An interesting pairing: cannon balls and church bells

I recently visited two historic sites near Charleston, SC.  One was Fort Moultrie.  The other, Stella Maris Catholic Church.  They stand adjacent to each other on the shore of Sullivan’s Island. 

Fort Moultrie played a major part in two American wars.  It sits on the mouth of Charleston Harbor, a strategic, deep-water port.  It was the site of a decisive battle in the Revolutionary War, successfully fending off Sir Henry Clinton’s cannonball assault.  Ultimately, the British ships ran aground, rendering them vulnerable to a Patriot counter assault. 

Fort Moultrie was also the site where the Civil War began.  In December, 1860, shortly after Lincoln was elected, Union officer Major Robert Anderson and his troops evacuated Fort Moultrie to nearby and more modern Fort Sumter.  Confederate soldiers then occupied Fort Moultrie.  Shots were fired from the two forts on April 12, 1861,  The bloodiest war in U.S. history began, with more U.S. casualties than World War I and World War II combined.   The war ended April 9, 1865.

After the Civil War, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Charleston, Father Timothy Bermingham, needed to build a church.  The local parish on Sullivan’s Island, Saint John the Baptist, was in ruins after the bombardment during the war.  Ironically, maybe providentially, he laid the cornerstone of Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) right next to Fort Moultrie a few years after the war. 

In a way only God can orchestrate, the most prominent feature now seen from the harbor is not a fortress with its armaments, but Mary on top of a beautiful bell tower gazing out toward the sea. 

Mary’s title, Stella Maris, speaks of Mary’s role guiding people to the light.  She was a favorite of sailors.  In a larger sense, the Star of the Sea guides all travelers through the stormy seas of life to the peace of Christ.  In a similar image, I’ve heard Mary is also like the moon and Christ the sun.  Not the light, but always reflecting the light of the sun. 

Today, the Stella Maris parish is still thriving.  Fort Moultry is no longer a fort, but a national park with memorial plaques to mark the horror of the war and the injustice of slavery.  Peace triumphs over war. 

God’s desire, and our ultimate destination, is peace.  This is true whether it be the wars in our world, the conflicts in our nation, or the civil war that takes place between our ego and our true self. 

Spend some time gazing upon the star of hope that rises high above all of these conflicts and guides us to peace.