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OUR LADY OF THE GULF'S
FIRST PASTOR
On July 2, 1808 a young child was born in Paris, France. His parents christened him Louis Stanislaus Mary Buteux. Like many other young boys, God called Louis to be a priest. He studied at the Seminary of St. Sulpice in France and was ordained in 1836.
Fr. Louis was the adventurous type and he came to the missions of Indiana.
There he became Chaplain to the Sisters of Providence. These sisters had come to found St. Mary of the Woods	College near	Terre Haute, Ind. Fr.	Louis worked	at its
construction as a laborer.	He found the	climate in the	north too severe and	asked to
be sent down South.
Bishop Chanche of the Diocese of Natchez welcomed him to Mississippi and sent him to Bay St. Louis as its first pastor. Fr. Buteux wrote the following in his diary:	'Saturday, July 31st, the feast of St. Ignatius; Bishop Chanche told me at
Natchez that he confides to me Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Pearl River, Jordan and Wolf Rivers, as far as 20 to 25 miles to	the north."
Fr. Buteux reached Bay	St. Louis on	August 8th and	stopped	at the Grand	Hotel
conducted by Mr. & Mrs. J. B. Toulme. On August 15th, Feast of the Assumption, he offered the first Mass at the courthouse. As pastor, his task was not to be an easy one. His flock was scattered and, for the most part, ignorant. He did not have a church, so Mass was offered in the courthouse or in the heme of some private family, until a church was built. ft
Fr. Buteux's dream soon became realized. On March 26, 1848, Bishop Odin of Galveston, Texas, blessed the cornerstone of the new Church. It was a brick structure of Gothic style* measuring 165 feet 7 inches long and 46 feet wide. From these dimensions, one can well image that it was one of the largest churches in the Diocese at that time. On August 19, 1849 Bishop Chanche blessed the Church. Bishop Blanc of New Orleans also graced the occasion with his presence. It was he who blessed the bells.
Now Fr. Buteux had a Church and a rectory. His next project was to be a school. On September 1, 1852, he opened the first school for boys in Bay St. Louis. He placed the Christian Brothers in charge of it. This school was intended primarily for the boys of Bay St. Louis, but a few boarders from New Orleans were accepted and they lodged in the rectory. In all probability this was the first boarding school for boys in the Diocese of Natchez. Terror struck in 1853 in the form of yellow fever. Fr. Buteux was forced to close the school and dismiss the boarders.
He did not	lose heart. He	reopened	the school in June, 1854 and placed the
Brothers of the	Sacred Heart in	charge.	In August of that same	year he went to France
and contacted Brother Polycarp,	Superior	of the Brothers of the	Sacred Heart. He
told him of the	advantages of a	boarding	school for boys in Bay	St. Louis. His ef-
forts were successful. St. Stanislaus College was founded due to his efforts. It was named after that great first pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf Church - Fr. Louis Stanislaus Mary Buteux.
Hie tireless work drained him of his strength and energy over the years in Bay St. Louis, On November 17, 1859 he was relieved of his duties. He spent the remaining years of his life in Boston. There he was Chaplain to several Catholic institutions.
Bishop Elder paid him a final tribute at his death:	"On June 14, 1875,
Rev. Louis Stanislaus Mary Buteux died in Boston after years of fruitful labor and others spent in patient suffering, still occupied with the service of souls. " Bay St. Louis and the world had lost a great man. His memories still live on.	'	\