St. Ann Church in Mamou celebrates centennial

The Diocese of Lafayette Bishop Michael Jerrell celebrated mass at St. Ann Catholic Church Wednesday, January 15, in honor of the church’s 100 years of existence.
Mamou was incorporated three years before the church was built in 1914, when there were many Catholic families in the central part off Evangeline Parish, mostly farmers or people in farm-related businesses.
There are now 1,129 families who are members of the church, including those who attend the Holy Spirit Chapel in Vidrine. Besides being in the farming business, parishioners are also in the oil industry or work at the Savoy Medical Center in Mamou.
The current pastor of St. Ann is Fr. Mark Melancon, who has been there since 2010. Before him, pastors included Bryce Sibley, 2008 to 2010; Robert Courville, 2002 to 2008; Timothy Richard, 1992 to 2002; Louis Lam Vu, 1990 to 1994; Gene Mixtacki, 1986 to 1990; Herbert C. deLauney, 1983 to 1986; Albert Gayle Nunez, 1977 to 1983; J. Albert LeBlanc, 1943 to 1977; Fidele Chiasson, 1928 to 1943; and the first pastor, August Viel, was pastor from 1914 to 1928.
When the church was organized in 1914, lay alter servers, ushers and choir members were named. The Knights of Columbus was chartered at St. Ann in 1928, and in the next year a ladies’ alter society was officially formed at the church. The Catholic Daughters of the Americas formed there in 1947 and two years later, the Junior Catholic Daughters formed. During the 1970s, lectors, eucharistic ministers and a parish council was formed at the church.
Parishioners of the St. Theresa Church in Pins Clir joined St. Ann Church parish in 1981 and the Holy Spirit Chapel was opened in Vidrine the next year. The St. Ann Catholic Youth Organization formed in 1983/
A Perpetual Adoration Chapel opened in 1992 and in 2002, a new Religious Education Building was constructed, where young people from Mamou and Vidrine go to attend the church’s summer religion program.