About San Isidro Mission · Las Nutrias, New Mexico
San Isidro Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the rural village of Las Nutrias, Socorro County, New Mexico. It is one of five mission chapels served by Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in La Joya, itself a nearly 200-year-old adobe church in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The mission is located along NM Highway 304 and is supported by Catholic Extension Society, which has funded renovations to the historic adobe structure. San Isidro hosts regular weekday and Sunday Masses in English and is the spiritual home of a ranching and farming community in the Rio Grande valley south of Albuquerque.
- Patron
- San Isidro (Saint Isidore the Laborer)
- Rector
- Rev. Tobe Oluoha
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
San Isidro Mission is the country chapel of a tight-knit ranching and farming community in the middle Rio Grande valley, where generations of the same families have worshipped together. As one of five missions served from Our Lady of Sorrows in La Joya, it offers a peaceful, traditional adobe setting for both weekday and Sunday Mass, an attached Catholic cemetery for family burials, and the warmth of a small parish where 'spiritually, we march on.' Visitors and returning Catholics are welcomed into a faith community that has been gathering here for well over a century and that continues to care for its historic church with the help of Catholic Extension Society grants and local fundraising.
Mass times at San Isidro Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment at the parish office (505) 864-4461
Adoration times
- Adoration is offered once a week following the 5:00 PM Mass at San Juan Mission in Veguita
San Isidro Mission at a Glance
San Isidro Mission is a small adobe Catholic chapel in the village of Las Nutrias, Socorro County, New Mexico, at 1010 NM Highway 304. It is a mission of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in La Joya and belongs to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The chapel is the spiritual home of a ranching and farming community in the Rio Grande valley and hosts regular Thursday morning Mass and alternating Sunday morning Mass.
- Adobe mission chapel
- Address: 1010 NM-304, Las Nutrias, NM 87062
- Mission of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, La Joya
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
History of the Mission and the Las Nutrias Community
The San Isidro Mission community grew as part of the Spanish-colonial Catholic presence in the middle Rio Grande valley. As La Joya became a stopping point on the Camino Real in the 1800s, ranching and farming families spread out to surrounding villages, and mission chapels like San Isidro were established so families could worship closer to home. Catholic Extension Society first supported Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in 1933, and in recent years Extension funding has been directed specifically to renovating the San Isidro Mission building.
- Part of the Camino Real Catholic tradition of the middle Rio Grande valley
- Catholic Extension Society support began parish-wide in 1933
- Recent Catholic Extension grant funded San Isidro Mission renovation
San Isidro Catholic Cemetery
Adjacent to the mission, on the east side of NM-304 just north of the church, sits the San Isidro Catholic Cemetery (also called the Las Nutrias Cemetery). It contains more than 200 recorded burials going back generations and remains an active cemetery serving the Las Nutrias Catholic community. Find a Grave lists the cemetery under ID 2163824 with 335 memorials on file.
- Located north of the church on the east side of NM-304
- Also known as Las Nutrias Cemetery
- More than 200 historic burials recorded (Socorro County tombstone transcription)
- Cemetery ID 2163824 (Find a Grave)
The Five-Chapel Mission Cluster
San Isidro is one of five chapels served from Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in La Joya. Together they form a single Catholic community serving roughly 450 families spread across the ranching country between Belen and Socorro.
- Our Lady of Sorrows, La Joya (mother church, 19 Calle de la Iglesia)
- San Antonio Mission, Abeytas
- San Antonio Mission, Sabinal
- San Juan Mission, Veguita
- San Isidro Mission, Las Nutrias
- San Jose Chapel, Contreras
Visiting San Isidro Mission
The mission sits along NM Highway 304 in the village of Las Nutrias. From I-25 take Exit 175, head east on US-60 for about three miles, then turn south on NM-304 and continue to the church on the east side of the road. The San Isidro Catholic Cemetery is just north of the church on the same side of the highway.
- Travel via I-25 Exit 175, US-60 east, then NM-304 south
- Located on the east side of NM-304
- Parish office phone: (505) 864-4461
- Emergency line: (505) 864-4170
- Parish website: olslajoyanm.org
Support and Heritage
The mission and its sister chapels are sustained by the faith and fundraising of a small rural community, matched and supplemented by Catholic Extension Society grants. The community has raised tens of thousands of dollars in recent campaigns to keep the historic adobe walls and roof of the cluster's churches standing, with Extension matching local funds.
- Catholic Extension Society partnership since 1933
- Recent San Isidro Mission renovation funded by Extension
- Local fundraising campaigns match Extension grants
- Heritage of Spanish-colonial adobe mission architecture
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Denis Kaggwauntil June 2015
Returned to his home diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana, Uganda in 2015.
- Rev. Felipe Valadezfrom June 2015
Appointed pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in La Joya and its missions, including San Isidro, effective June 1, 2015.
- Rev. Tobe Oluohacurrent
Current pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish and its five mission churches, including San Isidro Mission.