A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Grenada for the Rev. Samuel J. Messina, a priest of the Diocese of Jackson for 60 years, who entered eternal life on Friday, Aug. 1, in Jackson at the age of 86, just days prior to his 87th birthday.
Fr. Messina will be laid to rest in the Messina Family Plot in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grenada. There will be a visitation from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, followed by a Rosary at 6 p.m. at McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada. Visitation will also be held one hour prior to the Mass. Bishop Joseph Kopacz will be the main celebrant.
Fr. Messina was born in 1938, in Grenada, the son of the late John V. Messina and the late Mary T. Messina. He attended the seminary at St. Joseph Seminary/College in Covington, La., and the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and was ordained into the Holy Priesthood on May 29, 1965. He celebrated his First Solemn Mass on June 6, 1965, at St. Peter’s Church in Grenada.
Fr. Messina served the Catholic Congregations throughout Mississippi as Parochial Vicar, Pastor, Director of the Diaconate, Dean and Chaplain in numerous locations in Mississippi: Sacred Heart of Jesus, Hattiesburg; St. Michael, Vicksburg; St. Joseph, Greenville; St. Teresa of Avila, Chatawa; Immaculate Conception, West Point; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Natchez; St. Joseph, Port Gibson; Mercy Hospital, McAuley Retirement Home & Mercy Sisters, Vicksburg; All Saints, Belzoni; Our Mother of Mercy Mission, Anguilla; St. Mary, Batesville, and St. John the Baptist Mission, Sardis.
In addition to his parents, his brother, Joseph, and three sisters, Katherine, Rose and Teresa, preceded Fr. Messina in death.
Survivors include, one sister, Mary; nieces and nephews, Judith Anne, John Paul, Joseph, Doug, Brian, Rita, Diane, Michael, Maria, Connie, Ray and John, and a number of great nieces and nephews.
Online condolences can be expressed to the family at www.mckibbenandguinn.com
McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada is in charge of arrangements.
