J’irai la voir un jour / Au ciel dans la patrie / Oui j’irai voir Marie / Ma joie et mon amour.

(Translated: “I am going to see her one day / In heaven, in our native land. / Yes, I am going to see Mary, / My joy and my love.”)

LEONVILLE, La. — I Am Going to See Her One Day is a hymn woven into the consciousness of South Louisiana Cajuns. The reality that heaven is our true homeland is generally intuited by all Catholics, but it resonates deeply within Cajun culture.

Often forgotten is the story of the French Catholics expelled from Nova Scotia by the British 260 years ago. After a 30-year exile filled with unimaginable hardship, the scattered Acadians were welcomed into Louisiana by the king of Spain, as it was then under Spanish control.

The annual Eucharistic boat procession on the Solemnity of the Assumption in Cajun country not only articulates the deep devotion of those in the region but also commemorates the collective memory of a people on the anniversary of their wayfaring ancestors’ arrival along the same waterway: the Bayou Teche.

The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile-long waterway that sits deep within South Louisiana, nestled between sugarcane fields and accented by the humid air. The region is known for its rich, intentionally preserved Cajun culture and French language (the word “cajun” being derived from Acadian). Lafayette, in particular, is recognized as the most Catholic city in the United States, as it is home to a 50% Catholic population.

Each year, on the feast day of the Assumption, the Eucharistic Lord, in poetic fashion, is processed on that same bayou that carried the ancestors of those filling the shores and boats for the Fête-Dieu du Teche (“Feast of God on the Teche”).

The Fête-Dieu du Teche was founded 11 years ago by Father Michael Champagne of the Community of Jesus Crucified in response to the call for the New Evangelization.

In commemoration of the procession’s 10th anniversary in 2024, a Fête-Dieu du Mississippi took place from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, in a multi-day, 130-mile procession down the Mississippi River.

This year’s procession was back on the Bayou Teche and commenced with a French Mass at St. Leo the Great Church, presided over by Bishop John Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette. In his homily, Bishop Deshotel pointed to the Marian teachings of Pope Leo the Great, as well as the importance of the 1950 apostolic constitution of Pope Pius XII’s that defined the dogma of the Assumption.

French prayers and hymns filled every inch of the church and spilled out of the doors, along with the numerous faithful.

Accompanying Our Lord

The first leg of the procession carried Our Lord from the Mass to the banks of the Bayou Teche.

A sea of flower girls filled the path with rose petals, while petals also dropped from the belfry of St. Leo the Great.

A 21-gun salute and cannon fire sent the flotilla off in a celebratory fashion. The procession of boats contained all elements familiar to a Eucharistic procession: a bell boat, a boat containing a crucifix, an incense boat, a boat fitted with an altar and canopy to hold the monstrance, and boats with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, followed by boats of adorers.

The flotilla passed by countless homes, and the banks of the Teche were peppered with adorers. Some vehicles on a nearby roadway pulled over at the sight of the procession. The boats stopped at every Catholic parish along the bayou for Rosaries and benedictions.

In typical Fête-Dieu du Teche fashion, confessions were made available at each stop in retrofitted ambulance confessionals dubbed “spiritual care units.”

Blessings on the Bayou

Within Scripture, Christ often boarded a boat to reach a greater number of people than on land.

In 2025, the Body of Christ traversing on a boat for the Fête-Dieu du Teche is a distinct witness. Father Champagne, through the founding of this Eucharistic flotilla, bears witness to what it means to be a fisher of men with Christ as the “bait,” drawing all walks of life (even a small flock of Muscovy ducks watched as Our Lord passed by).

As the bayou twists and bends under a canopy of trees, during the Fête-Dieu du Teche, Christ meets the sum of his creation: mankind, beast and the landscape.

On the Marian Solemnity of the Assumption, Catholics are witnesses to God’s promises through the life of Our Lady. As a good mother, Mary illuminates the path before her children and reminds us that heaven is our native land — and Jesus is with us always, even on the bayou.