land use & development

Our Lady of Lourdes church on Napoleon is on the market again

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The pews are gone. The baptismal font and religious statues have been removed, and the church bell is no longer in the belfry. Even the stained glass windows are in storage elsewhere. For now, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church at 2400 Napoleon Ave. awaits the next chapter in its nearly 100-year history.

Advertiser specials

Red Beans & Rouses partners with local churches to help feed neighborhoods (sponsored)

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New Orleans traditions are here to stay! Every year, Rouses Markets donates millions of pounds of food to local food banks, food pantries, and community fridges. “I appreciate and love the way our stores and the neighborhoods they serve work together to support one another, and make sure that everyone has enough food to eat,” said Marcy Nathan, Rouses Markets’ creative director. Rouses Markets has always supported local nonprofit organizations, schools and churches working to make their neighborhoods better places to live and work. Recently they started a new community initiative, Red Beans & Rouses, in partnership with churches all over New Orleans.

historic preservation

Endangered places: Saving St. Alphonsus

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There are few, if any, churches that have the treasures of St. Alphonsus, which opened in 1857 in the Lower Garden District. Once past its front doors, the church’s beauty — the ceiling frescos by Italian-born New Orleans artist Dominico Canova, the stained glass windows by German artist F.X. Zettler and the hand-carved walnut communion rail — are a revelation. But behind the pretty façade, there are problems.

The frescoes are damaged by water, noticeable by the wooden laths seen in the ceiling where a painted cherub could have been. The lead pieces that hold together the stained glass windows are disintegrating.

food and drink

Catfish fried, shrimp po-boy, filé gumbo… it’s Lenten season on dah bay-you 

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In New Orleans, Lent marks a culinary tradition as well as a spiritual and liturgical season. Much like the way we eat red beans on Monday, we eat seafood, usually fried catfish, on Lenten Fridays. We search and compare fish fry menus with the same fervor and passion reserved for king cakes only a few days earlier. 

New Orleanians mark the beginning of Lent at the stroke of midnight as Mardi Gras ends. Before the embers of Ash Wednesday are wiped from our foreheads, we’ve already started planning the Easter crawfish boils. While Lent marks a time of reflection and penance for practicing Catholics, locals of all religions, or no religion at all, partake in the tradition.

schools

Ecole Bilingue plans expansion on St. Henry’s Church complex

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The Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle-Orléans received City Planning Commission approval last week to increase its footprint within the St. Henry’s Catholic Church complex with the use of a building for its middle school. The private French immersion school occupies multiple buildings and courtyards within the church grounds for its early childhood, kindergarten, elementary and middle schools. To give the middle school students room to grow in a building of their own, the school wants to lease the Blessed Pauline building at 4219 Constance St. Plans show the interior will be renovated into four classrooms, a science and technology lab, a music room and three offices.

COVID-19

Central City church hosts two days of COVID-19 walk-up and drive-thru testing

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Council members Helena Moreno, Jason Williams and Jay H. Banks are proud to announce mobile COVID-19 testing in Central City. The testing initiative is hosted by 12 Baptist churches throughout the city and held this week at New Hope on Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way. In partnership with the city of New Orleans, NOLA Ready and the New Orleans Health Department and Ochsner Health System, community drive-thru or walk-up testing will take place on Tuesday (May 5) and Wednesday (May 6) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way (formerly LaSalle Street). “Having testing easily accessible to those that are most likely to be impacted and who are less likely to be able to get to the other testing sites, just makes sense,” said District B’s Councilman Banks. “Throughout every crisis New Orleans has experienced, churches have been an anchor, and served as a beacon of hope.

events

Archbishop, rabbi to take ‘Spirit Flights’ over city

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From Big Easy Wing

In an initiative to honor this week’s religious holidays during a major health crisis, the Big Easy Wing of the Commemorative Air Force will launch its first “Spirit Flights” over New Orleans. Two local religious leaders will be flying over the city in a World War II plane. The first flight will take on Good Friday (April 10) at 10 a.m. Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond will fly over the city to bless the citizens of metropolitan area during this pandemic. Aymond himself only recently recovered from COVID-19. “We continue to ask for prayers for our health care workers, our leaders, those who are sick, and those who have died,” Ayond said.

church

Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club celebrates faith and friendship at Mass

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Members of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club gathered Saturday (March 14) for their annual Mass at St. Mary’s Assumption Church that traditionally precedes their Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day parade. This year, the parade hosted by the group founded in 1947 was canceled by the city due to the spread of the coronavirus.

church

Where to find a Lenten fish fry Uptown

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Lenten fish frys at Catholic churches and schools start today and continue throughout Lent. Here’s some local fried-fish dinners from a list compiled by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Knight of Columbus 3411
Where: Blessed Pauline Center, 4219 Constance St. When: Fridays from Feb. 28 to April 3; after 6 p.m.
Menu: Fish and fries or crawfish pasta, coleslaw, vegetable, dessert, drink.

arts, books and music

Dr. Michael White to lead annual jazz service on Sunday

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St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church will present its 26th annual Jazz Service, an Uptown Mardi Gras tradition led by Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band, at 9 a.m. on Sunday (Feb. 23). Dr. White, renowned New Orleans clarinetist, and the Original Liberty Jazz Band have led the Jazz Service since it began in 1994. The Jazz Service always packs the church on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday as it presents a festival of hymns and spirituals in the New Orleans jazz style.