In 1856, Father Pierz established a mission in the area, and a small log church was soon built. As the Catholic community grew, so did its need for a permanent spiritual home. After several early churches served the settlement, the cornerstone of the present stone church was laid in 1873, and the new church was blessed in 1875 under the name St. Mary Help of Christians.

For more than 150 years, generations of Catholics have gathered here to celebrate the Sacraments, educate their children, serve their neighbors, and pass on the Catholic faith. What began as a small mission among pioneer families grew into a parish community of hundreds of households.

The Catholic roots of St. Wendelin in Luxemburg reach back to the earliest settlers of the area, many of whom came from Luxembourg and Germany in the mid-1800s. The first recorded Mass was celebrated on April 11, 1859, in the home of a local family, and the congregation was organized that same day. Thirty-nine families came together to build and pay for the community's first small frame church.

The parish's devotion to St. Wendelin has a special connection to its immigrant beginnings. According to parish tradition, the Peter Maus family brought a statue of St. Wendelin with them from Germany. During a dangerous storm on their voyage to America, the family promised to build a shrine for the saint if they survived. That statue remains in the church today—a lasting connection between the faith of those first families and the generations who followed them.

As the Catholic community grew, construction of the present granite church began in 1872, and it was dedicated in 1875. Education also became an important part of parish life. A school was established in Luxemburg in 1861, with Benedictine Sisters arriving to teach in 1881. That tradition of Catholic education continues through St. Wendelin School today.

1889, and a frame church was built west of Pearl Lake and dedicated that September by Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch.

When a devastating cyclone destroyed the church in 1894, the community quickly rebuilt. The new church was completed and dedicated in 1896, a testament to the determination and faith of the families who called Pearl Lake home. Originally known as St. Lawrence, the parish later took the name Holy Cross.

Faith and education became closely intertwined in the community with the founding of Holy Cross School in 1904. For more than a century, generations of children were educated there until the school closed in 2021. Throughout its history, Holy Cross became much more than a church building—it was a spiritual and social home where families worshiped, celebrated, mourned, served, and passed on their Catholic faith.