About Holy Family · Chimayo, New Mexico
Holy Family Parish serves the village of Chimayo, New Mexico, in the centuries-old Spanish Catholic heartland of northern New Mexico. The parish is best known for administering El Santuario de Chimayó, the famous Shrine of Our Lord of Esquipulas (often called the 'Lourdes of America'), which draws tens of thousands of pilgrims each year, especially during Lent and Holy Week. Holy Family is staffed by the Sons of the Holy Family (SF), a religious order, and oversees the Santuario together with a network of historic mission capillas in surrounding villages such as Las Trampas, Truchas, Ojo Sarco, Cordova, Cundiyo, Rio Chiquito, La Cuchilla, and El Valle.
- Established
- 1816
- Patron
- Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph); the Santuario's devotion is to Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas (Our Lord of Esquipulas)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe (Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe)
Why belong here
Parishioners of Holy Family worship at one of the most storied Catholic shrines in the United States and belong to a centuries-old Hispano Catholic community in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The parish celebrates Mass in both English and Spanish (with an American Sign Language Mass on Saturdays), keeps daily Mass at the Santuario, and supports a network of nine historic mission capillas that host seasonal devotions and tours. It is a place where living Spanish colonial traditions, santero art, pilgrimages during Lent and Holy Week, and the everyday life of northern New Mexico villages come together.
Mass times at Holy Family
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:30am–7:50am (or by appointment)
- Sunday 9:30am–9:50am (or by appointment)
- Weekdays 6:30pm–6:50pm (or by appointment)
- Saturday 5:30pm–5:50pm (or by appointment)
Adoration times
- Wednesday 8:00am–9:00am — Exposition (at the Santuario de Chimayo, 15 Santuario Dr., Chimayo)
History of Holy Family Parish & El Santuario de Chimayó
Holy Family Parish is rooted in the early 19th-century Spanish Catholic settlement of El Potrero in Chimayo. Layman Bernardo Abeyta unearthed a crucifix of Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas during Lent of 1810; he and nineteen neighboring families built an adobe chapel on the site, completed in 1816. The chapel was privately held by the Abeyta family until 1929, when Santa Fe preservationists bought it and donated it to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe — making it the only designated archdiocesan pilgrimage shrine. In 1959 the Sons of the Holy Family took on pastoral care, with Father Casimiro Roca serving the Santuario for about forty years and nominating it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
- Crucifix unearthed by Bernardo Abeyta, Lent 1810
- Petition to Durango, approved February 8, 1814
- Chapel completed 1816
- Donated to Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929
- John Gaw Meem metal roof, 1930
- Father Casimiro Roca, S.F., appointed 1959; National Register nomination 1970
Santuario de Chimayó (Shrine of Our Lord of Esquipulas)
El Santuario de Chimayó, known as the 'Lourdes of America,' is the devotional heart of the parish. The large adobe chapel is famous for the holy earth ('holy dirt') in a small pit to the right of the altar, taken by pilgrims for healing, and for the original crucifix of Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas. Daily Mass is celebrated at the Santuario on weekdays, and tens of thousands of pilgrims visit during Lent and Holy Week. The site is a Jubilee Church for both 2016 and 2025 and sits alongside the historic Camino del Norte mission trail.
- Listed in National Register of Historic Places
- Jubilee Church 2016 and 2025
- Daily Mass at 15 Santuario Drive
- Major pilgrimages during Lent and Holy Week
Mission Capillas & the Camino del Norte Mission Tour
Beyond the Santuario, Holy Family Parish oversees nine historic mission capillas in the surrounding northern New Mexico villages — Chimayo, La Cuchilla, Rio Chiquito, Cundiyo, Cordova, Truchas, Ojo Sarco, Las Trampas, and El Valle. The capillas are small adobe mission chapels built and sustained by local communities over generations and are central to the region's living Spanish Catholic tradition. The parish organizes Camino del Norte Mission Tours, an open-house experience that welcomes visitors to explore these sacred spaces, learn their histories, and support the chapels through donations to the 'Holy Family - Donation' fund.
- Nuestra Señora de Dolores Mission, Chimayo
- Sagrado Corazón y San Isidro, Río Chiquito
- San José, Las Trampas
- Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas
- Santo Tomás, Ojo Sarco
- San Antonio, Cordova
- Santo Domingo, Cundiyo (plus La Cuchilla and El Valle)
Clergy & Religious Order
Holy Family Parish and its missions, including the Santuario, are administered by the Sons of the Holy Family (S.F.), a religious order. The most storied priest associated with the parish is Rev. Casimiro Roca, S.F., a native of Barcelona, Spain, who in 1959 became the first priest assigned to administer the Santuario. He welcomed pilgrims for roughly forty years, restored the chapel, and nominated it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. His well-known admonition to pilgrims was, 'It isn't the dirt that heals, it's the faith.'
- Sons of the Holy Family (S.F.)
- Rev. Casimiro Roca, S.F. (first assigned priest, ~1959–c.1999)
Mass & Sacrament Schedule
The parish offers a multilingual liturgical schedule to serve its diverse community and pilgrim population, including ASL-accessible Mass on Saturdays. Daily Mass on weekdays is celebrated at the Santuario itself, while Sunday Masses are at Holy Family church. Confessions are heard before each Mass and by appointment, and Eucharistic Adoration in the form of Exposition is held Wednesday mornings at the Santuario.
- Saturday 6:00pm Mass in ASL
- Sunday Masses at 8:00am (Spanish) and 10:00am
- Weekday Masses at 7:00am and 11:00am at the Santuario
- Confessions 30 minutes before Mass and by appointment
- Wednesday Eucharistic Exposition 8:00–9:00am
Devotions & Pilgrimages
Faith life at Holy Family includes weekly Sunday Rosary and Lenten Stations of the Cross, along with the parish's defining devotional life: the Lenten and Holy Week pilgrimages to El Santuario. The Rosary is prayed before the 10:00am Sunday Mass, and Stations of the Cross are led Friday evenings during Lent.
- Sunday Rosary 9:20–9:40am
- Stations of the Cross Fridays during Lent, 6:30–7:00pm
- Lenten and Holy Week pilgrimages to El Santuario
Visiting Holy Family & the Santuario
Travelers heading to the parish from Santa Cruz should go east on NM-76 North from the crossroads of McCurdy Road and NM-76; the Holy Family church is on the left after about six miles at the intersection of NM-76 and County Road 95. The Santuario itself is reached at 15 Santuario Drive in Chimayo. Pilgrims come year-round, but Lent and Holy Week are the busiest seasons. Donations to support preservation of the mission capillas can be made to 'Holy Family - Donation' via the parish website.
- Directions: NM-76 N from Santa Cruz, ~6 miles
- Holy Family church at NM-76 and County Rd 95
- Santuario at 15 Santuario Drive, Chimayo
- Donations: 'Holy Family - Donation' on prayatalltimes.com
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Casimiro Roca, S.F.1959–c.1999
First priest assigned to administer the Santuario; Spanish-born member of the Sons of the Holy Family; restored the Santuario, welcomed pilgrims for ~40 years; nominated the Santuario to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.