About Santuario de San Lorenzo [Shrine of St. Lawrence] (Historic Church) · Bernalillo, New Mexico
The Santuario de San Lorenzo (Shrine of St. Lawrence) is a historic adobe church in Bernalillo, New Mexico, completed in 1857 and dedicated to San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence), patron saint of the town. Designed by French-born priest Fr. Joseph Failon under Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy's church-building campaign, the cruciform adobe structure served as the parish church of Bernalillo for over a century and remains one of the few surviving examples of French-influenced ecclesiastical architecture built with native New Mexican materials. It is part of the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and is the spiritual heart of the annual Las Fiestas de San Lorenzo (August 9–11), the centerpiece of Bernalillo's famed Matachines tradition dating to 1693.
- Established
- 1857
- Patron
- St. Lawrence (San Lorenzo)
- Rector
- Reverend Clement Niggel
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe (Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe)
Why belong here
The Santuario de San Lorenzo and its parent Our Lady of Sorrows Parish sit at the literal and spiritual center of one of New Mexico's oldest living faith traditions. Visitors and parishioners encounter a 167-year-old adobe shrine still used as the gathering point for the 331-year-old Las Fiestas de San Lorenzo and the famous Bernalillo Matachines dance — a lived, year-round devotional community rather than a museum piece. Daily Mass in English and Sunday Mass in Spanish, weekday confessions, OCIA (adult initiation), St. Vincent de Paul outreach, the Knights of Columbus, the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, and a cluster of three mission churches (Algodones, Placitas, and Sandia Pueblo) make this an unusually full parish for a small town just north of Albuquerque.
Mass times at Santuario de San Lorenzo [Shrine of St. Lawrence] (Historic Church)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Monday 7:40 AM (Bernalillo)
- Tuesday 7:40 AM (Bernalillo)
- Wednesday 7:40 AM (Bernalillo)
- Thursday 7:40 AM (Bernalillo)
- Saturday 3:30 PM (Bernalillo)
- Anytime by appointment
History of the Santuario de San Lorenzo
The Santuario de San Lorenzo was completed in 1857 under the supervision of Fr. Joseph Failon (Fialon), a French-born priest who worked alongside Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy as part of Lamy's campaign to build forty-five new churches and chapels across the New Mexico territory. Major funding came from the Perea family, the same wealthy ranching dynasty that had financed Bernalillo's earlier 1826 church. The structure is a cruciform adobe with walls three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half feet thick and twelve-inch hand-hewn vigas — a hybrid of French architectural sensibility and native New Mexican building tradition. In 1892 the church was substantially rehabilitated, receiving a new floor, ceiling, pilasters, and pyramidal bell towers with louvered windows; little changed after that until 1971, when the adjacent modern brick church (Our Lady of Sorrows) was built and the old adobe became the parish shrine.
- Built 1857 under Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy's church-building campaign
- Architect: Fr. Joseph Failon (Fialon)
- Perea family provided major funding
- Rehabilitated 1892 — new floor, ceiling, pilasters, pyramidal bell towers
- Modern Our Lady of Sorrows church built next door in 1971
- Listed on New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties, March 20, 1970
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, April 29, 1977 (NRHP #77000927)
Bernalillo, San Lorenzo, and the 1680 Pueblo Revolt
The spiritual life of the Santuario is inseparable from the history of Bernalillo itself. During the Pueblo Revolt of August 10, 1680, neighboring Sandia and Santa Ana Pueblos reportedly warned Spanish settlers in and around Bernalillo of the uprising, allowing them to escape south to El Realito de San Lorenzo (present-day El Paso). In gratitude the refugees adopted San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence) as their patron, learned the Matachines dance in El Paso, and in 1693 — when Don Diego de Vargas led them back to resettle the Rio Grande valley — vowed to commemorate San Lorenzo's feast day every August 10. That promesa has been kept without interruption for more than 330 years, making the Santuario one of the oldest continuously venerated pilgrimage sites in the American Southwest.
- 1680 — Pueblo Revolt; Bernalillo settlers flee to El Realito de San Lorenzo (El Paso)
- 1693 — Don Diego de Vargas leads resettlement; promesa made to honor San Lorenzo annually
- Matachines dance brought back from El Paso
- Feast day fixed on August 10, San Lorenzo's feast day
Architecture and Historic Preservation
The Santuario is widely cited as one of the finest surviving examples of a mid-19th-century adobe parish church in central New Mexico. Its cruciform plan measures about 120 by 65 feet. Walls of stuccoed adobe brick rise to roughly twenty feet and are 3.5–4.5 feet thick, supported internally by twelve-inch vigas. The building was entered on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1970 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and Cornerstones Community Partnerships has documented it as part of its regional adobe-preservation portfolio.
- Architectural style: Territorial Style / French-influenced adobe
- Plan: cruciform, 120 ft × 65 ft
- Walls: 3.5–4.5 ft thick, ~20 ft high
- Roof: 12-inch vigas, originally dirt roof; gable form
- Towers: twin bell towers, pyramidal roofs with louvered windows (added 1892)
- Stuccoed adobe brick exterior
Parish Staff and Clergy
The Santuario de San Lorenzo is served as part of the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, which also ministers to three mission churches. The current leadership includes a pastor, a parochial vicar, and four deacons, reflecting both the Anglo and Hispanic communities served by the parish.
- Pastor: Rev. Clement Niggel
- Parochial Vicar: Rev. Moses Nwankwo
- Deacon Jose De Jesus Cervantes
- Deacon Gonzalo Calderon
- Deacon Eric Buenaventa
- Deacon Dan Kennedy
- Parish Office: 301 S. Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo, NM 87004 — (505) 867-5252 — Fax (505) 867-0267
Las Fiestas de San Lorenzo and the Matachines
Each August 9–11 the Santuario becomes the focal point of Las Fiestas de San Lorenzo, one of the oldest religious-civic festivals in the United States. The eve of the fiesta (Las Visperas) brings a procession of dancers, musicians, and rezadores (prayer leaders) to the Santuario for Vespers. Three images of San Lorenzo — the estampa (a stamped metal plate), the bulto, and the Santo Viejo — are carried in procession and hosted by that year's mayordomos. The celebration features the famous Bernalillo Matachines dance, regarded as the original and largest such dance in the region. The three-day cycle ends on August 11 with La Entrega, the formal handover of the saint's images to the next mayordomo family.
- Aug 9 (Las Visperas): procession and Vespers at the Santuario
- Aug 10 (Fiesta Day): Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, all-day Matachines dancing, procession through town
- Aug 11 (La Entrega): Las Mañanitas at dawn, procession, handover to next mayordomos
- Las Posadas: nine-day Christmas devotion uses the historic Santuario as one of its stations
Faith Formation and OCIA
The parish runs a year-round Faith Formation program for children and the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) — the updated English translation of what used to be called RCIA — for adults discerning entry or full communion with the Catholic Church. The OCIA process follows the four traditional stages (Inquiry, Catechumenate, Purification and Enlightenment, Mystagogy) and covers Scripture, Tradition, the Creed, the sacraments, and the moral life. Inquirers are encouraged to contact the parish office or the coordinator directly.
- OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) — for unbaptized adults, baptized Catholics needing Confirmation/Eucharist, and Christians from other traditions
- Faith Formation classes for children
- Coordinator: Mrs. Rebecca (Becky) Endzel, 505-321-1203, [email protected]
- Parish office: (505) 867-5252
Parish Ministries
Our Lady of Sorrows Parish maintains a varied roster of lay-led ministries serving the spiritual, charitable, and community life of Bernalillo and its mission communities. From traditional Catholic devotional societies to men's faith programs and Bible studies, the parish offers many ways for parishioners to get involved.
- St. Vincent de Paul — outreach and food assistance
- Knights of Columbus — Catholic fraternal service
- Our Lady of Fatima Blue Army — First Saturday devotion
- That Man Is You! — men's faith and fellowship program
- God's Little Angels — children's ministry
- Placitas Bible Study
- OLOS Counting Team — parish financial counters
- Bernalillo Matachines — traditional dance ministry
Mission Churches
The Our Lady of Sorrows Parish family includes three mission churches that extend the Santuario's pastoral reach into the surrounding communities of Algodones, Placitas, and the Sandia Pueblo. Each mission celebrates Sunday (or Saturday evening, in Sandia's case) Mass as listed below, and they are formally listed on GCatholic and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe parish finder.
- San José Mission — Algodones — Sunday 8:30 AM
- San Antonio Mission — Placitas — Sunday 9:30 AM
- St. Anthony Mission — Sandia Pueblo — Saturday 6:30 PM