About Immaculate Conception Mission - Coal Mine · Lytle, Texas
Immaculate Conception Mission (Coal Mine) is a small mission church of the Parish of St. Andrew in Lytle, Texas, in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. Sitting at Diaz & San Juan Streets in the historic Coal Mine community northwest of Lytle, it is one of the oldest Catholic sites in the area, with GCatholic dating its church to 1904. Because it is a mission rather than a standalone parish, Mass is celebrated only on special occasions (with a long-standing Sunday 1:00 PM schedule published), and the parish shares its administrator, clergy, and ministries with the main St. Andrew parish in Lytle. Its small but devoted Hispanic Catholic community continues a mining-village faith tradition that stretches back more than a century.
- Established
- 1904
- Patron
- Immaculate Conception (the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin)
- Rector
- Rev. Varghese Antony (Administrator, of St. Andrew Parish, Lytle)
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio
Why belong here
Immaculate Conception Mission is a small, multigenerational community where families have worshipped together for over a century, rooted in the historic Coal Mine settlement. It is a place where faith is lived in ordinary acts of love — church cleaning, parish breakfasts, Guadalupana society work, lotería Sundays, and fundraisers that keep a mission church alive. Belonging here means joining a tight-knit Hispanic Catholic family that gathers for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 and other special feast-day Masses celebrated by the priests of St. Andrew Parish.
Mass times at Immaculate Conception Mission - Coal Mine
Weekly Mass schedule
Immaculate Conception Mission — Coal Mine
Immaculate Conception Mission in Coal Mine is a small mission church in the historic Coal Mine community just northwest of Lytle, Texas. It is administered as part of the Parish of St. Andrew, Lytle, within the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. Mass is celebrated here only on special occasions, and the mission is sustained by a tight-knit community of multigenerational Catholic families whose roots in Coal Mine go back to the mining era of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
- Mission church of St. Andrew Parish, Lytle
- Address: Diaz & San Juan Streets, Coal Mine (Lytle), TX 78052
- Phone (parish office): (830) 709-4287
- Archdiocese of San Antonio
- Founded 1904 (per GCatholic)
History of the Mission and Coal Mine Community
The Coal Mine community takes its name from the lignite ('brown coal') deposits found in the Lytle area in the late 1870s. Irish, Anglo, Tejano, and Mexican families settled here to work the mines and farm the surrounding land, and a Catholic community quickly formed around the work. The Church of the Immaculate Conception was established to serve those families, with GCatholic dating the present church to 1904. The mission's modest rural chapel form echoes the style of other turn-of-the-century Catholic churches in the Somerset/Lytle area — such as St. Patrick's at Bexar, built 1892 and documented by local historians from the Somerset Historical Society. As the Coal Mine population shrank in the 20th century, Immaculate Conception was attached as a mission to the parish in Lytle, and today shares clergy and pastoral life with St. Andrew Parish.
- Coal discovered in the Lytle area in the late 1870s
- Mining settlement drew Irish, Anglo, Tejano, and Mexican families
- GCatholic dates the present church to 1904
- Later attached as a mission to the parish in Lytle
Leadership and Clergy
Because Immaculate Conception is a mission rather than a parish, it does not have its own resident pastor. Pastoral care is provided by the Administrator of St. Andrew Parish, Lytle, who celebrates the special-occasion Masses at the mission and oversees its sacramental and pastoral life alongside the main parish.
- Administrator: Rev. Varghese Antony
- Parish office phone: (830) 709-4287
- Pastoral care provided through St. Andrew Parish, 14831 Main St., Lytle
Mass and Worship Schedule
Immaculate Conception Mission is a special-occasion Mass church rather than a parish with a weekly Mass schedule. The long-standing published Sunday Mass time is 1:00 PM, but because celebrations depend on priest availability, parishioners are asked to confirm by calling the parish office. The mission also gathers for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, its patronal feast.
- Sunday Mass (special occasions): 1:00 PM
- Patronal feast: December 8 — Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
- Confirm any scheduled liturgy by calling (830) 709-4287
Parish Ministries and Community Life
Like other small missions in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Immaculate Conception thrives on the steady, faithful service of its laypeople. The mission's ministries reflect a strong Marian and Hispanic Catholic devotional tradition, with Guadalupana societies, mothers' groups, faith-renewal teams, and parish-council leadership, alongside the more everyday 'Sombreritos de Cafe' coffee-and-hat gatherings, ACTS retreats, plate sales, rummage sales, and the much-loved Sunday parish breakfasts and lotería games.
- Guadalupanas (Marian society)
- Madres Cristianas
- Sombreritos de Cafe
- ACTS Core team (retreat ministry)
- Pastoral Council
- Church cleaning volunteer team
- Plate sales and rummage sales fundraisers
- Sunday parish breakfasts and lotería gatherings
Faithful of the Mission — Lumen Gentium Honorees
The Archdiocese of San Antonio's 'Lumen Gentium' feature has honored several longtime Immaculate Conception parishioners whose quiet, decades-long service sustains the mission. Their witness — sweeping and cleaning the church, leading the Guadalupanas, cooking for parish breakfasts, organizing fundraisers — is the kind of ordinary holiness that keeps a small Coal Mine mission alive across generations.
- Guadalupe Martinez — longtime volunteer cleaner of the church; honored for her humility, dedication, and love for God's house.
- Norma Seguin — lifelong parishioner; member of the Pastoral Council, past president of the Guadalupanas, member of Madres Cristianas and Sombreritos de Cafe, ACTS Core team member; known for making tortillas for Sunday breakfasts and organizing lotería and plate/rummage sales.
Sacraments
Sacramental preparation (Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick) is coordinated through the parent Parish of St. Andrew in Lytle, which shares priests and pastoral staff with Immaculate Conception Mission. Families should contact the parish office for current schedules and requirements.
- Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick — coordinated through St. Andrew Parish, Lytle
Affiliation and Archdiocesan Identity
Immaculate Conception Mission is one of dozens of parishes and missions of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio, and one of three Catholic communities clustered around Lytle (alongside St. Andrew Parish in Lytle itself and other area missions). It appears in the Archdiocese's official parish locator as 'Immaculate Conception-Coal Mine' and is listed as one of the contributing parishes in the annual 'Treasures of the Archdiocese' appeal.
- Listed in the Archdiocese of San Antonio parish directory as 'Immaculate Conception-Coal Mine'
- Included in the Archdiocese's 'Treasures of the Archdiocese' annual giving program
- Featured in the Archdiocese's 'Lumen Gentium' recognition of faithful parishioners