About St. Nicholas · New Iberia, Louisiana
St. Nicholas Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Lydia, an unincorporated Cajun community just southeast of New Iberia in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, along Weeks Island Road (Hwy 83). The parish belongs to the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana and serves the sugar-bayou country south of New Iberia with three Sunday Masses (including one in Spanish), a Saturday vigil, and four weekday Masses. Founded in 1868 in the nearby settlement of Patoutville, the parish relocated to its present site in Lydia in the 1960s and continues as a small but active rural church in the heart of Acadiana.
- Established
- 1868
- Patron
- St. Nicholas
- Rector
- Fr. Gregory Chauvin
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
Why belong here
St. Nicholas offers the full rhythm of Catholic life in a small, close-knit rural parish: a Saturday vigil Mass, three Sunday Masses (one in Spanish), daily weekday Masses several days a week, Confessions before every Mass and by appointment, and Eucharistic Adoration on First Fridays. It is rooted in more than 150 years of faith in the Patoutville–Lydia sugar-bayou country and continues to welcome both longtime Cajun families and newer Hispanic parishioners — a quiet, traditional place to worship at the heart of Acadiana.
Mass times at St. Nicholas
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 20 minutes before every Mass
- Saturday 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM
- Sunday 6:45 AM – 7:00 AM (15 minutes before all Masses)
- By appointment
Adoration times
- First Friday of the month: after the 6:15 AM Mass until 6:30 PM
History of St. Nicholas Parish
St. Nicholas Catholic Church was founded in 1868 in Patoutville, a 19th-century sugar-plantation settlement in Iberia Parish clustered around what is today Enterprise Plantation (M.A. Patout & Son). The original church was built there and documented by a photograph dated 1870; all that survives of that first church is the St. Nicholas Cemetery, a quiet link to the parish's 19th-century roots.
- Parish founded in 1868 in Patoutville, Iberia Parish, Louisiana.
- Original church photographed in 1870; only the cemetery remains on the original site.
- Patoutville was the heart of the Patout sugar dynasty — Enterprise Plantation is the oldest continuously family-operated sugar plantation in the United States.
- Parish relocated from Patoutville to Lydia in the 1960s.
- Today the parish serves Lydia, an unincorporated community along Weeks Island Road (Hwy 83) just southeast of New Iberia.
The Move to Lydia (1960s)
In the 1960s St. Nicholas was re-established at its current address on Weeks Island Road in Lydia, an Acadiana community whose name comes from the old Lydia Plantation. The original Lydia settlement grew up around what is now the Olivier Plantation Store on Weeks Island Road, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1898. In the early 1970s the modern community of Lydia expanded further when Morton Salt Company abandoned its company town at Weeks Island and gave displaced workers the option to move company-owned houses at company expense to lots in Lydia and neighboring communities — a wave of new Catholic families that helped shape the parish as it is today.
- Lydia is named for the old Lydia Plantation, begun about the turn of the 20th century by Hypolite Patout and named for a daughter who died young.
- The Olivier Plantation Store, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, dates to 1898 and sits on Weeks Island Road.
- Early family names in the Lydia area included Boutte, Broussard, Winters, Romero, Landry, Duplantis, Bonin, Labiche, Hebert, Dorsey, Boudreaux, Lancon, and Charpentier.
Pastor & Parish Leadership
St. Nicholas is currently served by Fr. Gregory Chauvin as Pastor. He is listed as the parish priest in the public diocesan and parish directories.
- Pastor: Fr. Gregory Chauvin
Summer & Winter Schedule Notes
The parish follows a winter schedule from mid-September through the end of May and a summer schedule from the end of May through mid-September. The Saturday 4:00 PM vigil and the Sunday 12:00 Noon Spanish Mass are celebrated year-round.
- Winter Sunday Masses: 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM (English), 12:00 Noon (Spanish).
- Summer Sunday Masses: 8:00 AM (English), 12:00 Noon (Spanish).
- Saturday 4:00 PM vigil held year-round.
Liturgy & Languages
Most Masses at St. Nicholas are celebrated in English, with one Sunday Mass each week celebrated in Spanish to serve the Hispanic families of the Lydia–New Iberia area.
- English: Saturday vigil and most weekday and Sunday Masses.
- Spanish: Sunday 12:00 Noon Mass.
Visit, Address & Directions
St. Nicholas is located on Weeks Island Road (Highway 83) in Lydia, just southeast of New Iberia. Visitors coming from New Iberia take US 90 to the John Darnall Road exit (signed for Lydia / Cypremort Point), then travel south straight through Lydia; the church sits on the left, just past the local Regions Bank branch.
- Address: 7809 Weeks Island Rd., Lydia, LA 70569 (also referenced as New Iberia, LA 70560).
- Phone: (337) 551-8000.
- Email: [email protected].
- From New Iberia: take US 90 to the John Darnall Road exit, go south toward Lydia and Cypremort Point, continue through Lydia; the church is on the left just past Regions Bank.
Diocese & Parish Family
St. Nicholas is a parish of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, the Catholic diocese serving Acadiana. The parish belongs to a network of more than 100 churches across the Lafayette diocese and is one of several rural parishes serving the sugar-plantation communities of Iberia Parish.
- Diocese: Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana.
- Rite: Roman-Latin.
- Region: Iberia Parish / Acadiana, south-central Louisiana.