Saint Margaret Mary Parish

1980-1989

✝ 1986 - The addition of the two side wings of the church was completed. In December of that year Fr. Carroll took a sabbatical until August 1.

✝ 1987. Fr. Mossy Gallagher and Fr. Tom Grealey led the flock during Fr. Carroll's sabbatical.

1990-1999

✝ 1990 - Additions were made to the facility. The Sacristy and Pre-K room were added. Additional offices were also added to the church office and the vestibule was made larger.

✝ 1995 - The Evangelization Building was completed, and a state of the art Evangelization Library was opened.

✝ 1997 - A 414 square foot addition of one large guest bedroom and a handicap accessible bathroom was added to the rectory.

✝ 1998 - Six sets of faceted glass windows, designed by Mr. Milton Pounds, were installed in the church. Construction of a multi-purpose classroom/band room was completed.

✝ 1999 - St. Margaret Mary School was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Rev. Msgr. Carroll retired after 29 years as our Pastor. Rev. Msgr. Lanaux Rareshide was named as Pastor.

2000-2009

✝ 2002 - The Adoration Chapel was completely renovated.

✝ 2003 - The Slidell Food & Fun Fest has grown to be one of Slidell's biggest community attractions with crowds amassing over 40,000 visitors.

✝ 2004 - We raised money to build our Early Childhood Development Center for 3 and 4 year olds and expanded our present Pre-K to be used as a Youth Facility.

✝ 2005 - On August 29th, Hurricane Katrina devastated areas in Slidell. Due to Katrina our church needed renovations. We completed renovations for our church first then started construction on the Pre-K 3 & 4 building.

✝ 2007 - In April, construction of the Pre-K for 4-year-olds was begun. The lead professionals on the project were Ronnie Alpha, Architect; and Miramon Construction, Contractor.

✝ 2008 - Pre-K for 4-year olds was completed and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on March 14.

✝ 2009 - On January 24, the first Mass in the newly renovated church (with a center aisle) was celebrated. The Youth Room for the teens of the parish was open a month later.

2010-2019

✝ 2010 - The Year For Priests - Once a month St. Margaret Mary hosted a priest from the St. Tammany/Washington Deanery to give his testimony in the church. Parochial Vicar, Fr. Thomas Kilasara, celebrated his 25th Jubilee as a priest.

✝ 2011 - Fr. Lanaux Rareshide celebrated his Golden Jubilee, 50 years in priesthood, on June 5th with Noon Mass and a reception in the gym. In honor of Fr. Rareshide's Jubilee, the Pre-K building was named the "Rev. Msgr. Lanaux J. Rareshide Early Childhood Center."

✝ 2012 - Special Mass and Blessing of the Rev. Msgr. Lanaux J. Rareshide Early Childhood Learning Center was celebrated on August 5 by Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

✝ 2013 - New bells were donated to the church by the Stella Roman Foundation. A digital sign was installed at the front entrance of the campus to display messages and information about events at St Margaret Mary.

✝ 2014 - In June, the church office began major renovations. On July 1, Fr. Colin Braud was assigned to St. Margaret Mary Parish. In September, Fr. Thomas Kilasara left our parish to be Pastor of Blessed Trinity in New Orleans.

✝ 2015 - In the spring, major renovations were done to the rectory by Miramom Construction. In June, St. Margaret Mary's own parishioner, Chris Zavackis became a priest with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. On June 30th, Rev. Msgr. Lanaux Rareshide retired as Pastor of St. Margaret Mary. On July 1, Rev. Edward Grice was installed as pastor. On August 16, Archbishop Gregory Aymond celebrated Noon Mass to open our 50th Jubilee Year. On this same day, Mayor Freddie Drennan presented a Proclamation naming this day St. Margaret Mary Parish Day. In October, Fr. Colin Braud led a pilgrimage to France bringing parishioners to Paray le Monial for the Chapel of the Visitation, where most of the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque took place.

✝ 2016 - During our 50th Jubilee year, we held many different events to celebrate. Principal Bobby Ohler honored all former faculty, staff, and students at Mass. In June 2016, Fr. Colin Braud left St. Margaret Mary Parish for his new assignment in Metairie. In July Fr. Gary Copping became Parochial Vicar of St. Margaret Mary Parish. August 21, our 50th Jubilee Year ended with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Aymond.

✝ 2017 - Newly ordained Fr. José Alex Guzman was assigned to St. Margaret Mary as Parochial Vicar on July 1. Fr. Gary Copping was assigned as Pastor of St. Joseph Church in Gretna. Mr. Bobby Ohler retired as Principal of St. Margaret Mary School and Mrs. Cathy Canter was hired as the new Principal of the school.

2020-Present

✝ 2020 - March 13, Covid shut down much of the world. Our beloved fair was cancelled for the first time in many years. Parishioners had to reserve their spots in masses due to the limited number of people we could have in the building. July 1, Fr. Jared Rodrigue was our new Parochial Vicar. He spent 3 short months here until he was named Pastor of St. Luke's Parish on November 1st. That same day we welcomed Fr. Daniel Darmanin as our new Parochial Vicar.

✝ 2021 - Covid was still affecting the world and our annual Fair had to be cancelled for the second year in a row. Hurricane Ida hit on August 29th, the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, thankfully our church suffered no major damage.

✝ 2022 - Fr Edward Grice announced that he would be retiring on June 30th. In the Spring, it was announced that our beloved Parochial Vicar, Fr Daniel Darmanin, would become our new Pastor on July 1st. Our Parish was thrilled!

✝ 2023 - Fr Dan had the inspiration to create our beautiful Stations of the Cross walkway with parishioners sponsoring stations and benches. July 1st we received our new Parochial Vicar Fr Vincent Nugyen.

✝ 2024 - Fr Dan announced our church altar and chapel renovations with his goal to have them completed by our 60th anniversary. Fr Vincent left our church to become the new Pastor for Holy Family Catholic Church in Luling. July 1st our beloved Fr Jorge was ordained, and many Saint Margaret Mary parishioners were in attendance. and he was assigned to become our new Parochial Vicar.