11th Annual "Classics in the Courtyard"

11th Annual “Classics in the Courtyard,” offering a variety of entertainment through different genres of classical music. Local entertainers and local restaurants will provide the music and lunch on Fridays from noon-1:00 p.m.The musical entertainment is sponsored by a generous grant from Entergy Mississippi. The entertainment is provided for free and lunch can be purchased for $10 per person. Reservations are required for lunch and must be made by 5 p.m. on the Thursday before the event.
Friday, October 19 – Classics Blues, Rock, Pop and Originals performed by Patrick Smith; Lunch provided by Billy’s Italian Restaurant. Facebook event page.
Friday, October 26 – Classic Rock and Pop performed by Ben Shaw; Lunch provided by 10 South. Facebook event page.
Friday, November 2 – Classic Pop and Country performed by Ralph Miller; Lunch provided by The Anthony. Facebook event page.
Friday, November 9 – Classic Blues, Rock and Originals performed by Lee H. Abraham & the Boone Brothers; Lunch provided by Goldie’s Express. Facebook event page.
This wonderful program is also supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and in part, from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the generous support of Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation individual and corporate members, the City of Vicksburg, and various appropriations.
For more information or to make reservations for lunch, please call the SCHF office at 601-631-2997 or email info@southernculture.org.

Spooky Sprint Run/Walk

4th Annual Spooky Sprint 5K Run/Walk and 1-Mile Fun Run

Vicksburg Catholic School

Congratulations St. Aloysius Lady Flashes!

State Champions:  St. Aloysius soccer players celebrate with the trophy and championship banner after beating Bayou Academy 1-0 on Saturday for the MAIS Division III title.  It is St. Al's second state championship in four seasons.  

Sisters of Mercy Convent - MS Paranormal Society

‎Mississippi Paranormal Society‎ to A Haunting at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center
September 25, 2018

Sisters of Mercy
Yesterday, I gave the background of the Cobb House. Today, I am going to tell you about the Sisters of Mercy in Vicksburg, MS. I do want to make a quick note: the convent wasn't built until 1868.

In 1863, the school was shuttered as Sisters and families fled into the hills to avoid the cannon fire of the Civil War. After about a month, the Sisters returned to find their former school filled with sick and injured soldiers. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln even called the nuns “Angels of Mercy.” The 3rd floor and the front porch of the Cobb House had been blown off by canon fire. The nuns immediately began providing nursing care which took them out of Vicksburg for several months. During the heaviest battles, the injured were removed to areas of safety and the Sisters accompanied them to continue their care.

A few years later, Vicksburg was in need of a Catholic School because of the large number of Catholics living there. Bishop William H. Elder wrote to Mother Catherine Wynne (who was the 3rd appointed Sister of Mercy after the group was brought from Ireland to the United States). He had known of the work she and her nuns had done, and was impressed enough to ask them to send some of the Sisters of Mercy nuns to Vicksburg, MS and open a school. She agreed, and in 1860, six Sisters of Mercy, led by Sister Mary DeSales Browne, traveled half-way across the country from Baltimore to Vicksburg. The Sisters opened the first school in Vicksburg a few days later. The sisters lived and taught children in the Cobb House and in a stick framed building that sat on the land. 

In 1863, the school was shuttered as Sisters and families fled into the hills to avoid the cannon fire of the Civil War. After about a month, the Sisters returned to find their former school filled with sick and injured soldiers. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln even called the nuns “Angels of Mercy.” The 3rd floor and the front porch of the Cobb House had been blown off by canon fire. The nuns immediately began providing nursing care which took them out of Vicksburg for several months. During the heaviest battles, the injured were removed to areas of safety and the Sisters accompanied them to continue their care.

In 1864, Mother Mary DeSales Browne returned to Vicksburg and reopened the school with 200 students and only four Sisters. What they saw and dealt with then was astonishing and sickening. The city was now under charge of United States General Henry Warner Slocum. He refused to let the sisters back into the Cobb House which housed United States Occupation Soldiers. The sisters begged and pleaded with Slocum to let them take charge of their home, but he refused. They were able to smuggle word out about this, and through contacts and channels, Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, released the home back to the Sisters of Mercy despite Slocum.

2018 Alumni Fall Fest & Charitable Trust

2018 Alumni Fall Fest and 

St. Aloysius/St. Francis 

Charitable Trust
(Click and register above)

Our first-ever Alumni Fall Fest will be an exciting event to celebrate Homecoming Week at Vicksburg Catholic School! On Saturday, October 13, join us for a fish fry, friends, and football on the grounds of St. Aloysius High School. We'll have campus tours at 11:00 a.m. At noon, we'll eat, drink, and catch up with our classmates!

Register for the Alumni Fall Fest and/or order an Alumni Fall Fest Logo T-Shirt (color Ivory by Comfort Colors) by October 1. You may also consider contributing to the Charitable Trust! The Charitable Trust was established in 1983 by the St. Aloysius/St. Francis Alumni Association to benefit the operations of Vicksburg Catholic School. As always, thank you for your generosity. We'll see you soon!

Best Songs From 1958 (Part 1)

Prayer For Our Class of 1959

My Dear Classmates,

Thinking of you and wanted to send out a prayer for our Class of 1959.

Father, we thank you for the wonderful times we have had at our reunions and looking forward to our 60th next year. Thank you for our friendships that have lasted forever. We seldom get to see each other but when we get together it’s like we were never apart. We feel just as close and connected now than as we did when we were teenagers. We truly love and care for each other and it is so great. We realize all of this comes from you. So, thank you, God.

Thank you for taking care of us. Thank you for blessing our families, our children, grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. We realize that everything good comes from you and we thank you, Lord.

Our classmates are gifted, talented and now retired. We are spread out from Mississippi to Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, California, Washington and from Virginia to Florida. Thank you for blessing our classmates with all these abilities and the contributions we have made. We know all these good things come from you. Thank you, Lord!

We are saddened because some of our classmates have passed away. Please bless and comfort their families. Thank you for the time we had with them. Also, for the classmates who are now having health issues, please bless them and keep us and our families healthy and safe.

Cover us with your protection. Send strong angels to guard our families. Help us to trust Jesus Christ, your Son, and bless us with faith to believe you, hope for the future, and love. Help us to love you and to love others as you love us. Bless us spiritually so that we are close to you. Bless us in every way and we will give you all the glory and thanks.

Lord, in less than a year, bring us all back together again for another reunion. The older we get the more important it becomes. Until then, we remember our 50th Year Class Reunion. We remember the smiles, the laughter, the hugs, the music, the stories – we remember it all and give you thanks for allowing us to grow up together and to be friends. So, bring us all back together next year. And then one day, take us all home to be with you. Please forgive all our sins and take every one of us to the big reunion you have planned for us in heaven.

 In Jesus Name, Amen!