Today as Our Louisiana Catholic Blog Update Pics we have the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It drives me up the wall but people think that all the Catholic history is located in the Southern part of the State. It is not and this Church and area is a prime example of it.I so much like the pictures that I will put a few of them up among the Louisiana Catholic blogger posts and entries. You can see more of them here.
Also there are more pics here at what appears to be the start of a new web site that gives the history of this Church.
The history of the Church dates back to the very early 1700s. The present church at Church and Second Streets in Natchitoches was built in 1857 and completed in 1892. The front vestibule was added in 1955 and in 1992 a project to restore the church to its 1892 grandeur was begun and ended with a re-dedication in 1996. Natchitoches is the oldest Settlement in the Louisiana purchase. Though some redneck whippersnappers in Harrisonburg Louisiana in the northeastern part of the State say they are the oldest. However they are out in the sticks and no one pays them much heed. Anywho from this town some of the earliest parts of American Catholicism sprung
Go the links above and here for more factoids.
It should also be noted that the The Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated Tuesdays at 8am and Sundays at 4pm.) It is indeed a lovely town (Steel Magnolias was filmed here) and has a great history.
On a more special Louisiana Blogger note Thoughts & Ruminations from Fr. Ryan who is also one of the brain trust of the Louisiana Catholic Podcast to the World Catholic Underground is the Parochial Vicar here. I cannot think of a more charming Church, a more wonderful and unique flock, and more beautiful town to be a Priest at in all of Louisiana.
This is a short update today (Thank God we have Pictures then!!!)
Ville Platte Catholic Youth Group has a vid here at Here is Our King
From The Recamier has her latest update here at Daily Update: July 15, 2008 (She has Saints today!!) She has a short run down on Saint Swithin, Bishop (died 862) and Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor (died 1274) that we honored yesterday. She does not have her usual huge posts on the facts , people, who was born, what happened and who died as to the date. :( However she has a nice Parting Quote (till she updates tonight) courtesy of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Russian doctor, short-story writer, and playwright (died 1904
Catholic Tube has a ton of vids and he is keeping up with the latest at WYD. See World Youth Day Begins , Pope Headed to Sydney , and Divine Mercy World Youth Day . He of course has more vids from the past few days
The Louisiana Brown Pelican Society( lay Louisiana Catholic organization) of course has a stellar update that I intend to look at after I finish this post. A monster number of Catholic related links that are too many to post. Check them out
Full Circle has Vatican position on Anglicans - So which is it? (By the he is a former Episcopalian that swam the Tiber. His "Convert story" is on his blog at Conversion Story index. He also has fro us today Women and Children first which is another good Titanic post
Thoughts & Ruminations despite my highlighting his beautiful Church saw fit not to update yet since we checked in on him yesterday. Oh the irony
I posted this update yesterday from The Lake Charles Latin Mass Society however let me do it again. There has been another "Latin Mass" added to the Diocese. Go see his post New Masses! for details.
Our Catholic Deacon in New Orleans Life on the (L)edge has IS IT BAD TO BE GOOD, OR GOOD TO BE BAD?
Da Mihi Animas our expat Priest in Soprano land (do not worry he still is a LSU fan and has endorsed the Rutgers Scarlet Heresy) has Salesian selected to be at Pope's boat-a-cade arrival (This might be happening about now since today is tommorow is aussie land). Also see Salesians Sister in America: Celebrating 100 Years of Working For the Young! . He also has entry on today's special feast Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Feast of the Brown Scapular
Maudie in Mandeville has Britain, the Jews, and Obama
Last but not least we have our other Louisiana Expat Priest Fr. Victor Brown’s Catholic Daily Message who also hits the same theme as Da Mihi Animas Go see Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July 2008). He makes some interesting connections between dates in World War II and the feasts of our national patroness.
Well of course people associate Catholicism in Louisiana with the southern part of the state! That's where the French basically settled as well as the Acadians who came from Canada and were Catholic too. But virtually nobody lived in the northern part of the state, so that's why the southern part of the state has a much richer religious history.
ReplyDeleteIt's nothing to be jealous of... ;-)
Sigh lol
ReplyDeleteAndrew, oh dear Andrew, Natchitoches has had a Catholic Church since 1717 and we've had a long and storied history up here... "Virtually nobody" is bad history. The Civil War was fought more here than it was in the south and the faith here has remained in many ways more vibrant up here than it has in the south, esp. in New Orleans (I've lived there... God Bless them).
ReplyDeleteBTW - thanks OC for highlighting my beautiful parish - you're right, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be assigned!
ReplyDeleteWhen I said virtually nobody, you have to compare the populations of Catholics of the northern part of Louisiana to those of the southern part. Clearly one is dominant over the other. Virtually does not mean absolutely. My comment has nothing to do with the Civil War, it has to do with Louisianian Catholicism. In any case, New Orleans, being the most important port on the Mississippi, certainly played a more vital role in the Civil War than that area.
ReplyDelete"In any case, New Orleans, being the most important port on the Mississippi, certainly played a more vital role in the Civil War than that area."
ReplyDeleteNew Orleans did a stellar job of surrendering without firing a shot lol
That being said of course the Catholic influence of SOuth Louisiana is significant. But this area is sort of a Island of Historical Catholcism.
THis areas was full of intrigue of course because through here many people went into Spanish Terriory
New Orleans did a stellar job of surrendering without firing a shot lol
ReplyDeleteMy point exactly.