Editing Columbia, Virginia (section)

===Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel===

Columbia is home to St. Joseph's Church and Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel, a parish within the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.richmonddiocese.org/parish/saint-josephs-shrine-st-katharine-drexel| title=Saint Joseph's Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel – Catholic Diocese of Richmond| work=richmonddiocese.org| access-date=September 13, 2015| archive-url=https://archive.today/20140711085655/http://www.richmonddiocese.org/parish/saint-josephs-shrine-st-katharine-drexel| archive-date=July 11, 2014| url-status=dead}}</ref> The church was built by William and Catherine Wakeham, English Catholic [[abolitionist]]s who moved to Columbia in 1833. Because they were abolitionists, the hill on which their house was built came to be called Free Hill. After Catherine Wakeham's death in 1891, her sons Alfred and Richard, both [[Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart|Josephites]], were called away from Columbia for clerical duties. An elderly [[African-American]] man, Zack Kimbro, continued to maintain the chapel and place fresh flowers and clean linen on its altar.

[[St. Katharine Drexel]], S.B.S. (1858–1955), the founder of the [[Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament]], visited the church while passing through Columbia in 1901 and noticed the reflection of sunlight on the chapel's cross. St. Katherine was eventually introduced to Kimbro, who told her he had prayed daily for over a decade that Mass would once more be celebrated in the chapel. St. Katharine contacted the Josephite Fathers and arranged for Mass to be celebrated in the church's [[chapel]] regularly. She also founded a small school adjacent to the chapel, which was one of Fluvanna County's only educational institutions available for black children. St. Joseph's and its school became the center of one of Virginia's only historically African-American Catholic communities.

Because of its location on high ground, St. Joseph's was spared during the 20th Century floods that mostly destroyed Columbia's other buildings. The church is still an active parish, sharing a pastor with Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in [[Palmyra, Virginia|Palmyra]]. St. Joseph's also serves Catholic students at the nearby [[Fork Union Military Academy]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.fluvannareview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1895%3Ast-katharine&catid=81&Itemid=53| title=Fluvanna Review – Saved by a saint and steeped in history, a Columbia church thrives| author=Carlos M. Santos| work=fluvannareview.com| access-date=September 13, 2015}}</ref>