Worship at the “World’s Smallest Church”

last century, when the eldest son of Italian sugar farmer Anthony Gullo fell ill. Gullo prayed to the Virgin Mary to help his son, and in exchange for her intercession, he promised to build a chapel in the Blessed Mother’s honor. When the child recovered, the farmer kept his promise and constructed the Madonna Chapel in 1903.

Shortly after the Madonna Chapel was built, Mass on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, a Catholic holy day celebrating the entrance of Mary’s body and soul into heaven. With only a few exceptions, every August 15, the traditional Mass is held in the tiny chapel—honoring the woman whose intercession inspired its inception.

Off the beaten path in Iberville Parish, an unassuming, white chapel stands watch over the Mississippi River. A white picket fence encircles the property, forming a barrier between the tiny church and the neighboring homes with their wandering cattle. The church is easily overlooked on a drive along River Road, overshadowed by larger attractions such as nearby Nottoway and the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site. Yet, for more than 120 years, its presence here has been a constant reminder of gratitude for an answered prayer.

The story dates back to the turn of the

Built from Louisiana cypress donated by neighbors, the original structure measured only seven feet by seven feet and, according to local resident Betty Aucoin, was octagon-shaped. After a new Mississippi River levee was constructed in 1924, the chapel was moved and rebuilt to be slightly larger—at nine feet by nine feet. Now, the front and two sides are square, but the back still retains the original octagon profile. A sign notes that it was once listed in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as the “smallest church in the world”.