HAYMARSH - While a cool May wind tossed their wispy hair, little girls in pretty dresses scattered lilac and rose petals on the grounds of St. Clement's Haymarsh church Sunday.

They led a procession from the church to an outside altar that overlooked the fields and valley of the rural Catholic parish. Prayers were said for those fields and farmers there and everywhere.

Slightly muddy ground from better than an inch of rain Saturday was no sign the prayers were wasted, only that in this desperately dry spring they had already been partly answered.

The procession is an annual event at the church, officially closed years ago and open now for special occasions.

This, the Feast of Corpus Christi and prayers for the protection of agriculture, draws folks from the Haymarsh valley northeast of Hebron and elsewhere. It is an old tradition at St. Clement's.

About 100 attended the Mass and a hearty potluck lunch that smelled of baked beans and casseroles over at the vacant priest's house near the church.

There is no running water there and little boys raced into the outhouse and out again nearly as fast, slamming the old wood door shut behind them.

It's as if time has bypassed St. Clement's.

Father Valerian Odermann, of Assumption Abbey, said events like this show young people their faith is being handed on to them.

"Processions were common in the early church. It's a form of devotion, walking together," he said.

Jeanie Dukart, mom of 12 children from rural Killdeer, had a daughter who was a petal girl and a son who was an altar boy in a long white cassock carrying the incense brazier.

Other smaller children squirmed in the pew between her and her husband.

"I think it's beautiful," she said. "It's very important that the children learn not to let the old traditions die."

The Dukarts had just a quarter-inch of rain at their place and their prayers were heartfelt.

"For us rural people who farm and ranch, we depend on the gifts of God to make a living," Dukart said.

Joe Reinbold, of Hebron, said he was moved by the ceremony.

"There's something about the feeling I get at St. Clement's ," he said. "It feels very close to God out here."

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 1-888-303-5511, or lauren@westriv.com.)