About St. Margaret Mary · Gorum, Louisiana
St. Margaret Mary Chapel is a Catholic mission chapel in the small community of Gorum, Louisiana, located on Highway 119 at Catholic Church Road. It is one of two mission chapels (the other being St. Cyril Chapel in Flatwoods) served by St. Margaret Church in nearby Boyce, within the Diocese of Alexandria in central Louisiana. Because it is a mission rather than a full parish, regular Masses are not celebrated at the chapel every week; liturgies at St. Margaret Mary Chapel are scheduled and provided by the priests of St. Margaret Church in Boyce.
- Patron
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
- Rector
- Rev. Anthony Dharmaraj, MSFS (Pastor of St. Margaret Church, Boyce, which serves this mission)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Alexandria (Louisiana)
Why belong here
St. Margaret Mary Chapel is a small, rural mission chapel that gives the Catholic families of Gorum and the surrounding piney-woods area of Natchitoches/Rapides Parish a nearby place to worship. Because it is served by the priests of St. Margaret Church in Boyce, parishioners at Gorum belong to a wider mission family that also includes St. Cyril Chapel in Flatwoods. Visitors and regulars can expect a simple country chapel with Mass celebrated by the Boyce parish clergy, an attentive little congregation, and easy connection to the fuller sacramental and devotional life of St. Margaret Church, Boyce (Saturday Vigil Mass, Sunday Mass, weekday Masses, confession, rosary, and Stations of the Cross during Lent).
Mass times at St. Margaret Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 15 minutes before Mass at the chapel (per Diocese of Alexandria older schedule page)
St. Margaret Mary Chapel, Gorum
St. Margaret Mary Chapel is a small Catholic mission chapel serving the rural community of Gorum, Louisiana, located on Highway 119 at Catholic Church Road. It is listed by the Diocese of Alexandria as a mission of St. Margaret Church in Boyce and shares that parish's pastoral team.
- Type: Mission chapel
- Parent parish: St. Margaret Church, Boyce
- Diocese: Diocese of Alexandria
- Address: Hwy 119 at Catholic Church Road, Gorum, LA 71447
History and Origins
St. Margaret Mary Chapel grew out of the mission network established by St. Margaret Church in Boyce after Fr. Robert Maure moved that parish's original frame chapel to its present Boyce site in 1936. In the years that followed, new missions were opened in Flatwoods, Marco, Monet Ferry, Gorum, and Emmanuel — all within roughly 2,100 square miles of the Kisatchie Forest's piney woods. The Gorum chapel has remained a small, country place of worship ever since, regularly visited by the priests of Boyce.
- Originated as a mission out of St. Margaret Church, Boyce
- Part of the broader Boyce-area mission network in the Kisatchie Forest
- Visited by Bishop Robert Marshall for Mass on February 20, 2022 (Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Pastoral Care and Clergy
St. Margaret Mary Chapel does not have a resident priest. It is served by the pastor and clergy of St. Margaret Church in Boyce. According to the Diocese of Alexandria's parish directory, the current pastor of St. Margaret Church, Boyce — and therefore the priest responsible for this Gorum mission — is Rev. Anthony Dharmaraj, MSFS.
- Pastor: Rev. Anthony Dharmaraj, MSFS
- Parish office: 402 Ryan St., Boyce, LA 71409
- Parish phone: (318) 793-8811
Related Mission: St. Cyril Chapel, Flatwoods
St. Margaret Mary's sister mission out of St. Margaret Church, Boyce, is St. Cyril Chapel in Flatwoods, also on Highway 8. Like St. Margaret Mary, St. Cyril Chapel is also served by the Boyce clergy and was likewise designated to 'close within one year' under the Diocese of Alexandria's 2025 pastoral plan.
- Served from St. Margaret Church, Boyce
- Mass: every other Sunday at 11:00 AM
- Confession: 15 minutes before Mass
Diocesan Pastoral Planning: 'Together as One'
In December 2025, the Diocese of Alexandria published the final results of its 'Together as One — Embracing a Future of Hope' pastoral planning initiative. Among the recommendations was that St. Margaret Mary, Gorum, 'closes within one year.' This decision would fold the chapel's remaining mission activity fully into St. Margaret Church, Boyce (which itself remains a parish in a shared pastorate with St. Rita Church, Alexandria).
- 'Together as One' pastoral plan: St. Margaret Mary designated to close within one year
- St. Margaret Church, Boyce: remains a parish in a shared pastorate with St. Rita, Alexandria
- Diocese of Alexandria bishop at time of plan: Most Reverend Robert W. Marshall, Jr.