Saint Bernard Church and Saint Bernard civil parish were named for the patron saint of Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez, who in 1778 sent Canary Islanders (Isleños) to settle at the Post of La Conceptión, later variously called Terre-aux-Boeufs, De Bueyes, and Nueva Gálvez. The governor ordered the construction of a church on this site. Churches in both Saint Bernard and Plaquemines trace their origins to this mother church. Priests from Saint Louis Church, later the Cathedral, in New Orleans served the entire area from 1778 to 1787. Capuchin Father José de Villaprovedo was the first resident pastor from 1794 to 1798.