About Holy Child (Historic Church) · Tijeras, New Mexico
Holy Child Parish is a Roman Catholic parish in the rural East Mountain village of Tijeras, New Mexico, about 15 miles east of Albuquerque along Old Route 66 / Interstate 40. It belongs to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and was established on September 15, 1962, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, by Archbishop James P. Byrne. From its campus along Camino del Santo Niño, the parish shepherds seven mission churches spread across more than 300 square miles of Sandia and Manzano mountain villages — Chilili, Escobosa, San Antonio, San Antonito, Carnuel, Cedar Crest, and the original 1912 adobe chapel in Tijeras itself — forming a "cross" that intersects State Highway 14 and Old Route 66. Today the parish is served by pastor Fr. Mark Granito, runs daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration, operates Holy Child Catholic School (founded 2008), and sponsors ministries including the F.I.A.T. adult faith group (Faith, Identity, Adoration, Theology) and the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club.
- Established
- 1962
- Patron
- Holy Child (Jesus / Santo Niño)
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Mark Granito
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Holy Child Parish is the spiritual heart of a wide stretch of the East Mountains: a single pastor and a small staff care for ten worship sites across more than 300 square miles, offer daily Mass in English Monday through Saturday, two Sunday Masses in Tijeras (with the noon Mass livestreamed and a public Rosary afterward), and daily Eucharistic Adoration five days a week. Parishioners can be formed through the F.I.A.T. adult faith group (Faith, Identity, Adoration, Theology), send their children to Holy Child Catholic School and the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club, and belong to a community that has preserved its historic 1912 adobe chapel while building — almost entirely by volunteer labor — its present church, rectory, and parish halls.
Mass times at Holy Child (Historic Church)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (Tijeras)
- 1st Friday 5:30 PM (Tijeras)
Adoration times
- Monday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Tijeras)
- Tuesday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Tijeras)
- Wednesday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Tijeras)
- Thursday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Tijeras)
- Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Tijeras)
Parish History
Catholic life in Tijeras Canyon — Cañón de Carnué — goes back to the 1830s, when Jesuit and later secular priests from Albuquerque traveled out to celebrate Mass in the small mission chapels of San Miguel de Carnué, San Antonio, and San Antonito. The 1912 adobe chapel that now bears the name Holy Child Historic Church was built on land purchased by the Jesuits in 1906 and passed through a tangled chain of ownership — Mrs. Jessie Keleher, then Fr. A. M. Mandelari, S.J., then back to Mrs. Keleher via Archbishop Daeger in 1930 — before the Archdiocese of Santa Fe regained title in 1963. Archbishop James P. Byrne formally established Holy Child Parish on September 15, 1962. Within a few years Interstate 40 cut through the canyon and the State Highway Department acquired the historic chapel site as right-of-way; parishioners responded by raising the present church about a half-mile east in 1971, and then adding the rectory (1987), San Jose Hall (1996), and Blessed Miguel Pro Hall (2004) — almost all by volunteer labor. The 1912 chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
- 1830s: Catholic worship begins in Cañón de Carnué mission chapels
- 1906: Jesuits purchase Tijeras land tract
- 1912: Original adobe Holy Child Historic Church built
- 1962: Holy Child Parish canonically erected by Archbishop Byrne (Sept. 15)
- 1971: Present-day parish church built by volunteers
- 1987: Rectory built
- 1996: San Jose Hall built
- 2004: Blessed Miguel Pro Hall built
- 2008: Holy Child Catholic School founded
Mission Chapels & Worship Sites
Holy Child Parish's pastoral territory covers more than 300 square miles of the East Mountains, an area roughly shaped as a 'cross' along State Highway 14 and Old Route 66. From its base in Tijeras the parish shepherds seven mission churches in the surrounding villages, each visited weekly according to a published rotation. Masses are celebrated in Chilili, Escobosa, San Antonio, San Antonito, Carnuel, and Cedar Crest, while the 1912 adobe Holy Child Historic Church remains an active mission and a centerpiece of the community's heritage. The mayordomo tradition — by which local laymen are elected to oversee maintenance and feast-day celebrations — continues at the missions, supported by donations and parish volunteers.
- Chilili — San Juan Nepomuceno (Sun 8 AM, 1st/3rd/4th/5th)
- Escobosa — San Isidro (Sun 8 AM, 2nd Sundays)
- Carnuel — Holy Child / Santo Niño Mission (Fri 6 PM, 2nd Fridays)
- San Antonio (Fri 6 PM, 3rd Fridays)
- San Antonito — Nuestro Señor de Mapimi (Fri 6 PM, 4th Fridays)
- Cedar Crest mission
- Tijeras — Holy Child Historic Church (1912 adobe chapel, NRHP-listed)
F.I.A.T. Adult Faith Group
F.I.A.T. — Faith, Identity, Adoration, Theology — is the parish's signature adult faith formation program, drawing participants from across the East Mountain area and even from Albuquerque for its regular meetings. The group is coordinated from the parish office and runs formation evenings that fold catechesis, prayer, and community together for adults seeking to grow in Catholic identity. The acronym captures the ministry's pillars: deepening Faith, claiming a Catholic Identity, growing in Adoration, and learning sound Theology.
- Faith formation for adults
- East-Mountain-wide draw (Tijeras, Albuquerque)
- Coordinated by parishioners in collaboration with the parish office
- More info: eastmountainfiat.org
Holy Child Catholic School
Holy Child Catholic School (HCCS) is a parish-affiliated classical K-8 school founded in 2008 on the parish campus. The pastor, Fr. Mark Granito, also serves as head of school, working alongside Principal Mrs. Janice Martinez. HCCS is closely interwoven with parish life: students serve as altar servers at weekday and Sunday Masses, sing in the school choir at Thursday Mass, lector at weekday Masses, and participate in the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club (Grades 4–8), who serve and pray for those in need.
- Founded 2008 on the parish campus
- Classical K–8 curriculum
- Pastor Fr. Mark Granito serves as head of school
- Principal Mrs. Janice Martinez (Catholic school teacher since 1997; M.A. Theology from Catholic Distance University)
- Students serve as altar servers, lectors, and choir members
- St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club (Grades 4–8)
Parish Staff & Community
The parish is led by a small team that doubles as the school's staff. Pastor Fr. Mark Granito has guided Holy Child for many years and was present for the founding of the school in 2008; Mrs. Janice Martinez serves as principal; Mr. Alejandro Padilla, a Knight of Columbus (since 2017), serves on maintenance and custodial staff alongside his work with the school. Emergency sacramental need is answered through a dedicated priest line listed on the parish homepage.
- Rev. Fr. Mark Granito — Pastor
- Mrs. Janice Martinez — Principal (parish life)
- Mr. Alejandro Padilla — Maintenance / Knight of Columbus
- Emergency line for danger of death: 505-281-1502
Visiting & Contact
The parish office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 to 4:00 PM, and Friday mornings from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Visitors traveling along I-40 between Albuquerque and the East Mountain villages will find the campus on Camino del Santo Niño in Tijeras. Online giving is available through the parish's Flocknote Fund It page.
- Address: 19 Camino del Santo Niño, Tijeras, NM 87059
- Mailing: PO Box 130, Tijeras, NM 87059
- Phone: (505) 281-2297
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Mon–Thu 8:30 AM–noon & 1–4 PM; Fri 8:30 AM–noon
- Online giving via Flocknote / Fund It
The 1912 Historic Chapel
Old Holy Child is an irregularly shaped adobe-and-stone chapel built around 1912 on a foundation of irregular native stone, with 2-foot-thick adobe walls covered in painted hard plaster and a pitched roof of corrugated aluminum. A south-gable bell cupola once held the church bell (since moved to the new church) and is topped by cedar shingles and a 3-foot cross. The gable above the main south entry, also clad in cedar shingles, shelters four-over-four double-hung windows on each side facade. In 1940 mayordomo Tomas Gonzales enlarged the chapel with a 15-foot semi-circular adobe apse on the north and a small sandstone sacristy on the east; the rough-board ceiling rests on peeled-log vigas cut from the surrounding mountains. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1978) and the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties (1977), it remains an active mission chapel and a touchstone of the parish's identity.
- Built c. 1912 of adobe brick on a native-stone foundation
- Expanded 1940 under mayordomo Tomas Gonzales (apse + sacristy)
- NRHP-listed March 8, 1978
- NMSRCP-designated July 15, 1977
- Listed on the Archdiocese's historic-property inventory