About St Patrick · Wallingford, Vermont
St. Patrick Parish is a Catholic parish in Wallingford, Vermont, founded in 1865–1866 by Rev. Charles Boylan to serve Irish-Catholic settlers in the Rutland County mill towns. It is now part of the Rutland-Wallingford Catholic Community, a combined pastoral grouping with Christ the King Parish in Rutland under the Diocese of Burlington, and its church still stands at 218 North Main Street in the village of Wallingford. Today the parish is shepherded by Rev. Msgr. Bernard W. Bourgeois (Pastor) and Fr. Sahaya Arockiaraj (Parochial Vicar) along with Deacon Michael Knowles, and it offers a Sunday Mass at 11:00 a.m. and a Tuesday evening Mass at 5:30 p.m. for the surrounding rural communities of southern Vermont.
- Established
- 1866
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Rev. Msgr. Bernard W. Bourgeois
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
Why belong here
St. Patrick offers a small, tight-knit Catholic congregation rooted in the village of Wallingford, where weekly Sunday Mass is celebrated in the same 1866-built church that Irish-Catholic mill workers originally raised. Parishioners share clergy, faith formation, and Catholic schools (Christ the King pre-K–8 and Mount St. Joseph Academy 9–12) with Christ the King in Rutland under a single pastor, so members receive both the intimacy of a country parish and the resources of a larger community. Weekly Confession is offered Friday and Saturday afternoons at Christ the King, with appointments always available, and a regular Tuesday-evening Mass at 5:30 p.m. makes the parish accessible to working families across the southern Vermont mountains.
Mass times at St Patrick
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 3:30–4:00 PM at Christ the King
- Saturday 3:00–3:45 PM at Christ the King
- By appointment — call (802) 773-6820
Parish Identity & Community
St. Patrick Parish in Wallingford, Vermont, is part of the Rutland-Wallingford Catholic Community, a combined pastoral grouping with Christ the King Parish in Rutland that shares one pastor, one parochial vicar, one deacon, and a single office staff. The community's mission statement says plainly that 'we are one community in the Catholic faith: Christ the King in Rutland and St Patrick in Wallingford. As one, we pray the Eucharist and other sacraments together, and we explore the meaning of our Catholic faith. As a community, we reach out in love, following the call of Jesus to serve those in need. As one community, we grow together in faith and love for Jesus Christ.' St. Patrick's church still stands at 218 North Main Street in the village of Wallingford.
- Christ the King Parish — 66 South Main Street, Rutland, VT
- St. Patrick Parish — 218 North Main Street, Wallingford, VT
- Mailing address (parish offices): 66 South Main St., Rutland VT 05701
History of St. Patrick
St. Patrick's was organized in 1865 by Rev. Charles Boylan, then pastor of St. Peter's in Rutland, when the Irish-Catholic population of Wallingford and the surrounding mill towns had grown to roughly 300 souls — a number that more than doubled in the years that followed. In 1866 Father Boylan oversaw the construction of the present church at a cost of about $8,000, the same remarkable building campaign that produced St. Peter's, Rutland (1873) and St. Alphonsus, Pittsford. The parish was served from outside missions until 1910, when Rev. Thomas O'Donoghue became the first resident pastor and the Mount Holly mission (Our Lady Mother of Mercy) was attached to it. In the modern era St. Patrick was joined in pastoral partnership with Christ the King in Rutland to form the Rutland-Wallingford Catholic Community.
- Organized 1865; church constructed 1866
- Builder: Rev. Charles Boylan (St. Peter's, Rutland)
- First resident pastor: Rev. Thomas O'Donoghue (1910)
- Mission attached: Our Lady Mother of Mercy, Mount Holly
Clergy, Staff, and Pastoral Leadership
The Rutland-Wallingford Catholic Community is led by Rev. Msgr. Bernard W. Bourgeois (Pastor), with Fr. Sahaya Arockiaraj as Parochial Vicar and Deacon Michael Knowles assisting in parish ministry. Office staff and business managers, together with the music directors and religious-education staff, serve both Christ the King and St. Patrick together. The pastoral office is the point of contact for sacramental records, appointments, and parish business for the combined community.
- Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Bernard W. Bourgeois ([email protected])
- Parochial Vicar: Fr. Sahaya Arockiaraj
- Parish Deacon: Michael Knowles
- Music: Lori Routhier (St. Patrick and Saturday choir); William Gower-Johnson (Christ the King)
- Religious Education: Sandra Carpenter
- Homebound Ministry: Susan Roland
Catholic Schools & Faith Formation
St. Patrick families participate in the diocesan Catholic schools based in Rutland. Christ the King School serves Pre-K through Grade 8, and Mount St. Joseph Academy serves Grades 9 through 12. Religious education for parish children is coordinated across both St. Patrick and Christ the King by Director of Religious Education Sandra Carpenter.
- Christ the King School (Pre-K–8) — (802) 773-0500, principal Lila Millard
- Mount St. Joseph Academy (9–12) — (802) 775-0151, principal Michael Alexander
- Religious Education: Sandra Carpenter ([email protected])
Music and Liturgy
Music ministry for the Rutland-Wallingford Catholic Community is led by two directors who support each of the parish worship sites. William Gower-Johnson directs music at Christ the King, and Lori Routhier directs music at St. Patrick and leads the combined Saturday-choir program. Together they prepare the parish choirs for the regular Sunday and weekday Mass schedule.
- William Gower-Johnson — Director of Music, Christ the King
- Lori Routhier — Director of Music, St. Patrick and Saturday Choir
Outreach and Pastoral Care
Pastoral care for the homebound — bringing Holy Communion to those unable to attend Mass — is coordinated through Susan Roland across both parishes. The community also supports Catholic education through its parish-school system and shares a unified online giving and bulletin program so that parishioners of either church can stay connected, give, and receive parish news in one place.
- Communion Visits to the Homebound — Susan Roland
- Online giving and bulletins available through rwcatholic.org
Visiting and Contact
St. Patrick's church is at 218 North Main Street, Wallingford, VT 05773. The combined parish office — serving both St. Patrick and Christ the King — is at 66 South Main Street, Rutland, VT 05701, open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (closed on holidays). Appointments for sacraments and pastoral conversations can be arranged by calling (802) 773-6820 or emailing [email protected].
- Church address: 218 N. Main St., Wallingford, VT 05773
- Parish office: 66 S. Main St., Rutland, VT 05701
- Office hours: 9 a.m.–4 p.m., Mon–Fri
- Phone: (802) 773-6820
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.rwcatholic.org/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Charles Boylan1865–early 1870s (founder; pastor of St. Peter's, Rutland, who built the Wallingford church in 1866)
Built St. Patrick's, St. Alphonsus (Pittsford), Our Lady Mother of Mercy (Mt. Holly), and the new St. Peter's, Rutland.
- Rev. T. J. Gaffney
Listed as pastor of St. Patrick's in a late-19th-century Wallingford history; based in Dorset.
- Rev. Thomas O'Donoghue1910–
First resident pastor of St. Patrick, with Our Lady Mother of Mercy (Mount Holly) as a mission.