About Immaculate Conception · Nacogdoches, Texas
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is a historic mission parish serving the rural Moral community in southwest Nacogdoches County, Texas. Located on County Road 724 off Spanish Bluff Road, the mission sits on a site where Catholic worship has been offered continuously since 1877. It functions today as a mission church under Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Nacogdoches and is part of the Diocese of Tyler. Weekly Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11:30 AM, with an additional Wednesday evening Mass and a regular Wednesday confession window before it.
- Established
- 1877
- Patron
- The Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception
- Rector
- Fr. George Elliott
- Diocese
- Diocese of Tyler
Why belong here
Immaculate Conception is a small, multigenerational mission in the heart of East Texas's historic Moral community, where worshippers have gathered around the Blessed Virgin Mary under her Immaculate Conception title since 1877. The parish welcomes visitors to a Sunday Mass in a quiet, historic setting — now housed in a 2001 brick church — and shares the same pastor and faith-formation resources as Sacred Heart in Nacogdoches. For Catholics in southwest Nacogdoches County, it is the nearest regular Sunday liturgy and a living link to the Spanish Catholic heritage of the region, including the 2016-designated historic cemetery next door.
Mass times at Immaculate Conception
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
Parish History — The Moral Mission Since 1877
Immaculate Conception has its roots in the Spanish-speaking settlers of El Moral, a community founded in southwest Nacogdoches County after the Texas Revolution by descendants of the pioneers of East Texas's early Catholic missions. The first Catholic Church at Moral was built in 1876 and dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1877, by Reverend James L. Chaland. Because that small frame church was used for only about ten years, Bishop Nicholas Gallagher of Galveston purchased a five-acre tract in 1885 and oversaw construction of a new chapel — Our Lady of the Pilar — in 1887 on the very site the parish still occupies. Sister Josephine joined the community in 1889, living in a small rear room of the chapel that served as her convent until her death in Houston in 1893.
- First church dedicated April 8, 1877 by Fr. James L. Chaland
- Second (Our Lady of the Pilar) chapel built 1887 on the present site
- Sister Josephine lived at the chapel from 1889 until her death in 1893
- Bishop Nicholas Gallagher, Bishop of Galveston, purchased the five-acre tract in 1885
Three Churches on One Site
Immaculate Conception is the parish built around its third successive church building. The original 1876/1877 church stood about a mile and a half southeast of the present location and was replaced in 1887. In 1942 a second church — a small white frame building — was blessed on Easter Sunday by Bishop C.E. Byrne of Galveston; it served the community for fifty-nine years and is the church most older parishioners still remember. Under Monsignor James E. Young, working with Fathers Jerzy Dobosz and M. Jones Jayaraj, the present-day brick church was completed and dedicated at the Easter Vigil on April 5, 2001, by Bishop Alvaro Corrado of Tyler, Monsignor Young, and a host of visiting priests and deacons.
- First church (1876–c.1887) – dedicated by Fr. James L. Chaland, Easter Sunday 1877
- Second church (1942–2001) – the white frame church blessed by Bishop C.E. Byrne on Easter Sunday 1942
- Current brick church – dedicated at the Easter Vigil, April 5, 2001, by Bishop Alvaro Corrado
Immaculate Conception Cemetery
The parish cemetery sits on land the men of the parish cleared north of the church in the winter of 1911, when the old Lazarine Cemetery was nearing capacity. The first interment there was Margarita Luna Pena, the 47-year-old wife of Juan Pedro Pena, on March 11, 1912. A new section was added later and was solemnly blessed on Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1966, by Reverend E.A. Vecchio, M.S., acting as delegate of the Bishop; it was dedicated to the Mother of Christ under the title of Our Lady of La Salette. In 2016 the Texas Historical Commission designated the Immaculate Conception Cemetery as a historic cemetery.
- First burial: Margarita Luna Pena, March 11, 1912
- New section blessed by Rev. E.A. Vecchio, M.S., Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1966
- Section dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette
- Designated a Texas Historical Commission historic cemetery in 2016
Clergy
Immaculate Conception is served as a mission of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Nacogdoches. The current pastor of the combined pastorate is Fr. George Elliott, who is also listed on the Diocese of Tyler's roster of priests.
- Fr. George Elliott — Pastor, Sacred Heart / Immaculate Conception (Nacogdoches / Moral)
Parish Identity & Catholic Nacogdoches
Immaculate Conception belongs to the broader Catholic Nacogdoches family led by Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Nacogdoches and under the Diocese of Tyler. As a mission parish it shares pastoral leadership, faith-formation programming, and outreach ministries such as the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, while retaining its own historic worship site, its own cemetery, and its own Sunday-morning rhythm in the Moral community.
- Diocese of Tyler
- Mission of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Nacogdoches
- Part of the Catholic Nacogdoches pastoral grouping
Visit, Location & Directions
The mission is in the rural Moral community in southwest Nacogdoches County, along the historic Spanish Bluff Road. From Loop 224 in Nacogdoches, take Highway 7 west for about four miles, then follow signs to County Road 724. The mailing address is 1422 County Road 724, Nacogdoches, TX 75964; the parish can be reached by phone at (936) 560-3200.
- Address: 1422 County Road 724, Nacogdoches, TX 75964
- Directions: Highway 7 west 4 miles from Loop 224, then to County Road 724 / Spanish Bluff Road
- Phone: (936) 560-3200
- Website: iccmoral.org
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Reverend James L. Chaland1877
Dedicated the first Church of the Immaculate Conception at Moral on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1877.
- Reverend Nicholas Gallagher, Bishop of Galveston1885–1887
Purchased the five-acre tract on which the current church stands; oversaw construction of the 1887 Our Lady of the Pilar chapel.
- Most Reverend C.E. Byrne, Bishop of Galveston1942
Blessed the second (white frame) church on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1942.
- Msgr. James E. Young
Directed the building of the present-day church alongside Fathers Jerzy Dobosz and M. Jones Jayaraj; present at the 2001 dedication.
- Fr. George Elliottpresent
Current pastor; serves both Sacred Heart in Nacogdoches and the Immaculate Conception mission in Moral.