The Solemn Blessing and Opening of the new Saint Francis de Sales Oratory in Sulphur (Lake Charles), Louisiana, took place on Saturday, March 27, 2021. The celebrant was the ordinary of the Diocese of Lake Charles, His Excellency Bishop Glen J. Provost, Knight Grand Cross of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. The Bishop was assisted by Canon Matthew Talarico, Provincial Superior of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, also an Ecclesiastical Knight of Grace, and Canon Jean-Marie Moreau, also of the Institute, a friend of the American Delegation and the new rector of the Oratory. Despite the pandemic, two other knights of the Order were also able to attend in mantle. The blessing was followed by the Solemn Votive Mass of the Oratory’s titular patron, St. Francis de Sales.
A considerable presence of the Constantinian Order has existed in Lake Charles (as is also the case in New Orleans) for almost three decades, the city and Diocese have also hosted an investiture and Delegation meeting in May of 1994, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, presided by the-then Grand Prefect, HRH Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Grand Master and Head of the Royal House since 2008.
The church was completed and blessed in 1924, under the patronage of Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Notre Dame du Prompt Secours, Patroness of the state of Louisiana) but the parish was transferred, and the church building was reduced to profane use, becoming a courthouse in 1985. In 2019, the city of Lake Charles began the process of acquiring a new building for a courthouse, and the Institute of Christ the King was invited by the Bishop to come to his Diocese to begin an apostolate and to restore the former church to its original purpose, now under the name of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and principal Patron of the Institute to which the Oratory is entrusted.