About St. Jules · Prairie Laurent, Louisiana
St. Jules is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel serving the rural Prairie Laurent community in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. It is classified as a mission of the Church of St. Catherine in Leonville and is part of the Diocese of Lafayette's North Deanery. The mission shares its website, phone number, and pastoral staff with the neighboring parishes of St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine in Leonville, a typical arrangement in the heavily Catholic, Cajun Acadiana region of south-central Louisiana. A single Saturday vigil Mass each week is offered for the surrounding country community.
- Patron
- St. Jules (Saint Jules)
- Rector
- Rev. Ken Domingue (pastor of St. Leo the Great, St. Catherine, and St. Jules Mission per public profile listing since July 2007; the diocesan directory separately lists Very Rev. Darren Eldridge, VF, as pastor of St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine, Leonville)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana (North Deanery)
Why belong here
St. Jules is the country mission chapel for the Prairie Laurent area, giving families in this rural stretch of St. Landry Parish a nearby place to worship close to home. The mission is paired with two larger Leonville parishes — St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine — so parishioners can take part in a fuller schedule of Sunday Masses, weekly Confessions, weekday Masses, First Friday devotions, and seasonal events like the Assumption procession and Fete Dieu du Teche on Bayou Teche, while keeping a quiet, intimate Saturday evening Mass as their home gathering.
Mass times at St. Jules
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00–3:30 PM at St. Leo the Great, Leonville (or by appointment)
About St. Jules Mission
St. Jules is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel in the unincorporated community of Prairie Laurent, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, within the Diocese of Lafayette. It is officially classified as a mission of the Church of St. Catherine in Leonville and shares its contact details and website (onebodyonespirit.org) with the neighboring parishes of St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine. The mission exists to bring weekly Mass closer to the farming families along Highway 31 between Leonville and Opelousas, and the cluster arrangement lets the cluster share clergy, sacramental schedules, and community events across all three worship sites.
Mass & Service Schedule
The mission's own weekly liturgy is a single Saturday vigil Mass at 5:30 PM. Confession for the cluster is heard Saturday afternoon at St. Leo the Great in Leonville (3:00–3:30 PM, or by appointment). First Friday Mass rotates monthly among St. Leo the Great, St. Catherine, and St. Jules — so several times a year the historic 6:30 AM First Friday Mass is celebrated right here at St. Jules.
- Saturday Vigil Mass — 5:30 PM at St. Jules Mission
- Saturday Confessions — 3:00–3:30 PM at St. Leo the Great, Leonville (or by appointment)
- First Friday of the month — 6:30 AM (location rotates among St. Leo, St. Catherine, and St. Jules)
Cluster Parishes (One Body, One Spirit)
St. Jules is served together with two larger Leonville parishes under one pastoral team using the shared website 'onebodyonespirit.org.' Masses for the larger celebrations — Sunday Masses at 7:00 AM, 8:30 AM, and 10:00 AM, plus weekday Masses Monday through Friday — are celebrated at St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine in Leonville. Together the three communities form one faith family spanning Leonville and Prairie Laurent.
- St. Leo the Great, Leonville — 126 Church Rd. (weekend Saturday 4:00 PM, Sunday 10:00 AM, weekday Mass Mon/Wed/Fri 9:00 AM)
- St. Catherine, Leonville — 4390 Hwy. 31 (Sunday 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM; weekday Mass Tue/Thu 6:30 AM)
- St. Jules Mission, Prairie Laurent — 6098 LA Hwy. 31 (Saturday 5:30 PM)
Clergy & Staff
Pastoral care for the three-site cluster is provided by one priest. The diocesan Priests Directory currently lists Very Rev. Darren Eldridge, VF, as pastor of St. Leo the Great and St. Catherine in Leonville and Vicar Forane of the North Deanery; public professional records also identify Rev. Ken Domingue as pastor of St. Leo the Great, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Jules Mission. The parish office in Leonville handles all scheduling, sacramental paperwork, and inquiries for the three churches.
- Cluster pastor for St. Leo the Great / St. Catherine / St. Jules Mission
- Parish office phone: (337) 879-2365
- Shared website: http://onebodyonespirit.org/
Visit & Contact
St. Jules sits on Highway 31 (LA Hwy. 31) in Prairie Laurent, between Leonville and Opelousas. Travelers from the interstate reach the mission by taking I-49 to Highway 31. The contact phone number for the cluster parish office is (337) 879-2365; the mailing contact runs through the cluster parishes in Leonville.
- Address: 6098 LA Hwy. 31, Prairie Laurent, LA 70551
- Phone: (337) 879-2365
- Getting there: I-49 to Highway 31
Regional Catholic Life
Prairie Laurent lies in the heart of Acadiana — one of the most heavily Catholic stretches of Louisiana. The cluster is just minutes from Grand Coteau (home of the Jesuit Shrine of St. John Berchmans and St. Charles Borromeo Church) and from the Leonville boat landing on Bayou Teche, where each August the cluster churches help launch the Fete Dieu du Teche — a boat-led Eucharistic procession tracing the historic Acadian Catholic journey down the bayou. The sister church St. Leo the Great also maintains a public rosary grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, with porcelain plaques depicting the 20 mysteries of the rosary.
- Part of the Diocese of Lafayette North Deanery (St. Landry + Evangeline civil parishes)
- Near the Shrine of St. John Berchmans and St. Charles Borromeo, Grand Coteau
- Annual Assumption / Fete Dieu du Teche procession launches from Leonville on Bayou Teche