About St. James · Esther, Louisiana
St. James Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel in the rural community of Esther, Louisiana, situated along Louisiana Highway 333 in Vermilion Civil Parish. It is a mission of St. John Church in nearby Henry and belongs to the West Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. The mission serves Catholic families in this rural stretch of Acadiana with a modest weekly schedule built around a Sunday morning Mass and a couple of weekday evening Masses, keeping the Eucharist accessible to parishioners who would otherwise travel a considerable distance to worship.
- Patron
- St. James
- Rector
- Rev. Mathew Mullamangalam (Administrator of St. John Parish, Henry, which oversees St. James Mission)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana (West Deanery, Vermilion Civil Parish)
Why belong here
St. James Mission offers rural Vermilion Parish Catholics the chance to worship close to home without driving to a larger parish church. As a mission of St. John in Henry, it connects parishioners to a broader faith community across the West Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette while still providing an intimate, small-chapel setting on Highway 333.
Mass times at St. James
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 30 minutes before Mass
St. James Mission — Esther, Louisiana
St. James Mission is a rural Catholic mission chapel in the unincorporated community of Esther, in Vermilion Civil Parish, Louisiana. It sits along Louisiana Highway 333 and is part of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, listed on the diocesan Parish Finder and on GCatholic (ID 35281).
Diocese & Deanery
The mission is part of the West Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. The West Deanery covers Acadia and Vermilion Civil Parishes and includes roughly 30 parishes and 11 mission chapels serving an estimated Catholic population of about 65,000. St. James is grouped under its parent parish, St. John in Henry, for pastoral and administrative purposes.
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
- West Deanery (Vermilion Civil Parish)
- Parent parish: St. John, Henry (founded 1897)
Clergy & Staff
The mission is shepherded by the administrator of St. John Parish in Henry, sharing pastoral care with the parent parish.
- Rev. Mathew Mullamangalam — Administrator
Visit & Contact
The chapel is located on the rural Highway 333 corridor in Esther, sharing its phone line with St. John Parish in Henry. Travelers are encouraged to call ahead to confirm the current schedule.
- Address: 21125 LA Hwy. 333, Esther, LA 70533
- Phone: (337) 937-5108
- Diocesan Parish Finder page lists the mission under St. John, Henry