St. Benedict Labre Catholic Church History
St. Benedict’s Mission was officially opened on February 28, 1922 under the supervision of Reverend Fr. Broulliet, a missionary from Stanstead, Quebec. On March 5th of the same year, a house was purchased from Henry L. Church for $800 which was converted to a small chapel where services were held on Sundays. Following Fr. Broulliet’s tenure, different priests from Newport, VT took care of our mission church.
On July 3, 1946, St. Benedict’s Mission, formerly attended by priests from Newport, became a mission of St. Edward the Confessor Church in Derby Line, VT. Shortly after the arrival of Fr. Armand P. Fortin in 1946, he concluded that that the old chapel had served its purpose and was not suitable for future worship. Permission was obtained from His Excellency, Bishop Edward F. Ryan to erect a new church. In September 1947, construction of St. Benedict’s began and was completed for the opening celebration of Holy Mass on Christmas Eve in 1947. This feat was accomplished because of the goodwill, generosity, and efforts of the people of Charleston. Fr. Fortin served the people of St. Benedict’s until 1960.
Various pastors celebrated Holy Mass at St. Benedict’s following Fr. Fortin’s tenure: Fr. Joseph Dussault from 1960 to 1967, Fr. Edward Derosiers between 1967 and 1968, Fr. Joseph Connolly from 1968 to 1971, Fr. Ronald Benoit from 1971 to 1977, Fr. Donald Roy between 1977 and 1984, Fr. John Hamilton from 1984 to 1990, and Fr. James Lawrence from 1990 to 1992.
During Fr. Joseph Connolly’s tenure as pastor beginning in 1968, renovations were again needed because the church bell was very heavy and broke through the cry room directly under the bell tower. Following that incident, the entire cry room area was renovated with paneling and lighting. At the same time, the downstairs kitchen was updated and a rear exit from the basement to the outdoors was constructed. Several other upgrades and necessary improvements were also completed during this time: two new oil furnaces were installed, the parking lot was updated, and the outside of the church itself was sandblasted.
A Jesuit priest, Fr. Ernest Passero, served the parishioners of St. Benedict’s between 1992 and 1999. While pastor, Fr. Passero purchased a Nativity set during a visit to Italy along with several pictures of St. Benedict Labre. Fr. Yvon Royer, who served St. Benedict’s from 1999 until 2009, replaced the windows, encouraging parishioners to donate a window for $300. The project was completed in record time! During Fr. Royer’s tenure as pastor, the parking lot was extended to accommodate the need for more parking on the south side of the church.
The year 2009 brought the Vocationist Fathers (Society of Divine Vocations) to Vermont under the leadership of Fr. Michael Reardon, S.D.V. to guide the parishioners of St. Benedict Labre. During his tenure between 2009 and 2015, two new furnaces were installed at St. Benedict’s. In 2012, the parishes of St. Benedict Labre, St. Bernard in Norton, St. Edward the Confessor in Derby Line, St. James the Greater in Island Pond, and St. Mary, Star of the Sea in Newport were combined under Our Lady’s title: Mater Dei (Mother of God) Parish. For a period of about two years, a group of Vocationist Sisters resided at St. Edward’s Rectory, helping in St. Edward’s Preschool, at the rectory, and especially sharing their voices with Anna Young to provide music for St. Benedict’s Sunday Masses. Fr. Patrick Nwachukwu, S.D.V. followed Fr. Michael as pastor between 2015 and 2017. Fr. Rijo Johnson, S.D.V. followed Fr. Patrick in 2017 and serves as Mater Dei Parish’s current pastor. Associate Pastors who have served the
parishioners of St. Benedict’s since 2009 are: Fr. Rijo Johnson, S.D.V., Fr. Babu Thelapilly, S.D.V., Fr. Thomas Naduviledathu, S.D.V., Fr. Shiju Chittattukara, S.D.V., Fr. Firmino Htwe, S.D.V., Fr. Rowland Onuegbu, S.D.V., Fr. Vincent Odoemenam, S.D.V., Fr. Rony Parakkal, S.D.V., Fr. Thomas Kuttittkatt, S.D.V., Fr. Deniskingley Nwagwu, S.D.V., Fr. Antony Pittapillil, S.D.V., Fr. James Butts, S.D.V., and our present Associate Pastors, Fr. Benny Chittilappilly, S.D.V. and Fr. Thomas LaRussa, S.D.V. Each of these holy priests have contributed something special and unique to Mater Dei Parish and to St. Benedict Labre.
With the Vocationist Fathers came an infused love for the Holy Family and for Vocations. This is particularly evident now in our parish. Fr. Rijo Johnson, S.D.V. has been guiding Mater Dei parish through the structure of Liturgy Committees which unite each church with each other and with the Parish. Each church has two coordinators who have become the go-to persons in each parish to organize the celebration of liturgical feasts that enrich our Catholic faith. Fr. Rijo continues to unite our individual churches into one parish by incorporating monthly Sunday breakfasts at each church during the summer and encouraging coordinators from each church to attend and support each other. He promoted growth in the annual Parish Picnic by including a raffle fundraiser with the top prize of a car or a large sum of money. Everything has become larger scale! Other steps Fr. Rijo has taken to encourage participation by parishioners are the establishment of a Stewardship Committee to manage individual church projects and a Finance Committee to oversee church expenditures, and to re-establish the Mater Dei Parish Council. Major church projects are presently in the forefront of our parish! Fr. Rijo continues to nurture our reading of the Holy Bible through homilies, Bible Studies, and Prayer Groups.
Fr. Rijo very willingly kept St. Benedict’s active and involved in Mater Dei Parish, but life changed with the onset of COVID. In their hearts, the parishioners of St. Benedict’s knew it was their time. St. Benedict’s had its fruitful years with a full church at Christmas Mass, celebrated with a full adult and youth choir. St. Benedict’s parking lot was expanded to accommodate the many worshipers at church services. The days of Mary Griffin celebrating each new priest’s arrival have passed. But the memories live on in each parishioner. Holy Mass was celebrated at St. Benedict Labre for the final time on Monday, July 11, 2022 followed by a luncheon honoring all priests, especially those who have served St. Benedict’s in the past and those who continue to serve the parishioners now. St. Edward’s, St. James and St. Mary’s parishioners have surrounded St. Benedict’s with food and support. St. Benedict’s history is so much more than these pages, but the current caretakers, Larry and Pauline Labor, Mark and Sue Laliberte, Andre and Sherry Lefebvre, Sherie Lucas, Margaret Perkins, Jeanine Morelli, and Roger and Nadine Sheltra, are truly grateful for the time they have had.
Sherry Lefebvre
God Bless each one of you who reads this history.