St. Mary's Assumption Church (New Orleans)

Infobox_nrhp | name =St. Mary's Assumption Church
nrhp_type =nhl

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caption =
location= 2030 Constance St., New Orleans, Louisiana
lat_degrees = 29
lat_minutes = 55
lat_seconds = 44.75
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 90
long_minutes = 4
long_seconds = 29.01
long_direction = W
locmapin = Louisiana
area =
built =1858
architect= Unknown
architecture= Other
designated= May 30, 1974cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1103&ResourceType=Building
title=St. Mary's Assumption Church |accessdate=2008-01-31|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = August 12, 1971cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=71000361

St. Mary's Assumption Church is a National Historic Landmark in New Orleans, Louisiana.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/71000361.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: St. Mary's Assumption Church] |290 KB|date=January 14, 1974 |author=Paul Goeldner |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/71000361.pdf "Accompanying 3 photos, exterior and interior, from 1955 and c.1964."] |1.11 MB]

The National Park Service reports "Hurricane Katrina caused heavy rain and wind damage, and water infiltration has damaged interior plaster and ceiling." In 1965, the church was heavily damaged by Hurricane Betsy, which resulted in the church being temporarily closed, and almost resulted in the church behing demolished. [cite web | title=A History of St. Mary's Assumption Church | work=Jack Belsom |url=http://www.croatians.com/Kundek-at-stmarys.htm
accessdate=2008-04-19]

The church was completed in 1860, built for the swelling German Catholic immigrant population in the Lower Garden District section of the city (the church across the street, Saint Alphonsus Church, was built at the same time for the swelling Irish Catholic immigrant population in the same area).

St. Mary's Assumption is home to a shrine for Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a German priest who came to the United States to minister to German-speaking immigrants. Fr. Seelos died while serving as the pastor at St. Mary's Assumption: after visiting and caring for the victims of yellow fever, he succumbed to the disease himself in 1867. In recognition of his virtuous life, Fr. Seelos was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 2000.

Best-selling novelist Anne Rice renewed her marriage vows at St. Mary's Assumption with her husband Stan. [cite web | title=The Gospel according to Anne | work=BookPage |url=http://www.bookpage.com/0511bp/anne_rice.html
accessdate=2008-04-19] In addition, Anne Rice included the church in her fictional work. For example, in "The Witching Hour", two of the main characters, Rowan and Michael, were married at St. Mary's Assumption. Also, in "Blood Canticle", the church is the setting of Aunt Queen's funeral. In 2005, Rice added text and pictures on her website that encouraged donations to St. Mary's Assumption to help repair the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. [cite web | title=Help St. Mary's Recover from Hurricane Katrina | work=AnneRice.com |url=http://www.annerice.com/NewOrleans-HurricaneKatrina.html
accessdate=2008-04-19]

References