History

In 1965, the Archbishop of New Orleans, the Most Rev. John Patrick Cody, deemed it necessary to divide the over populated parishes of St. Mary in Raceland, and Holy Savior in Lockport, and form the new parish of St. Hilary of Poitiers in Mathews.  The newly formed parish consisited mainly of parishioners of French descent.

The new parish took it’s name from the fourth century bishop, St. Hilary, born in Poitiers, France.  His feast day is celebrated on January 13th.  Rev. H.C. Paul Daigle was St. Hilary’s founding pastor.  Fr. Daigle chose the name St. Hilary because he was impressed by the Saint while on a trip to France.  Fr. Daigle celebrated the first Mass on January 3, 1965, in the mission chapel of St. Anthony in Gheens (La Vacherie), celebrating the formation of St. Hilary Parish.  An old boarding house on the Georgia (sugar) Plantation was loaned by South Coast Corporation to the newly formed parish. With the help of parishioners, the old boarding house was cleaned and renovated to serve as the first temporary place of worship for the newly created Parish.

The first mass in the old boarding house was celebrated on January 17, 1965. At that time, several ladies volunteered to perform the duties necessary for the upkeep of the altar, vestments, and cleanliness of the "church". Hence, the first lay organization of St. Hilary's, the Council of Catholic Women was formed. 

A site of 9.3 acres had been selected by in the Sugarland Subdivision and was purchased for $20,700. Work officially began on the new building on July 27, 1965. The building was completed in August 1966, and the dedication ceremony was held on September 21, 1966. The school opened in the fall of 1966 for kindergartners. In 1967 the operation of the school was assumed by the Sisters of Mercy of Dublin. Each year thereafter a next grade level was added, until the sixth grade level was reached. 

Following the completion of the temporary church and school, a convent to house the sisters, and a rectory were added to the parish plant. The sisters ran the school until 1984, after which the school was run by the laity until its' closure in May 1993. In efforts to financially support the school, our annual parish festival, La Vie Lafourchaise was formed in 1973. With the closure of the school, our last La Vie Lafourchaise was held in 1992. The old school building is currently used as a multi-purpose building. 

In 1984 construction began on our new church building. Dedication of the new church was held on September 21, 1986. The new church was the final physical piece of Fr. Daigle's legacy to St. Hilary of Poitiers. Our founding pastor, Fr. Daigle, served from 1965 to 1993. During his tenure, the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese was created on June 5, 1977. Upon Fr. Daigle's retirement, Fr. Danny Poche was assigned to St. Hilary. Fr. Danny served from 1993 to 2005. Our third pastor was Fr. Dean Danos from 2005 to 2009. Our next pastor, Fr. Sabino "Benny" Rebosura, came to us in 2009 and was replaced by Fr. PJ Madden in 2015. Father John David Matherne took up the mantle of Administrator and then Pastor in 2019 after Father PJ's retirement.