Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales intends to live stream the 4 pm Mass on Saturdays. At the time of the live stream click the play button to begin watching. You can watch previous broadcasts by clicking on the play button and selecting “previous broadcasts” and then click the date you want to view.
MASS TIMES (Begining Monday November 28th)
Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales - Bennington:
Saturday 4:00 pm, Sunday 8:00 am
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:00 am
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, North Bennington:
Saturday 5:30 pm, Sunday 10:00 am
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 am
First Saturdays 9:00 am
CONFESSION TIMES
(or by appointment)
Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales, Bennington:
Saturdays at 3:00-3:30 pm
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, North Bennington:
Confessions follow the First Saturday 9 am Mass 9:30 - 10:15 am
Sacred Heart St. Francis Office Hours
(802) 442-3141
Monday 8:30 am to Noon & 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Tuesday-Friday 8:30 am to Noon
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church’s Office Hours (802) 447-7504
Monday, Tuesday and Friday 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
This week Catholic schools across the nation celebrate National Catholic School’s Week! Our school, The School of Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales will dedicate each day towards celebrating different aspects of the community. On Sunday, the school will celebrate our parish and serve as ministers at the 8am Mass – they will do the same next Saturday at St. John the Baptist 5:30 Vigil Mass. Throughout the week our school will also celebrate our community, students, nation, families, faculty and staff, and vocations. We have much to be proud of at our school. I love visiting the classrooms and the cafeteria. The students and teachers always find ways to put a smile on my face! Please join me in praying for all our students, faculty, staff, and volunteers as they celebrate this wonderful week! On January 20th, we marked the 150thanniversary of the death of our founder, Blessed Basil Moreau. Blessed Moreau worked tirelessly in the field of education. Growing up after the civil war in France, Moreau recognized that the population needed education and faith. Moreau gathered priests, brothers, and sisters together and sent them to the corners of the world to educate minds and hearts of the next generation. The Congregation of Holy Cross continues to serve this mission of education today. Please join me in praying for more vocations so that we can continue this critical work. Finally, I will be meeting with both Finance Councils in the next two weeks. We hope to provide you a report of our revenue and expenses very soon. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. God Bless, Fr. Kevin |
About Us
On July 29, 1853, the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, was formally created by papal brief under the leadership of the first bishop, Louis de Goësbriand. At this time there were 10 churches and approximately 20,000 Catholics being served by five priests. The Diocese was very much a missionary Diocese with limited resources and a small congregation of Catholics sprinkled throughout the vast state. The terrain was challenging, and the mostly Protestant state did not welcome Catholicism.
Bishop de Goësbriand spent most of his quarter-of-a million-dollar inheritance to travel throughout the state to spread the Good News and build churches, schools and homes for the most vulnerable. The fruits of his labor paid off. By 1891, the number of Catholics more than doubled to 48,000 with 78 churches. In addition, he helped found eight academies and 16 parochial schools in the Diocese with seven congregations of women religious to staff them.By the time he died in 1899, he had spent his entire fortune; he had only $2.12 to his name and a few old suits, noted Father Lance Harlow, rector of St. Joseph Cathedral who wrote a biography of the bishop in 2001. "Bishop de Goësbriand, even though he was raised in a well-respected and well-to-do household, lived in austere simplicity," said Kathleen Messier, assistant diocesan archivist. "In several biographical accounts of Burlington's founding bishop, his Christ-like love of the poor has often been noted."
Today we find the Diocese of Burlington is again missionary territory, similar to what Bishop de Goësbriand faced but with new challenges: Covid-19, declining population and a generation of young people disinterested in joining any type of formal religion.We must face these challenges with the same fortitude and faith as our first leader, Bishop de Goësbriand, and create new ways to engage young people and lay leaders, while keeping our faith community connected during the pandemic and continuing to support the most vulnerable among us. When the pandemic closed our churches, we increased our communication by live-streaming almost 200 faith engagement activities including weekly and Sunday Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, daily rosary, daily scripture reflections and many other faith engagement opportunities. We continued to provide emergency aid to families — many impacted by Covid-19 — moved our Catholic education online and guided our parishes to safely open for the public celebration of the Mass when the stay-home-order was lifted.
The faith community of Sacred Heart Saint Francis de Sales welcomes new visitors as well as old friends to join us in prayer and celebration. Please join us for Mass, in prayer and fellowship or as a guest at one of the church community’s many special events.
We are a warm, vibrant parish and are always happy to see new faces. If you are new to the Bennington area and are interested in becoming a member of the parish, please stop by the parish office or for additional information. We are glad to have you with us.