About Belaire Cove Chapel · Ville Platte, Louisiana
Sacred Heart Chapel, Belaire Cove, is a small Catholic mission chapel serving the rural Belaire Cove community just outside Ville Platte, Louisiana. Officially dedicated on March 3, 1940, by Bishop Jules B. Jeanmard of Lafayette, the chapel was built by local farming families on three acres of land purchased from Mrs. Marie B. Fontenot (widow of Octave P. Vidrine, Sr.) and remains a mission church of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Ville Platte. For more than 80 years it has continued to serve as a country parish chapel, sustained by an annual April Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff that has funded a mausoleum, a church hall and pavilion, paved parking, and ongoing upkeep of the building and grounds.
- Established
- 1940
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Very Rev. Fr. Mitchell Guidry, V.F.
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
Belaire Cove Chapel is the country mission church of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, and it offers a simple, traditional Saturday-evening Catholic Mass in a tight-knit rural community just outside Ville Platte. For decades the chapel has been sustained almost entirely by its own people — through an annual April Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff that has paid for a mausoleum, a church hall, a pavilion, paved parking, and constant upkeep of the building and grounds — so parishioners see the direct fruits of their stewardship. Confessions are heard a half hour before each Mass, the chapel is small enough that families quickly become known to one another, and it remains an easy, welcoming place to worship in the heart of Cajun country.
Mass times at Belaire Cove Chapel
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Approximately 30 minutes before Saturday Mass (about 3:30 PM)
- Consult posted schedule for Holy Days of Obligation
History of Belaire Cove Chapel
Belaire Cove Chapel has its roots in the rural farming community south of Ville Platte. In 1938, local families organized themselves to build their own mission church, electing a committee chaired by Aldes Soileau and including Atale Fontenot, Onile Lafleur, Horace B. Fontenot, Joseph P. Vidrine, Angelas Deville, Albert Soileau, Olin Fontenot, Dallas Fontenot, and Tanzy G. Fontenot. Land for the chapel was purchased from Mrs. Marie B. Fontenot — two acres on May 30, 1938 for $150, and a third acre on April 2, 1941 for $75 — with the construction funded largely by a $2,000 gift from the Catholic Church Extension Society of Chicago plus local donations. The finished chapel, seating 300, was dedicated on March 3, 1940, by Bishop Jules B. Jeanmard, with Monsignor J. M. Bourgeois as host pastor and Father Irving DeBlanc as assistant.
- Land purchased May 30, 1938 (two acres for $150) and April 2, 1941 (one acre for $75) from Mrs. Marie B. Fontenot
- Construction cost: $3,000 — $2,000 from the Catholic Church Extension Society of Chicago
- Seating capacity at opening: 300
- Dedicated March 3, 1940, by Bishop Jules B. Jeanmard, Diocese of Lafayette
- Monsignor J. M. Bourgeois, host pastor; Father Irving A. DeBlanc, assistant pastor
Community Life and the Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff
The chapel's identity is inseparable from its annual fundraiser, the Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff. First held in 1990 as part of the chapel's regular bazaar — with 16 teams cooking over 200 pounds of crawfish and G&S Implement and Eunice Implement taking first place — the cookoff has run every April since. After paying $1,400 to rent a tent in 2005, the Belaire Cove Church Council approached Father Gene Tremie and the Diocese for permission to build a permanent pavilion; the 40-by-70-foot covered structure was completed in January 2006 and now shelters cooks, musicians, face painting, balloon games, and barbecue booths for hundreds of visitors from the greater Ville Platte area. Cookoff proceeds over the last several years have funded the paved parking area and ongoing upkeep of the chapel and grounds.
- First Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff: 1990, 16 teams, 200+ pounds of crawfish
- Held annually each April
- 40x70 pavilion completed January 2006, replacing the rented tent
- Paved parking area funded by recent cookoff proceeds
- Includes face painting, balloon games, barbecue booths, and live music
Buildings, Grounds, and Upkeep
Over the decades, the people of Belaire Cove have steadily improved their chapel property through community fundraisers. A mausoleum and church hall were added in 1986. Mrs. Irene V. Fontenot served as unofficial custodian of the chapel for decades beginning in the 1950s. The 40-by-70-foot pavilion was added in 2006, and the entire parking area has since been paved thanks to cookoff proceeds. The interior of the church and the surrounding grounds have been gradually beautified by parishioners over the years — all without ever losing the chapel's character as a small country mission church.
- Three-acre tract on Belaire Cove Road
- Mausoleum and church hall built in 1986
- Pavilion (40x70 ft.) built January 2006
- Paved parking lot added in recent years
- Mrs. Irene V. Fontenot — unofficial custodian from the 1950s onward
Connection to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Ville Platte
Belaire Cove Chapel is one of several worship sites that together make up the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic community in Ville Platte. The parish — including Belaire Cove Chapel, Our Lady Queen of All Saints, and St. Joseph Church — serves approximately 1,500 families under the administration of the priests assigned to Sacred Heart of Jesus. The parish operates Sacred Heart School (high school and elementary, accredited by Cognia/Lumen and approved by the Diocese of Lafayette), with Father Mitchell Guidry serving as school pastor and Father Alex Lancon as associate pastor. The parish office is located at 708 E. Main St., Ville Platte, LA 70586 (phone 337-363-2989), and serves as the contact point for the Belaire Cove mission chapel as well.
- Parent parish: Sacred Heart of Jesus, 708 E. Main St., Ville Platte, LA 70586
- Phone: 337-363-2989 / Fax: 337-363-3500
- Combined parish family: approximately 1,500 households
- Affiliated worship sites: Belaire Cove Chapel, Our Lady Queen of All Saints, St. Joseph Church
- School: Sacred Heart School (high school and elementary), approved by the Diocese of Lafayette
50th Anniversary Celebration (1990)
On March 3, 1990 — the chapel's fiftieth anniversary — the community gathered for a special Mass followed by a reception at the church hall. Monsignor Irving A. DeBlanc, who had served as assistant pastor at the original 1940 dedication, returned as principal celebrant and homilist. Father Michael Jarrell concelebrated. That same year the chapel's planning committee incorporated the first Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff into the annual bazaar, beginning a tradition that continues to fund the chapel's growth.
- Date: March 3, 1990
- Principal celebrant and homilist: Msgr. Irving A. DeBlanc
- Concelebrant: Father Michael Jarrell (later Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux)
- Followed by a reception in the church hall
- Same year as the first Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff
Building Committee and Founding Families
Sacred Heart Church records preserve the names of the eleven parishioners "elected by the people of Belaire Cove to direct the activities in construction of their community church" in 1938–1940. Headed by Aldes Soileau as chairman, the committee organized the volunteer labor, fundraising, and construction that produced the chapel in time for its March 3, 1940 dedication. The Soileau, Fontenot, Lafleur, Vidrine, and Deville family names that dominated that committee continue to appear throughout the chapel's later history.
- Aldes Soileau, chairman
- Atale Fontenot
- Onile Lafleur
- Horace B. Fontenot
- Joseph P. Vidrine
- Angelas Deville
- Albert Soileau
- Olin Fontenot
- Dallas Fontenot
- Tanzy G. Fontenot
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Monsignor J. M. Bourgeoispastor at dedication, 1940
Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Ville Platte; oversaw construction of the Belaire Cove mission chapel.
- Father Irving A. DeBlancassistant 1940; later Monsignor
Served as assistant pastor at the original 1940 dedication; principal celebrant and homilist at the 50th anniversary Mass on March 3, 1990.
- Father Michael Jarrellconcelebrant at 1990 anniversary; later pastor
Later appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
- Father J. Robert Romeroappointed February 7, 1993
A native of Abbeville; appointed pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop Harry Flynn; also named Sacramental Minister of St. Joseph Parish Church and Episcopal Vicar of the North Region of the Diocese.
- Father Gene (Eugene) Tremiepastor in mid-2000s
Approved the Belaire Cove Council's plan to build the chapel's 40x70 pavilion, completed January 2006.
- Father Thomas VoorhiesJuly 2015 – July 2025
Assigned as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus in July 2015; reassigned to Our Lady of Fatima, Lafayette, in 2025.
- Father Mitchell GuidryJuly 2025 – present
Assigned as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus (and its Belaire Cove mission chapel) in July 2025.