Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & International Shrine of St. Jude is a Roman Catholic church located on

Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the oldest surviving church building in the city (originally established as the Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua), the back of the church is bordered by

Basin Street Basin Street or Rue Bassin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery. It c ...

, and the parish is predominantly African-American. The church is one of multiple parishes in the city that celebrates a weekly " Gospel Jazz Mass" on Sunday mornings.

Description

The church was built in 1827 and dedicated as a mortuary chapel for victims of yellow fever. It was erected close to St. Louis Cemeteries #1 and #2, the primary Catholic cemeteries at the time (St. Louis Cemetery #1 is located directly behind the church, right across Basin Street). At the time, it was thought that exhalations from the dead could spread the disease, so St Anthony's was established to relieve the burden then stretching St. Louis Cathedral thin. In 1918, Archbishop John Shaw asked the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to serve at the chapel (which had fallen into disuse), at which point the missionaries renamed it to its current moniker. In the 1930s, parishioners praying to Saint Jude had their prayers answered, which resulted in a tradition of regular novenas to Saint Jude (that continues today) and the erection of a shrine to Saint Jude (which is still maintained today). The St. Jude Shrine is located in the area to the left of the altar, and it includes a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of St. Jude. The statue of

Saint Expedite Expeditus (died 303) also known as Expedite, was said to have been a Roman centurion in Armenia who was martyred around April 303 in what is now Turkey, for converting to Christianity. Considered the patron saint of urgent causes, he is also kn ...

is also visited by Catholics, as well as some local followers of

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

. The church grounds also feature a Marian

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

, located between the church and the adjacent rectory.

References

The history section of Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel's website
*http://www.neworleanschurches.com/olguadalupe/olguaralupe.htm 1826 establishments in Louisiana 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1826 Roman Catholic churches in New Orleans African-American Roman Catholicism African-American Roman Catholic churches Roman Catholic national shrines in the United States Louisiana Voodoo {{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and International Shrine of St. Jude