Welcome to rural, Northwest, Louisiana.  Rich in natural beauty and historic significance of which the Catholic church has played a large role.  The church of the Nativity was blessed Sept. 8, 1831, when Father Jean Baptiste Blanc, pastor of Natchitoches, performed the ceremony.  Campti remained a mission under this parish until 1850 when it became a separate parish and the present church was built.

The years of the Civil War and the upheaval that followed, was a time of both polarization and unification.  The animosities of the region ended in a stratification of classes; white, black, mulatto.  The main unifying factor was general poverty.  These were hard economic times for everyone.  The Church remained a central rallying point through these dark days.

In 1885, Fr. Anthony Durier was ordained Bishop of North Louisiana.  He saw how the lack of Catholic education was effecting the progress of rebuilding and the need for a school in each parish.  Sister Florence, a member of the order of the Sisters of Divine Providence agreed to provide six teachers for North Louisiana.  In 1894, Saint Cecilia School was established at Campti.

The leadership provided by the Church of the Nativity that helped the community survive and grow is still a viable influence in the growth of Campti and the surrounding community.

Mass Schedule

Sunday:  9:00 a.m.

Rosary:  Sunday, 8:30 a.m.

Confession:  During Rosary or by appointment

Church Programs & Organizations

The CCD program at Nativity is offered during the school year on Wednesday.  Children from 3 years to high school are welcome.  Throughout the year, we do different community activities such as visit the shut-ins in our community and visit patients in the local nursing home.  Additionally, we have a Children’s Mass three or four times a year.

The Altar Society serves the church by cleaning linens, ordering candles, cleaning the church and working the outside flower beds.  They also prepare food for families after a funeral and visit area shut-ins.  We use Bingo and other fundraisers to allow us to help needy families in the area, as well as to support our youth group activities, dinners for seniors, seasonal decorations for the church, and supplies for the hall.  The Society is open to any lady of the church.  For more information, contact Nancy Gallien.

Other organizations include the parish council, finance council and the choir.

Missions

Our Lady of the Rosary –Black Lake.

            Mass:  Saturday: 5:00  pm (DST); 4:30 pm (CST)

            Rosary:  Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

            Confession:  During Rosary or by appointment

There has been a Catholic church on the shores of Black Lake for well over a century.  The early church was named Saint Michael’s Catholic church.  It was a wooden structure that wore well and served its purpose but after several decades had to be replaced.

During the early 40s the wooden structure was replaced with one of concrete blocks.  The pews were given to the new church from the Catholic Church in Hodge, Louisiana, which had just remodeled and declared the seats surplus.  These seats are still in use today.  The new church was named “Our Lady of the Rosary.”

In the early church, services were held only once a month, however, “neither wind, nor rain,” could keep these temporary priests from their appointed rounds.  The first permanent priest, Fr. Plugs, was assigned to the parish in the mid-40s.  A community hall was added soon after the new church and a cemetery in 1979.  The church now has a membership of approximately 30 families and looks forward to a healthy laboring in God’s service.

St. Joseph Catholic Church – Trichel

            Mass:  Sunday: 11:00 am

            Confession:  Before Mass or by appointment

A church dedicated to St. Joseph, was built at Trichel in 1890 by Fr. Anthony Piegay.  From that time through 1911, the church was a mission of the Immaculate Conception Church in Natchitoches.  But in 1911, it became a mission of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church of Campti, Louisiana until present time.

During World War II, a vagrant spent the night in the old frame church and burned it down.  Fr. George R. Carpentier begged for money and built the present brick church in 1944.  The residence was built in 1978 which was sued by the residing priest and the parish hall was erected in about October 1984.

Over the years, the parishioners of St. Joseph Church have been united as a Christian community cooperating together in taking care of the buildings and grounds.