About St. Patrick · Raritan, Illinois
St. Patrick Catholic Church is a small rural parish near Raritan, Illinois, in Warren County. Established in 1876 as an out-mission of the Monmouth (Immaculate Conception) parish, it remains linked to Immaculate Conception today as part of the bi-county cluster of parishes that serves Warren and Henderson Counties in the Diocese of Peoria. The parish is celebrated locally as a 'little white church' set among the farmland of west-central Illinois, where multi-generational farm families have worshipped for nearly 150 years. Weekend and mid-week Masses, together with regular confessions, are scheduled at the church and shared across the cluster.
- Established
- 1876
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Fr. Timothy Hepner (Pastor of the Immaculate Conception – St. Patrick's cluster)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Peoria
Why belong here
St. Patrick's is a close-knit rural Catholic community where families have worshipped for nearly 150 years, and the parish continues to be a spiritual home for multi-generational farming families in southern Warren County. Visitors and parishioners are welcomed into a cluster with active sacramental life — weekly Saturday Vigil and Sunday Mass, regular confessions, and a monthly Wednesday Mass — supported by the priests, deacons, and staff of the Immaculate Conception cluster in nearby Monmouth.
Mass times at St. Patrick
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:00–4:20 p.m.
- Sunday 7:30–7:50 a.m.
About St. Patrick Parish
St. Patrick Catholic Church is a small rural parish near the village of Raritan in Warren County, western Illinois. Established in 1876, it remains part of the Immaculate Conception cluster of parishes headquartered in nearby Monmouth and is a member of the Diocese of Peoria. The parish serves farming families scattered across the surrounding countryside of southern Warren County, with Mass celebrated in the original 1876 white frame church that continues to anchor the community.
- Type: Parish (mission church within the Immaculate Conception cluster)
- Diocese: Peoria
- Linked parish: Immaculate Conception, Monmouth, IL
- Year established: 1876
History
The parish traces its roots to the Irish Catholic settlement of the Monmouth area in the 1850s. Catholic families in and around Monmouth were first visited by priests from Burlington, Iowa, and later from Galesburg, before Immaculate Conception in Monmouth was formally established as a parish. Mission work from Monmouth extended out into the surrounding countryside, and in 1876 — during the pastorate of Fr. James Halpin and his successor Fr. Thomas Francis O'Farrell — the out-mission at Raritan was established and the original white frame church was built. That 1876 building is still in use and remains the heart of the parish community.
- c. 1854–1855: First Irish Catholic families settle near Monmouth
- 1876: St. Patrick's, Raritan, is built as an out-mission of Monmouth (Immaculate Conception)
- 2017: Deacon Lee Brokaw, a Raritan native from a parish founding family, is ordained a priest
Parish Families and Community
St. Patrick's has been a multi-generational parish from its earliest days. Founding families such as the Kanes have remained connected to the parish for nearly 150 years; the Brokaw family — descended from the Kanes — continues to farm the land immediately around the church. In 2017, Deacon Lee Brokaw, son of Patrick and Brenda Brokaw and grandson of Alice (Kane) Brokaw, was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Peoria, and offered his Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish at Raritan.
- Kane family — parish founding family
- Brokaw family — multi-generational parishioners and farmers
Clergy and Staff
St. Patrick's is served by the priests and deacons of the Immaculate Conception cluster in Monmouth. The pastor of the cluster leads the parish, with a parochial vicar assisting, supported by two permanent deacons and the parish staff.
- Fr. Timothy Hepner — Pastor (Immaculate Conception cluster)
- Fr. Ignacio Cárdenas Morán — Parochial Vicar
- Deacon Joe McCleary — Permanent Deacon
- Deacon Tom Mann — Permanent Deacon
- Martha Pinedo — Parish Secretary
Diocese and Cluster Affiliation
St. Patrick's belongs to the Diocese of Peoria and operates as a linked parish within the Immaculate Conception cluster, a bi-county grouping of parishes serving Warren and Henderson Counties. Through the cluster, St. Patrick's parishioners have access to broader sacramental, faith-formation, and pastoral resources based at Immaculate Conception in Monmouth.
- Diocese of Peoria
- Cluster: Immaculate Conception – Monmouth, St. Patrick – Raritan (and other cluster sites)
- Counties served: Warren and Henderson
Visiting and Contact
St. Patrick's is located in rural Warren County near the small village of Raritan, Illinois. Visitors should consult the parish website or bulletin for the current Mass and confession schedule, especially for the monthly Wednesday Mass. Inquiries can be directed to the parish office through the cluster at Immaculate Conception in Monmouth.
- Address: PO Box 24, Raritan, IL 61471 (Physical: 2000 E, Raritan, IL)
- Phone: (217) 453-2428
- Website: http://www.iccmonmouth.org/st-patricks
- Facebook: St. Patrick Catholic Church, Raritan IL
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. James Halpinuntil 1876
Mission priest during whose tenure St. Patrick's at Raritan was built in 1876 as an out-mission of Monmouth (Immaculate Conception).
- Fr. Thomas Francis O'FarrellSept 1876 – Nov 1878
Succeeded Fr. Halpin; served the Monmouth cluster including St. Patrick's, Raritan.
- Msgr. Thomas Mack1991–1997; again from 2012
Reported by The Catholic Post (2017) as pastor of St. Patrick's since 2012 and previously from 1991 to 1997.