About St. Anne · Napoleonville, Louisiana
St. Anne Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic parish in the small Assumption Parish village of Napoleonville, Louisiana, situated in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Originally established as St. Napoleon in 1872 (with its first resident pastor, Fr. Nazareno Orfei, appointed in 1874), the parish grew out of an earlier mission of Assumption Church in Plattenville served by the Lazarist Fathers. The present red-brick Romanesque church, designed by architect C.C. Stewart, was completed and blessed in 1909, at which point the parish was renamed St. Anne in thanksgiving for the congregation's deliverance from yellow-fever epidemics. Today St. Anne worships as part of a three-church 'Bayouland' cluster with St. Philomena in Labadieville and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Plattenville, served by Rev. Amalraj Savarimuthu, IMS since July 2024. The church was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and is widely regarded as the architectural pride of Napoleonville.
- Established
- 1874
- Patron
- St. Anne (originally St. Neopolus, after Archbishop Napoleon Perche; renamed in 1909)
- Rector
- Rev. Amalraj Savarimuthu, IMS
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge
Why belong here
St. Anne offers a warm, historic Catholic home in the heart of rural Napoleonville — a community that still prays its 150-year-old novena to St. Anne each year before her July 26 feast day, and shares the beauty of one of Louisiana's most striking Romanesque brick churches. As part of the three-church Bayouland cluster (with St. Philomena in Labadieville and Assumption of the BVM in Plattenville), the parish offers four Sunday Masses and a full weekly schedule of weekday Masses, confessions and adoration at the St. Philomena Adoration Chapel. Welcoming visitors and parishioners alike, St. Anne is a place where the deep devotion of bayou-country Catholicism is still very much alive.
Mass times at St. Anne
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM @ St. Anne
- Saturday 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM @ St. Philomena
Adoration times
- Eucharistic Adoration at St. Philomena Adoration Chapel (linked with the Bayouland cluster)
A Parish of the Bayou: St. Anne at a Glance
St. Anne Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic parish in Napoleonville, the seat of Assumption Parish on Bayou Lafourche. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge and today worships as part of a three-church cluster called the Bayouland Churches, together with St. Philomena in Labadieville and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Plattenville. The 1909 Romanesque brick church, set among live oaks in the village, has been called the architectural pride of Napoleonville and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Diocese of Baton Rouge
- Cluster parishes: St. Anne, St. Philomena (Labadieville), Assumption of the BVM (Plattenville)
- Parish office behind St. Anne's Church, 405 Franklin St., PO Box 99, Napoleonville, LA 70390
- Phone: (985) 369-6656
History: From a Mission to a 1909 Landmark
St. Anne began life in the 1850s as a mission of Assumption Church in Plattenville, served by the Lazarist Fathers. After years of appeals, Archbishop Napoleon Perche granted the village its own parish in 1872; Father Nazareno Orfei arrived as the first resident pastor in 1874. The original parish took its first name from the archbishop's own patron, St. Neopolus — though the devotion that would eventually give the church its current name was already forming in the congregation: a deep veneration of St. Anne, born from the community's plea for protection during a yellow-fever epidemic.
- 1850s — Napoleonville served as a mission of Assumption Church, Plattenville, by the Lazarist Fathers
- 1870 — Mrs. Marcelite Blanchard Foley donates the land for the church (a hurricane-survivor's act of thanksgiving)
- 1872 — Archbishop Napoleon Perche establishes the parish; second parcel purchased from Mrs. Foley
- 1874 — Fr. Nazareno Orfei becomes the first resident pastor; cemetery begun
- 1895 — Contributing rectory built
- 1906 — Growth outgrows the original wooden church; fifth Knights of Columbus Council in Louisiana founded at Napoleonville
- 1907 — Father L'Anglais approves construction of a new church
- March 21, 1909 — Cornerstone blessed; church completed that year
- 1909 — Archbishop Blenk authorizes the name change to St. Anne Church
- 1996 — Major interior restoration begun
- May 10, 2001 — Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #01000492)
The Last Island Hurricane and the Land the Foleys Gave
On August 10, 1856 a hurricane swept the barrier-island resort of Last Island off the Louisiana coast, killing many — including a large number from Assumption Parish. Survivors Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Foley spent eleven days in the marsh before being rescued. Local legend holds that during the ordeal Mrs. Foley prayed fervently, and her non-Catholic husband vowed to embrace her faith if God spared them. Years later, Mrs. Foley (nee Marcelite Blanchard, then widow of Arthur Morgan Foley) donated the four-block site for the church — the very land on which St. Anne still stands.
- Hurricane of August 10, 1856 — Last Island disaster
- Land donation: June 1870
- Second parcel purchased from Mrs. Foley in 1872
Architecture of the 1909 Church
The present St. Anne Church is a one-story basilica-plan Romanesque building with a gable-front facade flanked by two towers. Red brick walls, a triple-arched entrance arcade with compound arches and tympanum transoms, large round-arch windows with brick archivolts laid in corbelled concentric semicircles, and contrasting concrete moldings give it the look that the National Register nomination called 'an outstanding candidate for listing.' The north tower's frame belfry dates to c.1920 and reflects Colonial Revival taste.
- Architect: C.C. Stewart
- Style: Romanesque Revival, with Colonial Revival tower (c.1920)
- Materials: Red brick with concrete trim
- Signature feature: Triple-arched entrance arcade
- Contributing outbuildings: 1895 rectory; 1874 cemetery
- NRHP listing: May 10, 2001 (#01000492)
The Bayouland Cluster
St. Anne no longer worships alone. Together with St. Philomena in Labadieville and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Plattenville, it forms the Bayouland cluster — three parishes on the bayou served by one pastor. This sharing makes it possible to offer four Sunday Masses, a full weekday Mass schedule, regular confessions, and Eucharistic Adoration at the St. Philomena Adoration Chapel.
- St. Anne (Napoleonville) — 417 St. Joseph St.
- St. Philomena (Labadieville) — cluster partner
- Assumption of the BVM (Plattenville) — cluster partner
- St. Philomena Adoration Chapel — site of the cluster's Monday and Tuesday liturgies
Sunday Masses
- Saturday Vigil 4:00 PM — St. Philomena Church
- Sunday 7:00 AM — St. Anne Church
- Sunday 9:00 AM — Assumption of the BVM Church (Plattenville)
- Sunday 11:00 AM — St. Philomena Church
- Sunday 5:00 PM — Assumption of the BVM Church (Plattenville)
Devotion to St. Anne
A defining mark of the parish is its centuries-old devotion to St. Anne. The congregation first prayed for her intercession during a yellow-fever epidemic, and in thanksgiving has prayed an annual novena before her feast day each year since. That novena, leading up to July 26, remains a living tradition at the parish.
- Annual Novena to St. Anne
- Feast day: July 26
- Origin: thanksgiving for deliverance from a yellow-fever epidemic
Parish Life & Ministries
St. Anne's most famous ministry is also its oldest: the Knights of Columbus Council that the Napoleonville parishioners organized in 1906 — the fifth in the state of Louisiana. The parish also shares hospitality and Sacramental ministry with its Bayouland cluster partners in Labadieville and Plattenville.
- Knights of Columbus Council (organized 1906)
- Annual Novena to St. Anne
- Cluster Sacramental life with St. Philomena and Assumption of the BVM
Clergy
Since July 1, 2024, the Bayouland cluster has been led by Rev. Amalraj Savarimuthu, IMS, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Francis Xavier. Before him the three parishes were pastored by Father Edwin Martin, who was reassigned to St. Thomas More in Baton Rouge. The original pastor, Fr. Nazareno Orfei, took charge in 1874, and Father L'Anglais oversaw the construction of the present 1909 church.
- Current pastor: Rev. Amalraj Savarimuthu, IMS (appointed July 2024)
- Predecessor: Father Edwin Martin (reassigned July 2024)
- First resident pastor: Father Nazareno Orfei (1874)
- 1909-church builder-pastor: Father L'Anglais
Visit, Mail & Contact
St. Anne's Church sits in a residential area roughly four blocks inland from the west bank of Bayou Lafourche. The parish office is located directly behind the church.
- Church address: 417 St. Joseph Street, Napoleonville, LA 70390 (NRHP record)
- Parish office/mailing: 405 Franklin Street, PO Box 99, Napoleonville, LA 70390
- Phone: (985) 369-6656
- Pastor email: [email protected]
- Website (cluster): bayoulandchurches.com via sites.google.com/view/bayou-catholics/bayouland-churches
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Nazareno Orfei1874–
First resident pastor; arrived to a church and rectory already awaiting him.
- Father L'Anglais1907–1909
Pastored during construction of the present Romanesque church; approved the new-church project proposed by the Knights of Columbus.
- Father Edwin Martinuntil June 2024
Pastor of the three-church Bayouland cluster (St. Anne, Assumption of the BVM, St. Philomena) before being reassigned to St. Thomas More in Baton Rouge.
- Rev. Amalraj Savarimuthu, IMSJuly 2024–present
Appointed Pastor of St. Anne, St. Philomena, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary effective July 1, 2024.