• Historian raps myth on Acadians 
• Chauvin church joins with Canadian sister
• Highlights of CMA events for Tuesday

CHAUVIN - The Rev. Robert Sevigny had not celebrated a Mass in French in about two years. But he didn't seem rusty. Sevigny, the associate pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Chauvin, spoke the language for the entire Mass on Monday night, during a religious gathering that was part of the continuing Congrès Mondial Acadien festivities

                     It marked a significant milestone for the Terrebonne Parish
                     community and its ancestral kin in Nova Scotia: the official twinning
                     of St. Joseph Catholic Church and Ste. Anne Catholic Church in
                     Ste. Anne-du-Ruisseau, Nova Scotia.

                     The Canadian church is near Grepere, the scene of the British
                     deportation of the Acadians in 1785.

                     The Rev. Frederic Brunet, pastor of the Chauvin church, spoke to
                     the congregation before Mass and told the people of his visit to
                     Nova Scotia.

                     "When I was there, I thought, 'I came thousands of miles to end up
                     where we started from,' " he said. "The people looked the same,
                     acted the same and talked the same. It was just like being right
                     here in Cajun land."

                     Brunet said he also visited Grepere.

                     "I knew the history and knew what happened there," he said.

                     Following his talk to the congregation, Brunet read and signed the
                     official proclamation, which joins the two church communities.

                     It said, in part, the churches will "twin to discover their many
                     similarities and to celebrate their unique differences."

                     The proclamation continued saying the "twinning commitment will
                     assure that their pasts will never be forgotten and their futures will
                     forever be intertwined."

                     The document will now be sent to St. Joseph's sister church, where
                     the Rev. Emery Brien will also sign the proclamation.

                     Following the ceremony, a reception, complete with jambalaya,
                     white beans and Cajun music, was held at the gym behind the
                     church.

                     There, many Congrès revelers continued the family celebration.

                     "Everything has been fantastic," said Robert Surette, of Yarmouth,
                     Nova Scotia. "It is unreal the amount of energy that went into this.
                     And it's all for us. I hope we can do the same for them in 2004."

                     Surette was speaking about the next Congrès Mondial, planned for
                     Nova Scotia in 2004.

                     One person already touting the next gathering was Vaughne
                     Madden, director of the Grepere monument in Nova Scotia.

                     "A lot of people here will find their family's name on the monument
                     and can trace them back to Grepere," Madden said. "Also, I grew
                     up in the St. Anne parish in Nova Scotia. So, the twinning
                     ceremony was special."

                     Richard Laurin, who is a tour operator from Annapolis Valley, Nova
                     Scotia, said he drove to south Louisiana by himself for the Congrès
                     celebration and it has been well worth the trip.

                     "It has made me realize how significant Nova Scotia is for all
                     Acadians around the world," he said.

                     Laurin, who operates Novacadie Tours, said this was his second trip
                     to south Louisiana. His first was for another French celebration:
                     Mardi Gras.

                     "Mardi Gras, for example, is a tradition in the French culture that
                     has disappeared everywhere but here," he said.

                     That culture is something of importance to Laurin.

                     "These people are coming back to their roots," he said. "The same
                     thing is happening to many cultures around the world."

                     Merle and Claude Lirette of Chauvin said they have traveled to
                     Grepere before and had been to the church their parish was
                     twinning with.

                     "We went to visit the area and find out more about our ancestors,"
                     Merle Lirette said of the trip.

                     Both said they plan to travel to the Congrès in 2004, as well.

                     Interestingly enough, local members of the media found there was
                     another tie to Nova Scotia. The only French-language newspaper in
                     Nova Scotia has a familiar name. It's the Le Courrier de la
                     Nouvelle-Ecosse, a 2,000 circulation weekly newspaper based in
                     Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

                     Matt Gresham is a staff writer at The Courier. He can be reached at
                     857-2204 or by e-mail at hdcnews@nytimes.com