Fr. Samuel Kavanagh was much beloved by the parish and by the community during his pastorate at St. Peter’s Church, which encompassed 21 years, virtually his entire priestly career. He was born on September 10, 1862, in Kildare, Ireland. He emigrated to the United States in the latter part of the 1880’s and became a naturalized U. S. citizen. It is stated that he was from Washington, D. C., and received some of his education in the local parish schools. He went to St. Charles College in Howard County where he received a classical education and then studied for the priesthood at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, where he was ordained on December 21, 1901. The Baltimore Sun reports on December 24, 1901, that Fr. Kavanagh was to be assigned to St. Peter’s Church, succeeding Rev. John Norton. One of the first things that he did was to ask Bishop Alfred Allen Curtiss, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, formerly Bishop of Wilmington DE, to come out to Libertytown to consecrate the Church. C

John Augustine Dietzenbach was born on December 9, 1951 at West Union, Iowa, the second of six children. He grew up on a family farm near Fort Atkinson, Iowa and attended St. Luke Church and school in St. Lucas, Iowa. After graduating from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in 1974 with a BA double major in Business Administration and Philosophy, he attended St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park, Baltimore, MD. He graduated with a Masters of Divinity in Theology from there in December of 1978 and during his last year in the seminary, he sought incardination (the official acceptance by one diocese of a clergyman from another diocese) with the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. John was assigned to All Saints Parish on Liberty Road in January 1979, where he remained through his deaconate ordination on May 24, 1980 and his ordination to the priesthood on November 29, 1980. In the summer of 1981 he was assigned to St. Elizabeth Parish on Baltimore Street where he remained for 5 ye

Located adjacent to the church where we worship each week, is St. Peter’s cemetery, an integral part of the history of our parish. In addition to being the final resting place for many who attended at St. Peter’s before us, memorials in the cemetery tell a story about the spirit of our forbearers. Early burials are located in the St. Peter’s section of the cemetery, the section closest to Route 75. Some stones can be deciphered; while others, particularly the marble stones, are worn and largely illegible. But, they stand as a literal reminder of our links to the past. In this section is a monument to the Calvary Group, often noted as the first memorial to the Titanic, which was blessed by Fr. Samuel Kavanagh to the memory of the Titanic dead on April 19, 1912 - four days after the tragedy. RMS Titanic was built in the shipyards of Belfast, (Northern) Ireland, to be the largest and safest ship that ever steamed across the Atlantic. The construction of the multi-chambered hull made it u

In 1987, when our previous Music Director, Judy Smarsh, and her husband Ed moved to our Parish, music was not part of every Mass, as it is today. But Fr. Gene Nickol pastor at the time, didn’t waste much time recruiting them to lead the 10:30AM Mass choir – Ed conducting, and Judy accompanying on the piano. When Fr. John Dietzenbach arrived in 1994, he created the position of Music Director to oversee all of the Masses, and hired Mrs. Smarsh to fill this position. After Ann White’s retirement, the 9AM choir joined the 10:30 choir and for the first time there was a single choir under one director. Judy Smarsh continued in the role of Music Director from the 1994 through 2005, but she was involved in the music portion of the liturgy prior to then and she continues to play the piano at various Masses, wedding and funerals. During the 1980’s and 90’s, our Parish grew considerably and soon there was a Saturday evening Mass, 4 Masses on Sunday morning in the Church, 2 Masses in the Parish