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156	Catholicity	in	Mississippi
labor and others spent in patient suffering, still occupied with the service of souls.”
Very Rev. Henry LeDuc, pastor from November 17, 1859, to August 27, 1897, was born in Nantes, France, January 1, 1834, and was ordained to the priesthood in Nantes on January 30, 1859. The Holy Oils were scarcely dry on his hands when he came to Bay St. Louis. Little did he know that this would be his one and only assignment, that for nearly 38 years he would spend himself and be spent in the service of this parish. True it is he found a church, a rectory, an academy for girls and a college for boys, but all were in their infancy. The ground had been broken and the seed planted, but it took a man of zeal and patience to continue the work. Providence had admirably fitted Father LeDuc for this task. Under his gentle guidance the church prospered and the schools flourished. During his administration the "Sorbonne,” or free school for boys, was opened under the direction of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.
Soldiers Heed Father LeDuc’s Plea
In the spring of 1864, a company of federal soldiers from Fort Pike at Chef Menteur landed at the Bay and was met by a company of Sibley’s Cavalry. The Confederates repulsed the Yankees and took a few prisoners. About two weeks later, 200 Federals from the gunboat Commodore came to rescue the captives. Captain Marshall of the Grays was in the Bay on a reconnoitering expedition, and while standing at the corner of Front and Union streets was shot by a federal soldier. Father LeDuc rushed out and prevented the federal soldier from finishing Captain Marshall with his bayonet. The Yankees were then determined to burn the town. They burned several properties, and the town seemed doomed. The people were terrified. Father LeDuc, then a young priest, appeared on the street in the neighborhood of the church, holding aloft the cross of Christ. The federal soldiers, who were for the most part Irish Catholics, instantly ceased firing and, in respect to the cross of the Savior, doffed their hats. Thanks to the courage and religious influence of Father LeDuc, peace was restored and Bay St. Louis was saved from destruction.
Father LeDuc was a builder of the first rank. He rebuilt the original church, which had been condemned by the architects. He built churches at Bayou Binanchoa, Bayou Cadet, Pearlington,
Our Lady of the Gulf Church
157
Bayou LaCroix, Waveland, and St. Joseph’s on Dunbar avenue, and in his will he left money for the erection of a church at Ed-wardsville. He opened St. Mary’s cemetery on December 22, 1872. His records show that in the year 1879 he attended 13 missions in addition to the Bay and during this year 382 were Confirmed; of this number 49 were converts. These facts are sufficient to stamp him as a missionary of apostolic zeal.
“I Was Baptized by Pere LeDuc”
In July, 1897, Father LeDuc decided to visit his native land. In boarding the ship he hurt his leg. The injury hastened his death, which occurred August 27, 1897. He was buried in France, far from his beloved parish. Forty years have passed since the death of Father LeDuc, but he is still loved by his spiritual children. Even to this day you can hear the older members of the congregation say with a feeling of pride: “I was Baptized by Pere LeDuc,” showing that this was considered a distinct privilege and that a special unction was imparted by his ministrations. His cause may never be submitted to Rome, but he has long since enjoyed domestic canonization at the hands of his people.
The third pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf church was Very Rev. Florimond J. Blanc, January 1, 1898, to June 14, 1903. Father Blanc was born in the Diocese of Le Puy in France, April 4, 1842. At the completion of his classical course he entered St. Mary’s Seminary at Baltimore. He was ordained for the Diocese of Natchez and, in the fall of 1870, began his missionary work in Mississippi. Only a man with the zeal of an apostle could stand the difficult missions of Aberdeen and Columbus back in the ’70s, but zeal he had in abundance, and for 10 long years he lived the life of a pioneer missionary. From 1880 to 1890 he was pastor of Pass Christian, where his record shows that he was a great builder and an able financier. As pastor of Biloxi from 1890 to 1898 he kept up this excellent work, and for this reason Father LeDuc requested that good Father Blanc succeed him as pastor of Bay St. Louis. Bishop Heslin acceded to the wishes of Father LeDuc, and Father Blanc became pastor of the Bay about January 1, 1898.
During his short tenure of office Father Blanc lived up to all expectations. He repaired the church, bought the property where the present rectory stands, put electric lights in the church and