Nativity School Foundation Information

It served the entire area, first as a modest structure in 1843, which was severely damaged by an 1869 hurricane; then as a larger frame church from 1870 until it was obliterated by fire in 1900, the year half of downtown Biloxi fell prey to the fiery conflagration. The tragedy was perhaps unparalleled in the history of the diocese; one from which Nativity rose to become larger and stronger. Under the leadership of Pastor Alphonse Ketels, the congregation initiated a rebuilding program. In February, 1901, Father Ketels traveled to his native Europe to seek further assistance in the rebuilding of his beloved parish. When the rebuilding program began in November 1901, the Most Reverend Thomas Helsin, Bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, employed the services of Theodore Brune, a noted German architect residing in New Orleans and responsible for some of the best buildings constructed in Biloxi at the turn of the century, to design a new and much more substantial church for the people of the growing parish. The third church of The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary, built on the northwest corner of West Howard Avenue and Fayard Street, was constructed in 1902 by J.F. Barnes and Company. A fine example of late Gothic Revival, the building was dedicated on September 14, 1902 to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the most perfect image of how humankind should respond to God's love. The adversity was not over. More damage would occur in the 1906, 1969, and 1985 hurricanes. Other improvements necessarily followed and continue today, revealing impressions of the strong faith and character of Nativity's continuous generations of benevolent parishioners and friends, both here and abroad. In 1929, the entire interior of the Church was repainted using a donation from Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York and the first unsuccessful Catholic candidate for President of the United States. Governor Smith had visited Nativity in 1928. During 1942, personnel assigned to Keesler Field Army Air Base-as today's Keesler Air Force Base was known at that time-laid a new floor in the Church overnight. The task involved 30 men. ALTARS