History of St. Bernard continued
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The Diocese of Lafayette used to be a small part of the Diocese of Havana, Cuba. On April 25, 1793, the Dioceses of Louisiana and the Floridas were formed. To the north and the east of the Diocese of Louisiana was the Diocese of Baltimore, and the Diocese of Durango and Linares, Mexico was to the south and the west. Don Luis Ignacio Maria de Penalver y Cardenas was appointed first bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and was stationed in New Orleans. The birth of the Diocese of Lafayette was on January 11, 1918. Our diocese was carved out of the Diocese of New Orleans.
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Priests from St. Martin de Tours ministered to Breaux Bridge residents before St. Bernard Parish had it's own resident priests. In 1847 St. Bernard Parish was born from the wishes of the congregation, the relocation of an assistant pastor, and land sales. In the earlier part of the 1840's, residents established a small chapel where Farmer-Merchants Bank & Trust on the corner of Main and Bridge Streets is now located. Fr. Martin and Fr. Dufour of St. Martin de Tours conducted services when possible. Fr. Dufour eventually advocated the assignement of a resident priest for Breaux Bridge.
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On February 22, 1847, Mrs. Eurasie Breaux Chaigneau sold a lot approximately seven arpents in size to Reverend Antoine Blanc, Bishop of Louisiana at the time. Fr. Dufour executed the sale as a representative of the bishop for four hundred and fifty dollars. Four hundred of that was paid in cash, and the left over fifty was the value of a lot sold to her and her husband containing approximately one acre in area on which the St. Bernard Chapel stood. With this sale, the parish now had the land to build their own church. All that was left to find was a leader.
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