About Sacred Heart · Anza, California
Sacred Heart of Anza is a small Catholic parish serving the highland Anza Valley in Riverside County, California, within the Diocese of San Bernardino. Founded in 1979 by Fr. Charles Devine, who commuted in from Idyllwild, the parish grew from a converted real estate office into a chapel dedicated in 1984, with offices, a kitchen, and food-pantry operations built out by volunteers. The parish ministers to a widely scattered community of small ranchers, retirees, Hispanic farmworkers, and members of the neighboring Cahuilla Indian Reservation, offering Mass in both English and Spanish.
- Established
- 1979
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Fr. Kien Kieu
- Diocese
- Diocese of San Bernardino (Hemet Vicariate)
Why belong here
Sacred Heart of Anza is a close-knit Catholic community rooted in the high desert of the Anza Valley, where English- and Spanish-speaking families, retirees, ranchers, and members of the Cahuilla community worship side by side. The parish offers daily and weekend Mass in both languages, Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a food pantry serving about sixty families a month, a Women's Guild scholarship, and a beloved annual Saint Kateri Tekakwitha celebration with Native dancers and bird singers. If you live in or are passing through the Anza Valley, you'll find a small, welcoming parish that pours its own volunteer labor into its buildings and its outreach.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays 3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
- By appointment
Adoration times
- Friday 3:00 p.m. (followed by Mass)
- First Friday of the month 6:00 p.m. (Spanish)
History of Sacred Heart Parish
Sacred Heart sits in a twenty-mile-long highland valley at roughly four thousand feet, surrounded by higher mountains. The Cahuilla Indian Reservation occupies more than twenty-eight square miles at its center, and about ten thousand other residents live on scattered two-acre-plus lots. The parish was established in 1979 by Fr. Charles Devine, who commuted from Idyllwild and first worshipped in a 20-by-45-foot converted real estate office. Within a year, a new wing added an auditorium, an office, and a kitchen, and the chapel was dedicated on October 13, 1984. Successive pastors expanded the parish's facilities and outreach, always with heavy volunteer involvement from parishioners themselves.
Sacraments
The parish makes sacramental preparation forms available on its website, and several sacraments can be requested directly through the parish office.
- Baptism (preparation required)
- Quinceañera (application form on the website)
- Memorial Mass (request form on the website)
- Anointing of the Sick (by request)
- Reconciliation (Saturdays and by appointment)
- Blessing of the home (by request)
Parish Outreach: Food for the Faithful
The parish runs a food pantry called "Food for the Faithful," housed in two large containers on the church lot. The pantry currently serves about sixty poor families each month and is a cornerstone of Sacred Heart's mission to a community with significant rural poverty.
- Food pantry manager: Esther Barragan
- About 60 families served monthly
- Parish contact for the pantry: 951-763-5636
- Supported through the parish's stewardship and volunteer efforts
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Celebration
Sacred Heart celebrates Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Catholic saint (canonized October 21, 2012; feast day July 14), with a special annual gathering that brings together several tribes and parishioners. The celebration includes Mass — often celebrated by the pastor of Native American ministries for the Diocese of San Bernardino — along with discussions, a potluck meal, and performances by Native dancers and bird singers.
- Annual celebration of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (feast day July 14)
- Native dancers and bird singers perform at the celebration
- Reflects the parish's close ties to the local Cahuilla Indian Reservation and surrounding tribes
Women's Guild and Parish Life
The parish Women's Guild is active in parish life and offers a scholarship that is open to applicants from the parish community; the application form is published on the parish website.
- Women's Guild Scholarship (application form available on the parish website)
- Support for parish festivals through the on-site kitchen
- Volunteer-driven stewardship of buildings and grounds
Visiting and Contacting Sacred Heart
The parish office is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visitors can reach the office by phone, fax, or email, and those who cannot attend Mass in person can join via the parish's Facebook live-stream.
- Office phone: (951) 763-5636
- Fax: (951) 763-0236
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 390118, Anza, CA 92539
- Live-stream: Facebook (no account required)
Holiday and Special Services
The parish marks the major seasons of the liturgical year with bilingual services and additional Masses, including Thanksgiving with a Blessing of Bread, Christmas, New Year's, and devotions such as Our Lady of Guadalupe.
- Thanksgiving Bilingual Mass with Blessing of Bread
- Christmas Eve Bilingual Mass (9:00 p.m.)
- Christmas Day Masses in English and Spanish
- New Year's Eve Bilingual Mass
- New Year's Day Masses in English and Spanish
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Charles Devine1979 (founder)
Established the parish while commuting from Idyllwild.
- Fr. Bernard Carr1989
Took up residence in a single-wide mobile home on the church lot.
- Fr. Robert Tomkins
Succeeded Fr. Carr; resided in rented quarters three miles away.
- Fr. Robert Wiley
A Marist priest; died in office in November 2005.
- Fr. Hilary Fischer, MSC2005–
Newly returned missionary appointed after Fr. Wiley's death; moved into the remodeled trailer on the church lot and oversaw expansion of office and catechetical space.
- Fr. Kien Kieu
Current pastor as listed on the parish website.