About St. Joachim · Readsboro, Vermont
St. Joachim Parish is a small Roman Catholic mission parish serving the mountain town of Readsboro, Vermont, on the state's southern border near North Adams, Massachusetts. As the 'mother church' of the Readsboro–Wilmington–Stamford area of the Diocese of Burlington, it is now administered jointly with Our Lady of Fatima Church in Wilmington and St. John Bosco Chapel in Stamford. About 45 registered families gather in a simple white clapboard church on Tunnel Street for a single Sunday Mass, with most of the rest of the week served by the shared ministry team in Wilmington.
- Established
- 1895
- Patron
- St. Joachim
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Kevin Chalifoux, Parish Administrator
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
Why belong here
St. Joachim is a small, multigenerational Catholic community where many of the same families have worshipped for over a century, and where newcomers are folded into a network of mutual support rooted in shared faith. Weekly Sunday Mass, Sunday-morning Confession, and Sunday afternoon Vespers of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by Benediction give the parish a steady rhythm of Word, Sacrament, and Eucharistic adoration. The parish is also the historic 'mother church' of Vermont's southern Green Mountains, and welcomes visitors, second-home owners, and tourists from across the Mount Snow Valley and neighboring Massachusetts towns.
Mass times at St. Joachim
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:15–8:15 AM (at St. Joachim, Readsboro, before Mass)
- Friday 5:00–6:00 PM (at Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
- Saturday 4:15–5:15 PM (at Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
- 30 minutes before every daily Mass during the week
- By appointment through the Parish Office
Adoration times
- Sunday 4:00 PM — Vespers of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by Benediction
- Friday 5:00–6:00 PM (at Our Lady of Fatima, Wilmington)
About St. Joachim Parish
St. Joachim is a small Roman Catholic parish in the mountain town of Readsboro, Vermont, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. The parish shares a single Sunday Mass and is administered as part of a three-church cluster that also includes Our Lady of Fatima in Wilmington and St. John Bosco Chapel in Stamford. About 45 registered families make up the worshiping community, with members drawn from Readsboro, Whitingham, Stamford, and Jacksonville in Vermont, and from Heath, Monroe, and Rowe in Massachusetts.
- Patron: St. Joachim (grandfather of Jesus)
- Diocese: Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
- Cluster partner churches: Our Lady of Fatima (Wilmington) and St. John Bosco Chapel (Stamford)
- Listed as the 'mother church' of the Readsboro area of the diocese
History
The first Mass in Readsboro was offered in 1886 in the home of Edward Goullette by a visiting priest from North Adams, Massachusetts. Bishop John Michaud, coadjutor bishop of Burlington, blessed the cornerstone of the present church in 1892, and the parish was formally founded in 1895 with the Rev. William Plamondon as its first resident pastor. The church was named in honor of the then-pope, Leo XIII, whose baptismal name was Joachim Pecci. The parish grew out of French-Canadian, Italian, and Polish immigrant families who worked in the logging, paper-making, and electric-power industries of the southern Green Mountains, and several of those founding families are still represented in the pews today.
- 1886 — first Mass celebrated in Readsboro in the house of Edward Goullette
- 1892 — cornerstone blessed by Bishop John Michaud
- 1895 — parish formally founded; Rev. William Plamondon first resident pastor
- Local devotion to St. Anne kept alongside devotion to the patron, St. Joachim
Cluster Ministry: Our Lady of Fatima & St. John Bosco
Because the parish is small, St. Joachim is administered together with Our Lady of Fatima in Wilmington and St. John Bosco Chapel in Stamford. A single parish administrator, Fr. Kevin Chalifoux, oversees all three, supported by Fr. Ilayaraja Amaladass, H.G.N., who lives at the Our Lady of Fatima rectory in Wilmington. The shared Parish Office is at 96 East Main Street, Wilmington (PO Box 188, Wilmington, VT 05363), staffed by Parish Secretary Doreen O'Connor (Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM) and Parish Bookkeeper Dan Berger.
- Parish Administrator: Rev. Fr. Kevin Chalifoux
- Resident priest: Rev. Fr. Ilayaraja Amaladass, H.G.N.
- Parish Secretary: Doreen O'Connor
- Parish Bookkeeper: Dan Berger
- Parish Office: 96 E. Main St., PO Box 188, Wilmington, VT 05363 — (802) 464-7329 — [email protected]
Devotions & Parish Life
St. Joachim keeps a special local devotion to St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the church displays an icon of Saints Joachim and Anne together holding the young Mary. Sunday afternoon Vespers of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by Benediction has become a regular part of the parish's devotional rhythm, and parishioners describe a close-knit community in which families gather to pray and to provide meals after a funeral or other loss.
- Icon of Saints Joachim and Anne holding the Virgin Mary
- Sunday 4:00 PM Vespers of the Little Office of the BVM + Benediction
- Funeral meal ministry and mutual support among parishioners
Visiting Readsboro & the Mount Snow Valley
St. Joachim's service area reaches across the southern Green Mountains. The parish family includes worshipers from Readsboro, Whitingham, Stamford, and Jacksonville in Vermont, as well as Heath, Monroe, and Rowe in Massachusetts, and welcomes second-home owners and visitors to the Mount Snow Valley region. (The full cluster of Our Lady of Fatima, St. Joachim, and St. John Bosco also ministers to Wilmington, West Dover, East Dover, Halifax, Heartwellville, Marlboro, Whitingham, and Woodford.)
- Welcomes Mount Snow Valley second-home owners and visitors
- Vermont-side worshipers: Readsboro, Whitingham, Stamford, Jacksonville
- Massachusetts-side worshipers: Heath, Monroe, Rowe
Contact & Location
- Physical address: 342 Tunnel Street, Readsboro, VT 05350
- Mailing address: PO Box 188, Wilmington, VT 05363
- Parish Office phone: (802) 464-7329
- Email: [email protected]
- Diocesan listing: https://www.vermontcatholic.org/church/st-joachim-readsboro/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. William Plamondon1895–
First resident pastor when St. Joachim Parish was formally founded (cornerstone had been blessed by Bishop Michaud in 1892).