Religious art often brings to mind quiet, reflective places, meant to draw both the eye and heart to spiritual matters.
Gazing on art in churches and chapels can be an almost remote experience, meant to evoke an image of the divine that we can’t actually see. The moment is profound, but it stands outside of the bustle of everyday life.
That’s not the case in Monsignor Keith DeRouen’s Lafayette home, which is filled with religious art and icons he’s collected over decades, creating an inviting, homey atmosphere where he loves to entertain and where he plans to eventually retire.
DeRouen is the pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Opelousas, where he lives the majority of the time, and was formerly the rector at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette. He also serves as the chaplain at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, and as a New Iberia native (DeRouen was actually born on Avery Island), the priest has spent over 40 years ministering in Acadiana…