Fête-Dieu du Teche scheduled for Aug. 15
Fête-Dieu du Teche to take place Aug. 15 in honor of the Christian family.
The seventh annual 40-mile Eucharistic Procession will be offered in prayer for the sanctification and unification of families. This year the Assumption boat procession occurs during the Year of St. Joseph and the Year of the Family. Families are encouraged to register a family boat or gather as a family at one or more of the stops along the procession route.
The day begins at 8 a.m. with Sunday Mass in French by Bishop Douglas Deshotel at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Leonville. Following the Mass, there will be a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and a statue of Mary and St. Joseph to the nearby boat landing.
Families are encouraged to join the procession as a family and follow to the boat landing for Benediction. At 9:30 a.m. boats will depart in procession down the Teche toward St. Martinville, retracing the voyage made by the Acadians over 250 years ago.
Bayou residents are encouraged to gather as a family and greet the Blessed Sacrament as it passes near their home. The boat procession will stop at churches in the towns along the Teche for Rosary and Benediction (arriving at Arnaudville behind St. Francis Regis at 10:20 a.m.; arriving behind St. Joseph Church in Cecilia at 11:45 a.m.; arriving at the Pavilion behind St. Bernard Church in Breaux Bridge at 1:35 p.m.; arriving at the park behind St. Joseph Church in Parks at 3:15 p.m.; and arriving at Old Market Street in St Martinville at about 4:45 p.m.).
Upon arriving in St. Martinville, a foot procession will commence to Notre Dame de Perpetual Secours for Benediction, then to St. Martin de Tours for Benediction, and finally down Main Street to Mater Dolorosa Chapel for Solemn Vespers and Benediction at 6 p.m..
Confessions will be heard in mobile units at each of the stops along the way.
Pope Francis has granted participants of Fȇte-Dieu du Teche a plenary indulgence.
The indulgence is valid on Aug. 15 for those who attend the 8 a.m. French Mass in Leonville, those who make the procession by boat, and those who participate in the devotions at one of the many stops along the Teche.
Those who are impeded for a serious reason from physically attending the procession may also gain the indulgence by spiritually uniting their prayers and trials.
The pope asks participants to pray for fidelity to the Christian vocation, for the good of the family, and for priestly and religious vocations. If you have a boat, register now: https://www.jesuscrucified.net/events/fete-dieu-du-teche-2021/form
If you don’t have a boat, follow by vehicle and join us at one or all of the stops for the Rosary and Benediction.
For more information visit www.jesuscrucified.net, visit us on FB at www.facebook.com/CommunityofJesusCrucified, send us an email at fetedieuduteche@gmail.com, or call 337-394-6550.