About San Isidro Mission · Escobosa, New Mexico
San Isidro Mission (formally the Church of San Isidro Labrador) is an active mission church of Holy Child Catholic Parish in the small, historic village of Escobosa (also spelled Escabosa), nestled in the East Mountains of central New Mexico. Originally built in 1932 or 1933 as a community effort — with each family hauling five wagon-loads of rock — the stone church continues to serve Catholic faithful in the area, with Sunday Mass celebrated there on 2nd Sundays at 8:00 AM. As one of seven mission churches of Holy Child Parish in Tijeras, San Isidro belongs to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe and shares its pastor, Fr. Mark Granito, with the parish's other active missions in Carnuel, Chilili, Cedar Crest, and San Antonito.
- Established
- 1932
- Patron
- San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Laborer)
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Mark Granito
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
San Isidro Mission offers Catholics in the remote, historic village of Escobosa the chance to worship in a stone chapel their forebears built with their own hands in the early 1930s, on the Sunday each month (2nd Sundays at 8:00 AM) when Mass comes to the mission. As part of Holy Child Parish's network of seven mission churches, parishioners share in a wider East Mountain Catholic community — a cluster of stone-and-adobe villages that have celebrated the May 15 fiesta of San Isidro Labrador, patron of farmers, for nearly a century. The mission is an active, prayerful home for families who want their faith rooted in the same Mora-family village where their grandparents were baptized, married, and buried.
Mass times at San Isidro Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 5:30 PM – 5:50 PM (1st Friday only, at Holy Child, Tijeras)
- Saturday 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (at Holy Child, Tijeras)
Adoration times
- Monday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Holy Child, Tijeras)
- Tuesday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Holy Child, Tijeras)
- Wednesday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Holy Child, Tijeras)
- Thursday 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (Holy Child, Tijeras)
- Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Chapel, Holy Child, Tijeras)
San Isidro Mission (Escobosa)
The Church of San Isidro Labrador in Escobosa is a stone village mission built in the early 1930s by its own parishioners and still active today as one of the mission churches of Holy Child Catholic Parish in Tijeras, New Mexico. Located in the East Mountains between Albuquerque and the Manzano range, it serves a small, multigenerational Hispanic Catholic community whose forebears homesteaded the land in the late 19th century.
- Active mission of Holy Child Catholic Parish, Tijeras
- Jurisdiction: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
- Sunday Mass on 2nd Sundays at 8:00 AM
- Annual patron saint fiesta: May 15 (San Isidro Labrador)
History of the Mission
The mission was constructed in 1932 or 1933 by the residents of Escobosa themselves. Each family hauled five wagon-loads of rock to the site, and the builders — already skilled at raising rock houses — laid the walls together. With limited cash on hand, the community held dances to raise the money needed for the roof's lumber. The church has been the spiritual center of the village ever since, and the annual fiesta of San Isidro on May 15 continues to draw villagers and their descendants home. Until 1973, both Escobosa and the nearby mission at Chilili were part of Manzano Parish; they were later transferred to the Tijeras Canyon parish, now Holy Child.
- Built 1932 or 1933 by the village
- Each family contributed five wagon-loads of rock
- Roof lumber paid for with community fundraising dances
- Transferred to Holy Child parish system after 1973
Patron Saint — San Isidro Labrador
The mission is named for San Isidro Labrador — Saint Isidore the Laborer — the patron saint of farmers, peasants, and rural communities. Born in Madrid around 1070, Isidore was a farmworker famous for his piety, charity to the poor, and care for animals; he was canonized in 1622. His liturgical feast day, May 15, is the date of the village's annual fiesta in Escobosa, and is widely celebrated across the Spanish-speaking world, especially in rural and agricultural communities.
- Patron of farmers, peasants, and rural communities
- Canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622
- Feast day: May 15
The Village of Escobosa
Escobosa sits within the historic Chilili Land Grant in the East Mountain area and was homesteaded by brothers of the Mora family in the late 19th century. The village takes its name from escobas, the Spanish word for broomgrass, which early residents once gathered and sold. Crops grown in the area included pinto beans, wheat, corn, peas, pumpkins, and oats; firewood was hauled to Albuquerque and Isleta Pueblo for sale. The village also hosted at least two sawmills in the first half of the 20th century. Today many Mora descendants still live in or return to the village.
- Named for escobas (broom grass)
- Homesteaded by the Mora family in the late 19th century
- Historically part of the Chilili Land Grant
- Famous as part of the 'Pinto Bean Capital of the World'
Pastor & Staff
San Isidro Mission is served by the pastor of Holy Child Catholic Parish, Rev. Fr. Mark Granito. Fr. Granito has been pastor of Holy Child for many years and was present for the founding of Holy Child Catholic School in 2008. Holy Child Parish and its school share a tight-knit staff, including a long-serving bookkeeper, parish maintenance and IT staff, and liturgical musicians. The parish office is the point of contact for all sacramental needs at the missions.
- Pastor: Rev. Fr. Mark Granito
- Parish office phone: 505-281-2297
- Emergency line: 505-281-1502
- Parish office: 19 Camino del Santo Niño, Tijeras, NM 87059
Holy Child Catholic School & Parish Life
Founded in 2008 and closely interwoven with Holy Child Catholic Parish, the parish school draws many families who also belong to San Isidro Mission and the other East Mountain missions. Students serve as altar servers at weekday and Sunday Masses, participate in the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club, and sing in the school choir at Thursday Mass. A parish F.I.A.T. ministry, the Knights of Columbus council (chartered 2017 for one staff member), and a robust music program round out parish life.
- Holy Child Catholic School, founded 2008
- F.I.A.T. ministry
- St. Vincent de Paul Youth Club
- Knights of Columbus
- School and parish choirs
Other Mission Churches in the Parish Network
Holy Child Parish serves seven mission churches in the East Mountains. Five are active: Holy Child (Carnuel), San Juan Nepomuceno (Chilili), San Isidro (Escobosa), San Antonio (Cedar Crest), and Nuestro Señor de Mapimi, known as San Antonio (Sandia Park / San Antonito). Two are inactive: San Lorenzo (Cañoncito) and San Isidro (Sedillo). The village of Sedillo has its own rock San Isidro Church built in 1941 to replace an older chapel.
- Active: Holy Child (Carnuel)
- Active: San Juan Nepomuceno (Chilili)
- Active: San Isidro (Escobosa)
- Active: San Antonio (Cedar Crest)
- Active: Nuestro Señor de Mapimi / San Antonio (San Antonito)
- Inactive: San Lorenzo (Cañoncito)
- Inactive: San Isidro (Sedillo)