About Santo Nino de Atocha · Alice, Texas
Santo Niño de Atocha Mission is a small Catholic mission church serving the rural Tecolote community southeast of Alice, Texas, in Jim Wells County. It is a dependent mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Alice and is cared for by the same parochial administrator under the Diocese of Corpus Christi. The mission was built in 1994 to serve the Spanish-speaking Catholic families of the Tecolote subdivision and surrounding ranch lands of South Texas, and continues that ministry today with a weekly bilingual Sunday Mass.
- Established
- 1994
- Patron
- Santo Niño de Atocha (Holy Infant of Atocha)
- Rector
- Rev. Biju Joseph Thoompunkal, HGN (Parochial Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Corpus Christi
Why belong here
Santo Niño de Atocha Mission gives the Catholic families of Tecolote and the surrounding South Texas countryside a worship community close to home, with a weekly bilingual Sunday Mass that welcomes both English- and Spanish-speaking parishioners. As a mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Alice, it shares in the spiritual life, sacraments, and pastoral care of the larger parish while keeping the small, family-sized feel of a rural mission. It is a place for Hispanic Catholic devotion to the Santo Niño — a devotion strong throughout South Texas and Mexico — and for gathering as a Christian community in a sparsely populated area of Jim Wells County.
Mass times at Santo Nino de Atocha
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:00 AM – 7:30 AM (bilingual; one listing shows 7:15 AM – 7:30 AM in Spanish)
History of Santo Niño de Atocha Mission
Santo Niño de Atocha Mission was built in 1994 as an outreach of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Alice. Its creation was part of a wider re-organization in the Alice area: at the same time, Our Lady of Guadalupe released care of St. Peter's Mission in Ben Bolt (transferred to St. Joseph Parish in Alice), and the new Tecolote-area mission took its place among the parish's works. The mission has served the small rural community of Tecolote and the ranch lands southeast of Alice ever since, under the pastoral care of the priests of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Patron: The Holy Infant of Atocha
The mission takes its name from Santo Niño de Atocha — the Holy Infant of Atocha — a beloved Catholic devotional image of the Christ Child depicted as a young pilgrim carrying a basket of bread, a staff, a water gourd, and a cape pinned with a scallop shell of St. James. The devotion originated in the medieval town of Atocha (today part of Madrid) and spread through Spain, Mexico, and the American Southwest. Its most famous shrine is in Plateros, near Fresnillo in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, where the Niño is venerated especially as protector of miners, travelers, and those unjustly imprisoned.
- Devotional origins in 13th-century Atocha, Spain, and Plateros, Zacatecas, Mexico.
- Popular across the Hispanic Catholic world and the U.S. Southwest.
- Feast traditionally kept on the Saturday before the Epiphany; Christmas-season pilgrimages to Plateros are customary.
Parish Life and Sacraments
As a small rural mission, Santo Niño de Atocha centers its life on a single weekly Sunday Mass, celebrated bilingually in English and Spanish, with the sacrament of Confession offered beforehand. Because the mission is served from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Alice, weekday Masses, weddings, baptisms, funerals, faith formation, and other sacramental needs are typically coordinated through the parent parish.
- Sunday Mass: 7:30 AM, Bilingual (English/Spanish).
- Confessions: Sunday 7:00–7:30 AM (bilingual).
- Pastoral care shared with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Alice.
Clergy and Pastoral Care
Santo Niño de Atocha Mission is served by the Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Alice, who is also responsible for the mission church in Tecolote. The current administrator, listed by the Diocese of Corpus Christi, is Rev. Biju Joseph Thoompunkal, HGN, a member of the Heralds of Good News, ordained April 7, 1999.
- Rev. Biju Joseph Thoompunkal, HGN — Parochial Administrator, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish / Santo Niño de Atocha Mission.
- Parish phone: (361) 664-2953 (shared with Our Lady of Guadalupe, Alice).
Visit and Contact
The mission is located at 918 County Road 122 in the Tecolote community southeast of Alice, Texas, in Jim Wells County. Because it is a small rural chapel with limited hours, visitors are warmly encouraged to call ahead to confirm the current Mass and confession schedule before traveling.
- Address: 918 CR 122, Tecolote (Alice), TX 78332.
- Phone: (361) 664-2953.
- Diocese: Corpus Christi.
- Parish Finder listing: diocesecc.org/parishfinder.