Church receives unexpected guest just before feast celebration

As more and more people return to their normal activities, that includes those venturing out to worship with their church communities for mass.  

And you just never know who – or in one such case, what – might show up to give praise.  

Recently, Holy Family Church in Luling had an unexpected visitor when a 7-foot-gator wandered onto the lawn and then within a few feet of the church’s front steps. It came just days before the June 5-6 Feast of Corpus Christi where the Archdiocese of New Orleans restored obligation for Catholics to attend mass. Evidently, this reptile decided to get an early jump on that. 

“He kind of just showed up and wanted to go to church,” said Fr. Stephen Dardis, Pastor of Holy Family Church, with a laugh. “It’s definitely not something you see every day. We’re right on the canal. You see alligators there once in a while, just they’re further downstream. I guess he made his way a little further north and was looking for a place to go.” 

The gator was in no rush to cut things short. He hung out in front of the church for about an hour and a half, as Dardis and other church members were decorating for the weekend Feast Day.  

“Someone said, ‘He’s going to go right in the door if we don’t close it right now.’ It was literally just coming toward the entryway, and we had to encourage it to not go that way.” 

Ultimately, the gator’s adventure – and in some respects, that of the humans as well – ended when wildlife personnel removed the gator and returned him to his habitat.  

“They reunited him with some of his brothers and sisters further down the bayou,” Dardis quipped.  

He said that was the only time he had seen an alligator come so close to the church, though he noted near some homes neighboring the church, he knew some residents had their own close encounters. 

“I know about two or three years ago, one person had a bigger alligator near their house. It’s not necessarily uncommon around here, but we hadn’t had one on church property,” Dardis said.  

The Holy Family Facebook page poked some fun at the experience, its page displaying the message, “Even the alligators are coming back to church!  All are welcome!”   

More so when it comes to people than gators, Dardis said he’s pleased to see people returning to their church family, and noted over the past several weeks Holy Family has begun to see larger crowds in attendance. 

“Honestly, it’s been really good,” Dardis said. “I think a lot of people got vaccinated pretty quickly, and the desire to come back together has been huge. People were tired of being kept apart.” 

A little more than a year ago, those crowds were non-existent, Dardis hosting mass in front of a camera for people to follow proceedings from home. After Easter last year, masses would see around 10 people, and by summer, that number grew larger with social distancing in place. Once the church was permitted to bring in 25 percent capacity, it was able to get closer to its average, and these days things are much closer to normal.  

“We’re not islands. It’s good to be together,” Dardis said. “I think it’s a great chance for people to rediscover some of the beauty and joy of coming together in worship and in community.”