IMOGENE, Iowa — Main Street is an unpaved gravel lane, wide enough for one car. Along the street’s entire three blocks, there is not a single business.The whole town has only two institutions, really: a Catholic Church and an Irish pub. In fact, it’s a bit misleading to say Imogene has St. Patrick’s and Emerald Isle. Imogene is the church and the pub.If you picture a country church in a 30-person town, hidden in the remotest corner of Iowa, you might picture a modest, decaying building. Conversely, if you know the history of Catholic immigrants to the Midwest in the 19th century, you might expect an impressive crumbling structure that faintly gives off the echoes of faded glory.So you would never expect St. Patrick’s.The brick Gothic church standing atop Imogene might be the most beautiful country church in America. The three impressive front doors, flanked by two towers, are capped by the pointed arches typical of the Gothic revival period. Walk through the doors, and you’ll be stunned. Intricate stained-glass windows ring the church and fill it with delightful light. The oaken hammer-beam ceiling, like everything in this church, points worshipers' eyes toward heaven.Italian marble is everywhere, including the baptismal font, communion rails, and the carved Pieta in the back of the church, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding her son’s corpse at the foot of the cross. The walls of every Catholic...