An example of the robust faith life of that tiny little parish up in the country, St. Jane de Chantal

Wendy and I moved to Abita Springs LA in 1996 and the best thing we ever did was join the Catholic parish of St. Jane de Chantal.  22 years ago the parish had about 350 registered families and only had 3 weekend masses.  It also was home to a quaint mission church about 18 miles away in Bush LA named for St. Michael the Archangel.  This would be the parish from which sprung my belief that I was called to the vocation of the diaconate and the parish that sponsored me as I applied for the diaconate formation program back in 2002.

For all of my life, lived as a Catholic in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, I never heard of St, Jane de Chantal Church.  I found out that many from New Orleans who would visit the small country town of Abita Springs loved the church and often referred to her as that tiny little parish in the country.

Fast forward to this first weekend, Epiphany weekend of 2018 and get a feel for how robust this parish has become.  As one of the assigned Permanent Deacons to my home parish, this is incredible to me of how far and fast we have grown in response to the faith life of the community.  Take a look at this weekend with me.

On Friday the day begins as all days begin with morning mass.  St. Jane always has daily mass!  This Friday is a First Friday so as soon as Mass is over, all day Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament begins.  Adoration continues until the evening hours when a rosary is prayed around 6:30 pm and the day concludes with 7 pm Benediction, which I am privileged to offer often.  Meanwhile over in Bush, at St. Michael's, a 2-hour Holy Hour commences at 5 pm, with recitation of the rosary, Adoration and Benediction at 7 pm.  Back in Abita Springs, as Benediction concludes, the church must be prepared quickly for a 8 pm wedding rehearsal.  All goes off without a hitch so we then can prepare, again hastily, for a 9 pm Epiphany Eve devotion in the Extraordinary Form of the Blessing of Waters.  Celebrated in Latin, the devotion encourages families to bring water from home to be blessed.  The Church finally was at rest by 10:30 pm but not the parish campus.  While all of this was going on our Catholic Youth Group was gathered for an overnight sleepover as part of a retreat weekend with youth from around the area.  Our youth group even came over to church to participate in the Benediction.

So that was our Friday; let's take a look at Saturday.  Again, as always, we begin the day with 8 am daily mass, followed very quickly by 9 am Mass in the EF for the traditional feast of the Epiphany.  And immediately after Mass is over, the Church is hosting a wake service and then a noontime funeral for one of our devoted parishioners.  Rest in peace Mr. Gordon Clavin.  A graveside service follows the funeral Mass but meanwhile, back at the church, preparation is well underway because next up is a 2:30 wedding.  The wedding will then give way to our regular 4 pm vigil mass in the Ordinary Form so that will be the 1st mass(anticipatory) of Epiphany.  And oh yes, the same will be underway over at our mission church, St. Michael's in Bush.  And while all of this is happening the family of our dearly departed member is using our St. Joseph Hall as a gathering place for all the family and friends who have ventured to Abita Springs for the funeral, while the wedding party family has St. Jane Hall active for a pre-reception party.  As they clear out, St. Jane Hall will be transformed to accommodate the Epiphany Party event for the Latin Mass Community of St. Jane.  And I think that takes care of Saturday!

Priests, deacons and staff are certainly busy and we need to remember this is all in service to the Lord by being in service to our brothers & sisters!

Sunday is a still busy day, a normal schedule of Masses; 8 and 10 am in the Ordinary Form for the Epiphany, noon in the Extraordinary Form(Latin) and then our evening Mass at 6 pm to conclude an incredibly busy weekend.

St. Jane de Chantal Church Abita Springs LA since 1924.

So I share this weekends experience as a testimony to the vibrant faith life of our community.  In addition to all of this, we have many, many ministries that serve the parish, the community and the church.  We offer robust Bible Study both in the mornings and evenings almost every week of the year.  Our RCIA program helps welcome new members to the Church both as catechumens and candidates. By the way, that tiny parish in the country that my family joined in 1996, it now has over 1400 registered families and now offers 6 masses on the weekend.  We have grown tremendously in 22 years, especially post Katrina and still gather in that same beautiful church that will be approaching her 100th year anniversary.

For even more information about our parish feel free to check out our website here: http://saintjanedechantal.com/

We strive everyday to be the example of our patroness, St. Jane de Chantal, who's motto was simply: Live Jesus!