About St. Bridget · Opelousas, Louisiana
St. Bridget Catholic Church is a small, family-style Catholic parish serving the rural community of Lawtell in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana — listed with an Opelousas mailing address along Louisiana Highway 35. Founded in 1920 and entrusted to the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, it ministers to roughly 800 Catholic families (about 2,600 Catholics) and operates a mission chapel, the Mission of the Sacred Heart, in nearby Prairie Ronde. Weekend liturgies are offered in both the main church and the chapel, making it a two-worship-site parish for the surrounding Creole prairie communities of Opelousas.
- Established
- 1920
- Patron
- St. Bridget of Ireland
- Rector
- Rev. Mark Patrick Ledoux
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
St. Bridget is a small, close-knit prairie parish with deep roots in the Catholic life of St. Landry Parish since 1920 — you know your priest and fellow parishioners by name. Worship is offered several times each week in both the main church in Lawtell and at the Sacred Heart Chapel in Prairie Ronde, along with First Friday Adoration, religious education for grades 1–11, and a parish cemetery where generations of local families are buried. It is exactly the kind of place where visiting Catholics quickly become regulars.
Mass times at St. Bridget
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays at 3:30 PM (before the 4:00 PM Vigil Mass at St. Bridget Church)
Adoration times
- First Friday Adoration begins with Exposition immediately following the 7:30 AM Mass (per parish Facebook schedule)
Parish Identity & Community
St. Bridget is a small but active Catholic parish in the rural Lawtell community of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, about 15 minutes southeast of Opelousas along LA-35. The parish anchors roughly 800 Catholic families — about 2,600 Catholics — many of them multi-generational prairie families with deep Creole and Acadian roots. Worship alternates between the main church in Lawtell and the Mission of the Sacred Heart chapel in Prairie Ronde, giving the parish a two-site rhythm to its Sunday schedule.
- Founded 1920 (per GCatholic diocesan record)
- Approximately 800 Catholic families / 2,600 Catholics
- St. Landry Civil Parish, in the North Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette
- Two worship sites: St. Bridget Church (Lawtell) and Mission of the Sacred Heart (Prairie Ronde)
History & Catholic Prairie Heritage
Founded in 1920 amid the Diocese of Lafayette's outreach to its Creole-Catholic heartland, St. Bridget was established to keep the small, scattered farming families of the Lawtell prairie connected to the Mass and sacraments. The 1925 parish register famously bears the record of the quadruple Gosselin–Bihm funeral after the catastrophic Lawtell train collision, one of the great tragedies of St. Landry Parish history. The parish's Sacred Heart mission in Prairie Ronde extends the same Catholic ministry into a neighboring rural settlement, preserving the bilingual and devotional character of this part of Acadiana.
- Founded 1920
- Part of the Diocese of Lafayette's historic 'Crusade to Save Catholicism' in the Creole parishes during the interwar period
- Parish register records the 1925 Lawtell grade-crossing disaster funeral
- Sacred Heart Mission in Prairie Ronde serves surrounding rural families
Pastoral Leadership
According to the Diocese of Lafayette priests directory, the current pastor of St. Bridget Church is Rev. Mark Patrick Ledoux. Earlier diocesan directories and the parish's own multi-site WeConnect page list previous pastors, including Rev. Daniel Picard and Fr. Teji Thanipilly. A visiting priest identified as 'Fr. Emmanuel' has been mentioned in parish announcements assisting at the Cursillo Fidelis House and hearing Confessions at the Saturday Vigil Mass.
- Rev. Mark Patrick Ledoux — current pastor (per diolaf.org priests directory)
- Rev. Daniel Picard — previously listed as pastor in older diocesan parish directory
- Fr. Teji Thanipilly — previously listed on parish WeConnect page
- Fr. Emmanuel — visiting priest assisting with confessions
Mission Chapel — Sacred Heart, Prairie Ronde
The Mission of the Sacred Heart in Prairie Ronde is a worship site of St. Bridget Parish, located at 3681 LA-104 (Hwy 104) between Opelousas and the prairie settlements to the south. The chapel allows rural Catholic families who live farther out from Lawtell to attend an earlier Sunday Mass and a Thursday evening Mass without driving to the main church.
- Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM
- Thursday Mass: 6:00 PM
- Address: 3681 LA Hwy 104, Prairie Ronde, LA 70570
- Same parish phone and email as St. Bridget: (337) 543-7591 / [email protected]
Religious Education & Faith Formation
The parish runs a Religious Education / CCD program for school-age children, with separate orientation tracks for lower elementary (Grades 1–6) and middle/high-school students (Grades 7–11). Registration forms are distributed at the entrances of St. Bridget Church and Sacred Heart Chapel and at the parish office, and can be returned by mail, in the collection basket, or to the office. Home-school families are explicitly included.
- Grades 1–6 orientation
- Grades 7–11 orientation
- Registration forms distributed at both worship sites and the parish office
- Open to home-schooled catechism students
Parish Ministries & Volunteer Life
As a small rural parish, St. Bridget relies heavily on lay volunteers. The parish Facebook page regularly publishes the weekly schedule of lay readers (St. Bridget Church and Sacred Heart Chapel) and 'Cleaning Angels' who tidy the church between weekends. The local Cursillo movement's Fidelis House (a house at the Cursillo Center in Prairie Ronde) provides a place for visiting priests to stay while they assist the parish.
- Lay Readers / Liturgy of the Word
- Church Cleaners (Cleaning Angels)
- Cursillo community connection (Fidelis House)
- Parish communications via Facebook
Sacraments
Standard Catholic sacraments — Baptism, Marriage, First Communion (via Religious Education), and Reconciliation — are available through the parish office. Confession is regularly scheduled before the Saturday Vigil Mass at St. Bridget, and First Friday Adoration provides extended time for prayer and Eucharistic devotion.
- Baptism — by arrangement with the parish office
- Marriage — contact the parish office
- First Communion / Confirmation preparation — through Religious Education program
- Reconciliation — Saturdays at 3:30 PM; by appointment
Parish Cemetery
St. Bridget's Catholic Church Cemetery sits alongside the church on LA-35 in Lawtell and is the resting place of many pioneer French-Creole families of the parish. Burial records from the early twentieth century — including the 1925 Gosselin–Bihm entries — link the parish's sacramental life with the burial ground that surrounds it.
- Cemetery located on the parish grounds at 3915 LA-35, Lawtell
- Used by families from St. Bridget and Sacred Heart mission
- Records available via Louisiana Gravestones (cemID 7228)
Visiting & Contact
The parish office is open four days a week (Monday–Thursday, with reduced hours on Wednesday) and is the hub for registration, sacramental requests, and Religious Education sign-ups. The mailing address is PO Box 156, Lawtell, LA 70550-0156, but the physical church and cemetery sit right on LA-35 (also called Hwy 35). Online, the parish is most active through its combined 'St. Bridget — Sacred Heart' Facebook page and through the Diocese of Lafayette parish finder.
- Parish office hours: Mon 10–5, Tue 8:30–4:30, Wed 9–3, Thu 9–5
- Phone: (337) 543-7591
- Fax: (337) 543-7593
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/St-Bridget-Sacred-Heart-1641899539376671
- Diocese parish finder: diolaf.org/parishfinder
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Daniel Picard
Listed as pastor of St. Bridget Church, Lawtell, on the older Diocese of Lafayette parish directory page.
- Fr. Teji Thanipilly
Listed as pastor on the St. Bridget / St. Elizabeth / Sacred Heart WeConnect parish page (appears to be an older listing).
- Rev. Mark Patrick Ledoux
Current pastor per the Diocese of Lafayette priests directory (diolaf.org).