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A Brief History of
0ur Lady of Lourdes Church
0ur Lady of Lourdes,
Victoria, Texas was established in 1875 Fr. Father Jean Baptiste Teitien,
former assistant Pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Victoria.
The first church
building , a wooden frame of 75 feet by 35 feet with a 75 foot spire was
located at the corner of South William and Murray Street. In August of
1887 a storm blew down the spire and bell tower, but the damage was soon
repaired.
0n November of 1915 a
fire broke out in the church. Many of the parishioners were in town for
a social benefit for the church. The building and most of its contents
were a total loss. Two young boys of the parish were credited for saving
all the sacred vessels.
0n June 1, 1923 a
contract was signed for a new church building costing $41,300.00. The
corner stone was laid on September 5, 1923 and on March 25, 1924 the
present church located in 105 N. William St. was dedicated by Bishop
Drossaerts of San Antonio, Texas.
The following pastors
served at 0ur Lady of Lourdes: Jean Baptiste Tertien 1875-1891, F.X.
heck 1891-1905, Lawrence Etschenberg 1905-1946, Eustace Hermes
1946-1954, Clarence Leopold 1954-1955, John McDonald 1955-1961, Michael
Harrold 1961- 1963, Alois Goertz 1963-1965, David Meurer 1965-1967,
Thomas collins 1967-1970, John Gerberman 1970-1973, Gino Bernasconi
1973-1985, John Peters 1985-1990, Thomas McLaughlin 1990-1995, Celestino
Say 1995-present.
0riginally established
to serve German-speaking parishioners, present church membership include
descendants of different ethnic backgrounds ranging from German, Czech,
Irish, Polish, Italian, Hispanic and Filipino.
0ur Lady of Lourdes
Church has at the moment four hundred families with nine hundred forty
registered members. A good number of the parishioners are retired
elderly people and a sizable part of the members live outside of the
city limits. - c.s. 01-03-00. |
