On a knoll in Durward’s Glen, sit the St. Mary’s of the Pine Chapel, which was built by Bernard Durward, three of his sons, Charles, John and James, with help from neighbors in 1866. The nearest church at the time was 10 miles away so Bernard built it so his wife, Margaret, would not have to walk so far for church. The stone walls are 17 inches thick, which remained standing after a fire burned the chapel in 1923. The chapel restoration was completed in 1929.
Bernard and Margaret raised all of their 8 children at the glen and remained until their deaths. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the chapel and two of their sons, John and James, celebrated their first priestly Mass in the chapel. All the family, except for Andrew, is buried in the family cemetery on the front side of the chapel.
The Durward family sold the land to the Roman Catholic Order of St. Camillus in 1932. The order established a seminary on the land, where it trained priests beginning in the 1930s. Many priests and brothers from the order are laid to rest in this peaceful spot behind the chapel.
St. Mary’s of the Pine
