St. Mary's is the "German" church of the Irish Channel. The neighborhood in-between Magazine St. and the river on the uptown side of Canal became home to a large number of the immigrant families that moved to New Orleans after Louisiana joined the United States. The construction of the New Basin Canal is what lured these folks to town. Many of those workers died of malaria and yellow fever working in the swamps of what is now Lakeview, but the families stayed on in New Orleans.

Even though this neighborhood is called the "Irish Channel," a fairly large community of German immigrants also lived here. These families were loathe to give up their cultural heritage, and this carried through to the way they worship. The Irish community had St. Alphonsus church, but the Germans wanted to build their own house of God. Where St. Alphonsus has a lot of Celtic influences in the design and "feel" of the place, St. Mary's is very much Old World. The main altar is massive, with lots of statues starting on top with the Trinity crowning the Blessed Mother, moving to the four Archangels, then lesser angels and saints. It's a big church, with a long aisle, making it a favorite church for weddings. In fact, Anne Rice describes a wedding (along with a couple of funerals) at St. Mary's in her novel, The Witching Hour.

Even though there are two churches half a block away from each other, the Channel was still just one parish. That parish was staffed by Redemptorist priests, and nuns from the School Sisters of Notre Dame. (There was a "French" church as well, by the way, but it burned down in the 1850s, and was never replaced. The character of the neighborhood had changed by then to the point where it wasn't necessary.) The grammar school was (and still is) named St. Alphonsus, and the high school was Redemptorist High. The priests would say Mass at St. Alphonsus, giving the homily in English (Mass was in Latin back then, of course), then walk across the street and say Mass to the Germans.

As time went on, the cultural differences in the Channel shifted more from German/Irish to black/white. World War I had gone a long way in erasing many of the aspects of German culture (it was at that time that Berlin St. was re-named for Gen. Pershing), and everyone was more blue-collar American than anything else. The neighborhood still remained a working-class one, where it was no shame that some folks had to live in the St. Thomas housing project (a block over from the two churches towards the river) because they were having trouble making ends meet. Both churches continued to be used, however. The grammar school used St. Alphonsus, the high school St. Mary's. Time and lack of money have taken their toll on St. Alphonsus, however. It's closed now, because it's in such bad need of repair that it's unsafe to say Mass there. St. Mary's continues to serve the parish in style. Unfortunately, the neighborhood has completely gone to pot. On the day I shot this photo, there was a guy who appeared to be selling drugs right on the corner of Constance and Josephine, in front of St. Mary's. It was pathetic. The cesspool that is the housing project has spilled out into the adjoining neighborhood, swallowing up everything up to Jackson Ave. It's truly sad. The high school (Redemptorist) closed in 1980, and its buildings are now used for community outreach and senior citizens. St. Alphonsus School is still open, but it's quite hard to keep a private school running in such a poor neighborhood. The Redemptorist fathers are still in the neighborhood, but the nuns left for Gentilly when the high school closed and moved out to the former site of St. Joseph Academy and became Redeemer High. Of course, when one of the sisters got shot in the head in the late 70s, it didn't take much persuading to get them to leave.

There's a scene in Anne Rice's novel The Witching Hour where one of the characters (who grew up in the Channel) returns from living in San Francisco and tours the neighborhood where he grew up. He's so depressed after walking past the churches and over along Annunciation St. that he heads for the first bar to get a beer. I still have hope for the Channel, but it pains me to see it this way now.

The photo was shot by me (Ed Branley) with my trusty Nikon FA and a 28mm lens.

Inside: The Main Altar

Click here or on the image to receive a larger (432K) JPEG version of the photo.

St. Mary's Assumption Church is one of those churches that young brides return to for their weddings even though their families moved out of the Channel years ago. It's got that all-important feature required by many a bride who's spent lots of money on their dress: a long aisle to the altar. St. Mary's is really beautiful when it's all done up for the holidays with lots of evergreen, red ribbons, and other Christmas decorations. In fact, weddings are the reason I found this photo in the first place. I was at Richard's house a few weeks ago, and was looking through his pictures to see what he'd photographed lately that would be useful for Virtually New Orleans. I started going through his bridal portfolio and this shot jumped out at me.

You can see the Old World heritage of St. Mary's. Where St. Alphonsus' Church was the home of the Irish community in the Channel, St. Mary's was home to the German community. That's why all of the beautiful statues of angels and saints. The main achievement on the altar is the Crowning of the Blessed Mother. At her feet are the four Archangels (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel), then the apostles and major saints, then a number of minor saints. All hand-carved, all imported from the Continent. Even though the neighborhood outside the churches is literally a combination housing project/war zone, it's this beautiful inside scene that keeps folks coming back for weddings and funerals year-'round.

This photo was shot by Richard R. Vallon, Jr., of Orleans Convention Photography, with his medium-format Bronica. If you like the shot, drop Richard a line and let him know!

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