About Our Lady of Guadalupe · Riviera, Texas
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic mission church in the small Kleberg County town of Riviera, Texas, founded in 1913 and now administered as one of three worship sites of Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Vattmann. The mission sits at 111 S. 2nd Street and is served by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), the same religious order that staffs the parent parish. It belongs to the Diocese of Corpus Christi and shares a Sunday Mass schedule with Our Lady of Consolation Church in Vattmann and Sacred Heart Mission in Ricardo.
- Established
- 1913
- Patron
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Rector
- Father Andy Sensenig, OMI
- Diocese
- Diocese of Corpus Christi
Why belong here
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission gives the small Riviera community a Sunday home for the Eucharist under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. Visitors are welcomed into a tri-site Catholic family that also includes Our Lady of Consolation Church in Vattmann (which hosts the famous annual Thanksgiving Picnic dating back to 1913) and Sacred Heart Mission in Ricardo, all served by Oblate of Mary Immaculate priests from the Diocese of Corpus Christi. It is a tight-knit rural parish with weekly Mass, regular confession, and a monthly Holy Hour with adoration, perfect for Catholics in the Riviera–Vattmann–Ricardo area who want a faithful, traditional community rooted in more than a century of South Texas Catholic life.
Mass times at Our Lady of Guadalupe
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday: 30 minutes before Mass (approx. 11:30 AM–11:50 AM), or by appointment
- Thursday: 6:30 PM–7:30 PM during the monthly Holy Hour (every 4th Thursday)
Adoration times
- Every 4th Thursday: 6:30 PM–7:30 PM Holy Hour with Confession
About Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a mission church serving the small town of Riviera in Kleberg County, on the South Texas coastal plain between Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley. It is a Roman Catholic mission in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, founded in 1913 and today administered as part of a tri-site parish family alongside Our Lady of Consolation Church in Vattmann and Sacred Heart Mission in Ricardo. The mission takes its name from Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose December 12 feast honors the 1531 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City.
- Type: Catholic Mission (Roman Rite)
- Diocese: Corpus Christi
- Founded: 1913
- Address: 111 S. 2nd St., Riviera, TX 78379
History of the Parish Family
The Catholic community of the Riviera–Vattmann area traces back to the early 1900s, when German-American families sponsored by the Catholic Colonization Society settled in Vattmann beginning in 1908. The town of Riviera itself was platted in 1907 by land promoter Theodore F. Koch along the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission was founded in 1913, the same year Kleberg County was organized. The parish's first Thanksgiving Day Picnic was held that same year and has continued every year since, the lone exception being 1943, when wartime rationing forced a pause.
- 1907 – Riviera platted by Theodore F. Koch along the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway.
- 1908 – German-American Catholic families settle Vattmann under the Catholic Colonization Society.
- 1913 – Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission founded; first Thanksgiving Picnic held.
- 1916 – Devastating hurricane destroys the original frame church at Vattmann; townspeople rebuild using bricks handmade from Loyola Beach sand.
- Today – Three-site parish: Our Lady of Consolation (Vattmann), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Riviera), Sacred Heart (Ricardo).
Clergy and Staff
The mission is served by priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), a religious order long associated with missionary work in South Texas and along the Rio Grande. Father Andy Sensenig, OMI, is the current pastor of the parish family, and Deacon Mike Valenzuela assists with ministry across the three sites.
- Pastor: Father Andy Sensenig, OMI
- Deacon: Mike Valenzuela
- Religious order: Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI)
Parish Life and Annual Thanksgiving Picnic
The Thanksgiving Day Picnic, begun in 1913, is the parish's signature tradition and largest fundraiser, regularly drawing 1,800 to 2,000 people. The day features a family-style turkey dinner (about 130 turkeys are served), a country store selling handcrafted Christmas items made year-round by parish volunteers, bingo, silent auction, raffles, kids' games, a turkey shoot, and a country-western dance that runs into the night. Proceeds support the parish and its three worship sites.
- Thanksgiving Day Picnic (since 1913)
- Country Store with handmade Christmas ornaments and décor
- Bingo, silent auction, raffles, turkey shoot
- Country-Western Dance the night of Thanksgiving
Our Lady of Consolation Parish Family
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission does not stand alone. It belongs to Our Lady of Consolation Parish, a tri-site Roman Catholic community in the Diocese of Corpus Christi that includes Our Lady of Consolation Church in Vattmann, Texas (204 Palm Ave.), Sacred Heart Mission in Ricardo, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Riviera. The parish's mission statement describes it as "a united Catholic community committed to bringing the Triune God to people, and people to Him, through the Word of God and Sacraments, in obedience to the Church."
- Our Lady of Consolation Church – 204 Palm Ave., Vattmann, TX
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission – 111 S. 2nd St., Riviera, TX
- Sacred Heart Mission – Ricardo, TX