About Sacred Heart · Canadian, Texas
Sacred Heart Parish is a small Catholic community in Canadian, Texas — the seat of Hemphill County in the eastern Texas Panhandle — belonging to the Diocese of Amarillo. Worship is offered in both English and Spanish, with a bilingual Sunday Mass as the heart of parish life alongside weekday and Saturday English Masses. The parish has its roots in the wave of Polish Catholic settlers who moved into the Panhandle in the early 1900s, and it continues to serve the ranching and farming families of the area today from its location on Kingman Avenue.
- Established
- 1914
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Diocese
- Diocese of Amarillo
Why belong here
Sacred Heart offers a warm, close-knit parish family in the heart of the Texas Panhandle where you'll be known by name. The community celebrates the Eucharist in both English and Spanish (a bilingual Sunday Mass), welcomes families, and carries forward more than a century of Polish-Catholic pioneer heritage — including treasured traditions like the annual Polish Sausage Dinner — while opening its doors to newcomers of every background.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
- Also by appointment — please contact the parish
Adoration times
- Friday: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (every First Friday of the month)
Sacred Heart Parish — Catholic Community of Canadian, Texas
Sacred Heart Parish is a small, historic Catholic community serving Canadian, Texas — the seat of Hemphill County in the eastern Texas Panhandle — under the Diocese of Amarillo. The parish gathers four times a week for Mass, including a bilingual Sunday liturgy that reflects the cultural makeup of the surrounding ranching and farming community.
History and Polish Pioneer Heritage
Founded in 1914, Sacred Heart is a direct product of the Polish Catholic settlement that moved into the Texas Panhandle in the early 1900s. Those pioneers — many of them descendants of families from the original Panna Maria colony established in south Texas in 1854 — brought with them a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a willingness to build their church from the ground up.
- Founded in 1914 according to GCatholic records.
- Part of the broader Polish Catholic settlement of the Panhandle, contemporaneous with Sacred Heart in nearby White Deer (completed May 1913 by Father C.J. Bier and 12 Polish families).
- Around the centennial (2013), Bishop Patrick Zurek concelebrated with Father Mieczyslaw "Mitch" Przepiora.
- Commemorative volume "Roots of Faith" compiled 130 family histories of parishioners.
- Parish historian Carolyn Rapstine carries on the role previously held by her aunt Proxie Warminski.
Faith, Heritage and Community Life
Although Sacred Heart is a small parish, its identity is anchored in deep heritage. Generations of Polish-Catholic farm and ranch families have passed down customs like the annual Polish Sausage Dinner, while continuing to welcome new arrivals from across the region.
- Annual Polish Sausage Dinner — a regional fundraiser tradition shared with Sacred Heart in White Deer.
- Parish historian / heritage committee preserving founding-family records.
- Bilingual worship welcoming English- and Spanish-speaking parishioners.
- Strong agricultural community ties — ranching and farming remain central to parish life.
Sacraments
Sacred Heart offers the normal sacramental life of a Catholic parish. Schedules for Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration are published on the parish website and the Diocese of Amarillo parish finder.
- Reconciliation (Confession): Saturday 4:00–4:45 PM and by appointment
- Eucharistic Adoration: First Friday of each month, 6:00–7:30 PM
- Baptism, Marriage, and other sacramental preparations arranged by contacting the parish office
Diocese of Amarillo
Sacred Heart is one of many parishes that make up the Diocese of Amarillo, a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Antonio serving the Texas Panhandle. The mother church of the diocese is St. Mary's Cathedral in Amarillo.
- Jurisdiction: Diocese of Amarillo
- Mother church: St. Mary's Cathedral, Amarillo
- Listed on the diocesan parish finder (amarillodiocese.org/parishfinder).
Visit, Contact and Practical Information
Parishioners and visitors can find the church at 804 Kingman Ave. in Canadian. The parish office can be reached by phone, and the official website publishes Mass and confession times along with parish news.
- Address: 804 Kingman Ave. (800 E. Kingman Ave.), Canadian, TX 79014
- Phone: (806) 323-6608
- Website: http://shcanadiantx.org/
- Facebook: Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Canadian, TX)
- Diocese parish finder: amarillodiocese.org/parishfinder
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father C.J. Biercirca 1913–1914
Among the early priests who served the Polish settlers of the Canadian area and helped establish Sacred Heart parish.
- Father Mieczyslaw "Mitch" Przepiorapastor as of 2013
Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish at the time of the centennial anniversary, concelebrated Mass with Bishop Patrick Zurek.