VICTORVILLE—It’s a time of joyful celebration for St. Joan of Arc in Victorville as they reached their 100-year anniversary this fall. They honored the occasion with 12 days of festivities starting Oct. 20 and ending Oct. 31.
The extended celebration began Oct. 20 with a bilingual novena. For the next nine days, there was an hour-long novena prayer followed by a history display and hospitality in the parish hall. There were also some additional fun events on Oct. 22 and 23, including a visit from the Knights on Bikes (a group of Knights of Columbus who ride motorcycles) on Saturday and a Youth Mass and Children’s Day with games, a bounce house and food on Sunday.
The novena period led up to the Main Centenary Celebration on Oct. 29. The day kicked off with a Latin Mass at 7:15 a.m. and included a variety of festival activities such as vendors, face painting, a costume contest, a kid’s zone, food and live music. A highlight of the day was a special 5 p.m. Festive Mass with Bishop Alberto Rojas presiding.
The festivities continued the next day with a Grand Raffle giveaway and a screening of the St. Joan of Arc movie, and concluded on Oct. 31 with a Trunk-or-Treat event.
The parish formed a Centenary Committee that sold St. Joan of Arc 100th Anniversary items, such as key chains, tote bags, shirts, raffle tickets and more, to raise funds for the celebrations.
St. Joan of Arc started out as a mission church in 1922, becoming an official parish in 1927. It was then part of the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego and served Apple Valley, Hesperia, Lucerne Valley and Victorville. A second church replaced the original building in 1950, and is still in use today.