St. Mary of False River, New Roads

When the young French missionary, Antoine Blanc, was assigned as pastor of St. Francis of Pointe Coupee in 1820, the church was already nearing its century mark. It was founded in 1738 on the banks of the Mississippi River at the Post de la Pointe Coupee. Father Blanc decided a new church should be built on the banks of False River, where much of the population had settled.

The simple wood frame church stood twenty feet east of the present church, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary on October 19, 1823. Father Blanc would later be elevated to the episcopacy, serving first as Bishop, then Archbishop of New Orleans from 1835 to 1860.

St. Mary of False River continued as a mission church of St. Francis until after the Civil War when it was raised to the status of an independent parish in 1865. Father Joseph Philibert Gutton was assigned as the first pastor of St. Mary. “Père Gutton,” a native of Lyon, served St. Mary for 31 years. Today, St. Francis is a mission church of St. Mary, although the 1760 church and original cemetery have been lost to the Mississippi River. Before the cemetery was lost, remains of some parishioners were relocated to St. Mary Cemetery, established in 1865 on New Roads Street.

Near the turn of the 20th century, plans were made to build a larger church to house the growing congregation of St. Mary. In 1904, construction began on the present Gothic-style church, designed by Theodore Brune, a New Orleans architect. Although  declared complete in 1907, the steeple remains without a spire, and the interior finishes and rich Gothic details envisioned by Mr. Brune were never installed. The same year, the original wood-frame church was taken down.

In 1904, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille established St. Joseph Academy in New Roads. This academy preceded the current interparochial school system, Catholic Interparochial of Pointe Coupee. Since their arrival in 1904, the sisters have been working in the parish, in the realm of Catholic education, in hospital ministry, and in ministry to the sick and homebound.

St. Mary was solemnly re-consecrated in 1979 upon completion of interior renovations. The original wood altars and other sanctuary furnishings were modified and restored to conform to liturgical reforms of Vatican II. Though never completed as originally designed, the church of St. Mary of False River is beautiful in its simplicity. On Sept. 19, 1992, Albert Cardinal Decourtray of Lyon honored St. Mary Church by visiting during the bicentennial year of Antoine Blanc’s birth.

Extensive renovations took place in 2016 beginning after Easter in mid-April during the pastorate of Rev. Msgr. Robert H. Berggreen. The renovations were completed in time for the first Christmas Eve mass that year. The exterior renovation included complete re-roofing of the church and redesigning the roofs over the sacristies, replacing the steeple spires, water proofing the brick, installing canopies over the side entrances, painting, and replacing the broken and cracked panes of glass that protect the stained glass windows. The interior renovations included re-plastering and painting all areas, refinishing the wood floors, replacing all carpet, correcting the structural inadequacy of the choir loft, replacing all cabinets and closets in both sacristies, replacing the sound system and the bell controls.

Today, the parish body consists of approximately 1200 families from the New Roads and Ventress areas, including the upper end of “the island” side of False River.