About San Isidro Labrador Mission · North San Ysidro, New Mexico
San Isidro Labrador Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel located at 3875 San Ysidro Road in the San Ysidro area north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is a mission of the parish of Our Lady of Purification (Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) in Doña Ana and comes under the Diocese of Las Cruces. The mission serves a rural farming community in the Mesilla Valley and is named after San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Laborer), the patron saint of farmers, whose feast is celebrated in the region each May 15 with the traditional Blessing of the Fields. Sunday Mass is celebrated weekly in English at 8:00 AM, and the mission shares its mailing phone line (575-526-2114) with the parent parish in Doña Ana.
- Patron
- San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Laborer), commonly known in New Mexico as San Ysidro — patron saint of farmers
- Rector
- Rev. Emmanuel Ezenneh
- Diocese
- Diocese of Las Cruces (Bishop: Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino)
Why belong here
San Isidro Mission offers a quiet, traditional Sunday Mass in a rural setting for farming and ranching families of the San Ysidro Road community north of Las Cruces. As a mission of Our Lady of Purification in Doña Ana, it links parishioners to the wider parish family and sacramental life of the Diocese of Las Cruces, while keeping the local devotion to San Ysidro, patron of farmers, alive — the same saint honored each spring at the regional Blessing of the Fields at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.
Mass times at San Isidro Labrador Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
About San Isidro Labrador Mission
San Isidro Labrador Mission is a small Catholic mission chapel located at 3875 San Ysidro Road in the San Ysidro area north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It belongs to the Diocese of Las Cruces and is administered as a dependent mission of the parish of Our Lady of Purification (Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) in Doña Ana. Sunday Mass is celebrated weekly in English, and the mission's phone line is shared with the parent parish office in Doña Ana.
- Type: Catholic mission chapel (not an independent parish)
- Diocese: Las Cruces
- Parent parish: Our Lady of Purification, Doña Ana
- Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM (English)
Patron Saint: San Isidro Labrador (San Ysidro)
The mission is named for San Isidro Labrador, the 11th-century farm laborer from Madrid, Spain, who is the patron saint of farmers, gardeners, and field workers. In New Mexico he is known affectionately as 'San Ysidro.' He was canonized in 1622, and his feast day is observed on May 15. Each spring the Mesilla Valley celebrates him with the Blessing of the Fields, in which a wooden bulto of the saint is carried in procession, farm animals are sprinkled with holy water, and an acequia is opened as rose petals are tossed into the flowing irrigation water — a vivid blend of Pueblo and Catholic tradition.
- Born in Madrid, Spain, c. 1070; died May 15, 1130
- Canonized in 1622
- Patron of farmers, gardeners, and rural workers
- Widely known in New Mexico as 'San Ysidro'
Contact & Visiting
Because San Isidro Mission shares its administration with Our Lady of Purification, all phone and parish inquiries are routed through the Doña Ana parish office. Visitors should call ahead to confirm Mass times, especially around holy days and the May San Ysidro festivities.
- Address: 3875 San Ysidro Rd., Las Cruces, NM 88007
- Phone: (575) 526-2114 (Our Lady of Purification parish office)
- Facebook community group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/910669986052166
Diocese of Las Cruces
San Isidro Mission is one of many missions and parishes of the Diocese of Las Cruces, which was erected by Pope John Paul II on August 17, 1982, from territory of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Diocese of El Paso. The diocese covers southern New Mexico and is led today by its third bishop, Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino, appointed in 2019. The diocese traces its Catholic roots to 1581, when Franciscan missionaries first traveled the Camino Real through the region.
- Diocese erected: August 17, 1982
- Current bishop: Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino (since 2019)
- Earlier bishops: Bishop Ricardo Ramírez, C.S.B. (1982–2013); Bishop Oscar Cantú (2013–2019)
The Blessing of the Fields
Each May, the broader Mesilla Valley community gathers at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces for the annual Blessing of the Fields, honoring San Ysidro as patron of farmers. The procession is led by the cacique and members of Tortugas Pueblo, who cleanse the saint's bulto with smoke before the march. The bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces sprinkles the wooden figure with holy water and stops at stations to bless cattle, sheep, horses, burros, crops, and the irrigation acequia, while first-communion children in white dresses throw rose petals into the flowing water. The tradition brings together Catholic and Indigenous spirituality around the saint whose name the San Isidro Mission chapel carries.
- Held annually in May at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces
- Procession led by Tortugas Pueblo with the cacique blessing the San Ysidro bulto with smoke
- Bishop of Las Cruces presides and blesses animals, fields, and the acequia