(taken from History of St. Anthony Parish, Eunice, LA 1902-1983 by Rev. Donald J. Hebert)
“A growing Christian community of faith has risen where there was a prairie. This budding life of grace has been accomplished by the favor of God, under the patronage of St. Anthony of Padua, and with the hard work and devotion of the people of the area along with their parish priests.
We are grateful for those pioneer Catholics who helped to build our parish, who for the most part had no material wealth, but faith enough to sacrifice time and energy with love. It should help us to understand that we are the Church and that we carry with us the temple of God; that we are a royal priesthood and a holy people”
1866- Eunice is a mission chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Chataignier, LA.
1896 First Church is built in Eunice by Fr. Bacciochi.
1901- Second Church is built by Fr. Bacciochi after a wind storm blew the first church down
1902 13 Aug 1899. Fr. Bacciochi names the Catholic Church of Eunice – St Anthony, after the
patron saint of his own father, Athony O. Bacciochi.The 1903 Parish Report gives the missions of St. Anthony as Mallet, Mamou, and Chataignier. Fr. Bacciochi organizes the
“Catholic Knights of America” with 62 members. Not to be confused with the Knights of Columbus.
1910 Church Bell called "Queen of the Prairie" is manufactured for St. Anthony Church.
1911 St. Paul’s Institute opens with 112 pupils.Fr. Chambon, the third pastor of St. Anthony’s
opened the school.The school building cost $1350.00; the Sisters convent cost $1715.20; the Pavillion cost $1150.00 to build.
1911- Fr. Chambon acquires additional land, and requests permission from the Archbishop to begin the foundations for the New Church. The foundations were laid down in 1913 at a cost of $5666.97. The First Mass in the new St. Anthony Church was celebrated in November 1924.
-Daughters of Isabell (changed to “Catholic Daughters of America” is organized with 28
members.
-Eunice Knights of Columbus, Council 1745, is founded with 38 charter members.
-First meeting of Catholic School Board is organized for St. Paul’s Institute.
-Sisters move into their new Convent which cost $9537.73 to build.
-The convent is named after the Pastor, Fr. Edmund Daull. The school is thereafter named St.Edmund School.
1940 The St. Vincent de Paul Society is organized at St. Anthony’s.
1941 Installation of stained-glass windows and completing the frescoes at St.
Anthony Church. The frescoeing takes seven years to do.
1948 Portraits of the Twelve Apostles are painted and hung on the church ceiling by
Mr. Rudolphe Compte.
1949 Martel Memorial school is opened.
1956 Dedication of the new Knights of Columbus Hall located on the corner of Second Street and Peach Street; cost was $23,000.00. Permission requested from the Bishop to pave the parking lot west of the church. This project cost $10,439.50.
1958 The sacristy is enlarged and a church basement is constructed.
1959 The new Rectory is completed at a cost of $163,198.75.
1968 St. Anthony’s Sunday Bulletin is printed for the first time.
1975 Cry-room facilities are installed in the church.
1976 Ramp for the handicapped and aged is constructed at church.
1977 The Mausoleum in St. Paul’s Cemetery is completed. It contains 376 crypts; the crypts were sold for $350,755.00.
1978 Deacon Fred Reed becomes the first deacon to be employed full-time by the parish.
1983 Plans for construction of a new Mausoleum facility at St. Paul’s Cemetery by the Acme Marble and Granite Co., Inc., of New Orleans. The mausoleum will contain 419 crypts with a sellingprice of $752,820.00.
1999- Fr. Joseph Alexander commissions renovations of the church’s interior and art work.
2001 New pews are ordered. Renovations total $460,000. Bell Tower receives repairs and
automation.
2008- Under the guidance of Fr. Thomas Voorhies, Fr. Gilbert Dutel and Very Rev. Msgr. J.
2010 Robert Romero, V.E construction of a multipurpose facility for St. Edmund Catholic school is completed. The new facility houses seven classrooms and a new gymnasium.
2013 Very Rev. Msgr. J. Robert Romero, V.E comissions the installation new Iconyx sound system. The advanced system is fabricated by Renkus-Heinz Inc. of California and distributed by Porchi Advanced Systems of Lake Charles, LA.
-A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service) retreat becomes part of parish life with the first retreat held on April 11-14, 2013.
2021 Under the direction of Fr. Sal Istre with the assistance of Max Tenny, the Director of Music at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, and Zimmer Organ Builders, a fourth generation organ builder, our 1981 Baldwin Organ was replaced. Plagued by electrical problems, many parts of the organ and speakers in the choir loft had become non-functional and no longer repairable. A "lovingly-used" pipe organ was purchased from a church in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The organ was shipped to Cornel's workshop in North Carolina where is received several upgrades and state-of-the-art digital components. The new "Hybrid Instrument" incorporates a combination of real pipes supplemented by digital voices. ~letter from Fr. Sal Istre, St. Anthony Bulletin March 14, 2021
2023 The “Queen of the Prairie” underwent repairs. The platform supporting the bell was repaired, new timber was used to evenly distribute the load of the platform, a permanent hoist was built to lower the excess and unnecessary weight of equipment left behind from previous repairs. Over 1,000 pounds of obsolete and abandoned equipment was removed. The electrical panels were brought up-to-date to meet the current requirements of ringing the bell. All the old and unused electrical equipment was removed. The roof penetrations and leaks were addressed, and the area was sealed to prevent future leaks and wood rot.