About St. Helena · Louisa, Louisiana
St. Helena Catholic Church is a small, mission-minded Roman Catholic parish located in the unincorporated community of Louisa, in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. It is part of the South Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana and serves approximately 150 Catholic families (around 512 registered Catholics), including a vibrant Vietnamese Catholic community that gathers for Sunday Mass in their native language. Beyond its main worship site at 108 St. Helen's Church Lane, St. Helena shepherds the seasonal Mission of St. Francis in Cypremort Point, extending its pastoral reach to the Gulf-coast vacation community along Bayou Cypremort.
- Established
- 1890
- Patron
- Saint Helena
- Rector
- Rev. Thomas Nguyen
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
St. Helena is a close-knit, bilingual Catholic community where members know one another by name and where the Vietnamese and English-speaking congregations worship side by side. The parish offers the Eucharist every Saturday evening and twice on Sunday (in English and Vietnamese), with the added spiritual reach of the seasonal Mission of St. Francis in Cypremort Point. For Catholics living in or traveling through the lower St. Mary Parish bayou country, St. Helena is a faithful home with deep local roots and a pastor and deacon who serve both the permanent faithful and seasonal visitors.
Mass times at St. Helena
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. Helena Parish
St. Helena Catholic Church is a small Roman Catholic parish serving the rural bayou community of Louisa, in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Tucked into the South Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette, it ministers to roughly 150 Catholic families and around 512 registered Catholics, including a notable Vietnamese Catholic community that gathers each Sunday for Mass in their own language. The parish church is set along St. Helen's Church Lane, a country road just outside the unincorporated village of Louisa, and it is the spiritual home for English-speaking and Vietnamese-speaking faithful alike.
- Located in Louisa, an unincorporated community in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
- Part of the South Deanery, Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
- Approximately 150 Catholic families / 512 Catholics registered
- Bilingual worship in English and Vietnamese
History of St. Helena
Catholic sacramental records for St. Helena begin in 1890, and that year is generally accepted as the founding of the parish. Through the twentieth century the parish served the farming and fishing families of lower St. Mary Parish, and its mission church at Cypremort Point extended its reach to vacationers on the Gulf-coast peninsula reached by LA Highway 319. Like many Diocese of Lafayette parishes, St. Helena in recent decades has embraced the Vietnamese Catholic faithful who settled in the bayou region, and today the parish maintains both an English-language Sunday Mass and a Vietnamese-language Sunday Mass each week.
- Parish records begin in 1890
- Serves the rural Louisa community within St. Mary Parish
- Daughter mission of St. Francis at Cypremort Point
- Vietnamese Catholic community joined the parish in recent decades
Clergy and Pastoral Staff
St. Helena is led by a pastor supported by a permanent deacon and is part of the Diocese of Lafayette's South Deanery. The current pastor and deacon are listed in the diocesan parish directory.
- Pastor: Rev. Thomas Nguyen
- Deacon: Tam Minh Tran
- Listed parish contact email: [email protected]
- Reached via the diocesan Parish Finder at diolaf.org/parishfinder
Mission of St. Francis, Cypremort Point
From its Louisa home base, St. Helena shepherds the Mission of St. Francis at Cypremort Point, located along LA Highway 319 on the Gulf-coast peninsula. The mission serves both year-round residents and seasonal visitors, with Mass typically celebrated on Saturday evenings during the summer vacation season and on Sunday mornings. Those planning to attend during the off-season are encouraged to call the parish office to confirm times.
- Address: LA Highway 319, Cypremort Point, LA 70538
- Mission phone: (337) 828-3869
- Saturday Mass: 7:00 PM (vacation season)
- Sunday Mass: 9:00 AM (vacation season)
Diocese of Lafayette — South Deanery
St. Helena belongs to the South Deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, the cluster of parishes that covers St. Mary, St. Martin, and Iberia civil parishes. The South Deanery brings together worship communities from Franklin, Charenton, New Iberia, St. Martinville, Coteau, Jeanerette, Loreauville, Baldwin, Bayou Vista, Louisa, Centerville, Patterson, Rynella, Lydia, Four Corners, Catahoula, and Berwick.
- Deanery: South Deanery, Diocese of Lafayette
- Covers civil parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, and Iberia
- Diocese established 11 January 1918
- Diocesan directory and parish finder: diolaf.org
Visiting and Contacting the Parish
Visitors and parishioners can reach St. Helena Catholic Church by telephone or via the Diocese of Lafayette's Parish Finder, which lists the parish schedule and contact details. The church is located on St. Helen's Church Lane off the country roads in and around the unincorporated community of Louisa, with a Franklin, LA 70538 mailing address.
- Phone: (337) 867-4378
- Email: [email protected]
- Mailing address: 108 St. Helen's Church Lane, Franklin, LA 70538 (parish also described as Louisa)
- Parish Finder: diolaf.org/parishfinder