About Our Lady of Fatima · Wilmington, Vermont
Our Lady of Fatima is a Catholic parish in Wilmington, Vermont, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. Established in 1959 by Bishop Robert F. Joyce to serve the Mount Snow ski-area community, the present church was built and dedicated in 1964 in the modern style of its era. Today the parish shares its pastor with the neighboring parishes of St. Joachim (Readsboro) and St. John Bosco (Stamford), forming a small cluster of Catholic communities in southern Vermont's Deerfield Valley.
- Established
- 1959
- Patron
- Our Lady of Fatima (the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of her 1917 apparitions at Fatima, Portugal)
- Rector
- Rev. Father Kevin Chalifoux (Parish Administrator)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
Why belong here
Our Lady of Fatima offers a small, traditional Catholic community in the heart of the southern Vermont ski country, with daily Mass in English, weekly Eucharistic Adoration, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered three times a week — including a half-hour before every daily Mass. The parish shares clergy and ministry with St. Joachim (Readsboro) and St. John Bosco (Stamford), giving worshippers access to a wider cluster of faith communities while keeping the warmth of a local parish church on East Main Street in Wilmington. Visitors and vacationers are explicitly welcomed, and recent beautification projects — the outdoor Fatima grotto and a newly dedicated altar — make the parish an inviting place to pray.
Mass times at Our Lady of Fatima
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM (Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
- Friday: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
- Sunday: 7:15 AM – 8:15 AM (St. Joachim, Readsboro)
- 30 minutes before every daily Mass (during the week)
Adoration times
- Friday: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
- Sunday: 4:00 PM — Vespers of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, followed by Benediction
Our Lady of Fatima Parish — Wilmington, Vermont
Our Lady of Fatima is a small Catholic parish in Wilmington, Vermont, in the Diocese of Burlington. Founded in 1959 to serve the Mount Snow ski community and housed in a church built in 1964, the parish now forms a three-church cluster with St. Joachim in Readsboro and St. John Bosco in Stamford. Daily Mass in English, regular Confession, and Eucharistic Adoration anchor its weekly rhythm.
- Parish established 1959 by Bishop Robert F. Joyce
- Church built and dedicated 1964
- Clustered with St. Joachim (Readsboro) and St. John Bosco (Stamford)
- Diocese of Burlington
History of the Parish
Bishop Robert F. Joyce created Our Lady of Fatima Parish in 1959 to minister to the growing Mount Snow resort community. The church was constructed and dedicated in 1964 in the modern style of the era. In 2017-2018, during the centennial of the Fatima apparitions, the parish built an outdoor Marian grotto on its grounds. A more recent sanctuary renovation has given the interior a more reverent, traditional character, with Bishop McDermott dedicating the new altar in a special rite. The parish has shared clergy with neighboring St. Joachim (founded 1895 for Italian and French-Canadian immigrants) and St. John Bosco in Stamford.
- 1959 — parish founded by Bishop Joyce
- 1964 — church built and dedicated
- 2017-2018 — outdoor Fatima grotto added
- Recent — sanctuary renovation and altar dedication by Bishop McDermott
Clergy and Staff
Father Kevin Chalifoux serves as Parish Administrator across the three-parish cluster. Supporting him are Doreen O'Connor, Parish Secretary, and Dan Berger, Parish Bookkeeper. Father Chalifoux is available after daily Mass for confessions and pastoral conversation.
- Rev. Father Kevin Chalifoux — Parish Administrator
- Doreen O'Connor — Parish Secretary (office Tuesday & Wednesday, 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM)
- Dan Berger — Parish Bookkeeper
The Fatima Grotto and Sanctuary Renovation
Two recent projects have marked the physical life of the parish. In 2017-2018 parishioners built an outdoor grotto with white statues of Our Lady and the three Fatima children, described by then-administrator Father Amaladass as 'a tool for evangelization.' A later sanctuary renovation, led by Father Chalifoux in collaboration with King Richard's Liturgical Design & Contracting, installed a new altar and ambo (from Spain) and a reredos built by local carpenters — culminating in Bishop McDermott's first-ever Rite of Dedication of an Altar at the parish, with four Polish statues of the evangelists planned to complete the reredos.
- Outdoor Fatima grotto — created 2017-2018
- Sanctuary renovation — new altar, ambo, reredos, raised floor
- Bishop McDermott's first Rite of Dedication of an Altar performed here
Clustered Parishes (St. Joachim and St. John Bosco)
Our Lady of Fatima shares a pastor and ministry with two neighboring Catholic parishes: St. Joachim in Readsboro (342 Tunnel Street; founded in 1895 for Italian and French-Canadian immigrants) and St. John Bosco in Stamford. The cluster forms part of the Bennington Deanery of the Diocese of Burlington.
- St. Joachim — 342 Tunnel Street, Readsboro, VT 05350 (founded 1895)
- St. John Bosco — Stamford, VT
- Shared pastor — Father Kevin Chalifoux
Contact and Visit
The parish office sits at 96 East Main Street in Wilmington, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 188, Wilmington, VT 05363. Telephone (802) 464-7329 connects callers to the parish secretary on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (8:30 AM – 2:30 PM) and to the pastor at other times. The church sits on Route 9, east of the village center.
- 96 East Main Street, Wilmington, VT 05363
- P.O. Box 188, Wilmington, VT 05363
- Phone: (802) 464-7329
- Email: [email protected]
- Pastor email: [email protected]
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Father Ilayaraja Amaladass
Former parish administrator; oversaw the 2017-2018 creation of the outdoor Fatima grotto during the 100th-anniversary celebration of the Fatima apparitions.
- Rev. Father Kevin Chalifoux
Current pastor/parish administrator; led the sanctuary renovation project and welcomed Bishop McDermott for the Rite of Dedication of an Altar.