BATON ROUGE - Father Patrick Mascarella, a retired priest known around the Baton Rouge diocese for his kind heart and ever-present service dog, has died.

On Thursday, the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge announced Father Mascarella passed due to complications resulting from a cardiac surgery earlier this week. He was 77.

Visitation will be held at 9 a.m. on Monday at St. Aloysius Catholic Church followed by Mass at 11 o'clock. The public is welcome to attend.