The Holy Cross area in New Orleans is actually a sub-district of The 9th Ward. Sub district is one of those words that I stumbled upon while researching what I photographed. So, this is St. Maurice Church. It’s been decommissioned by the Catholic Church in New Orleans and is now for sale. The church was built in 1857. It really doesn’t look it, but that’s what the sign on the wall said. That’s also what any history I found said. It must be correct. Maybe not. I’m skeptical that way. Numbers add up to nothin’, you know?
The bits.
First, St. Maurice. He was the leader of the Roman Theban Legion. They were famous. In the Third Century. He was ordered by Maximian to kill a large group of Christians. He refused and Maximian ordered his own troops be decimated. That means killing one of every ten soldiers. When that didn’t work, he killed them all. The Christians. The soldiers. And, St. Maurice. He did that in what is now Switzerland. And, you wonder why they stay neutral.
Second. Holy Cross. It is the final eastward development of New Orleans. It was established in 1849 by a group by brothers, sisters and priests of — you guessed it — The Order of The Holy Cross. They built an orphanage which became what was Holy Cross School in 1895. The school moved to Gentilly — another area in New Orleans — after the entire Holy Cross area was flooded by Hurricane Katrina.
I didn’t know any of this until I took the picture and decided to do a little poking around. Well, that’s not entirely true. I know what decimated means. I studied Latin in high school. Anyway, it just shows you what a little research can do. That, and boredom.
The picture. More i-Phone work. I tuned it up a bit. Well, a lot. I used by Snapseed and OnOne to do the work. The picture was silhouetted, but didn’t have much else. I thought the church was a little spooky so I created a picture to reflect what I saw. 
Ray: you are topping yourself every time… what else can I say? pick your own complimentary comment whenever you see my “like”…. BRAVO!
Thank you, Vera. It means a lot.
I taught at Holy Cross Boys School when we first moved to New Orleans. I loved that neighborhood. Have you seen the steamboat houses? They are worth the ride down there.
Penny, I spend a lot of time there, and in Central City, documenting them when I’m around which seems to be less and less these days. That said, I’ve actually been inside of the one on the river side.