St. Agnes, Baton Rouge

After more than 100 years, the town of Baton Rouge was in need of a second parish. Transportation difficulties, mostly involving muddy roads, caused many members of the large Catholic community, living in the area called “Swart Hill,” to have difficulty attending Mass at St. Joseph Church.

Population in Baton Rouge was growing quickly, mostly due to the arrival of Standard Oil Company in the early 1900s. The St. Agnes Mission Chapel was blessed in 1913 and St. Agnes became an independent parish in 1917. Father Edward Rombouts, an associate at St. Joseph, became its first pastor.
St. Agnes School was opened in 1936. A new church was needed to fit the growing population, but it was decided that the need for an adequate school and gymnasium was more pressing and more practical. The school and gym were completed in 1948. In 1950, work began on the new church. The church was completed in 1951, the first air-conditioned church in the city. In its bell tower hung the 1857 fire bell, which had been in the Central Fire Station on Laurel Street. It was purchased at auction from the city of Baton Rouge. Although times were hard, dedicated parishioners were able to raise adequate funds for the new church and find donors for altars, windows, mosaics from the Vatican Mosaic Studio and church furnishings.

St. Agnes was built in a Romanesque style, complete with repeating archways. Its traditional stained-glass windows, the theme for which was inspired by the hymn Pange Lingua, are both beautiful and complex. The apse over the altar contains many Christian symbols painted in gold leaf. It provides a suitable worship space for the Latin Mass which is still offered at St. Agnes today.

The Missionaries of Charity came to Baton Rouge and made the old school building their home. Today the Missionaries operate a shelter for women and children and a daily soup kitchen. St. Agnes remains a vibrant, committed and traditional parish, contributing to the building of God’s kingdom in Baton Rouge.