St. Martin de Tours

Established in 1765 in Saint Martinville, Louisiana, St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church is the third oldest church in the state. The Acadian people arrived in St. Martinsville in 1765, led by Fr. Jean-Francois Civrey, OFM, and established a parish and church, earning St. Martin de Tours the title of Mother Church of the Acadians. Forcibly deported from Acadie in Canada by the British in 1755, it was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint upon the state of Louisiana. 

St. Martin de Tours church was built in 1765 as a wooden frame structure. However, to better endure Louisiana’s weather conditions, in 1836, construction began on the current church, which was rebuilt of brick. The church took a several years to construct, competing around 1844. Since then, it has remained largely unchanged, except for additions made in the late 1870s, including two trancepts. This structural continuity makes the church unique as it has remained well-preserved as the oldest standing building in the diocese. 

Today, three historic buildings sit on the church square in the center of town: the current church structure, although enlarged and renovated over the centuries, was built in 1836. On the right of the church is the two story rectory, called the Presbytère built in 1856. The five flags which fly from the second floor of the Presbytère represent the five countries that governed the area since the establishment of the church. On the left of the church is a two story parish hall. Like the Presbytère, it predates the Civil War.  All three historic buildings face a large grass covered and tree shaded square.

In front of the church stands a statue of Fr. Ange Marie Jan, an early pastor who served from 1851-1887. In 1874, he added the transepts to the church where the Grotto of Lourdes and the Sacred Heart Altar are located and extended the sanctuary to its present size, giving the church its current cruciform shape.

The Grotto of Lourdes was constructed by a free man of color, a Creole man named Pierre Francois Hypolite Martinet (18471-1905). Having seen a postcard of the Grotto in Lourdes France, where Our Lady appeared, he constructed the one in St. Martin de Tours Church using bousillage with mud from Bayou Teche and clay.  

Located in the circular flower bed in front of the Presbytère is a statue of Saint Martin de Tours, the patron of Saint Martin de Tours Church, the City of Saint Martinville, and Saint Martin Parish. 

And in front of the parish hall is a statue of a Native American from the Attakapas Nation in homage to the people who inhabited this land.

Saint Martin de Tours Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1972.

Acadian/Cajun, Louisianan, French, and American 

Since their inception, America and American identities have been constituted through ever-evolving religious, ethnic, and racial imaginaries. St. Martin de Tours, and the larger region of Acadiana or Cajun country in Louisiana, shows how language, memory, ethnicity, and local identity cannot be separated from Catholic identity in this region. 

Almost 250 years after the Acadians were removed and migrated to Louisiana, many folks in this region are still attached to the idea of their French culture, language, and Catholic identity. This idea of how a national identity apart from an American one– one built on the idea of a French homeland, the French language, and Catholic material culture, not only avoids competition with another national identity like an American identity, but indeed reinforces a sort of American patriotism. 

So far in the 2020s, debates in Louisiana have centered on the presence of religious artifacts in secular spaces like public schools– things like In God We Trust signs, the 10 Commandments, and the Bible in classrooms. This episode might help us reexamine those debates by taking a look at the other side of the coin: how are ethnic, local, and national identity created through spaces usually considered religious? The fascinating history of the Acadians and the St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church not only shows us how state and national (what we might call “secular”) histories are told in spaces considered sacred, but also help us see just how flimsy concepts like church/state and sacred/secular really are.

Cajun Catholics

Just as people identify as Irish Catholic or Italian Catholic or others, a Cajun Catholic identity often describes both an ethnicity and a particular Catholic culture.

Influenced by the French, Cajun Catholics have their own rituals and saintly devotions. For example, there is the Fete Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession, making stops throughout Acadiana. And there is devotion to Charlene Richard, known as the Little Cajun Saint, for whom there is a vigorous campaign for official sainthood.

With new politics in Louisiana and neighboring states requiring “In God We Trust” signs and the 10 commandments in all classrooms in every public education building, debates continue about what is considered “religious” and what is “culture” or “history.” These moments of friction reveal the shakiness of the categories themselves, causing us to reflect on how the categories function and whom they serve. The church in St. Martinsville allows us to look at it from another way, asking how things we consider secular or non-devotional– things like what language you speak and what nation your ancestors came from– are central to the religious identity of many. From the French, the Acadians who migrated here with help from the Spanish, the enslaved folks and free people of color who also worshiped here, and the Atakapa indians on whose land they all lived, the complexity, richness, and fluidity of identity is still reflected in art and architecture of this space. The social formation that happens in these spaces– churches, usually considered private– have a huge impact on public life, including shaping how people see themselves as Louisianans and Americans.