Bastille Day at St. Joseph&#039;s Cathedral in Baton Rouge

Sunday, July 14, 2024

The L’Assemblée Française (French Assembly of Baton Rouge) will join St. Joseph Cathedral, 401 Main Street downtown, in hosting a special celebration of the Eucharist at 10:30 am this Sunday, July 14, marked worldwide as Bastille Day. Scheduled to preside is the Rev. Jason Vidrine, Curé (pastor) of St. Martin de Tours Parish in Ville Platte in the Diocese of Lafayette.

The Mass honors the city’s cultural heritage and close association with its earliest French connections. The French explorer Pierre le Moyne d’Iberville named the area “le bâton rouge” after seeing a reddish cypress pole that two indigenous tribes -- the Houma Indians and the Bayougoula Indians -- used to settle a border conflict between them. In 1721, European settlement began in Baton Rouge when French colonists established a military and trading post.

A display of historical artifacts visually reflecting the French influence in local church history -- including sacramental registers from early parishes, a chalice from St. Joseph Church (now Cathedral) used by missionary priests, a clergy Mass kit used by traveling priests in rural areas where there were no churches, and other items -- will be set in the cathedral for public viewing, courtesy of the Archives Department of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

A concert of French organ music beginning at 10:00 am will precede the Mass. The Magnolia Strings quartet will participate, and the Cathedral Choir will sing parts of the Mass in French. Come early!

Everyone, including state and local public ocials and persons with an interest in French historical and cultural impact on Catholicism here, are invited to the Mass and the reception sponsored by the Parish Development Group which follows in the Cathedral Parish Hall.

For more information, contact (225) 387-5928, [email protected].