About Santa Clara Mission · Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico
Santa Clara Mission is a Roman Catholic mission church on the Santa Clara Pueblo, a Tewa-speaking Pueblo community along the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico. It is one of the three affiliated churches of the Tewa Missions — together with San Diego Church in Tesuque Pueblo and San Ildefonso Church in San Ildefonso Pueblo — administered collaboratively since 2000 with the mother parish of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) in Ohkay Owingeh. The mission sits within the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe and traces its Catholic origins to 1628, when it was first established as a Franciscan visita of San Juan Pueblo.
- Established
- 1628
- Patron
- Saint Clare of Assisi
- Rector
- Fr. Nathan Lopez
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Santa Clara Mission offers Mass celebrated on First Sundays at 9:00 AM in a National Register–listed historic adobe church that is part of a nearly 400-year-old Tewa Catholic community. As a mission of San Juan Bautista Parish it is connected to a broader network of Tewa-Mission churches sharing priests, deacons, religious education, perpetual adoration at the parish, and a healing and deliverance ministry. The community gathers with a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Family, and welcomes visitors to a living pueblo renowned worldwide for its black polished and red polychrome pottery.
Mass times at Santa Clara Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 2:45–4:00 PM at San Juan Bautista (San Juan), as published in the parish bulletin; confession at the Santa Clara Mission by appointment through the parish office
Adoration times
- Perpetual adoration is offered at the parish (San Juan Bautista); Santa Clara Mission times should be confirmed with the parish office
Santa Clara Mission at Santa Clara Pueblo
Santa Clara Mission serves the Santa Clara Pueblo as one of three Tewa Mission churches linked to the mother parish of San Juan Bautista in Ohkay Owingeh, within the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Its Catholic roots reach back to 1628, and the present adobe church was built in 1918 on the pueblo's traditional plaza, surrounded by one- and two-story adobe houses, two rectangular ceremonial kivas, and the wider Santa Clara Pueblo historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
- Established as a Franciscan visita in 1628
- Part of the Three Affiliated Tewa Missions with San Diego (Tesuque) and San Ildefonso
- Mother parish: San Juan Bautista, Ohkay Owingeh — first parish in the United States, founded 1598
History of the Mission Church
A visita of San Juan was created here in 1628. The first substantial post-Revolt church, with choir loft and organ, was built in the early-to-mid 1700s but had collapsed by the 1750s. Franciscan Fray Mariano Rodríguez then organized the 1758 adobe replacement — long and narrow, built at his expense, with food and oxen supplied for the workers. That church endured until roughly 1909, when an attempt to add a modern peaked roof led to the removal of supporting vigas and the building collapsed. The present adobe church was built in 1918 and still anchors the historic plaza today.
- 1628 — first Catholic visita established for San Juan Pueblo
- 1680 — Santa Clara takes part in the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish rule
- 1692–96 — joint resistance with San Ildefonso from Black Mesa
- 1758 — Fray Mariano Rodríguez builds new adobe church at his own expense
- 1780s — small pox epidemic kills a large portion of the pueblo
- c.1909 — 1758 church collapses after ill-advised roof remodeling
- 1918 — current adobe church constructed
Parish Staff & Clergy
Pastoral care for Santa Clara Mission and the wider Tewa Missions is provided from San Juan Bautista Parish in Ohkay Owingeh. The current pastor is Father Nathan Lopez, supported by three deacons and parish staff including a religious education coordinator, receptionist, maintenance, and adoration coordinator. (For spiritual emergencies after hours, call 505-231-0724.)
- Pastor: Fr. Nathan Lopez
- Deacon Greg Aguilar (505-747-2773)
- Deacon John Bird (505-929-0600)
- Deacon Dennis Montoya (505-692-0409)
- Religious Education: Miquela Vigil (505-927-2751)
- Adoration Coordinator: Elsie Pacheco (505-852-4100)
- Receptionist: Monica Naranjo
- Maintenance: Robert Gress
Tewa Missions & San Juan Bautista Parish
Established in 2000, the joint Tewa Missions provide collaborative administration for the three affiliated Tewa Indian parishes of San Diego Church (Tesuque Pueblo), Santa Clara Church (Santa Clara Pueblo), and San Ildefonso Church (San Ildefonso Pueblo), linked to the mother parish of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist), noted as the first and oldest parish in the United States, dating to 1598. Sacramental records for the Tewa missions have historically been kept at the respective three churches, and priests at one church have frequently attended to the others across the centuries.
- Mother parish: San Juan Bautista, 185 Po'Pay Avenue, P.O. Box 1075, Ohkay Owingeh, NM 87566
- Phone (parish office): 505-852-4179
- Office hours: Monday–Thursday 9:00 AM–1:00 PM (closed Fridays)
Devotions & Parish Life
The parish community has a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to Saint John the Baptist, and to the Holy Family. Sources of grace highlighted on the parish website include Masses throughout the week, perpetual adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, scheduled times for confession, and a healing and deliverance ministry.
- Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist and the Holy Family
- Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist
- Healing and Deliverance Ministry
Patron Saint & Feast
The mission's patron is Saint Clare of Assisi, founder of the Order of Poor Ladies (the Poor Clares) and one of the first followers of St. Francis, in keeping with the Franciscan origins of New Mexico's missions. Santa Clara Pueblo celebrates the feast on August 12 — the pre-1969 calendar date for St. Clare's memorial — while the universal Church now marks her feast on August 11, the anniversary of her death in 1253.
- Patron: Saint Clare of Assisi (1194–1253)
- Universal feast day: August 11
- Pueblo celebration: August 12
Faith Formation & Education
Religious education is coordinated by Miquela Vigil (505-927-2751). The parish's history notes that in the early 1700s, catechism was taught to children on Sundays one hour before Mass, with hot chocolate and tortillas served to the children afterwards, followed by choir practice and work around the church; catechism was also offered daily and in evening classes for unmarried men and women. San Juan Catholic School opened in 1951, taught by Dominican Sisters, with 130 students in its first year.
- Religious Education contact: Miquela Vigil, 505-927-2751
- Baptismal Preparation — contact the parish office
- San Juan Catholic School opened 1951 (Dominican Sisters, 130 students first year)
Visiting Santa Clara Pueblo
Santa Clara Pueblo is located on NM 30, about two miles south of Española, NM. From US 84 / US 285, turn west onto Santa Clara Bridge Rd., then turn left (south) onto NM 30, the Los Alamos Highway. From NM 30, turn left onto Rose Rd., then right onto Kee Street; the mission church will be on the left. The pueblo can be visited daily from dawn to dusk; cameras are permitted only with a permit. For visitor information call 505-753-7326. The pueblo welcomes visitors and is open daily.
- Address: Kee Street, south of Wild Rose Rd., Santa Clara Pueblo, NM 87532
- Open daily from dawn to dusk
- Photography requires a permit
- Visitor info line: 505-753-7326
Notable Features of the Pueblo
Santa Clara is a living pueblo and a community of highly skilled artisans famous for their black polished and red polychrome pottery, with many artistic families continuing to produce exceptional pottery and other crafts. Puye Cliff Dwellings — a National Historic Landmark where the ancestors of today's Santa Clara people lived — is a nearby attraction. The entire pueblo complex is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been documented in the National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey.
- Member of the Eight Northern Pueblos
- Famous for black polished and red polychrome pottery
- Nearby: Puye Cliff Dwellings National Historic Landmark
- NRHP-listed historic district; documented in NPS HABS
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fray Mariano Rodríguez1758
Franciscan priest who organized the construction of the long, narrow adobe church of 1758; reportedly built it at his own expense and supplied food for the laborers and oxen to haul the vigas during the two winter months the people could work on it.
- Fr. Camilo Seux1868–1924 (approx., served San Juan ~56 years)
French priest brought to New Mexico from Lyon by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy; assigned to San Juan in 1868 and served the parish (including Santa Clara as a visita/mission) for 56 years. Renovated the adobe church, built a Gothic Our Lady of Lourdes chapel and erected the bronze statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. The 1912 dynamiting of the old adobe church and 1913 rebuilding of San Juan in neo-Gothic style occurred during his tenure.