About St. Anne · Abbeville, Louisiana
St. Anne Catholic Church is a small, mission-minded Roman Catholic parish serving the rural Cow Island community in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, within the Diocese of Lafayette. Founded in 1933, the parish sits at 17315 Lionel Road and functions as the spiritual center of Cow Island, where Catholic families of French-Acadian descent have worshipped for nearly a century. Beyond the main church, St. Anne shepherds two mission chapels: Immaculate Conception at Forked Island and Sacred Heart at Pecan Island, extending Catholic life deep into the surrounding marsh country of coastal Louisiana. The parish today offers daily Mass, regular confession, and Eucharistic Adoration under the pastoral care of Rev. Suresh Mathangi.
- Established
- 1933
- Patron
- St. Anne (mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandmother of Jesus Christ)
- Rector
- Rev. Suresh Mathangi
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
St. Anne is the spiritual heart of Cow Island, a small but devoted Catholic community in the Vermilion Parish marsh country. Families here worship at a historic 1933 parish church, are shepherded by Fr. Suresh Mathangi, and benefit from daily Mass, three weekly confession times, and Eucharistic Adoration on Thursdays and First Fridays. The parish also reaches out to two mission chapels — Immaculate Conception at Forked Island and Sacred Heart at Pecan Island — meaning a visitor or newcomer is welcomed into a close-knit rural Catholic family that has gathered around the Eucharist for nearly a century.
Mass times at St. Anne
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM
- Sunday 7:00 AM – 7:45 AM
- Sunday 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
Adoration times
- Thursday 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
- Friday 7:30 AM – 10:00 PM (First Fridays)
History of St. Anne Parish
St. Anne Catholic Church was established in 1933 to serve the rural Catholic families of Cow Island in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana — a marsh settlement that had been homesteaded a century earlier by French-Acadian pioneers. The parish has been the social and spiritual center of the community ever since, and from its earliest years it also tended to outlying Catholic families through two mission chapels at Forked Island and Pecan Island.
- Parish established and records begun: 1933
- First settler of Cow Island: Pierre LaPoint, c. late 1840s (originally Île des Vache)
- Two missions attached: Immaculate Conception (Forked Island) and Sacred Heart (Pecan Island)
- Reported Catholic families: ~853; total Catholics: ~2,560 (older diocesan directory)
Pastoral Leadership
St. Anne is currently served by Rev. Suresh Mathangi, who is listed in the Diocese of Lafayette's priests directory as Pastor of St. Anne Church, Cow Island, with contact email [email protected]. Fr. Mathangi presides at the parish's Sunday and weekday Masses, Christian Burial Masses, and sacramental celebrations. An earlier diocesan directory lists Rev. Michael Keith Landry as pastor alongside Deacon Benedict Morello, who continues to be associated with the parish.
- Current Pastor: Rev. Suresh Mathangi
- Earlier Pastor: Rev. Michael Keith Landry
- Deacon: Benedict Morello (per older directory listing)
Mission Chapels
St. Anne Parish extends well beyond the main Cow Island church through two mission chapels that bring the Eucharist to outlying bayou communities. Both missions maintain regular Mass schedules under the care of the pastor of St. Anne.
- Immaculate Conception Chapel — Forked Island (Sunday Mass 9:30 AM)
- Sacred Heart Chapel — Pecan Island (Saturday Vigil Mass 6:30 PM)
- Immaculate Conception Cemetery — Forked Island (associated parish cemetery)
Sacraments and Pastoral Care
Because the parish serves a tight-knit rural community, sacramental life is woven into the most important moments of family life — baptisms, weddings, anointing of the sick, and especially Christian Burial. The pastor is regularly present at funerals, with a traditional visitation and Rosary preceding the Mass, and burial typically follows at the parish cemetery.
- Reconciliation — Saturday and Sunday before Mass
- Christian Burial — Mass with the pastor, Rosary, and burial at parish cemetery
- Holy Matrimony — by arrangement with the parish office
- Anointing of the Sick and other pastoral needs — by request to the parish
Contact and Parish Information
Parishioners and visitors can reach St. Anne at the church office in Cow Island. The parish also maintains a gmail address for general correspondence and is listed in the Diocese of Lafayette's parish directory and online Parish Finder.
- Address: 17315 Lionel Road, Cow Island, Abbeville, LA 70510
- Phone: (337) 643-7714
- Email: [email protected]
- Diocese listing: Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana — Parish Finder / All Parishes (diolaf.org)
- Parish priest email: [email protected]
The Cow Island Community
St. Anne is more than a church building — it is the heart of a small, historically Acadian-Catholic community in the Vermilion Parish marsh. The first settler, Pierre LaPoint, arrived in the late 1840s and named the hill 'Île des Vache' (Cow Island) for the wild cattle in the surrounding marsh. Generations of Broussard, Nunez, Gaspard, and LaPoint families built homes here with lumber hauled by ox cart from Abbeville. The parish, founded in 1933, has gathered these families — and the broader bayou communities of Forked Island and Pecan Island — around the Eucharist for nearly a century.
- Community named Île des Vache by Pierre LaPoint, late 1840s
- Early families: LaPoint, Gaspard, Broussard, Nunez
- Ernest Broussard Agriculture School consolidated in 1918; first graduation 1938
- St. Anne Church described as 'the center of the community'
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Michael Keith Landry
Listed as pastor of St. Anne Church in earlier diocesan directory records, alongside Deacon Benedict Morello.
- Rev. Suresh Mathangi
Current pastor; email [email protected]; presides at parish funerals, weddings, and weekend Masses including at the mission chapels.