About St. Francis of Assisi · Aberdeen, Mississippi
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of Jackson located in Aberdeen, Mississippi, in the state's northeastern hill country. The parish congregation traces its origins to 1866, making it one of the older Catholic communities in the region. The church stands at 102 South James Street in the North Aberdeen Historic District. The parish is currently served by Father Joseph Le and offers Sunday and weekday Mass, with schedules published in its bulletin and on the diocesan parish finder.
- Established
- 1866
- Patron
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Rector
- Reverend Joseph Le
- Diocese
- Diocese of Jackson (Mississippi)
Why belong here
St. Francis of Assisi is a small, historic Catholic parish — founded in 1866 — that offers Catholics in Aberdeen and surrounding Monroe County a regular weekly Mass schedule (Sunday 8:45 a.m., Wednesday 5:00 p.m.) and a connection to the broader Diocese of Jackson. It is one of the older Catholic communities in northeast Mississippi, part of a regional cluster that includes Annunciation in Columbus, St. Helen in Amory and St. Theresa in Okolona. For Catholics in the Aberdeen area, it provides the Sacraments, fellowship and a faithful Franciscan-patron presence within a historic neighborhood of the North Aberdeen Historic District.
Mass times at St. Francis of Assisi
Weekly Mass schedule
History
St. Francis of Assisi Parish traces its roots to 1866, when a Catholic congregation was organized in Aberdeen during the post–Civil War Reconstruction era. The parish is documented in the University of Notre Dame Archives parish history collection as 'Aberdeen – St Francis of Assissi – 1866–1986 – p. 7, CAPH14B Mississippi Today, May.' It belongs to the same generation of small northeast Mississippi Catholic communities as Annunciation in Columbus (1863), St. Thomas in Lexington (1887) and Immaculate Conception in Camden (1850). The parish has continued without interruption to the present day and is currently served by Father Joseph Le.
- Parish founding year: 1866
- Diocese: Jackson, Mississippi
- Current pastor: Reverend Joseph Le
- Parish history archived at Notre Dame (CAPH14B, Mississippi Today)
Architecture & Setting
The church building sits at 102 South James Street, on the southern edge of the North Aberdeen Historic District. The district's National Register nomination (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, district 118) describes a concentration of churches in the southern portion of the neighborhood, with buildings ranging from the antebellum Gothic Revival St. John's Episcopal Church (1851–1853) through early-twentieth-century Neo-classical religious buildings such as First Christian (1925) and First Baptist (1927). The St. Francis building reflects this later Neo-classical influence, with a brick façade, central entrance flanked by fluted pilasters, an entablature and a pediment, accented by stained-glass windows and decorative facade detail (documented in 2010 by photographer W. White for Preservation in Mississippi).
- Style: Neo-classical revival brick church
- Façade: fluted pilasters, entablature, pediment
- Stained-glass windows in front facade
- Contributing structure in the North Aberdeen Historic District
Mass & Sacraments
St. Francis of Assisi publishes its Mass schedule through the Diocese of Jackson parish finder. The parish celebrates Sunday Mass at 8:45 a.m. and Wednesday Mass at 5:00 p.m., both in English. Holy Day schedules are listed as 'consult bulletin.'
- Sunday: 8:45 a.m. (English)
- Wednesday: 5:00 p.m. (English)
- Holy Days: consult bulletin
Contact & Parish Identity
The parish mailing address is P.O. Box 134, Aberdeen, MS 39730-0134, with a street address of 102 South James Street, Aberdeen, MS 39730. The parish phone listed by the Diocese of Jackson is (662) 813-2295, with a parish-listed phone of (662) 369-2897. Email is [email protected].
- Street address: 102 South James Street, Aberdeen, MS 39730
- Mailing: P.O. Box 134, Aberdeen, MS 39730-0134
- Phone: (662) 369-2897 / (662) 813-2295
- Email: [email protected]
Nonprofit & Organizational Status
St. Francis of Assisi Parish Aberdeen is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) church organization with EIN 93-2396130, granted tax-exempt status in March 1946. As a church, it is not required to file annual Form 990 returns, and ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer accordingly shows no 990 filings for the entity.
- EIN: 93-2396130
- Tax-exempt since March 1946
- Status: church, 501(c)(3)
