Father Louis Marie Gergaud

BIOGRAPHY

Fr. Louis Gergaud was born on March 22, 1832 in Héric, France, near the city of Nantes, to Sebastian and Ann Gergaud. He was baptized at the local St. Nicholas Church. As a teenager, Louis Gergaud entered the Grand Seminary in Nantes where he was ordained a priest on September 23, 1854, for service in the newly erected Diocese of Natchitoches. The young priest was assigned to the missions in Northeast Louisiana and became the founding pastor of St. Matthew Church in Monroe.  Despite overt hostility toward him as a Catholic priest, Fr. Gergaud persevered in his ministry among people of all creeds and ethnicities, giving freely of his time and resources to all in need and tending to the spiritual care of the slaves and former slaves of the region “like Fr. Peter Claver.” Known for his kindness and fortitude and ardent desire to evangelize, he established Catholic schools for both boys and girls. Catholic growth in the region expanded ten-fold during his time of ministry.

“Fr. Gergaud was a saintly priest, a true shepherd of souls who often left the 99 in the field to go after the lost one. He not only took care of the Catholics in Monroe, but he had mission stations in Minden, Homer, Germantown, Bastrop, Logtown, Columbia, Winnsboro, Harrisonburg, Woodville … he visited these missions, some regularly, and were very dear to his heart … Fr. Gergaud was no ordinary priest; he was distinguished in every respect and stood head and shoulders above all of the other priests of his diocese.”

In his own letter to Bishop Jacquemet of Nantes in April 1855, Fr. Gergaud relates much about the challenges he faced, but yet the great joy at his work in baptizing and evangelizing even among hostile conditions:

“I experienced some of the manners that our Protestant brothers use to address a Catholic priest, who must simply walk without taking into account the insults he is the object of, and be happy in his heart to be a little despised for the love of Jesus Christ.”

In that same letter, Fr. Gergaud also reveals his profound charity and concern for the enslaved of the American South on the eve of the Civil War:

“The slaves are almost abandoned, and we cannot reach them now, either because of the distrust of their masters, or because of the corruption that is pervasive here which makes it unable for us to get into their camps without losing our honor and reputation … we run the risk of not having the opportunity to imitate the admirable devotion of Father Claver to these people. Most of these poor people are baptized, but for most of them, it is the only symbol they have of a Christian.”

When Fr. Gergaud received the missive from Fr. Biler in Shreveport about the epidemic crisis and the deaths of Fr. Quémerais and Fr. Pierre, he did not hesitate. After sending word to Fr. Biler that he would leave by stage coach that very day (September 18), eyewitness accounts relate that as Fr. Gergaud mounted the stage coach to leave, he was thronged by citizens of that city. Those once hostile to his presence were begging him not to go. Fr. Gergaud turned to his associate pastor, Fr. Quelard, and said,

“Write to the bishop, and tell him I go to my death. It is my duty, and I go.”

Fr. Louis Gergaud died of Yellow Fever in Shreveport on October 1, 1873, ministered to in his final moments by Fr. Francois Le Vezouet who had recently arrived from Natchitoches. In his letter to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Paris, Bishop Martin remembered Fr. Gergaud this way:

“Fr. Gergaud was a true “Homo Dei.” Endowed with a very energetic nature, an elevated and cultivated spirit, patient and ardent zeal, a tender and generous heart protected by a prudent and reserved manner, Mr. Gergaud was a torch spreading light and heat around him. In a place where never before had a priest resided, where I had nothing to offer him but the unfinished skeleton of a chapel and a few diffident Christians and where I doubted that he could live, Mr. Gergaud founded and leaves behind him a flourishing mission … He lived only 10 days in Shreveport, welcomed by all as a God-sent angel, he overextended himself during one week to satisfy all the needs; he exerted himself beyond measure. There were more than 1,000 sick people, of that number perhaps fewer than 25 were Catholic, but, in the presence of death, it was the priest that everyone called for, and God alone knows how many souls owe their salvation to the heroism of this priest.”

Some months after his death, Fr. Gergaud’s mortal remains were moved from the public cemetery in Shreveport to his home parish of St. Matthew’s in Monroe, Louisiana, to be interred in the cemetery he founded. The records of that parish relate the transfer of his remains:

“Father Gergaud insisted on going to Shreveport to attend the sufferers from Yellow Fever, now bereaved of their pastor Rev. Father Pierre, who was a victim of the disease. A few months later the body of the beloved father and friend reached Monroe. Every store in town was closed, and every person in town, irrespective of creed, attended en masse the imposing obsequies.”

Profound evidence of the strong, if nascent, devotion to Fr. Gergaud is evidenced in a December 1873 petition from the Catholics of Shreveport that the bishop would permit his mortal remains to be buried in Shreveport with the other priests.

Fr. Gergaud is buried in the cemetery he founded, St. Matthew’s Church Cemetery in Monroe.  The original marble tombstone over his grave reads that he “died a martyr to his charity.”

PRAYER FOR BEATIFICATION

Almighty and merciful God, You filled the heart of your priest, Servant of God Louis Gergaud, with apostolic zeal, an energetic nature, patience and forgiveness in the face of persecution and discrimination, courage in leadership, a pastor’s heart toward all and humility instead of personal advancement.  Inspired and sustained by charity, this true man of God, calling it his duty, made the free and willing offering of his life to care so directly for the sick and dying, and to bury the dead, in a far off city during a virulent epidemic, knowing his decision would result in his premature death.

Bestow upon me the grace to ardently love my neighbor and fully trust in Your providential love, as did this martyr to his charity.  If it be Your will, O God, glorify our beloved Servant of God by granting the favor I now request (mention your request), so that, we pray, all may know of his heroic virtue and holiness and may imitate his love for You and Your Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

In 2023, the city of Shreveport will mark the 150th anniversary of the third-worst epidemic of Yellow Fever in United States history. The human toll was staggering: over one-quarter of the population died from the illness within a matter of weeks. The human suffering wrought in 1873 remains unparalleled to this day. Yet amid this tragedy emerged heroic virtue, exemplified in the lives of five priests who voluntarily and freely offered their life for others and persevered with this determination unto death.”