About Sacred Heart · Opelousas, Louisiana
Sacred Heart is a mission chapel of St. Bridget Parish, located on Highway 104 in the small community of Prairie Ronde, just outside Opelousas, Louisiana, in the North Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette. It is one of ten mission chapels that the diocese lists in its North Deanery, and it serves the rural Catholic families of Prairie Ronde with a quiet weekend Mass schedule. The mission is closely tied to the Cursillo movement — the diocesan Cursillo Center sits on its property on Highway 104 — and has been a gathering place for prayer, retreats, and funerals for generations of Prairie Ronde and Lawtell Catholics.
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
Sacred Heart is a small, rural mission chapel that gives the Catholic families of Prairie Ronde a place to worship close to home, with Sunday Mass right on Highway 104. It is deeply woven into the life of the surrounding countryside — its cemetery holds generations of local families, the Cursillo Center next door makes it a gathering place for retreats and spiritual renewal, and the parish religious education program serves children from grades 1 through 11. For Catholics in the Opelousas–Lawtell area, Sacred Heart offers an intimate, prayerful home parish with the support of a larger mother church, St. Bridget in Lawtell.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:30 PM (at St. Bridget Church, Lawtell, prior to the 4:00 PM Vigil Mass — visiting priest example shared by parishioners)
Adoration times
- First Friday Adoration begins with exposition immediately following the 7:30 AM Mass at St. Bridget Church, Lawtell (parish-wide First Friday devotion)
About Sacred Heart Mission
Sacred Heart is a mission chapel of St. Bridget Parish, Lawtell, located on Highway 104 in the rural community of Prairie Ronde, west of Opelousas in St. Landry Parish. It is part of the North Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana and is one of ten mission chapels serving the farming families of the deanery. The chapel shares its pastor, office phone number, and contact email with the mother parish, St. Bridget, in Lawtell. The adjoining Cursillo Center and Fidelis House make the property a small Catholic campus that serves both weekly worship and the wider diocesan Cursillo movement.
History and Community Roots
Sacred Heart has served as the local Catholic chapel for the rural Prairie Ronde community for many decades. Its adjoining Sacred Heart Cemetery, also on Highway 104, holds generations of local Catholic families — funeral Masses have been celebrated at the chapel by the priests serving St. Bridget, with rites of committal and interment following in the cemetery. The mission is closely identified with the Cursillo movement in the Diocese of Lafayette: the diocesan Cursillo Center sits next door, and Sacred Heart has hosted Cursillo Masses and retreats, with longtime pastor and Cursillo spiritual director Rev. Theodore 'Ted' Broussard a familiar figure to multiple generations of Prairie Ronde worshippers.
Clergy and Staff
Sacred Heart shares its pastoral team with St. Bridget Parish in Lawtell. The Diocese of Lafayette directory lists Rev. Theodore 'Ted' Broussard as the Spiritual Director of the Cursillo Center at Prairie Ronde, and he is named in parish funeral Masses and member testimonials as a celebrant of regular and Cursillo Masses at the chapel. A visiting priest, Fr. Emmanuel, has also been mentioned in parish communications while staying at the Fidelis House on the Cursillo Center grounds.
- Rev. Theodore 'Ted' Broussard — pastor/celebrant associated with Sacred Heart and Cursillo Center (Diocese of Lafayette directory entry)
- Fr. Emmanuel — visiting priest noted in parish Facebook communications
Religious Education
Religious Education / Catechism is run jointly by St. Bridget and Sacred Heart for children in grades 1 through 11. The parish publishes orientation and registration information each fall at St. Bridget Church, with forms available at the entrance of St. Bridget, at Sacred Heart Chapel, and at the parish office.
- Catechism for grades 1–6 (orientation in early September)
- Catechism for grades 7–11 (orientation in early September)
- Registration forms available at the chapel entrance and the parish office
- Home-schooled students included in the program
Cursillo Center and Retreats
The diocesan Cursillo Center, including the Fidelis House used by visiting priests, sits on Highway 104 on the same grounds as Sacred Heart Chapel. The mission chapel is the regular site of Cursillo Masses and is closely identified with the Cursillo movement in the diocese. Rev. Theodore 'Ted' Broussard serves as Spiritual Director of the Cursillo Center at Prairie Ronde.
- Diocesan Cursillo Center located at 3651 Highway 104, Opelousas (Prairie Ronde)
- Fidelis House on the Cursillo Center grounds houses visiting priests
- Sacred Heart Chapel hosts Cursillo Masses and retreats
Sacred Heart Cemetery
Sacred Heart Cemetery is located on Highway 104 next to the chapel and is the traditional burial ground for Catholic families of Prairie Ronde and the surrounding countryside. Funeral Masses are celebrated at Sacred Heart Chapel with committal and interment following in the cemetery, and the parish keeps a custom of reciting the Rosary before the funeral liturgy.
- Location: Highway 104, Prairie Ronde (adjacent to the chapel)
- Used for generations by Prairie Ronde and Lawtell Catholic families
- Funeral Masses celebrated at the chapel, with interment in the cemetery