About Sacred Heart · Bruni, Texas
Sacred Heart Mission is a small Catholic mission church serving the community of Bruni, Texas, in Webb County. It is administered as a mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville and is one of the historic rural mission churches that have been under the pastoral care of the Franciscan Friars (Order of Friars Minor, OFM) of the Saints James and Francis Province since the late 1920s. The mission sits in the Diocese of Laredo and offers a bilingual (English/Spanish) Sunday Mass and confession before and after Mass. Today the people of Bruni gather at Sacred Heart for weekly worship in both English and Spanish under the spiritual care of the Franciscan friars based in Hebbronville.
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Fr. Juan Jose Ibarra, OFM
- Diocese
- Diocese of Laredo
Why belong here
Sacred Heart Mission offers the people of Bruni and the surrounding South Texas ranch country a warm, bilingual Catholic home in the Franciscan tradition that has served these communities for nearly a century. With weekly Mass celebrated in both English and Spanish, confession offered before and after Mass, and the steady pastoral care of the OFM friars based at the mother parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Hebbronville, the mission is a place where families can worship in their heart language, receive the sacraments, and stay connected to a wider Catholic community in the Diocese of Laredo.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Before and after Sunday Mass
About Sacred Heart Mission
Sacred Heart Mission is a small Catholic mission church in the community of Bruni, Texas, located in the southern part of Webb County near the brush country ranches of South Texas. The mission is listed by the Diocese of Laredo and is administered as a mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville. It is one of the rural communities that have been ministered to by the Franciscan friars of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) since the late 1920s. The mission's address is 211 N. Ave. G. 4th St., Bruni, TX 78344, and its mailing phone line is shared with the mother parish in Hebbronville.
History and Franciscan Heritage
The Franciscan presence in this part of South Texas traces back to 1926, when friars fleeing religious persecution in Mexico during the Cristero War arrived in Hebbronville. On November 1, 1926, Bishop Emmanuel B. Ledvina of the Diocese of Corpus Christi signed a contract with the Franciscans and assigned them perpetual pastoral care of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville and a long list of missions including Bruni, Oilton, Mirando City, Aguilares, Realitos, Concepcion, La Gloria and many other small communities of Jim Hogg, Duval and Webb Counties. When the Diocese of Laredo was erected on July 3, 2000, with Bishop James A. Tamayo as its first bishop, the Franciscan-administered missions in the new diocese were reduced to three: Bruni, Oilton and Mirando. Sacred Heart Mission in Bruni thus carries on nearly a century of Franciscan pastoral tradition in the South Texas brush country.
- November 1, 1926: Bishop Ledvina assigns the Hebbronville parish and its missions (including Bruni) to the Franciscan Saints Francis and James Province.
- August 6, 1926: The first Franciscan friars — Fr. Bernardino Madueño, Fr. Jose Guadalupe Torres, and Fr. Pascual Ruiz — arrive in Hebbronville.
- July 3, 2000: The Diocese of Laredo is created, and Bruni remains a Franciscan-served mission.
Clergy and Staff
Sacred Heart Mission is served by the Franciscan friars assigned to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish cluster, with day-to-day parish contact handled by a local parishioner.
- Pastor: Fr. Juan Jose Ibarra, OFM
- Parochial Vicar: Fr. Pablo Cesar Cisneros, OFM
- Parish Contact: Berta Chapa
Mass and Sacraments
Sacred Heart Mission offers a weekly bilingual Sunday Mass celebrated in English and Spanish. The sacrament of confession (the Rite of Reconciliation) is offered before and after Sunday Mass, and the parish office is staffed weekdays so that parishioners can call to make arrangements for other sacramental needs such as baptisms, weddings, quinceañeras, anointing of the sick, and funerals.
- Sunday Mass: 9:00 am (English/Spanish)
- Confessions: Before and after Sunday Mass
- Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Mother Parish and Wider Catholic Community
As a mission church, Sacred Heart belongs to the family of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville, the mother parish of the Franciscan friars in the area. Our Lady of Guadalupe's church, built in a mission revival style with a distinctive pink façade and completed in 1964, and the historic Scotus College next door (built in 1944) form the heart of the Franciscan community that serves Sacred Heart Mission. Parishioners of Sacred Heart participate in the wider life of the Diocese of Laredo through this connection.
- Mother Parish: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Hebbronville
- Diocese: Diocese of Laredo
- Franciscan Custody: Saints James and Francis Province (OFM)
Contact and Location
Parishioners and visitors can reach Sacred Heart Mission at its physical address in Bruni, or by phone or email through the Hebbronville parish office. The mission shares its phone line and email with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish office in Hebbronville.
- Address: 211 N. Ave. G. 4th St., Bruni, TX 78344
- Phone: (361) 747-5322
- Email: [email protected]
- Website (Diocese of Laredo page): https://dioceseoflaredo.org/cpt_parishes/sacred-heart-mission/
- Mission page on mother-parish site: https://www.olghebbronville.com/missions/sacred-heart