Early in 1914, at the request of Bishop John Gunn, Father, Samuel Kelly, a Josephite Missionary from Baltimore, Maryland, took a census and found a sufficient, number to justify building a new church for the local Black Catholics. On July 12, 1914, the Bishop of the Diocese of Natchez, along with the priests, religious and the Black Catholics dedicated Our Mother of Sorrow's Church, for the worship of God and the care and salvation of souls. Hundreds of people, mostly Blacks, gathered for this dedication. The new church, Our Mother of Sorrows, embraced sixty-seven families. Three years later, on August 14, 1917, Mother Katherine Drexel, foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament of Cornell Heights, Pennsylvania, sent three sisters to start an elementary school which would serve the Black community for the next fifty years. The school located on Reynoir Street was a two story building that extended to Fayard Street. It's initial enrollment was well over two-hundred students. The high school department began in 1932 and the first senior class graduated in 1936. In 1941, under the leadership of the Josephite Priests, a new school was built, located on Division Street and in the same locate as the church. This facility had many modern classrooms, a new library and science labs. The orders of nuns and priests who staffed the school, though limited in funds, provided quality education and activities for the Black youth they served. This quality education enabled it's students to compete with other from the finest academics thought the country. Though noted all along the coast as an outstanding learning center, OMS had an excellent basketball team, football team and a highly rated band. The school produced untold numbers of outstanding men and women who have gone off in the service to God and country and who have taken their places in the many varied and demanding careers across the United States. Our Mother of Sorrows has fostered two religious vocations: Sister Mary Eileen Marino, OSP of the Oblate Sisters of Providence of Baltimore, Maryland and the Josephite Archbishop, Eugene A. Marino of New York. With diocesan schools assuming the responsibility of providing Catholic education for Black children, enrollment at Our Mother of Sorrows diminished until it was no longer feasible to continue operating the school. The high school department dosed in 1961 and 1967 was the final year for the elementary division. The overwhelming loss felt in the community was the departure of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The building is now used a a center for parish activities. Today parish children attended Nativity BVM Elementary School or St. Patrick Catholic High School. Others, who do not attend the Catholic schools, are involved in the CCD Program. All the pastors, together with the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, guided and motivated students, adults and parishioners to such an extent that Our Mother of Sorrows is well known and thought of in his region. And its people continue to work and pray for the parish's continued growth. CMR In the year 2005, Our Mother of Sorrows Church underwent two solemn undertakings. The Catholic Diocese of Biloxi allowed the Redemptorist Order of Denver to administer the parish. four priests and a brother followed immediately. There were the Reverends: Steve Wilson, Chung Cao, The Pham, Warren Drinkwater and Brother Gene Patin. Also, Katrina, one of the most devastating hurricane ever to strike land, laid waste the local community, causing untold death and destruction. However, with the aid and assistance of hundreds of volunteers and workers, the church was soon completely renovated and stands as beautiful as ever. |