About Santa Barbara Mission · Rodarte, New Mexico
Santa Barbara Mission is a small Catholic mission chapel (capilla) in the village of Rodarte, New Mexico, in the upper Peñasco Valley of Taos County. It is a mission chapel served from the parish of San Antonio de Padua in Peñasco, with which the neighboring parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Dixon shares clergy and a website. The community sits on the historic Santa Barbara Land Grant, settled by Hispanic families by at least 1751. Today, like the other mission chapels in the Peñasco Valley, Santa Barbara hosts Mass on a rotating once-a-month Sunday schedule at 1:00 PM, alongside sister chapels at Chamisal, Vadito, and Picuris.
- Patron
- Saint Barbara (Santa Bárbara) — early Christian virgin and martyr, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers; patron of architects, stonemasons, and artillerymen
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Santa Barbara Mission offers the small, tight-knit village character of the historic Peñasco Valley Hispanic Catholic tradition, where faith is lived out across multiple small chapels sharing one parish family. Visitors and parishioners are welcomed to a once-a-month Sunday Mass in the Rodarte chapel as part of the rotating 1:00 PM Sunday schedule with sister capillas at Chamisal, Vadito, and Picuris, with weekday Masses, confessions, and sacramental ministry available at the main parish churches in Peñasco, Dixon, and Velarde.
Mass times at Santa Barbara Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment through the parent parish of San Antonio de Padua, Peñasco
- Peñasco: Fridays 4:30–5:30 PM (parent parish)
- Dixon: Sundays after 10:30 AM Mass (parent parish)
- Velarde: Saturdays 2:30–3:30 PM (parent parish)
Santa Barbara Mission — Rodarte, New Mexico
Santa Barbara Mission (Capilla de Santa Bárbara) is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel serving the village of Rodarte in the Peñasco Valley of Taos County, New Mexico. It belongs to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe and is operated as a mission chapel of San Antonio de Padua Parish in Peñasco, which shares pastoral staff and website with the neighboring parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Dixon. Mass is celebrated on a rotating Sunday basis among the valley's small chapels, with Santa Barbara receiving the 1:00 PM Mass roughly once a month.
- Roman Catholic mission chapel
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
- Part of San Antonio de Padua Parish, Peñasco
- Shared pastoral ministry with St. Anthony of Padua, Dixon
History of Rodarte and the Santa Barbara Grant
The community now known as Rodarte was originally called Santa Barbara, taking its name from the Santa Barbara Land Grant and the creek that flows down from the Sangre de Cristos into the Peñasco Valley. Hispanic families had settled at Santa Barbara by at least 1751, and the area was abandoned for a period before being resettled in 1796. In the early twentieth century, the valley's forests were intensively logged: the Santa Barbara Tie and Pole Company built a short-line railroad beginning around 1909 that hauled an estimated 400,000 logs a year for seventeen years to supply railroad ties. The Catholic mission chapel of Santa Barbara grew out of this long-standing Hispanic Catholic community in the upper Peñasco Valley, alongside the older parish seat at Peñasco itself.
- First documented Hispanic settlement at Santa Barbara (now Rodarte) by 1751
- Resettled in 1796 after period of abandonment
- Santa Barbara Tie and Pole Company railroad operated ~1909–1926
- Community still bears the Spanish-colonial saint's name in its older designation
Parish Family — San Antonio de Padua, Peñasco & Dixon
Santa Barbara Mission is one of ten mission chapels served by two parishes working together: San Antonio de Padua in Peñasco and St. Anthony of Padua in Dixon. The two parishes share clergy and maintain the joint website dixonpenascocc.org, while each retains its own parish office. Together they shepherd the small capillas of the Peñasco Valley — Rodarte (Santa Barbara), Chamisal, Vadito, Picuris, Llano Largo, and Rio Lucio — in addition to the main churches at Peñasco, Dixon, and Velarde.
- Parent parish: San Antonio de Padua, 14079 North NM-75, Peñasco, NM 87553
- Sister parish: St. Anthony of Padua, Dixon
- Joint website: dixonpenascocc.org
- Shared phone line for all mission chapels: (575) 587-0399
Visiting Santa Barbara Mission
Travelers heading to the chapel will find Rodarte in the upper Peñasco Valley, north of Peñasco on NM-75 in Taos County, along the historic High Road to Taos corridor. The chapel sits on Capilla Road. Because Mass is only celebrated at Santa Barbara once a month (rotating with the other capillas), visitors are encouraged to check the current month's chapel rotation on dixonpenascocc.org or call the parish office before traveling. The main parish churches at Peñasco, Dixon, and Velarde offer additional Masses throughout the week and are the safest places to find a regular Sunday liturgy.
- Address: 7 Capilla Road, Rodarte, NM 87579
- Verify the current month's chapel before visiting — Mass is monthly at Santa Barbara
- Weekday Mass available year-round at Peñasco (Thu & Fri, 9:00 AM)