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A History Rich in Faith and Service to God.
Saint Martin de Tours Church is one of the oldest Catholic churches in America and the third oldest in Louisiana. It has been the center of religious and cultural activities of St. Martinville and the Attakapas Nation since colonial days.
The Catholic Faith was first brought to the area of south Louisiana which would be designated as the Attakapas Post by missionary Priests from Pointe Coupee who ministered to those who had settled along Bayou Teche. The first recorded rituals were on June 5, 1756 by Fr. Pierre Didier, OSB, a missionary Benedictine Priest from Pointe Coupée who also served the Post at Natchitoches. He first baptized Jean dit Ingui and Marie, two slaves of André Masse, an early settler and landowner from France, and then he witnessed their marriage. On that same day, he baptized several other slaves of André Masse: Margueritte, Magdelene, Victoire, Francoise, and Therese.
By 1765, the Parish was formally established when a group of Acadian exiles arrived in mid May of that year accompanied by the French Capuchin Priest Fr. Jean-Francois Civrey, OFM. Cap., who became the first resident Pastor. He called it l’Eglise de la Nouvelle Acadie aux Attakapas (the Church of New Acadia at Attakapas.) These were the first of many of the unfortunate refugees brutally deported from Acadie in Canada by the British in 1755, who found their way to Louisiana over a period of some twenty years. It was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint upon the state of Louisiana.
Unfortunately, Fr. Jean-Francois Civrey, OFM, Cap. remained less than a year with the last entry in his register signed by him dated 11 January 1756 After Fr. Jean-Francois departed, several other missionary Priests from Pointe Coupee and Nachitoches served the Parish.
In 1771, Bernard Dautrive donated a tract of land six arpents wide by 40 arpents deep on either side of Bayou Teche as "his share for the edification of the church and Priest's house". Members of the Congregation built a small frame church on a portion of this land to serve the needs of the community even though they did not secure a resident Priest. Because of this, baptisms, marriages, and burials at Attakapas were recorded by Priests from other parishes during the 1770s. The Priest from the Opelousas church founded in 1776 served Attakapas residents during the late 1770s. In 1779, even the Curé of Ascension parish, out on the river, administered the Sacraments to Attakapas settlers.
Finally, another resident Pastor was appointed to the Parish. Fr. Michel Benard Barrière, a Diocesan Priest from Bordeaux who fled the French Revolution was appointed Pastor of St. Martin de Tours Church at Attakapas on January 19, 1795, where he would minister zealously to the Acadians as well as other French residents who settled at the Attakapas Post after fleeing the Revolution like him. In 1805, Fr. Barrière was replaced as Pastor of the Parish of St. Martin by Fr. Gabriel Isabey. But he remained in residence at St. Martinville, keeping the title of “Prêtre approuvé pour tout le Diocese” (Priest approved for the whole Diocese). There, he occasionally lent a helping hand to his successor. While in residence at St. Martin, there was one particular instance when all of his faithful missionary works were almost crowned with martyrdom. As he was travelling around Lake Chitimacha, Fr. Barrière met up with a group of hostile Indians by surprise, and they were more than ready to torture him and put him to death. They had already wrenched the nails off his fingers and toes when the head of the tribe arrived. He surprisingly protected the missionary, commanded that the torture be stopped immediately, and took care of him, making sure he returned safely to his home on the Teche. Fr. Barrière showed his great humility and modesty by neither recording anything about this heroic struggle for the faith nor alluding to it in the many notes he made in the pages of his church registers. This story was told to Fr. F. L. Gassler by an old Chitimacha woman of Charenton, LA, who was the daughter of Fr. Barrière’s deliverer.
During the Pastorate of Fr. Isabey, the church was incorporated by an act of the State Legislature, approved March 7, 1814; and in 1818, the Marguilliers, (wardens) of the church devised a lease-purchase plan for the church lands whereby the purchaser agreed to pay a stipulated sum of money to the church for 12 years and an "annual and perptual rent" thereafter. This unique arrangement resulted in the firm establishment of the business district of St. Martinville around the church square.
In these years, the congregation had grown to such an extent that the State was petitioned again to authorize the Church of St. Martin to conduct a lottery to raise funds to build a new church, which was approved by the Legislature on March 16, 1820.
Fr. Marcel Borella, a secular Priest from Italy who served as the tenth Pastor of St. Martin, left $16,000 in his will for the building of a brick church when he departed in 1836. That same year, the new church building was designed by Pierre Benjamin Buisson, a well-known architect from New Orleans in the Greek Revival style. Buisson had been an engineer of Napoleon’s army and
designed the first custom house in New Orleans. Construction on the church began in 1836, but for a variety of reasons, including low water in the Bayou Teche which prevented the shipping of building materials, the project spanned seven years before it was completed. It was finally dedicated on June 2, 1844 during the Pastorate of Fr. Jean Pierre Brasseur. This is the current church building. Originally a simple rectangular plan of the Roman basilica type, the nave being separated from the side aisles by rows of sturdy Doric columns on simple square pedestals, it has was improved from time to time in the succeeding years.
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 designed and constructed by Robert B. Benson in 1856. The Antebellum style veranda and fluted columns are a later addition. Some believe the structure was so magnificently built for the possibility that Saint Martinville would become the seat of a new diocese and it would become l’Évêché, the Bishop’s house. However, the Diocese of Lafayette was established in 1918. 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 suare, forming a dominant and impressive element in the town plan.
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 transcepts to the church where the Grotto of Lourdes and the Sacred Heart Altar are located and extended the sancturary to its present size, giving the church its current cruciform shape.
The Grotto of Lourdes was constructed by a freed slave, a Creole colored man named Pierre Francois Hypolite Martinet (18471-1905). He was the son of Hypolite Pierre Francois Martinet, a native of Belgium and Marie-Louise Benoit, a free woman of color. 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.
Hypolite "Polite" Martinet
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. It was a gift to the church in 1931 from the Saint Martinville Chamber of Commerce. The “Bell” trademark on the back of the statue is identical to the one found on the statue of Evangeline cast by Daprato Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The statue was dedicated on November 20, 1932.
And in front of the parish hall is a statue of a Native American from
the Attakapas Nation in homage of the people who inhabited the area when the church was established and for which the former Post was named.
Saint Martin de Tours Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1972. It is recognized as the Mother Church of the Acadians.
The year 2015 was celebrated as the 250th Anniversary of St. Martin de Tours church parish. Year long events culminated on November 11, 2015, the feast day of Saint Martin de Tours, with a special Mass celebrated by Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec, Canada (right).
Over the years, the church has become a place where countless faithful have encountered God.
For more on our church history including descriptions of various statues, historic paintings, and church features, please view our online church brochure (click on brochure below at right).
CLICK HERE or on the brochure icon at right to download the Church brochure in PDF format.
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