ST. MARTINVILLE — Faithful Christians of all stripes turned out to downtown St. Martinville Thursday morning in the blistering cold to take part in the annual Jubilee of the Word put on by Fete Dieu du Teche.

The event has run non-stop since Wednesday, and plans are for the marathon to end Sunday following a complete reading of the Bible in St. Martinville’s downtown square.

More than 200 lectors of all denominations have volunteered for the event, and are assigned parts of the Bible to read before handing it off to the next volunteer.

Those taking part in the marathon start from Genesis and finish with the Book of Revelation as part of the religious event that was initially started by the Community of Jesus Crucified and Fete Dieu du Teche.

Lectors were still covering the Old Testament Thursday morning, and were just about to crack the first 24 hours since the marathon beginning Wednesday afternoon.

Through a thorough scheduling of volunteers, organizers carefully laid out the readings so that the entire Bible will be finished by Sunday afternoon.

Organizers of the event have found multiple quirky ways to spread their religious message in the past. This year included the introduction of Friar Truck, a mobile pulpit for reading the Bible “on the geaux” and itinerant preaching, and was located next to the main stage near St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church.

Also on scene was the mobile confessional unit, a converted ambulance vehicle that has been redesigned for priests to hear confession.

Fête-Dieu du Teche is a group of Catholic clergy and laity who also annually put on a 40-mile Eucharistic procession on the Bayou Teche during the Feast of the Assumption.

The procession is undergone both for the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as a commemoration of the Acadian people, who were predominantly Catholic, who made their way to south Louisiana more than 200 years ago.

The procession of boats that accompany the Blessed Sacrament through the Bayou Teche pass through Iberia and St. Martin parishes.