About St. Anne Church
St. Anne's Chapel is a small but beloved Catholic mission chapel perched on a hill in Frenchtown — the historic French fishing village on the south coast of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a mission of the mother church of the diocese, Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Charlotte Amalie, and it remains one of the oldest houses of worship in the Virgin Islands still standing in its original structure. The chapel serves a warmly mixed congregation of Black, white, Hispanic, Filipino, West Indian, and mainland parishioners, and is reached through the Cathedral parish at cathedralvi.com.
- Established
- 1921
- Patron
- St. Anne
- Rector
- Rev. Robert Kenfack (current administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands
Why belong here
St. Anne's Chapel is the spiritual heart of Frenchtown, St. Thomas — a small, close-knit Catholic community that built its own chapel stone by stone almost a century ago and still gathers on its hilltop for the same Christmas Mass and July 26 procession to bless the bay. Members come from every background — Black, white, Hispanic, Filipino, West Indian, and mainland — and the chapel continues to welcome visitors to one of the oldest houses of worship in the Virgin Islands still in its original structure. As a mission of Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, it offers the same Catholic faith, sacraments, and tradition in an intimate village setting.
Mass times at St. Anne Church
Weekly Mass schedule
Our Story
St. Anne's Chapel was built by the French Catholic fishing community of Carenage (today's Frenchtown) between 1920 and 1921, under the leadership of Father John Guillo, a Redemptorist priest newly arrived from Michigan. The project was a thank-offering: the community had come through the 1917 transfer of the Virgin Islands from Denmark to the United States and the deadly Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–1919, and wanted a chapel of their own. Working without machines, the villagers enlisted the U.S. Navy to blast the rock hilltop, then hauled stones, sand, and gravel up from the bay — some brought by boat from Water Island and Hassel Island — to build the chapel stone by stone. On Christmas Day, 1921, at 9 a.m., the chapel bell rang for the first time and the first Mass was offered. The chapel has been a mission of Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Charlotte Amalie ever since, and celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2011 and its centennial in 2021.
- Founded by Redemptorist Father John Guillo (assigned 1918) and layman Paul Dugal
- First stone laid 1920; chapel bell first rung and first Mass celebrated December 25, 1921
- Built on Gallows Hill, on land donated by Joseph Boschulte
- First communions in 1922; first marriage (Octave & Marie Greaux) on November 29, 1922
- Father Leo Harkin assigned 1922; started the still-observed July 26 feast-day procession
- One of the oldest houses of worship in the U.S. Virgin Islands still standing in its original structure
Patron and Feast Day
The chapel is named for St. Anne, the patron saint of fishermen — a fitting patroness for Carenage's French fishing community. The annual feast of St. Anne on July 26 has been marked since 1922 by an outdoor procession from the chapel down to the bay, where the faithful carry the statue of St. Anne with her child, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and where boats and waters are blessed.
- Patron: St. Anne (patron saint of fishermen)
- Feast day: July 26
- Annual procession from the chapel to the bay with the statue of St. Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Blessing of boats and waters at the conclusion of the procession
Architecture and Renovation
The chapel is a small structure perched on a hand-blasted rock hilltop in Frenchtown, built of stone hauled by the original parishioners themselves from the bay and from Water Island and Hassel Island. In April 2010, Bishop Herbert A. Brevard installed a matching set of antique French Gothic furnishings in the chapel — a main altar, a side altar for the Lady shrine, a reredos, a baptismal font, Stations of the Cross, and wall paneling — brought in from a church in Pennsylvania that had closed. The community followed up with a wave of additional work: repairing the bell tower and rain gutters, paving the land outside the hall, repainting the roof and chapel, installing new clear windows and a side door, and (most recently) replacing the pews with cushioned seating in the nave and choir loft. Local carpenter Allan Richardson built a matching pulpit in memory of his mother Josephine Richardson.
- Hilltop stone structure, foundation blasted from solid rock by the U.S. Navy in 1920
- Stones hauled by boat from Water Island and Hassel Island, then carried in buckets up the hill
- French Gothic antique furnishings dedicated April 14, 2010
- 2011 wave of renovations: bell tower, gutters, roof, paved grounds, new windows and side door
- Locally-built pulpit donated by Allan Richardson in memory of Josephine Richardson
Community Life and Ministries
St. Anne's has a small but enormously engaged lay community. The St. Anne's Choir contributed an audio CD of carols for the 90th-anniversary commemorative book, and children perform an annual Christmas pageant that opens the anniversary Mass. Fundraising committees have produced a 132-page commemorative history book, a community cookbook, and food sales, bingo, and raffles to support ongoing maintenance. As Father Charles Crespo described it in 2011, "We are black and white, Hispanic and Filipinos, West Indians and mainlanders… a simple little chapel that recognizes we are all the family of God."
- St. Anne's Choir (carols recorded for 90th-anniversary audio book)
- Children's Christmas pageant
- Annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony
- Commemorative book committee (132 pages, 100+ photos for 90th anniversary)
- Cookbook committee for the centennial, designed by Denise Humphrey
- Centennial Committee chaired by Cain Magras
Milestone Anniversaries
The chapel's two milestone anniversaries in recent years have been community-wide celebrations. The 90th anniversary was held on Christmas Day 2011, with Bishop Herbert A. Brevard presiding and a commemorative book and audio CD compiled by the parish. The 100th anniversary was marked on Christmas Day 2021, despite COVID restrictions limiting larger events, with a centennial commemorative book and cookbook, and with Bishop Jerome Feudjio — a former chaplain of the chapel — presiding.
- 90th Anniversary – Christmas Day 2011, 8 a.m. Mass, celebrated by Bishop Herbert A. Brevard
- 90th Anniversary commemorative book: 132 pages, 100+ photos from old parish families and the French Heritage Museum
- Audio CD of St. Anne's Choir singing carols
- 100th Anniversary – Christmas Day 2021, presided over by Bishop Jerome Feudjio
- Centennial commemorative book designed by Kate Rake Williams; cookbook designed by Denise Humphrey
- Centennial Committee chaired by Cain Magras
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father John Guillo1918–
Redemptorist priest from Michigan who arrived in 1918 and drove the building of the chapel; celebrated its first Christmas Day Mass on Dec. 25, 1921
- Father Leo Harkin1922–
Assigned the year of the chapel's first communions; started the still-observed July 26 outdoor procession and blessing of the boats
- Bishop Jerome Feudjio1990–1999, 2002–2005
Served as spiritual leader of St. Anne's before becoming Bishop of the Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands
- Father Charles Crespo2009–~2015
Appointed chapel administrator by Bishop Brevard in 2009; led the 90th anniversary celebrations in 2011 and the 2010 French Gothic furnishings renovation
- Rev. Robert Kenfack
Diocesan chancellor for the Catholic Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and current administrator of the chapel as of the 100th anniversary