Annual eucharistic procession along the Bayou Teche combines Catholic faith and Cajun heritage in Louisiana
Since its beginnings more than a decade ago, the Fête-Dieu du Teche — a eucharistic procession of boats organized by Father Michael Champagne and the Community of Jesus Crucified in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana — has become one of Louisiana’s most vibrant annual festivals.
Seamlessly combining Catholic faith and Cajun heritage, the event took place Aug. 15, on the Solemnity of Mary’s Assumption, a day long designated as National Acadian Day.
The single-day, 40-mile procession on water and land along the Bayou Teche, a waterway meandering between lakes and rivers in the south-central region of the state, honored both the 250th anniversary of American Independence and the 261st anniversary of Catholicism in the region. Celebrating “One Nation Under God,” the Fête-Dieu (French for “Godfest”) procession retraced the aquatic pathways traveled by exiled French Catholics who migrated to Louisiana in the 1760s.
Known now as “Cajuns,” the founders of these local communities were part of the Acadian Global Diaspora that followed their forced expulsion from Canada by the British at the end of the Seven Years’ War (known in North America as the French and Indian War). Approximately 4 million people worldwide can trace their ancestry to Acadian settlers, according to historical estimates.
Beginning with a French-language Mass celebrated by Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel and concluding with evening prayer, numerous boats made six scheduled prayer stops at churches and parks along the way.
The procession included boats with bells, a life-size crucifix, incense, the holy Eucharist exposed in a monstrance, a statue of Our Lady of the Assumption — a patroness of the Acadian people — and a statue of St. Joseph and the child Jesus.
Despite a record-breaking heatwave, thousands of lay people, clergy and religious participants gathered at the water’s edge to greet the Eucharist on the Bayou, pray the Rosary, sing hymns and spend time in eucharistic adoration throughout the day. The sacrament of confession was offered at all scheduled stops along the Bayou.
The event was livestreamed on Facebook and broadcast on an FM radio station. Those who could not make the pilgrimage were able to unite themselves to the prayers being offered.
The annual Fête has had a profound and tangible impact, the event’s organizers said in a news release. It has moved many to return to the sacraments and others to incorporate adoration as part of their daily lives. It has also been a vehicle for family healing and a grace for vocations.
Father Abelardo Gabriel, pastor at Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours in St. Martinville, was emphatic in his support of this annual event.
“Fête-Dieu du Teche is phenomenal,” he said in the release. “It brings people together from different walks of life in celebration of victory and in gratitude to Jesus and our Blessed Mother for seeing them through their struggles in life.”
“The outpouring of public faith that we see in the Fête reminds us that although the Church may be under attack, the Eucharist will always be the source of our unity as we persevere,” Lafayette physician Kim Hardey said.
With countless moving parts, the Fête-Dieu requires a great deal of planning and coordination. That effort will increase exponentially in the year ahead. Father Michael Champagne explained that many different milestones are taking place, including the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which was carved out of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in 1826.
“We share St. Sophie Barat, the Jesuits, Mother Cabrini… There are a lot of connections between us and St. Louis,” he explained. “Next year is the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Ursuline sisters in New Orleans. The Ursulines are running the oldest continuously operating school in the country — that’s 300 years nonstop. Even more, the first brick church built on the site of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans was consecrated that same year, 1727. So, we were asked to move the Fête once again to the (Mississippi) River.”
Organizers of the next Fête-Dieu are in the process of planning for a procession down the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans in an eight-day eucharistic procession by boat from Dec. 2-9, 2027.
