St. Mathilda Church Parish celebrates 76 years of service

“Happy Birthday!” is usually sung to people who are celebrating a birthday, but in this case, it was being sung to a religious facility in the Eunice area, St. Mathilda Catholic Church Parish, which celebrated 76 years on Sept. 10.
The parishioners began with a special Mass at 6 p.m. officiated by the Rev. Darren Eldridge, with music furnished by the adult and youth choirs. Pianist was Linton Broussard with Keristian Edwards as the director, and leading soloist and Shelsy Williams as the other soloist. Serving as the reader for the Mass was Maudry Alfred while the altar server was Felicity Carrier. Serving as the eucharistic minister was Ruth Ned. After the Mass, there was a covered dish reception in the Bishop Caeser Hall for the parishioners coordinated by Dorothy A. Fruge’.
St. Mathilda was established as a church parish when Bishop Jeanmard of the Lafayette Diocese assigned the Rev. Gilbert Demers from the order of the Josephite Community in 1939 to come to Eunice to start a church. He started out with just two houses, one for the rectory and the other was to be used for the church and school. He hired graduates of Xavier University to teach at the school the first years.
In 1941, with generous donations from many, including a very generous one from his aunt Mathilda Demers, he built the church and named it after her.
In January, 1965, the present edifice that stands on the corner of Laurel Avenue and Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Dr., was built and dedicated under the direction of the Rev. Cornelius Sullivan, SSJ. This replaced the original church building. Music for that occasion was provided by the Charles Drew High School Choir under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Edward (Ardessie) Francois.
By 1944, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament had joined Demers to help with the school and were staffed by the generous financial donation given by (Saint) Katharine Drexel. This school educated students in grades 1-8 for many years. The school and church parish produced two Bishops, Most Rev. Raymond Caesar, SVD, and Most Rev. Curtis Guillory, SVD, and one priest, the Rev. Rogers Caesar, SSJ.
During 1988, the final building on the grounds of St. Mathilda was completed, the Bishop Caeser Center, under the direction of the Rev. Norbert Stein, SSJ. Committee members for this project were Felicien Simon (Chairperson), Maudry Alfred, Nolton Anderson, Philomena Bernard, Gerald Hardy, Aaron Jordan, Dudley Pitre, Rita Bell, Warren Caesar, Marguerite Simpson, Raymond Victorian, and Stein.
The building was named in memory of Bishop Raymond Caesar, SVD, who was born and raised in Eunice and attended school here. Stein had said, “ ..it is much more than merely a memorial to an outstanding man of God from our midst, it is also a memorial to the faith, love, generosity and determination of the people of St. Mathilda’s. Together we have made this impossible dream a beautiful reality.”
The Josephite priests remained with the parish until the Diocese of Lafayette took over after 2006 when the Rev. Joseph Tyson, SSJ, left because of health reasons. He was the last officially assigned priest to the parish. There were several substitute priests before the parish was officially in the hands of the Diocese of Lafayette.
From 1939 to 2007, there had 19 Josephite Priests serving the parishioners of St. Mathilda. The school closed as a result of low enrollment. Now there is only a CCD program with Lay members of the parish as teachers. Eltra Jordan is the director of Religious Education.
The present parish priest is the Rev. Darren Eldridge of the Lafayette Diocese.

(Submitted by: Ardessie C. Francois, St. Mathilda parishoner)