Nonco Was Unforgettable!  by Seola "CeCe" Arnaud Edwards

We were a big family of thirteen children, 7 girls and 6 boys and we lived on a farm about a mile from Arnaudville on the road to Leonville on Highway 31 where the house still stands today. Our parents were devout Catholics and we inherited their deep faith.

A regular occurrence at our home was the monthly delivery of the Apostolate of the Sacred Heart leaflets by Nonco who always traveled on foot. Along with the leaflets he would often bring a small piece of paper torn out of a notebook with lines written by hand for each of us to memorize for his next play, usually celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart which was his love, his raison d’être . He single-handedly spread this devotion throughout Arnaudville and its surroundings and the ripple effects of his love and devotion can still be felt to this day. I would like to give my personal witness.

In 1946 when our parents tore down the old house (built in 1813) and built a new, modern one with indoor toilet, Nonco came with a framed image of the Sacred Heart to help my parents dedicate the new home and our family to the Sacred Heart. It was signed by my parents and dated June 30, 1946 and hung in our home as long as our parents lived. I remember it well; we prayed the Morning Offering every day, a practice I still follow to this day. In 1983 when our mother followed our father in death, their few possessions were divided equally among the many family members. I don’t remember what happened to our family’s image of the Sacred Heart, but amazingly eleven years later it found its way back to the family consecrated to it. Here is the story.

In November 1994 a group of 45 French people came to Arnaudville to retrace the footsteps of their favorite son from Jausiers, France: Jacques Arnaud, the founder of Arnaudville. It was a memorable day beginning with special mass in French by Father Hébert, lunch provided by Arnaudville’s incredible ladies in the Little Flower auditorium, a big welcome from Mayor Leo Quebedeaux with an exchange of gifts, a tour of the town including the cemetery where the French folks found many familiar names on the tombs. It seemed all of Arnaudville had turned out to welcome our visitors from France. At the end of this lovely day, my niece, Mavis Arnaud Frugé, who is most welcoming and friendly, had invited the whole group to hers and Richard’s home to enjoy Cajun desserts made by her and the neighbors, melt-in-the-mouth pralines by her mother, Nola. There was a Cajun band playing on the back porch and folks were already dancing when the bus with the French guests drove up. Soon the visitors were trying to imitate our Cajun two-step and it was a most wonderful, fun end to a very special day.

During this visit, Mavis asked me to come with her to one of the bedrooms in her home where she opened a bureau drawer and pulled out the Image of the Sacred Heart signed by my parents on that long ago day with Nonco. She said, “I was flea market shopping in Lafayette recently and I ran across this. When I recognized what it was, there is no way I could go off and leave it there. So, I bought it and I want you to have it.” What a stunning, moving gift! Amazingly the Sacred Heart image to which my family was consecrated June 30, 1946 had found its way back to that family from a flea market shop! With tears in my eyes I read and re-read its beautiful prayer of consecration:

Consecration of the family to the Sacred Heart

We consecrate to Thee O Jesus of love, the trials and the joys and all the happiness of our family life, and we beseech Thee to pour out Thy best blessings on all its members, absent and present, living and dead—and when one after the other, we shall have fallen asleep in Thy blessed bosom O Jesus, may all of us in Paradise find again our family united in Thy Sacred Heart. Amen

Signed: Mr. and Mrs. Albert Arnaud This 30th day of June 1946

The picture that follows is a shot taken of the image that hangs in my home.

I think maybe Nonco in heaven somehow guided this image back to its proper family. Gathering families together in heaven may very well be one of his favorite jobs up there, as it was here on earth. We are blessed to have known him. Thank you, Nonco, from the “hearts” of all the families you helped.