About San Miguel del Vado · Ribera, New Mexico
San Miguel del Vado is a Roman Catholic parish in Ribera, New Mexico, part of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The parish sits at the heart of one of New Mexico's oldest Spanish land-grant communities, founded in 1794 at a Pecos River crossing ("el vado") and home to a church built in 1805 that is still in use. As a mission parish it ministers to seven surrounding mission chapels scattered across San Miguel County, offering Mass in both English and Spanish, with a rotating Saturday Vigil at the mission churches and two Sunday Masses at the historic mother church.
- Established
- 1794 (settlement); 1805 (church)
- Patron
- Saint Michael the Archangel (San Miguel Arcángel)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
San Miguel del Vado welcomes parishioners and visitors into one of the oldest continuously active Catholic communities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, with a still-functioning 1805 church at the heart of a historic Spanish land-grant village on the Pecos River. Worship is offered in both English and Spanish, with two Sunday Masses at the mother church, a rotating Saturday Vigil Mass at seven mission chapels across San Miguel County, weekly Eucharistic Adoration, and regular Confession before each Mass. The parish also serves as a gathering point for the wider region's Hispanic Catholic heritage — from the Santa Fe Trail era to the present day — making it a meaningful place to pray, to learn the faith, and to belong to a living frontier-era community.
Mass times at San Miguel del Vado
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM
- Saturday 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM
- Saturday 5:30 PM – 5:50 PM
Adoration times
- Sunday 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
History of the Parish and the Village of San Miguel del Vado
San Miguel del Vado is one of the oldest continuously active Catholic communities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, tracing its roots to a 1794 Spanish land grant at a Pecos River crossing. The present church was constructed beginning in 1805 under a license from the Bishop of Durango, on the west side of the village plaza, and has been in continuous use ever since.
- 1794: Governor Fernando Chacón grants the San Miguel del Vado land grant to ~50–58 families led by Lorenzo Márquez.
- 1804: Settlers petition the Bishop of Durango for a church; Father Bragado of Pecos Mission advocates for them.
- February 22, 1805: License to build the church is granted; construction begins the same year.
- By 1812 there are 230 heads of family in the area; the 1827 census records nearly 3,000 inhabitants.
- May 19, 1826: San Miguel del Vado is made a secular parish, joining Taos, San Juan, Abiquiú, and Belén.
- 1860: Loses its status as seat of San Miguel County to Las Vegas.
- 1897: U.S. Supreme Court ruling strips the land grant of its ejido, reducing holdings from ~300,000 acres to ~5,000.
San Miguel del Vado on the Santa Fe Trail
After Mexican independence in 1821, San Miguel del Vado became the official eastern gateway onto the Santa Fe Trail and the first settlement travelers encountered after crossing the plains. The village served as a starting point for comancheros trading with the Plains Indians and for cíbolero buffalo-hunting parties, and as a place where merchants repackaged goods to dodge Santa Fe duties. The Mexican government eventually stationed troops in San Miguel to police smuggling along the Trail.
- Site of a Mexican garrison posted to stop Santa Fe Trail smuggling and tax evasion.
- Captured Texan Santa Fe Expedition soldiers of 1841 were marched through the village; Texan journals praise the parish priest and local women for their kindness.
- General Stephen W. Kearny's forces took the village in 1846 on the way to Santa Fe at the start of the Mexican-American War.
- Southwest of the church plaza, metal and ceramic artifacts still litter the ground — likely dropped by Trail travelers.
The 1805 Church Building
The parish church sits on the west side of the village plaza. Its lower walls are of thick adobe, and although the building has been modified over the centuries, the original interior structure is essentially unchanged from 1805. A 2001 archaeological survey (published in Church Archaeology in 2006) confirmed the 1805 construction date and documented the building's evolution.
- Adobe lower walls (~10 feet thick).
- Hard exterior plaster and modern towers applied in later renovations.
- Gothic-arched windows, wood-slat ceiling, wood and linoleum floors, modern doors.
- Bell cast in 1821 still hangs in the left tower.
- Building functions as both an active Catholic church and the cultural center of the village.
The Seven Mission Chapels
San Miguel del Vado is the mother parish for a cluster of seven mission chapels scattered across San Miguel County. A 4:00 PM Saturday Vigil Mass rotates among them, allowing remote Catholic families to keep the Sunday obligation without driving to Ribera. The parish office can confirm each week's location.
- Church of Santa Rita — Bernal
- Church of San Antonio — El Pueblo
- Church of Our Lady of the Rosary — Lagunita
- Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe — San Isidro del Sur
- Church of San Isidro Labrador — San Isidro del Norte
- Church of San José — San José
- Church of San Juan Nepomuceno — San Juan
Parish Staff and Contact
The parish is administered through a small parish office located across the road from the church. Rose Baros is listed as the primary parish contact. The parish is registered as a nonprofit with EIN 85-0325380 and serves San Miguel County.
- Address: 7 Sagebrush Way, Ribera, NM 87560.
- Mailing: P.O. Box 507, Ribera, NM 87560.
- Phone: (575) 421-2780.
- Fax: (575) 421-2781.
- Email: [email protected].
- Primary contact: Rose Baros.
- Languages spoken: English and Spanish.
Parish and Community Identity
St. Michael the Archangel — San Miguel — was the patron invoked by Spanish colonial settlers for protection on the eastern frontier. The parish mission statement is to provide for the spiritual and material needs of San Miguel Parish and its seven missions, reflecting the intertwined religious and civil life that has defined the village since 1794.
- Patron: St. Michael the Archangel; feast day September 29.
- Parish mission: to provide spiritual and material needs to San Miguel Parish and its seven missions.
- Listed nonprofit status: EIN 85-0325380.
- Geographic area served: San Miguel County, New Mexico.
The San Miguel del Vado Historic District
The village and its church are part of the San Miguel del Vado Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRIS #72000809). The district preserves the original Spanish colonial plaza layout, nineteenth-century adobe houses, the San Miguel County courthouse foundation behind the church, and the long string of room foundations to the southwest where Santa Fe Trail traders once stopped.
- National Register Information System ID: 72000809.
- County: San Miguel County, New Mexico.
- Two historic plazas remain: the east plaza along the Pecos River and the west plaza around the church.
- The Pecos River ford that gave the site its name is still visible at the southeast corner of the settlement.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Bragadoc. 1804–1805
Priest of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Pecos Mission who petitioned the Bishop of Durango on behalf of San Miguel's settlers for a church; the building license was granted Feb 22, 1805.
- Fray Manuel del Valleearly 19th century
Pecos Mission friar suggested in 1812 by José Cristóbal Guerrero to become the first resident priest of San Miguel.
- Rev. James J. Foleylate 1990s–1999 (assignment records)
Pastoral assignment record lists Foley as pastor of the Ribero / San Miguel del Vado cluster of missions; left the assignment 9/22/99.