About San Felipe de Jesus Mission · Ivanhoe, California
San Felipe de Jesus Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church serving the unincorporated community of Ivanhoe in Tulare County, California, in the Diocese of Fresno. It operates as a mission of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in neighboring Woodlake and offers Mass in Spanish on a twice-weekly schedule, providing sacramental access to the Spanish-speaking Catholic families of Ivanhoe and the surrounding citrus-and-cotton country southeast of Visalia. The mission shares its pastor, staff, and outreach with its parent parish in Woodlake, which also ministers to a second mission in Three Rivers.
- Established
- 1994
- Patron
- San Felipe de Jesus (Saint Philip of Jesus), Franciscan friar and protomartyr of Mexico, born in Mexico City in 1572 and martyred in Nagasaki, Japan, on February 5, 1597 — the first Mexican saint and a patron of Mexico City.
- Rector
- Rev. Jesse Venzor
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fresno (Tulare Vicariate)
Why belong here
San Felipe de Jesus Mission is the closest Catholic church for many families in Ivanhoe and the surrounding rural area, offering Saturday-evening and Sunday-morning Masses entirely in Spanish — a major benefit for the bilingual Hispanic community that makes up most of the local Catholic population. As a mission of the nearby St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake, it shares the same pastor, sacramental preparation, and outreach, including RCIA, baptism, marriage preparation, and funeral services coordinated through the Woodlake office. Visitors and parishioners who want a small, family-oriented Spanish-language Mass without the drive into Visalia will find the mission a faithful and accessible option, especially for those connected to the agricultural communities of eastern Tulare County.
Mass times at San Felipe de Jesus Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Confessions are not separately listed for the mission; sacrament is generally available through St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake before or after weekend Masses — call the parish office to confirm.
Adoration times
- Adoration is not separately listed for the mission; check with the parish office at (559) 564-2647.
San Felipe de Jesus Mission — Overview
San Felipe de Jesus Mission is a Catholic mission church located at 32809 Road 159 in Ivanhoe, California. It is part of the Diocese of Fresno and operates as a mission of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in nearby Woodlake. Because the mission is small and serves a predominantly Spanish-speaking farming community, its weekend Mass schedule is intentionally simple, with one Saturday Vigil and one Sunday morning Mass, both in Spanish. Administrative work, sacramental preparation, and the resident priest are shared with the Woodlake parish.
History and Founding
Public business records indicate San Felipe de Jesus Catholic Church has been operating from its Ivanhoe site since 1994. It was established as a mission of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake (a parish since 1963) to bring Sunday Mass within reach of Spanish-speaking farm families in Ivanhoe and the surrounding area. Together with St. Clair Mission in Three Rivers, it forms the parish family administered from Woodlake. Detailed records of the mission's early history are not published online; the basic founding date and parent-parish relationship are the most reliable facts available.
- Founded as a Catholic mission in 1994
- Mission of St. Frances Cabrini Parish, Woodlake
Patron Saint — San Felipe de Jesús
The mission is named for Saint Philip of Jesus (San Felipe de Jesús), a Franciscan friar born in Mexico City in 1572. He is venerated as the protomartyr of Mexico and the first Mexican saint canonized; he was martyred in Nagasaki, Japan, on February 5, 1597, one of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan. He is honored as a patron of Mexico City. His liturgical memorial is February 5, which the mission observes as its feast day.
- Saint Philip of Jesus (San Felipe de Jesús)
- Born Mexico City, 1572
- Martyred Nagasaki, Japan, February 5, 1597
- First Mexican saint
- Patron of Mexico City
Pastoral Leadership
The mission is served by the pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake. Under the current arrangement the parish priest is Rev. Jesse Venzor, who ministers to all three worship sites in the parish family. Day-to-day pastoral care, sacramental preparation, and administrative questions are handled through the Woodlake parish office.
- Rev. Jesse Venzor — Pastor (St. Frances Cabrini Parish and missions)
Sacraments
As a mission church, San Felipe de Jesus does not maintain a separate sacramental registry; all sacraments are coordinated through St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake. The pastor of the parish family prepares couples for marriage, families for infant baptism, adults for reception into the Church through RCIA, and assists with funeral rites. Parishes call the office to begin any of these processes.
- Baptism — coordinated through St. Frances Cabrini Parish office
- Marriage preparation — coordinated through St. Frances Cabrini Parish office
- RCIA / adult initiation — coordinated through St. Frances Cabrini Parish office
- Funeral services — coordinated through St. Frances Cabrini Parish office
Connection to St. Frances Cabrini Parish, Woodlake
San Felipe de Jesus Mission is one of two missions administered from St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Woodlake (the other is St. Clair Mission in Three Rivers). The parish was founded in 1963 and is located at 198 N. Pepper St., Woodlake, California 93286. The Woodlake office is the hub for all scheduling, sacramental records, and pastoral care for the parish family, including the Ivanhoe mission.
- St. Frances Cabrini Parish, 198 N. Pepper St., Woodlake, CA 93286
- Parish founded 1963
- Phone (559) 564-2647
- Sister mission: St. Clair, Three Rivers
Languages and Community
All regularly scheduled Masses at the mission are celebrated in Spanish, reflecting the demographics of Ivanhoe, an unincorporated agricultural community of about 4,000 people in eastern Tulare County. The mission serves a Hispanic Catholic population whose families have worked the citrus groves, vineyards, and fields around Ivanhoe for generations. English-language pastoral needs are met through the Woodlake parish.
- Spanish — primary Mass language
- English — available through St. Frances Cabrini Parish, Woodlake
Visiting San Felipe de Jesus Mission
The mission is located at 32809 Road 159, Ivanhoe, California 93235, in a rural setting southeast of Visalia. Visitors are welcome at weekend Masses and are encouraged to introduce themselves to the priest or other parishioners. The mailing address and phone line are shared with the Woodlake parish office, which is the best point of contact for baptism, marriage, RCIA, certificates, and other pastoral needs.
- Address: 32809 Road 159, Ivanhoe, CA 93235
- Phone: (559) 564-2647
- Parish office (Woodlake): 198 N. Pepper St., Woodlake, CA 93286