Bulletin for the Week of August 17, 2014 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Our annual Memorial Mass for Fr. LaFleur will take place on Sunday, September 7, 2014 at the 10am Mass.  This year the anniversary of Fr. LaFleur,s death falls on a Sunday, and this gives us the opportunity for our entire community to learn about the extraordinary life of Fr. Lafleur.  Below is an invitation to you to attend.  Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this celebration of the life of a saint for whom St. Landry Church is "home."

LT. FATHER JOSEPH VERBIS LAFLEUR MEMORIAL MASS

 The ‘Friends of Lt. Fr. LaFleur’ request your presence to commemorate the 70^th Anniversary of the death of Lt. Father Joseph Verbis LaFleur, Chaplain-United States Army Air Corps, on Sunday, September 7, 2014 at the 10:00am Mass at St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, LA. The Celebrant and Homilist will be The Very Reverend Monsignor Jefferson DeBlanc, Pastor of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Church Point, Louisiana, and Episcopal Vicar for the West Region of the Diocese of Lafayette.

Joseph Verbis LaFleur was born in Ville Platte on January 24, 1912. Later, he would move with his family to nearby Opelousas, where he faithfully served as an altar boy at St. Landry Church during his youth.  St. Landry Church is also where he celebrated his first Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving following his ordination to the priesthood for the Diocese of Lafayette in 1938. Fr. LaFleur’s first and only diocesan assignment was to St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, during which he sought and was granted permission to join the U.S. Army Air Corps.  He was sent to serve at Clark Field in the Philippine Islands before the United States entered World War II.

During his service, Father LaFleur was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, and Bronze star for his valor. He was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese, and on September 7, 1944, he and several hundred other prisoners were killed when the ship upon which they were being transported was torpedoed. Father LaFleur’s body was never recovered, but memories of survivors report that he was last seen aiding others to escape the sinking ship. His memorial monument in front of St. Landry Church serves as our tangible remembrance of his life, as he indicated that if he died during his service to our country that he desired to be buried at St. Landry Church. He is also remembered in the chaplain's memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.  The year 2014 marks the 70th anniversary of his death.

All are invited and encouraged to attend the Memorial Mass on September 7th. Learn more about Father LaFleur by visiting http://www.fatherlafleur.org or by purchasing the book chronicling his life, "But He Dies Not,” available in our church office or at Catholic bookstores in Lafayette

      God Bless

      Father James Brady

     

The bulletin for the week of August 17, 2014 has been posted. Click here to see it.

The calendar on the website has been updated with all events for the coming week along with prayer intention information and information on the second collection for all of the masses. Take some time to look at our calendar here.

Updates are also being made to our St. Landry Catholic Church blog. You can get to the blog from the church home page under the Bulletins and News section or you can just click here to go to it.

Don't forget, we're also sending out live updates via Twitter. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath. You can see updates by clicking here.

And we're also on Facebook --- friend us! You can see our updates on our page SaintLandryCatholicChurch.