once reported missing and later returned, after which the reliquary niche was sealed.
- Father McDonald
Pastored the mission in the mid-20th century; remodeled the sanctuary, adding two side altars and enshrining the first-class relic of St. Anthony beneath the saint's statue in a marble niche.
- Father Dominikus Baok, S.V.D.2022–present
Society of the Divine Word priest appointed by Bishop Mark E. Brennan on Dec. 28, 2022, as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish (Montgomery), St. Anthony Shrine Mission (Boomer), and Good Shepherd Chapel (East Bank).