HISTORY

Sts. Francis & Anne has been designated as an independent parish and Rev. Joy Antony Retnazihamoni will be the first resident pastor, effective June 30, 2010. 

Sts. Francis & Anne has been a mission of St. John the Baptist Church in Deville since 1949.

“It is fitting that in this year of the 100th Anniversary of our diocese, that the number of church parishes expands to 50,” said Bishop Herzog.

Welcome

Welcome to St. James Catholic Church. St. James is a medium size parish located in the city of Alexandria, LA  It is a very friendly parish that is family-oriented.  It is  traditional but keeps up with the implementations of Vatican II.  It is an active parish – all the way from our youth to the senior citizens.

Please come to visit or attend church services.  You will leave with a spirit of love that Christ pours forth upon you.

With the establishment of the Texas and Pacific Railway through the tenth ward of Avoyelles in 1882, Catholic families in the area began to shape a small community.  By 1888, this community had grown and the Catholics in the area were in need of a priest who could be in residence near them--at the time, the nearest priests were in Cottonport, Mansura, and Plaucheville.

The St. Peter/St.

Saint Francis de Sales Parish is located on Louisiana Highway 1 at the Rapides-Avoyelles Parish line.  The community of Echo dates to the mid 1800s and is located near the banks of the Red River almost twenty miles south of Alexandria.  Historically, the community is named for the “echo” of the whistles from paddlewheel steamboats that once plied the river to transport valuable cotton shipments to New Orleans.

Catholic services in the Deville community date back to 1834 when a pastor at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria began conducting Mass for a group of farmers at Holloway Prairie. About 20 years later, a small mission church was built on the site of what is now called the "old Catholic Cemetery," a site which was the object of a major cleanup in 1984. At that time, the oldest grave found was dated 1855. With disruptions caused by the Civil War, the congregation scattered, and it wasn't until 1880 that the first church was built.

History

St. Joseph’s Church was started as a Mission of St. John Baptist Catholic Church, Cloutierville during the period between 1880- 1890. When St. Joseph’s was established Rev. Jean Marie Beaulieu, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church began to minister to the Catholics of Colfax by   crossing  the river by ferry from time to time.

Welcome

You are heartily welcomed to the lake city, St. Joseph, and to St. Joseph Catholic Church. Rich in culture and history, St. Joseph Catholic Church is at the bank of the lifeline river of Mississippi.