Father Cody Chatagnier, pastor of St. Ann Church parish in Bourg since July 2019, says he celebrated the 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday, Aug. 28, then evacuated to St. Benilde Catholic Church in Metairie.
“I first came back to the parish on Monday after the storm. I didn’t have much time since I needed to get out before curfew. I had heard reports that the roof was damaged on the church, but the destruction I saw when I came back was unimaginable. The church’s roof was ripped off. There was standing water in the church. The roof and the back walls of the rectory were gone. Basically the majority of my possessions were destroyed. I went from planning to go back to the rectory to trying to find another place to live. I think during that initial visit I was still in shock. From time to time over these last few weeks, the reality of the situation has hit home. I broke down when I pulled a soaked picture of my deceased mother out of a storage bin last week. Insurance claims can’t replace some things … “
Many of St. Ann’s parishioners were heavily affected by Hurricane Ida. Father Chatagnier says St. Ann is a parish that normally comes to the aid of others, but this time they were certainly the ones in need of help.
“Less than a week after the storm, we were able to help our community in small ways,” he says. “People began calling from Florida, Texas, Missouri and other parts of Louisiana asking to come here to help. We opened our parking lot to those generous people. Instantly, we became a distribution hub for supplies and hot meals. After a week went by, some of my parishioners began to organize into distribution teams that helped to package meals and hand out supplies. I’m extremely grateful to my DRE Lisa Lapeyrouse who coordinated and scheduled all of the different groups.”
Father Chatagnier says for him personally, the greatest challenge has been balancing his own personal needs with his role as pastor of St. Ann: Trying to find a place to live versus being in the community; being able to have the basic necessities to function like gas, food and water, while also trying to obtain those items for other people in need; and caring for the spiritual needs of the community versus caring for the material needs of the parish.
“There are only so many hours in a day,” says the pastor, “and many days I’ve felt that I couldn’t accomplish what was needed.”
Father Chatagnier says the greatest blessing throughout this disaster has been the wonderful generosity of the different communities that have come to their aid.
“St. Ann is used to serving and not being served. We would rather stand on our own feet, but we certainly needed the assistance this time. I’m incredibly grateful to those communities that have donated and helped us get back on our feet. We hope to one day pay those blessings forward.”