Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church ( es, Iglesia Nuestra Señora de GuadalupeStruthers, Silvia.
La Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe celebra 100 años
" '' La Voz de Houston''. August 17, 2012. Retrieved on September 4, 2012. "La primera misa se celebró el 18 de agosto de 1912 y este sábado la iglesia conmemora sus 100 años de existencia." and "Actualmente, la parroquia, ubicada en Navigation Blvd. en un barrio que sigue siendo muy hispano, sirve a 3,500 familias." and "La iglesia celebrará una misa especial a las 6.30 p.m. del sábado 18 para conmemorar el centenario." and "La iglesia tiene numerosas misas en español y cuenta con una escuela que fue inaugurada al mes siguiente de que la parroquia celebrara su primera misa.") is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located in the Second Ward in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

.Esparza, p. 3. It is a part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The church, first constructed in 1911, was the first

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

church in

. It was the first religious institution in the City of Houston to offer religious services in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

. The church opened one of the first schools for Mexican-American children and it operates programs that provided food and shelter for needy individuals. As of 2012 the church serves 3,500 families. Many of its masses are held in Spanish. The surrounding neighborhood is predominately Hispanic. As of 2010 OLG is one of the poorest Catholic parishes in

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

.Kever, Jeannie.
Schools seeking help find a beacon of hope
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. November 19, 2010. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. It includes the Our Lady of Guadalupe School, the oldest Catholic elementary school in Houston.

History

In 1910 there were no Mexican Catholic churches in Houston. Some Mexicans were excluded from attending Anglo Catholic churches. Mexicans who did attend found themselves discriminated against. In 1911 the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

brought a series of priests, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, intended to minister to the Mexican population of Houston.Treviño, p
9
In 1912 Our Lady of Guadalupe opened.Treviño, p
32
The first mass was held on August 18, 1912, in a two-story frame facility that was a gift from the Catholic Church Extension Society; it had been erected during that year. Father Robert Chatillon, OMI was the first celebrant.
" () Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Retrieved on September 4, 2012. The church was located on the upper floor, while

the Catholic school ''The Catholic School'' ( it, La scuola cattolica) is a 2021 Italian drama film directed by Stefano Mordini. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Edoardo Albinati and is based on the 1975 Circeo massacre. It premiered out o ...

was located on the lower floor.History
."
Archive
) Our Lady of Guadalupe School. Retrieved on September 4, 2012. The Roman Catholic church established Our Lady of Guadalupe so that White people accustomed to segregation of races did not find offense with the presence of Mexican people in their churches.Garza, Natalie, p. 15. In the 1920s a group of

Louisiana Creole people Louisiana Creoles (french: Créoles de la Louisiane, lou, Moun Kréyòl la Lwizyàn, es, Criollos de Luisiana) are people descended from the inhabitants of colonial Louisiana before it became a part of the United States during the period of bo ...

attended OLG because of OLG was the closest church to the Frenchtown area of the Fifth Ward; the closest black church, St. Nicholas, was located in the Third Ward.Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice (

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree).

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

, 2008. , 9780549635871. p
195
Because the OLG church treated the Creole people in a discriminatory manner, by forcing them to confess and take communion after people of other races did so and after forcing them to take the back pews,Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice (

). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree).

, 2008. , 9780549635871. p
195196
the Creoles opted to build their own church, opening

Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church is a Black Catholic church in Frenchtown, an area within the Fifth Ward of Houston. It was the second Black parish to be established in the city and the first established by Louisiana Creoles.Catholic Youth Org ...

in 1929.Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice (

). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree).

, 2008. , 9780549635871. p
196
As more Mexican-Americans settled in Houston, large numbers of people commuted from other Houston neighborhoods to OLG on Sundays to worship. Father Esteban de Anta, a Spanish man, was the first Spanish-speaking priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe. He arrived in 1919. In 1923 a new church facility opened, designed with Lombard Romanesque style features by the prominent San Antonio architect, Leo M.J. Dielmann. The previous church facility was remodeled, and began to be used entirely as a school and for social activities. The Oblate priests serviced the church for many years, before leaving in 1973.Garza, Natalie, p. 19. During that year,

Priests of the Sacred Heart The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart ( la, Congregatio Sacerdotum a Sacro Corde Iesu) abbreviated SCI, also called the Dehonians, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church f ...

began serving the OLG parish in place of the Oblate priests. In the 1980s OLG became a territorial parish, and it adopted geographic boundaries. Natalie Garza, author of ''The 'Mother Church' of Mexican Catholicism in Houston'', said "it remains heavily Mexican American and Latino based." On Saturday August 18, 2012 the church celebrated 100 years of masses.

School

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School is the oldest Catholic elementary school in the City of Houston. The school first opened on September 8, 1912, one month after the church's first mass. As of 2012 the OLG school has over 500 students, originating from over 30 ZIP codes in

. As of that year many elementary school classes have waiting lists. The school is the oldest Catholic elementary school in Houston.Martin, Betty L.
Neighborhood's Alive tour hits city's multicultural hot spots
" ''

''. Thursday July 17, 2003. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on September 9, 2012.

Recreation

Historically OLG held bazaars which featured popular bands. During the 1930s two musicians from Houston, Ventura Alonzo and

Lydia Mendoza Lydia Mendoza (May 31, 1916December 20, 2007) was a Mexican-American guitarist and singer of Tejano and traditional Mexican-American music. Historian Michael Joseph Corcoran has stated that she was "The Mother of Tejano Music", an art form tha ...

, performed at OLG events.Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice (

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree).

, 2008. , 9780549635871. p
197

References

*Esparza, Jesus Jesse.
La Colonia Mexicana: A History of Mexican Americans in Houston
" ( ) ''

Houston History Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

'' Volume 9, Issue 1. p. 2-8. Center for Public History,

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. *Garza, Natalie.
The “Mother Church” of Mexican Catholicism in Houston
" ( ) ''

'' Volume 9, Issue 1. p. 14-19. Center for Public History,

. *Treviño, Robert R. '' The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston''. UNC Press Books, February 27, 2006. Retrieved from

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

on November 22, 2011. , .

Notes

External links

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic ChurchOur Lady of Guadalupe SchoolRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston
{{coord, 29.7592, -95.3451, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Houston Roman Catholic churches in Texas Mexican-American culture in Houston Mexican-American history 1912 establishments in Texas Christian organizations established in 1912 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston East End, Houston

History

School

Recreation

See also

References

Notes

External links