About Our Lady of Guadalupe · Riverside, California
Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine is a historic Roman Catholic shrine parish in the Eastside neighborhood of Riverside, California, in the Diocese of San Bernardino. Founded in 1927 and built in 1929 as a 'mission church' for the Mexican-American families of Riverside's segregated Eastside, the parish is one of the oldest Spanish-speaking Catholic communities in the Inland Empire and is tended by the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (O. de M., Mercedarians). It is the spiritual home of the annual 'Camino de San Juan Diego' pilgrimage up Mt. Rubidoux on the December 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, drawing hundreds of Latino faithful each year.
- Established
- 1927
- Patron
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Rector
- Rev. Luis Omar Reyes-Prado, O. de M. (Interim Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of San Bernardino
Why belong here
Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine is the spiritual heart of Riverside's historic Mexican-American Eastside and one of the most deeply devotional Spanish-speaking parishes in the Inland Empire. It offers daily Mass in Spanish, a wide Sunday schedule, the 'Camino de San Juan Diego' pilgrimage up Mt. Rubidoux each December, weekly Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosario in Spanish, and a novena to Divina Providencia, all wrapped in a tight-knit community sustained by groups like Las Guadalupanas, the Altar Society, and the annual La Gran Fiesta Ranchera. Belonging here means joining a century-old lay tradition that has kept a living, ringing, candle-lit church on Ninth Street for nearly a hundred years.
Mass times at Our Lady of Guadalupe
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Thursday 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- Friday 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- By appointment (contact the parish office)
Adoration times
- Thursday 6:00 p.m. – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
History of Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
The parish was born in 1927 as a 'mission church' for the Mexican-American families of Riverside's segregated Eastside, who had previously walked downtown to St. Francis de Sales for Mass. The first Mass was celebrated outside the unfinished building in 1929, with the roof not yet on and the two bell towers still just wood frames. It was a Mission of St. Francis de Sales from 1927 to 1935, was known as St. Francis of Assisi from 1957 to 1961, and was finally given its intended name — Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine — as the pioneer parishioners had always wanted. The parish also ran a parochial school for several decades; the school closed in the late 1960s but its memory lives on through the Annual La Gran Fiesta Ranchera, founded about 49 years ago to support the school and now funding the parish's broader ministries.
- 1925 — Eastside parishioners receive permission from the Diocese of Los Angeles to raise money for a mission church.
- 1927 — Parish/community founded; building begun.
- 1927–1935 — Officially a Mission of St. Francis de Sales.
- 1929 — First Mass held outside the still-unfinished building.
- 1957–1961 — Known as St. Francis of Assisi.
- Late 1960s — Parochial school closes.
- Parish renamed Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, the name the founders had always intended.
- 1999 — Inaugural 'Camino de San Juan Diego' pilgrimage up Mt. Rubidoux.
Devotions and Holy Days
Devotional life is at the heart of the shrine. In addition to daily Mass, the parish gathers for the Rosary in Spanish every weekday at 6:00 p.m., Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Thursday evenings, and a Monday-evening devotion to Divina Providencia. The December feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) is the parish's defining celebration, anchored by the Camino de San Juan Diego pilgrimage, the mañanitas dawn prayers, and a cultural festival with matachines dancing.
- Rosary in Spanish — Monday through Friday at 6:00 p.m.
- Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament — Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
- Devoción a la Divina Providencia — Monday at 7:00 p.m.
- Las Guadalupanas — Stations of the Cross on Fridays of Lent and the Blessing of the Sick
- Camino de San Juan Diego — annual Mt. Rubidoux pilgrimage in early December
- Mañanitas — dawn prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12
Camino de San Juan Diego — Annual Pilgrimage to Mt. Rubidoux
Since 1999 the parish has organized the 'Camino de San Juan Diego,' a 2.5-mile walking pilgrimage from the shrine on Ninth Street up Mount Rubidoux to the famous summit cross. The walk commemorates the 1531 apparition of the Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill and is one of the largest Marian events in the Inland Empire. The pilgrimage is typically followed by a bilingual Mass at the summit, celebrated in recent years by the Bishop of San Bernardino, and by mañanitas, cultural dances, and food on the parish grounds.
- Begins at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, 2858 9th St., Riverside
- 2.5-mile route up Mt. Rubidoux to the summit cross
- Bilingual Mass celebrated at the summit
- Includes matachines dancing, a centuries-old Spanish tradition honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Bishop Alberto Rojas celebrated his first pilgrimage Mass with the parish in 2022
La Gran Fiesta Ranchera
La Gran Fiesta Ranchera is the parish's signature annual fundraiser. It was established about 49 years ago to financially support the parish's parochial school and, after the school closed in the late 1960s, it was redirected to support the parish's broader ministerial needs. It has continued to grow over the decades and remains a major community gathering for the Eastside parish.
- Founded to support the parish school
- Continued after the school closed in the late 1960s
- Now funds the parish's general ministries and facilities
Parish Ministries and Groups
Lay groups carry much of the shrine's devotional and community life. The Altar Society cleans the church, arranges the altar, and keeps the sanctuary in order after Sunday Mass. Las Guadalupanas, a women's devotional society, leads the Stations of the Cross on Fridays of Lent and hosts the Blessing of the Sick and other special Masses. The Religious Education program, directed by Maria Elena Alba, prepares children and adults for the sacraments.
- Altar Society — sanctuary care, cleaning, altar arrangements
- Las Guadalupanas — Stations of the Cross, Blessing of the Sick, special Masses
- Religious Education / Catecismo — DRE Maria Elena Alba, (951) 683-1123
- Choir / Coro — Spanish-language liturgical music
- Camino de San Juan Diego pilgrimage committee
- La Gran Fiesta Ranchera organizing committee
Clergy, Staff, and Religious Order
Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine is staffed by the Mercedarian Fathers (Order of Our Lady of Mercy, abbreviated 'O. de M.'), a Catholic religious order with roots in 13th-century Barcelona. The current leadership listed on the Diocese of San Bernardino website includes an Interim Administrator and a Parochial Vicar from the order, supported by a deacon, a Business Administrator, and a Director of Religious Education.
- Interim Administrator: Rev. Luis Omar Reyes-Prado, O. de M.
- Parochial Vicar: Rev. Nicolas Batta Tierrablanca, O. de M.
- Deacon: Enrique Vazquez
- Business Administrator: Martha T. Dominguez
- Director of Religious Education: Maria Elena Alba, (951) 683-1123
- Former pastor: Fr. Alfonso Duran-Ortega, O. de M.
The Shrine Building and Its Bells
The shrine's two front bell towers are among its most recognizable features. The first Mass in 1929 was held outside the unfinished church, with the bell towers still only wood-framed; in the decades since, the towers have been completed and a bell installed that parishioners still ring by hand to call the faithful to Mass and to toll at funerals. The interior is lit by stained-glass windows donated by the founding Mexican-American families of Riverside, and a central statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe is ceremonially 'crowned' by young parishioners each December — a tradition visible in photographs from the 1940s that are now preserved in the UCR digital archive.
- Two front bell towers, originally wood-framed at the 1929 first Mass
- Hand-rung bell with a rope reaching down through the wood skeleton of the tower
- Stained-glass windows donated by the founding Mexican-American families
- Central statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, ceremonially crowned each December
- Stations of the Cross paintings used by Las Guadalupanas on Fridays of Lent
- Parish hall built on land purchased with proceeds from La Gran Fiesta Ranchera
The Eastside and the Diocese of San Bernardino
Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine sits in the Eastside, Riverside's historic Mexican-American neighborhood, and is the diocesan shrine of the Diocese of San Bernardino. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the entire diocese, and this Riverside parish is the principal diocesan church dedicated to her. The parish's bilingual and bicultural identity — Californian families alongside new arrivals from Mexico, El Salvador, and elsewhere — is one of its defining features.
- Diocese of San Bernardino — Patroness: Our Lady of Guadalupe (feast Dec. 12)
- Located in Riverside's historic Eastside neighborhood
- Multigenerational Californian families worship alongside recent arrivals from Mexico and Central America
- Parish is part of the Riverside Vicariate within the diocese
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Alfonso Duran-Ortega, O. de M.
Long-time pastor of the shrine; shown blessing parishioners with ashes on Ash Wednesday in 2016; his name also appears in older staff listings.
- Rev. Luis Omar Reyes-Prado, O. de M.
Listed as Interim Administrator on the most recent Diocese of San Bernardino parish page.