About Our Lady of Sorrows Mission · Tecolote, New Mexico
Our Lady of Sorrows Mission (Nuestra Señora de Dolores) is a mission chapel in the small village of Tecolote, San Miguel County, New Mexico — an unincorporated community along the old Santa Fe Trail on the west side of I-25. It is supervised by the Mother Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, NM, the first Roman Catholic parish established in northern New Mexico (about 1850) and one of the historic parishes of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The mission serves Tecolote's roughly 300 residents with sacraments and devotions, and is part of a rotating schedule of monthly Communion Services shared with four other small mission communities in the area (Lower Rociada, Upper Rociada, Sapello, Los Montoyas). The parish also serves 11 additional "partially active" missions where mainly funerals and an annual Mass on the patron's feast day are held.
- Established
- 1838
- Patron
- Our Lady of Sorrows (Nuestra Señora de Dolores)
- Rector
- Rev. Sarfraz Alam (Pastor of the supervising parish, Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas)
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Worshippers in Tecolote are part of the oldest Catholic family in northern New Mexico — Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Las Vegas — and so join a congregation that has ministered to the same villages of San Miguel County for more than 170 years. The mission offers a weekly Sunday Mass (with Spanish liturgy in nearby services), a monthly Communion Service that rotates among Tecolote and four other small mission communities, and the ongoing care of the historic Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Cemetery adjoining the chapel. It is also a doorway into a wider pastoral family that includes Hispanic-language Masses, daily Mass in Las Vegas, periodic confession, Eucharistic Adoration, and the sacramental life of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
Mass times at Our Lady of Sorrows Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday–Friday 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM (before the 12:10 PM weekday Mass, at the mother church, Las Vegas)
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM (at the mother church, Las Vegas)
- By appointment — call the parish office at (505) 454-1469
Adoration times
- Weekdays 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM Exposition (mother church, Las Vegas)
- Monday–Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM — Chapel open (mother church, Las Vegas)
- Saturday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Exposition (first Saturdays, mother church, Las Vegas)
Our Lady of Sorrows Mission at Tecolote
Our Lady of Sorrows Mission is the historic adobe Catholic chapel (Nuestra Señora de Dolores) at Tecolote, San Miguel County, New Mexico. Believed to have been built in about 1838, it is one of the oldest mission churches still in use in the region and is supervised from the Mother Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, NM. The mission is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
- Patroness: Our Lady of Sorrows / Nuestra Señora de Dolores
- Feast: 15 September — Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
- Built: c. 1838 (adobe chapel on the original village plaza)
- Status: Mission church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas
The Village of Tecolote and the Santa Fe Trail
Tecolote (Tek-oh-low-tay) lies on the historic Santa Fe Trail and the pre-1937 alignment of Route 66, on the west side of I-25 at Exit 335 next to Tecolote Creek. The town's 48,123-acre land grant was approved by Mexican Governor Bartolome Baca in 1824 at the petition of Salvador Montoya and five others, and Montoya's farm became a key supply point for travelers on the Trail. In August 1846, Brigadier-General Stephen W. Kearny arrived at the plaza and announced the end of Mexican sovereignty in the area; afterward the U.S. Army established Camp Tecolote near the creek in about 1850, using it periodically until 1870. A post office opened in 1851 and operated until 1923, when mail was routed through Las Vegas.
- 1824 — Town of Tecolote Grant approved (48,123 acres)
- 1838 — Nuestra Señora de Dolores chapel built
- August 1846 — Kearny declares U.S. sovereignty in the plaza
- c. 1850 — Camp Tecolote established by the U.S. Army
- 1851 — Post office opens
- c. 1880 — Railroad bypasses Tecolote to the south
- 1937 — Route 66 realigned away from the village
A Mission of Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas
Our Lady of Sorrows Mission at Tecolote is one of 16 partially active mission churches served from the Mother Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas parish was established in about 1850 (made a full parish by Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy in 1852) and is described by the parish itself as the Mother Church of San Miguel County. While the Las Vegas parish carries the full weekly schedule — daily Mass, Sunday Mass in Spanish and English, daily confessions and Eucharistic Adoration — the Tecolote mission is served with annual liturgies and a monthly Communion Service that rotates among five missions.
- Mother Church: Our Lady of Sorrows, 403 Valencia St. (mailing) / 450 W. National Ave., Las Vegas, NM 87701
- Office phone: (505) 454-1469 • Email: [email protected]
- Missions (16 partially active): El Llanito, El Porvenir, La Manga, Gallinas, Maes, San Agustin, San Geronimo, Sapello/San Ignacio, Trementina, Trujillo, Variadero, plus Lower Rociada, Upper Rociada, Sapello, Los Montoyas, and Tecolote
- Monthly Communion Service rotation: Lower Rociada, Upper Rociada, Sapello, Los Montoyas, Tecolote
Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Cemetery (Tecolote)
Alongside the chapel sits the Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Cemetery (also called the Tecolote Cemetery), a small historic Catholic burial ground still active with the parish. It is catalogued as Find a Grave Cemetery ID 2216468 (San Miguel County, New Mexico) and contains 285 memorials, of which roughly 95% have been photographed.
- Alternative name: Tecolote Cemetery
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2216468
- Memorials: 285 (~95% photographed)
- Coordinates: 35.46514, -105.27857
Parish Staff (Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas)
Day-to-day ministry for the Tecolote mission is carried out by the pastor and staff of the mother parish in Las Vegas.
- Pastor — Rev. Sarfraz Alam
- Parochial Vicar / Associate Pastor — Jane Sanchez
- Business Manager — Catherine Gallegos
- Office Secretary — (contact via [email protected] / [email protected])
Patron, Feast, and Devotion
The mission is named for Our Lady of Sorrows (Nuestra Señora de Dolores), the Blessed Virgin in her mourning at the Passion of her Son. The Catholic memorial is kept on 15 September (the day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross); it was first placed on the universal Roman Calendar by Pope Pius VII in 1814 and fixed to today's date by Pope St. Pius X in 1913. The Our Lady of Sorrows devotion is associated with the Servites, the Stabat Mater, and the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
- Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows: 15 September
- Friday of Sorrows: Friday before Palm Sunday (in some localities)
- Devotional title: Our Lady of Sorrows / Nuestra Señora de Dolores
A Note on the Mother Church
While the Tecolote mission retains its 1830s adobe character, the mother church at 450 W. National Avenue in Las Vegas is itself an architectural landmark: a 60' × 150' red-sandstone building combining Gothic and Romanesque elements, constructed from locally quarried stone beginning in 1852 under Bishop Lamy and finished in 1885 when a water-powered Kilgen organ was installed. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is often (incorrectly) called "the Cathedral" because of its size, and its Gallic styling contrasts with the traditional Spanish-adobe churches of the region.
- Style: Gothic / Romanesque (red sandstone)
- Walls begun 1852, completed 1885
- Architectural landmark and National Register site
- Two square towers with arched belfries; 1968 entrance portico
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Alexander Grzelachowski ("El Padre Polaco")1852 – (mid-19th century)
First resident pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas, appointed by Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy when the parish was erected; also served as chaplain for Roman Catholic soldiers at Fort Union. Later renounced Holy Orders and became a prominent merchant and sheep rancher.