Three centuries of faith celebrated in Destrehan

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

“Let us, before we die, gather our heritage and present it to our children,” is what the yearlong  300th anniversary celebration of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Destrehan was all about.


The event culminated Nov. 4 in a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond and concelebrated by pastor, Father Dominic “Mixie” Arcuri, and other priests and deacons, a dedication of an outdoor monument and brick walkway of parish history in Ascension Plaza, a heritage presentation and parish fellowship.

“Congratulations, my sisters and brothers,” said Archbishop Aymond at the Mass, celebrated on the feast of the parish’s namesake. Archbishop Aymond gave thanks to God for the parish’s many blessings.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to a 300th anniversary, and I don’t think I’ve been to an anniversary that has been celebrated for a year,” he said.

Faithfulness of parishioners
Father Arcuri, pastor No. 38, thanked parishioners for the way they have supported St. Charles Borromeo and for being a “vibrant, faith-filled, faith community.”

Many generations of the same families were in attendance, including the Hymel family.

“It’s a family here,” said third-generation Hymel family member, Katie, who touted the parish as blessed to have so many parishioners willing to step up and volunteer whenever needed. Katie Hymel has celebrated all of her sacraments here and currently teaches in the parish school of religion.


“Everybody is so nice,” said her grandmother Kate, who moved to the parish in 1956 and has been a perpetual adorer for 20-plus years. Her four children went to the parish elementary school. “I’m still talking to the same people for 65 years.”

She was referring to friends sitting beside her – Verna Weaver, 95, and Joyce Louque, whose children also attended St. Charles Borromeo Elementary and a few St. Charles High.

“People are so friendly,” Louque said. “When you call your friends, they come.”

“It’s home,” said Mary Ricks, who has been in the parish since 1988. “I wouldn’t go any place else. I love my family here.”

Mentioning how strong the Catholic faith is in the parish, Claire Brauninger said two parishioners – Fathers Jared Rodrigue and her son, Jesuit Father Jason Brauninger, have become priests – and Seth Smith is in priestly formation at Notre Dame Seminary.

“I’m proud of these boys,” Brauninger said. “They have developed their love of the faith from this parish.”

Traveling the farthest to Destrehan for the festivities was Guillaume Giraud, whose great-great-grandparents George and Amelie Perret Rixner are buried in the parish cemetery. He knew little about his relatives until a portrait of George and his daughter Amelie were found in the family’s country home and knew he had to come pay tribute. After her parents died, Amelie moved to Europe and later married an Italian nobleman, the Count de Sarzana.

“I thought it was a nice thing to do,” especially since other relatives couldn’t find the Louisiana tomb on previous efforts.

A living history
A brief history of the parish includes being formed in 1723 by a few settlers and a priest along what was then known as the “German Coast” on the Mississippi River’s west bank during America’s infancy. St. Charles Borromeo is the second-oldest parish in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, only behind St. Louis Cathedral in 1718. As population shifted to the east bank of the Mississippi River, the parish moved to Destrehan in 1740 and built a small log cabin.


Today’s St. Charles Borromeo obtained its nickname as the “little red church” because the second wooden structure was painted red, serving as a beacon for mariners along the river. The parish fair still bears the name. By 1920, 600 acres of the total 617 acres given by a Spanish land grant was sold to raise money to build the current church. The elementary school was built in 1929 to serve the needs of the Catholic families, and in 1948, St. Charles Catholic High School was built on site. (It moved to LaPlace in 1978.)

To honor the past while looking to the future, architect and parishioner John Campo was invited to design Ascension Plaza. It features an aerial map of the parish, a historical timeline along a blue-tiled Mississippi River, a plaque with all 38 pastors’ names in the 300-year history and a display case with the 617-acre land grant from the government of Spain that created the parish. Campo gave a presentation and mentioned a heritage in the parish dating to his great-great-grandmother in 1742. The ascending Jesus sits atop the memorial.

An adjacent exhibit of  watercolor reproductions completed by former pastor Father Joseph Paret of France, who served St. Charles Borromeo 1847-69, was also created. His watercolors, discovered in Paris in 1987, depict life in St. Charles Parish at the time he served.

“Whether you are a few generations or the 10th, we have all passed the faith on to our children,” Campo said. “That is what has sustained this parish for 300 years.”



“This 300th celebration has been about uncovering our history, telling our story and preserving it for future generations,” Father Arcuri said.

[email protected]