02/08/2026
UPDATE OF THE WEEK: February 9, 2026
Fr. Dufresne provides FOSM with an explanation behind the consecration of St. Mary's Chapel and what this mean for a Catholic Church.
What is the “status” of St. Mary’s Chapel in Union, Louisiana?
Many individuals, maybe even you, have asked this question, in thought or in speech. The simple answer is that on May 22, 1904, St. Mary’s Chapel was “consecrated” as a Catholic Church. The archbishop of New Orleans gathered with the local clergy and laity, and during a Solemn High Mass, consecrated the altar and the four corners of the building with Sacred Chrism, establishing St. Mary’s perpetual status as a Roman Catholic church, wherein the People of God can gather to receive their sacraments, worship and grow in the Faith. True enough, given its current physical condition and its recent history of being rarely used for Masses or Sacraments, some might think it is no longer a holy place. However, only by a specific set of canonical (Catholic Church Law) actions could St. Mary’s Chapel lose its consecration.
To help explain this, we must understand the Catholic Church has a way of comparing its Faith objects — Bibles, prayer books, rosaries, candles, and church buildings, among other such objects — analogously to a human person. We are physical beings with a soul that is meant to have a relationship with God. The human soul is eternal because we are created in the “image and likeness” of God. But all of creation — animals, plants, objects — have a “soul,” a purpose to exist given it by God, though not eternal as is the human soul. So, animals, plants, and objects can be blessed by God to fulfill their purpose. Religious objects are blessed. Special objects, such as sacred vessels, bibles and books, scapulars, some medals, and definitely Mass altars and church buildings are consecrated.
Think of yourself becoming Catholic. You are baptized, (blessed), to begin your relationship with God. Then you receive other Sacraments, (Confession and Eucharist), to grow in that relationship. Finally, you are consecrated in Confirmation to be in a permanent, perpetual relationship with God to fulfill your purpose as a Catholic. Holy Water is used to bless you in Baptism, but Sacred Chrism is used at your Confirmation because it completes your initiation and gives you an indelible character as Catholic and Christian for all eternity; it cannot be removed. Sacred Chrism is used to ordain priests, similarly giving him an indelible character as a sacramental representative of Jesus Christ.
In 1875, St. Mary’s Chapel was fundamentally completed, with the central nave and steeple. It was “blessed,” think Baptism, so it could begin its life as a place for Mass, sacraments, and prayer. But it still had growing to do, through its “childhood” of sorts. When it was fully grown, in 1904, with the full structure and permanent altar, it was ready for “consecration,” think Confirmation. It could fulfill its full purpose; the Chapel’s soul began to serve God and His People.
Again, like a human being who becomes older, St. Marys cannot do all it did in its youth, but it is still blessed and consecrated to serve God and His People. We all need help as we get older to continue fulfilling our purpose as best we can. We have a soul, a purpose, and we are responsible to keep ourselves healthy and functioning. We owe the “soul” of St. Mary’s Chapel our best effort to return it, even if limited by age and circumstance, to its ability to fulfill its perpetual consecration as a church where people gather for Mass, Sacraments, and worship.
