About St. William · Olla, Louisiana
St. William Chapel is a small Catholic mission chapel located on Main Street in the town of Olla, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. It is a dependent mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in nearby Winnfield, within the Diocese of Alexandria. The chapel serves Catholic families in Olla and the surrounding rural area with weekly Sunday Mass, holy day liturgies, and the sacrament of confession, currently under the pastoral care of Rev. Louis Sklar, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes.
- Rector
- Rev. Louis Sklar
- Diocese
- Diocese of Alexandria (Louisiana)
Why belong here
St. William Chapel gives the Catholic faithful of Olla and the surrounding LaSalle Parish countryside a regular weekly place for Sunday Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation close to home. As a mission of Our Lady of Lourdes in Winnfield, the chapel benefits from an established parish staff — religious education, music, and youth ministry — that supports sacramental preparation and family faith life. It is a small, neighborly worship community where Mass, holy day liturgies, and confession are scheduled with the working rhythms of rural central Louisiana in mind.
Mass times at St. William
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays 3:35 pm – 3:50 pm
Overview & Identity
St. William Chapel is a mission chapel of the Diocese of Alexandria serving the town of Olla in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. The chapel is administered out of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Winnfield and is listed in the diocese's official parish directory as 'St. William Chapel, Olla — Mission of Our Lady of Lourdes, Winnfield.' Its listing in the diocesan directory confirms the canonical relationship and gives its mailing address and Mass schedule. Because it is a mission rather than an independent parish, sacramental ministry, records, and parish life are coordinated through the Winnfield parish office.
- Type: Mission chapel (not an independent parish)
- Parent parish: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Winnfield, LA (est. 1988)
- Diocese: Alexandria, Natchitoches Deanery
- Canonical relationship: served by the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes
History & Pastoral Lineage
Although the chapel's exact founding year is not published on the diocese's site or in its 2023/2026 directories, its history is documented through the diocese's clergy-assignment notices and deanery realignment. In 2017 Bishop David Talley moved Our Lady of Lourdes and its St. William Chapel mission from the Central Deanery into the Natchitoches Deanery. The same year, the previous pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Father Stephen Soares, was recalled to India by his religious community; Father John O'Brien, V.F., pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in Natchitoches, was appointed interim pastoral administrator of the Winnfield–Olla cluster. Father Louis Sklar now serves as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and, by extension, of St. William Chapel.
- 2017: Our Lady of Lourdes and St. William reassigned to the Natchitoches Deanery
- 2017: Father Stephen Soares recalled to India by his religious order
- 2017: Father John O'Brien named interim pastoral administrator of Winnfield–Olla
- Current pastor: Father Louis Sklar (Our Lady of Lourdes / St. William Chapel)
Location & Contact
The chapel sits on the main thoroughfare of Olla, a small town in LaSalle Parish in central Louisiana. Mail and pastoral inquiries are directed through the parish office of Our Lady of Lourdes in Winnfield. The chapel itself does not appear to maintain its own website; its only online presence is the diocese's directory page.
- Street address: 4580 Main Street, Olla, LA 71465
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 1232, Olla, LA 71465
- Parent parish office: Our Lady of Lourdes, 772 Country Club Rd., Winnfield, LA 71483
- Parish phone (Our Lady of Lourdes): (318) 628-2561
- Website: https://www.diocesealex.org/church/st-william-chapel/
Worship in the Natchitoches Deanery
St. William Chapel is grouped for pastoral and deanery purposes with Our Lady of Lourdes Church and with the wider Natchitoches Deanery of the Diocese of Alexandria, which spans Winn, Natchitoches, and surrounding civil parishes. The cluster model is typical of the diocese's approach to small-town and rural Catholic communities, where a resident priest and parish staff in one town can serve several nearby worship sites.
- Deanery: Natchitoches Deanery
- Bishop: Diocese of Alexandria (Louisiana)
- Vicar Forane: Father John O'Brien, V.F.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Stephen Soares
Former pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Winnfield; recalled by his religious community to India (2017).
- Rev. John O'Brien, V.F.2017 (interim)
Appointed interim pastoral administrator of Our Lady of Lourdes and its mission of St. William Chapel in Olla while also serving as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, Natchitoches.
- Rev. Louis Sklar
Current pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Winnfield, and canonical pastor of St. William Chapel, Olla.