27 Jun 2019

Fifth Annual Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession

2019-09-12T15:11:33-05:00

For Immediate Release Contact:

Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC

fetedieuduteche@gmail.com

www.fetedieuduteche.org

June 26, 2019

(337) 394-6550

https://www.facebook.com/CommunityofJesusCrusified/

 

Fifth Annual Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession to be held on August 15

Boat Registration is now open

The fifth annual Eucharistic Procession down Bayou Teche will take place on Thursday, August 15. The date is important for Roman Catholics as it is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the Acadian people and of Acadiana. It is also a day that marks the 254th anniversary of the arrival of French-Canadian immigrants who brought the Catholic faith to Acadiana after enduring great trials and suffering. Hundreds will travel by boat to celebrate this occasion in honoring the Blessed Sacrament and Acadian heritage. Last year the event was held on the Vermilion river to help celebrate the centennial of the Diocese of Lafayette.   Thousands travelled from throughout south Louisiana to participate in the event.

Bishop John Douglas Deshotel, D.D., a native son of Acadiana and the current Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, will begin the event by celebrating the Mass of the Assumption in French at St. Leo the Great Church in Leonville at 8:00 a.m  “After Mass, we will process with the Blessed Sacrament with a special monstrance built for the occasion to the Leonville boat landing and embark in a boat procession down the Teche toward St. Martinville,” explains Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC, native son of the Diocese of Lafayette and lead organizer of this unique event. “The Blessed Sacrament will be fixed on an altar on the lead boat under a canopy, with a pair of adorers in adoration between the towns visited. The Eucharistic Procession will stop and disembark at the Catholic churches along the way for recitation of the rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. For those who are unable to participate by boat, all are invited to join for Mass at St. Leo’s in Leonville, and then to drive and gather at any of the planned stops at churches along the banks of Bayou Teche in Arnaudville, Cecilia, Breaux Bridge, and Parks, and finally in St. Martinville. Priests will be available at each stop for Confessions.”

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15), is a very important feast in the Catholic Church, but especially for the Diocese of Lafayette.  It is the Feast of the Acadians who settled here in 1765.  The Acadians originally sailed to Nouvelle-Écosse (Nova Scotia) under the star of Our Lady of the Assumption and again during the Grand Dérangement. The Acadian flag, both Canadian and Louisiana Acadian, highlights the centrality of Our Lady of the Assumption for the Acadian people. The gold star on a white field represents “Our Lady of the Assumption”, Patroness of the Acadians. When the first settlers departed France for the New World, the Virgin Mary was highly revered. It was a period of great devotion to the Virgin. The King of France, Louis XIII, and Pope Pius XI declared the Virgin Mary the patroness of the kingdom, (Patronne de Royaume) and Patroness Saint of all the Acadians in Canada, Louisiana and elsewhere. On August 15, 1638, France and her colonies were consecrated to Mary under the title “Our Lady of the Assumption”.

Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC, the organizer of the unique event explains that during Fȇte-Dieu du Teche “the Blessed Sacrament will be fixed on an altar on the lead boat under a canopy, with a pair of adorers in adoration between the towns visited. Another boat will carry the statue of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Eucharistic Procession will stop and disembark at makeshift altars along the Bayou Teche for recitation of the Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. For those who are unable to participate by boat, all are invited to join for Mass at St. Leo the Great in Leonville at 8 am and then to drive and gather at any of the planned stops along the banks behind the various churches along Bayou Teche. Priests will be available at each stop for Confessions.”

Bishop Douglas Deshotel will begin the day with a French Mass of the Assumption at St. Leo the Great in Leonville at 8:00 AM. Bishop Deshotel notes, “I have been edified by the devotion and participation of so many priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful.  I think such a public Eucharistic celebration is an excellent manifestation of the new evangelization that we so desperately need.”  Bishop Glen Provost, a native son of the Diocese of Lafayette and bishop of Lafayette’s daughter diocese, the Diocese of Lake Charles, reflecting on Fête-Dieu du Teche says, “Let us remember that the Acadians and French who first settled in our area were Catholic, and in the case of the Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia primarily because they were Catholic.    It is our history we remember.   It is our faith we celebrate.    It is our Lord we adore and worship.”  In his homily at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church last year he quoted Lafayette’s second bishop, Bishop Maurice Schexnayder who prophesied, “The waters of the Teche will be drained to the ground before the people of Acadiana lose their Catholic Faith.”

Itinerary for Centennial Eucharistic Boat Procession on Bayou Teche

Thursday, August 15, 2018

(Feast of the Assumption of Mary)

8:00 a.m.        Holy Mass in French with Bishop John Douglas Deshotel, D.D. at St. Leo the Great Church, Leonville

9:00 a.m.        Procession from St. Leo’s to Leonville boat landing

9:30 a.m.        Boat Procession departs

10:20 a.m.      Arrive at Arnaudville and disembark for Rosary and Benediction

11:45 a.m.      Arrive at Cecilia and disembark for Rosary and Benediction

1:35 p.m.        Arrive at Breaux Bridge and disembark for Rosary and Benediction

3:15 p.m.        Arrive at Parks and disembark for Rosary and Benediction

4:45 p.m.        Flotilla arrives at St. Martinville; Procession to Notre Dame de Perpetuel Secours for Benediction

5:00 p.m.        Procession from Notre Dame to St. Martin de Tours Church for Benediction

5:30 p.m.        Procession down Main Street to Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel for Solemn Vespers & Final Benediction

6:00 p.m.        Solemn Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

** Confessions will be available at all stops in Mobile Units along the Procession

Boat Registration

To register a boat for the procession, send an email to fetedieuduteche@gmail.com  or download a registration form at http://www.fetedieuduteche.org/registration19.pdf Once the registration form is completed and waivers signed, either mail them to 103 Railroad Avenue, St. Martinville, LA 70582 or scan the completed forms and email them to the above email address as an attachment.  The boat coordinator will contact you with details. The procession will travel at about 8 mph and thus only motorized vessels are allowed.  Catholic schools are encouraged to send their students or a representative group to be present at the opening French Mass in Leonville with Bishop Deshotel, one of the stops along the procession, but especially to participate in the final foot procession in St. Martinville.

Additional Information

For more information, visit the website www.fetedieuduteche.org or Fete-Dieu du Teche on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityofJesusCrusified/ or contact Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC by telephone at (337) 394-6550 or email at fetedieuduteche@gmail.com

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Fifth Annual Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession2019-09-12T15:11:33-05:00
24 Jun 2019

Steamboat Shrimp Étouffée with Chef Jason Huguet

2023-10-26T12:07:37-05:00

Étouffée has a long history in Louisiana food culture. From a home dish served in bayou-side kitchens to fine dining in New Orleans restaurants, this meal is one that has made its rounds and been interpreted and reinterpreted time and again. In the second of our Steamboat recipe series, we will share Chef Jason Huguet’s method for cooking shrimp étouffée.

Shrimp Étouffée:

2 sticks real butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 tablespoons minced garlic
6 oz tomato sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
2 lbs. 70/90 count shrimp
2 cups of water
salt & cayenne pepper to taste
½ cup slurry (a mixture of ¼ cup corn starch and ¼ cup of either water, stock, or wine)

Set your rice to cooking before you start preparing the étouffée.

Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add in diced onion and minced garlic. Simmer until onions are clear. Add in tomato sauce and stir. Then add sugar. Stir occasionally for a few minutes. Then add in shrimp and season to taste. Let the shrimp cook until they are just turning pink then add 2 cups of water, stirring as you do. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Add the corn starch slurry gradually while mixing. Let cook for a few more minutes, then serve.

The shrimp in this recipe can easily be replaced by crawfish or seafood of your choice. The original intent behind étouffée was to cook what you had available. Don’t be scared to flex your culinary muscles and experiment.

Alternatively, if the recipe looks tasty, but you don’t trust your own culinary skills just yet, head to Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant in Washington to taste Chef’s recipes from the very hand that crafted them. You can also stop by any of our restaurants to get a true taste of St. Landry Parish. It would be worth it to plan a trip and hit all the best places to eat. See Where to Stay for accommodations and Food & Drink for all your foodie needs.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

Steamboat Shrimp Étouffée with Chef Jason Huguet2023-10-26T12:07:37-05:00
7 Jun 2019

A Spiritual Experience in St. Landry Parish

2025-07-11T16:12:01-05:00

A spiritual experience can be more than just a religious one. St. Landry Parish has a way of tantalizing a person’s intangible mass of self, peppering their soul with new sensation.

For some people, music moves the soul. A singer’s words edge them sweetly into nirvana or a musician’s skill lulling them into a place no one else can know. And for others, food has that same effect, harkening one’s thoughts to sweeter times with people they love and fond memories. This is not to detract from the spirituality of religion. The weight of the history and traditions of the buildings and locations with each stone dedicated and lovingly assembled to the singular purpose of worship cannot be denied. These quiet places reveal themselves as havens of spiritual peace that can be found nowhere else. Sometimes a spiritual connection makes itself known in a glimpse of the past, an item, a picture, a museum detailing what is now lost to time.

The spirit can be moved by many things-be it nature, music, art, food, religion, or history. Though there is much that can move a soul, all of them can be found in St. Landry Parish.

At the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, this sustainable building comes alive in the spring with the blooming of Louisiana irises. You can read more about the plants surrounding the center, here. However, an impressive array of greenery is not all that you’ll find on the grounds of this award-winning visitor center.

Right outside the building, as you begin to walk the path thousands of others have walked since it opened in 2011, stands a steel statue, gleaming against the blue of the Louisiana sky. This statue depicts Amédé Ardoin, legendary accordion player widely regarded as the progenitor of Cajun and zydeco music. His recordings alongside Eunice fiddle-player, Dennis McGee, were some of the first recordings of the area’s regional style of music in the 1930s. Their interracial act was groundbreaking at the time.

Cajun and zydeco jam sessions are still held at the center on the 2nd and 3rd Saturdays, and music remains one of the key facets of the parish. There’s always a live music event going on during the weekend. Check our Facebook page every Thursday for a list of live music events taking place over the weekend.

Amédé Ardoin, Opelousas, Louisiana

Continue your journey into Opelousas proper by stopping along Highway 190 to the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum. Hundreds of photos line the walls showing the orphans who rode the railway from the New York Foundling Hospital into a new life in St. Landry Parish. You may even find a connection you never knew about, a piece of your own history connecting your spirit to these travelers of the past.

Continue your journey into Opelousas proper by stopping along Highway 190 to the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum. Hundreds of photos line the walls showing the orphans who rode the railway from the New York Foundling Hospital into a new life in St. Landry Parish. You may even find a connection you never knew about, a piece of your own history connecting your spirit to these travelers of the past.

Opelousas also offers a myriad of churches, each steeped in a rich history that can add new depth to your spiritual journey. The St. Landry Parish Catholic Church founded in 1770 by French Capuchin friars, features distinctive red brick. It is open for tours by appointment, as well as its cemetery, which is the final resting place of old prominent families as well as Napoleonic general Garrigue de Flaugeac. The Catholic influence in Opelousas also extends to the Holy Ghost Catholic Church, founded in 1920 and is home to the largest black Catholic congregation in the United States. The Treasures of Opelousas, a group affiliated with Holy Ghost, created the first Zydeco Festival in Plaisance in 1982. This grass roots effort gave birth to zydeco festivals all over the world.

While Opelousas is the home of zydeco, Grand Coteau is the site of a miracle. Nestled in a copse of sprawling oaks is the site of the miraculous cure of a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Learn the story of Mary Wilson, who in 1866 was healed by St. John Berchmans, thereby leading to his canonization. A shrine to the saint is erected on the spot and is open for tours by appointment.

Also located in Grand Coteau is the St. Charles Borromeo Church. This picturesque church houses a 3,104-pound bell that still rings clearly across the countryside. Aside from these soul-enlightening experiences, you can find a nice assortment of boutiques and antique shopping lining the town’s main street. You may even be able to snag a sweet dough pie from the Kitchen Shop or grab lunch at Brent’s or the Hive Market.

If your soul finds peace in shopping for gifts among the artifacts of time, the historic steamboat town of Washington offers a notable option for you. Peruse the halls of the Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall.  This 1930s-era high school’s hallways offer antique shopping from many vendors with each room housing a different theme. If you stick around Washington, you can also find St. John’s Episcopal Church, built circa 1874. This building was used in the filming of “Free State of Jones”, a Civil War era movie.

If you like your shopping with a side of art, Sunset provides the perfect backdrop for your outing. Café Josephine offers award-winning dishes and a delicious oyster bar. See one-of-a-kind finds and artwork at antique shops and galleries. There’s also Jerilyn’s Fused Glass Art Gallery, where delicate glasswork shards hang from the ceiling in vivid arcs. Spirituality reveals itself in Sunset through the handmade things of artisans.

There’s a lot to be said about the spiritual places in St. Landry Parish, in particular our historic churches. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2019 three churches-St. Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church-were lost to fires from a person motivated by hate. The landscape of our parish has been forever changed, and the history brought and cared for by these churches has been lost. But the outpouring of support and love that came from across the country. Their efforts raised over $2 million. While not able to erase the damage done, the efforts can raise something powerful in its place, a message of hope and community that stands stronger than denizens of hatred.

There is more to discover than is mentioned here. You can visit our Spiritual Trail Itinerary for a route suggested by the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission, or filter by Spiritual Tours in our Things to Do section of our website. Find what speaks to your spirit, today.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

A Spiritual Experience in St. Landry Parish2025-07-11T16:12:01-05:00

St. Landry Parish Visitor Center
Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm

337.948.8004
978 Kennerson Road (I-49 exit 23)
P.O. Box 1415 • Opelousas, LA 70570

Visitor Guide (En)
Visitor Guide (Fr)

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