Leonville — Twentyone years before the American Declaration of Independence was signed, peasant farmers were exiled from their native Acadia. Many of them eventually settled in Spanish territory that later became modern-day Louisiana. These Acadian settlers brought with them their Cajun faith and a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This devotion is still strong to this day and can be sensed every year in the middle of August as they celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
As part of this celebration, the Diocese of Lafayette has been holding a 40-mile Eucharistic boat procession from Leonville to St. Martinville in what is known as the Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat $889*
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Procession. This year’s event coincided with the national celebration of 250 years of American Independence. The prayer intention for this year’s procession was in thanksgiving for religious freedom and God’s many blessings these past 250 years as well as imploring Him by the all-day Eucharistic Adoration for graces of conversion and return to our Christian and Catholic roots.
The day-long event begins with a Mass at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Leonville. Following the Mass, there was a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and a statue of Mary and St. Joseph to the nearby boat landing. Pilgrims were encouraged to join the procession to the boat landing for Benediction. At 9:30 a.m., boats departed in procession down the Teche toward St. Martinville, retracing the
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pilgrimage made by the Acadians even before our country gained its independence.
Celebrating Mass in French this year, on Saturday, Aug. 15, was Basile native Bishop Douglas Deshotel, of the Diocese of Lafayette.
Bishop Deshotel, in his homily, said The Assumption has been designated as a solemnity in the Church “because celebrating this feast emphasizes an important teaching of our Catholic faith. It celebrates a belief that was held in the Church since the time of the apostles and declared as an infallible truth in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.”
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As the bishop explained, the belief regarding The Assumption “states that, at the end of her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, did not undergo the normal process of death bodily decay but was glorified and taken up immediately into Heaven.”
He went on to say, “It is also a day when we celebrate in our Diocese of Lafayette the arrival of the Acadians in South Louisiana. Because of their Catholic faith, many of them lost their land and their fortunes. Some of them lost their lives. Those who could left and came to settle in South Louisiana, where they could freely live their Catholic faith and culture.”
Bishop Deshotel implored those in attendance to pass on their Catholic faith to future generations. “The passing on of our Catholic faith,” he said, “is so important in our day and time. Today is a reminder for us to renew and rededicate ourselves to practicing our Catholic faith as did those first Acadians.”
Fête-Dieu du Teche, now in its 12th year, has taken a few different routes over the years. In 2016, due to a historic flood, the Teche was impassable and thus a convoy along La. 31 replaced the annual flotilla. In 2018, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Lafayette, a detour was made to the Vermilion River with a culmination at the Cathedral of St. John in Lafayette. In 2023 the Fête embarked on a southern route, beginning in Franklin and ending in New Iberia. In 2024, as many as 10,000 pilgrims participated in the two-day Fête on the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to coincide with the National Eucharistic Congress. Yet, the Bayou Teche remains the original and normal route for the procession, and it was graced by our Lord again this year.
Fr. Jason Vidrine, pastor of St. Martin de Tours Church in St. Martinville and former pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Ville Platte said, “The Fête-Dieu du Teche has been a tremendous blessing on several levels: it has helped to increase the devotion to Our Blessed Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, to celebrate the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption as it should be kept, and to bring awareness to our culture and heritage of love for our Lady and our Holy Catholic Faith received from our ancestors.
“I’ve had the great joy of participating in it from its beginning in 2015 and in various ways — from concelebrating the Mass in French, hearing confessions along the route, and riding in the boat procession with different parishioners each year. I always look forward to the graces Our Lord bestows upon all who participate in it!”
Current pastor of Sacred Heart in Ville Platte, Fr. Darren Eldrige, who served for eight years in Leonville, said, “For my eight years in Leonville, the Fête-Dieu du Teche was among the most meaningful events of my time there as pastor.
“How beautiful the response of so many to pray, honor our Blessed Mother, and walk (and float) with Jesus truly Present among us in the Eucharist. In south Louisiana our faith has always been strongest when we gather as families and as a parish community. May our public witness that Christ is still at the center of our lives, and that Mary continues to lead us closer to Him, be a beacon for all.”
BOAT PROCESSION — A boat carrying Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament departs from the boat landing in Leonville and makes a turn to proceed down the Bayou Teche toward the first stop in Arnaudville as part of the Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession that ended in St. Martinville with vespers and benediction at Mater Dolorosa Chapel. (Gazette photo by Tony Marks)
FRENCH MASS — Fr. Michael Champagne, of the Community of Jesus Crucified, incenses Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during Mass held in St. Leo the Great Catholic Church. (Gazette photo by Tony Marks)
