About St. Bernadette · Bridport, Vermont
St. Bernadette is a small rural Catholic parish in Bridport, Vermont, in Addison County, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. The church sits at 9 Crown Point Road and serves a small farming community with roots in French-Canadian immigration. It is currently administered jointly with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary's) parish in nearby Middlebury, and shares an office, staff, and pastor with that parish. Weekly Saturday evening Mass is celebrated in the church, and the parish is known for its intimate, simply-built interior, stained-glass windows, Marian grotto, and its place at the heart of the Bridport community for more than 80 years.
- Established
- 1941
- Patron
- St. Bernadette Soubirous
- Rector
- Fr. Brandon Schneider, S.T.L., J.C.L. (Judicial Vicar, Administrator — jointly with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Middlebury)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
Why belong here
St. Bernadette offers a quiet, close-knit Catholic home in rural Addison County for parishioners who want traditional Saturday evening Mass in a small, historic church with deep French-Canadian roots. The parish shares its pastor and staff with the larger Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Middlebury, so it benefits from the resources of a multi-parish community while preserving the warmth and intimacy of a country church. Visitors and parishioners are drawn by the simple, beautiful interior — wooden beams, stained glass, and a Marian grotto — and by the parish's living tradition of lay service, from sacristans Steve and Sheila Huestis to the women who have cleaned and arranged flowers at the church for generations.
Mass times at St. Bernadette
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- First Friday of the month in the sacristy; by appointment through Assumption (Middlebury)
About St. Bernadette Parish
St. Bernadette is a small rural Catholic parish serving Bridport, Vermont, and the surrounding Addison County farmland. It is one of three parishes in the Middlebury-area cluster of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, sharing clergy and staff with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary's) in Middlebury and St. Genevieve in Shoreham. Although the parish building is in Bridport, the mailing address and parish office are in Middlebury.
- Type: Parish (Roman Catholic)
- Diocese: Burlington, Vermont
- Physical address: 9 Crown Point Road, Bridport, VT 05734
- Mailing address: 73 Weybridge Street, Middlebury, VT 05753
- Phone: 802-388-2943
- Email: [email protected]
History of the Parish
Bridport Catholics first attended Mass in neighboring towns. From 1939 until 1941 they gathered for Mass at the Bridport Grange Hall while the church was being built. The completed church was dedicated on December 7, 1941 — Pearl Harbor Day — and named for the recently canonized St. Bernadette Soubirous, the French visionary of Lourdes, in tribute to the French-Canadian farming families of Bridport.
- 1933: St. Bernadette Soubirous canonized by Pope Pius XI
- 1939: Mass begins at the Bridport Grange Hall
- 1941: St. Bernadette Church completed and dedicated on December 7, 1941
- 1960s: A pastor of St. Bernadette helps found the Tri-Town Water District (est. 1965) after a severe drought
- 2015: Rectory sold; parish loses its resident priest
- 2020s: Parish taps the town water line and adds an ADA-compliant bathroom at the rear of the church
The Church Building & Sacred Art
The interior of St. Bernadette is simple and warm, with sturdy wooden beams and stained-glass windows depicting flowers. A stained-glass window of St. Bernadette praying at the grotto at Lourdes greets worshippers as they enter, and a window of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and a medallion of St. Isidore the Farmer reflect the rural, French-Canadian, and Native American heritage of the area. The church also has its own outdoor Marian grotto, mirroring the Lourdes grotto in France.
- Stained glass: St. Bernadette at the Lourdes grotto
- Stained glass: St. Kateri Tekakwitha
- Medallion: St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers
- Outdoor Marian grotto
- ADA-compliant bathroom added at the rear (former confessional converted to entry)
A Story of Water
Water has shaped the story of St. Bernadette more than perhaps any other physical need. For decades the church had no running water of its own; sacristans carried in jugs for the Mass cruet, holy water, baptisms, and the plants. A former pastor of St. Bernadette was instrumental in bringing municipal water to the wider area after a 1960s drought, helping to create the Tri-Town Water District in 1965. After the rectory was sold in 2015 the parish lost its nearest water source. Recently the parish has been able to tap into the town water line and complete a new ADA-compliant bathroom, finally bringing running water to the 80-year-old church.
- Tri-Town Water District established 1965 — Addison, Bridport, Shoreham
- Rectory sold in 2015 — parish loses its nearby water source
- Sacristans Steve and Sheila Huestis maintain bottled water for the Mass cruet
- New ADA bathroom completed; awaiting septic installation to fully activate water
Parish Life & Ministries
St. Bernadette has always been sustained by lay people. For generations, women of the parish cleaned the church in pairs for one-month stints, bringing flowers and even bringing the water because the church had none of its own. Today the parish continues to rely on volunteer sacristans (Steve and Sheila Huestis), lay cleaners and flower arrangers, and the staff and pastoral team shared with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Middlebury.
- Sacristans: Steve and Sheila Huestis
- Lay cleaning and flower arranging teams
- Marianne Manning — administrative assistant for both St. Bernadette and Assumption parishes; received all her sacraments at St. Bernadette
- Combined pastoral team with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Middlebury
Clergy & Staff
The parish is administered together with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Middlebury. The current administrator is Fr. Brandon Schneider, S.T.L., J.C.L., Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Burlington. Before him, Fr. Luke Austin served as pastor of both St. Bernadette and Assumption, and was also chaplain to Middlebury College.
- Fr. Brandon Schneider, S.T.L., J.C.L. — Judicial Vicar, Administrator
- Fr. Luke Austin — former pastor (served St. Bernadette and Assumption of the BVM, Middlebury)
- Marianne Manning — administrative assistant (shared with Assumption)
Sacraments
Because of the parish's small size, sacramental preparation and many celebrations are coordinated through the larger Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish office in Middlebury. Inquiries about baptism, marriage, anointing of the sick, and first sacraments can be made through that office.
- Baptism — arranged through the Middlebury office
- Reconciliation — first Friday of the month in the sacristy; by appointment through Middlebury
- Holy Matrimony — arranged through the Middlebury office
- Anointing of the Sick and pastoral care — via the shared pastoral team
Contact & Visit
The parish shares its office, phone, email, and website with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Middlebury. Visitors are warmly welcomed at the Saturday evening Vigil Mass at 9 Crown Point Road in Bridport.
- Address: 9 Crown Point Road, Bridport, VT 05734
- Mailing: 73 Weybridge Street, Middlebury, VT 05753
- Phone: 802-388-2943
- Email: [email protected]
- Parish website: https://stmary.vermontcatholic.org/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Luke Austinserved until recently (2019–approx. 2024)
Pastored St. Bernadette and Assumption of the BVM in Middlebury; lived in the Middlebury rectory and traveled to Bridport for the Saturday evening Mass and as needed; also chaplain to Middlebury College; involved in the parish Mobile Medical Van outreach with Mountain Health Center.