St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery

History of the Area

https://scblittleredchurch.org/

13396 River Rd, Destrehan, LA 70047

A log cabin structure was built at the cemetery in 1740 to serve as the chapel for the newly relocated ecclesiastical parish. At that time the name was changed from La Paroisse de St. Jean des Allemands (The Parish of St. John, of the Germans) to St. Charles in honor of St. Charles Borromeo. The original structure burned in 1806 and was replaced with what became known as the “Little Red Church.” It soon became a landmark to riverboat captains traveling the Mississippi River. Upon seeing the church, captains and passengers knew the voyage to New Orleans was ending soon.

Open to the public and free, it is sacred a place to stop and reflect upon the efforts of these souls and, our own ancestors, by appreciating how their lives have contributed to ours. Offer a moment of veneration. No visit to the plantations in the area would be complete without experiencing the life at St Charles Borromeo cemetery. The cemetery continues to serve the Destrehan community today.

Psychic reading for St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery 1740

This is a very old cemetery on the levee of the Mississippi river, with visible brick stacked tombs being the oldest. Ed and I walked the grounds. He took pictures and I wrote down my psychic impressions on the tour.

Walking in the fences and gate, to the left are very dark and imposing tombs set way back from the entry gate, but in front of the oldest brick graves along the roadway. To the left are modern buildings with graves around them and vaults with the deceased. None of this felt good. This whole side to the burial complex was plagued with a feeling of difficult childhoods and sadness. #7 on the map.

Only one Mausoleum felt good to me and it was placed far back between the modern buildings which I did not like. It was a delicate white marble tomb about 10 feet high. Next to one much larger and chunky which held a very controlling man. (This is #10 on the map. Rixner Tomb.)

Nothing extraordinary too much. It is very peaceful and quiet with grand oak trees forming a mighty line along the road way and the road side of the cemetery. There were many crepe myrtle and small palms and shrubs.

Along the back corner where the older German brick tombs are located. I heard and talked to several dead humans. “ There is a lot under here.” “A lot more people down under”. The Mongrue grave was the spot where the old Genius Loci was worshiped and propitiated. There were big cooking ovens made of clay and there were feasts and worship. This was around # 22 on the map.

Standing at a pile of very old brick and rumble I heard “ Almost underneath we are now, greeting our brothers and sisters.” I asked, “Do you want to be underground?”. He (strong male voice, plank like accent, very strange) “Our most fervent wish”. I then said, “ you are almost there” ( #20 on the map old German settlers)

Most of the newer graves left me with no feelings one way or the other. There were a very few difficult spots that I could feel slave and owner deaths and anger/fear. And I felt some very stern man graves, some more brutal and cold than others. Authority and control was there in a few spots.

In the roadside, parking lot side of the cemetery is a group of old and newer tombs in the Labranche family. The small one up front had dates of children’s lives on the carved markers. I could tell that two of the smaller brick tombs had been robbed years ago and only one small skeleton was left out of three or four in total. The missing ones were teenagers. #24 on the map.

The Zeringue tomb was difficult, negative energy.

My general feeling was that there is great effort and sincerity made by these people. Nothing difficult at all in the great oak area. Very pleasant and the trees are peaceful. Tomas Louchan 1853 dies in LA, from County Galway Ireland. He was longing for home and forgiveness when he died. So distraught he was interred so far from home.

Finishing the walk with Ed, just walking slowly around some graves in beautiful grass. It was a really a pretty and breezy afternoon, even though high summer.

I saw this in my vision, “ The new and the old are the same people. New people same as deep below.

The bottom layer of graves is American Indian, but they are very old European sailing immigrants that came over from the east side of Canada and down the eastern coast to Florida and the southern states. They were northern. Scandinavian, Norse, German. There was some mixing with the Asian Plain Indians 10,000 years ago.

Above them were the oldest German immigrants who intermarried with their distant cousins. I feel like these were the layer trying to go underground and be with their brothers and sisters. And also many graves lost markers from this earliest wave of settlers to Louisiana.

Next highest layer were more recent settlers and other folk from neighboring states as transportation evolves. New people on top, but mainly reincarnated from the previous families represented in the cemetery.

The American Indian area is also up on the river, and I could see that the river had moved quite a lot in the last 10,000 years.