French-Canadian heritage delights parish life director at St. Joseph's

Understanding one's parishioners is a goal for any parish life director, but for Lorraine DeCuyper, that challenge is a bit more literal.

The French-speaking members of St. Joseph's parish in Cohoes, she explained, "have a lot of expressions they use. They translate roughly, but they say, `It's better in French.'"

Even before she was named parish life director at St. Joseph's two years ago, Mrs. DeCuyper admired the parish. When she was asked to take on the job, she and her husband, Conrad, drove from their Guilderland home to visit St. Joseph's.

"I fell in love with the place," Mrs. DeCuyper remembered. "I knew [my appointment] was the work of the Holy Spirit."

French accent

St. Joseph's was founded in 1868 by French Canadian immigrants who worked in the mills in Cohoes.

Hints of that heritage can be found all over the church, from its ornate, white-painted woodcarving -- which Mrs. DeCuyper called a typical Canadian style of architecture -- to signs written in French.

In addition, the parishioners have a great devotion to Ss. Anne and John the Baptist, another French Canadian tradition. The Ladies of St. Anne boast a large roster of members.

Taste of Canada

Although Mrs. DeCuyper's own heritage is French -- her maiden name is Molineaux -- she hadn't spoken the language since she studied it in high school.

"I loved hearing [parishioners'] stories," she told The Evangelist. "It's a very close-knit community; everyone knows each other. They would tell me that when they went to school here, everything in the morning was in French; the afternoon was in English."

The bilingual parishioners are mostly senior citizens now, but the 350-family parish is remembered as a hub of the French-Canadian community in Cohoes. For example, parishioners still put a wax figurine in the creche at Christmas that was made by a Sister of St. Anne who used to staff the parish school, which has been closed since the 1970s. Also, they still sing "J'irai la voir un jour" (roughly, "I'll see you one day") at funerals.

Sharing a culture

Mrs. DeCuyper said, "I feel privileged they're sharing their culture and themselves with me. I love these people, their family spirit and their hospitality."

She's fascinated with their interest in genealogical work (using parish records written in French), and in making sure their deceased family members are not forgotten through creating family trees and maintaining the graves in the parish cemetery.

While Mrs. DeCuyper does not think any special preparation is needed for parish life directors assigned to ethnic communities, she does have two tips: "Keep an open mind and heart -- and prepare to be delighted with the new things you're going to learn."