About Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe · Saragosa, Texas
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saragosa, Texas is a Catholic pilgrimage shrine and mission church of the Diocese of El Paso, located on Highway 17 South in the small Reeves County community of Saragosa. The present church was built to replace the original Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Hall that was destroyed by the deadly F4 tornado of May 22, 1987, which killed 22 people gathered inside for a Head Start preschool graduation. Designed by El Paso architect Bert Mijares as an 11,000-square-foot shrine with a 400-seat sanctuary and an exterior courtyard able to accommodate pilgrimages of up to 1,000 people, it serves today as the spiritual heart of this predominantly Mexican-American agricultural community and is administered as a mission of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Pecos.
- Established
- 1988
- Patron
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Rector
- Rev. Jose De la Cruz Longoria, MNM
- Diocese
- Diocese of El Paso
Why belong here
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the spiritual heart of Saragosa, a small West Texas farming community rebuilt around its Catholic faith after the devastating 1987 tornado. Belonging here means joining a parish whose very building is an act of communal memory and resilience, with a sanctuary and pilgrim courtyard sized to welcome hundreds for the December 12 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the May 22 tornado remembrance each year. It is also a stepping stone into the wider West Texas ministry of the Diocese of El Paso, with the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette providing sacramental care, faith formation, and outreach alongside sister missions at Balmorhea, Barstow, and Christ the King.
Mass times at Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:00 pm–4:30 pm (cluster-wide, by appointment through the parish office)
History of the Shrine
The present Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saragosa stands on the site of the original Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Hall, destroyed on the evening of May 22, 1987, when a violent F4 tornado struck the small Reeves County community. Twenty-two of the roughly 100 people gathered inside for a Head Start preschool graduation were killed when the only concrete-block building in town could not withstand a direct F4 hit. In the weeks that followed, Bishop Raymundo J. Peña of the Diocese of El Paso celebrated a memorial Mass on the foundation, and on Labor Day, September 7, 1987, he led the groundbreaking for a new church on the same site. Some 200 parishioners and guests attended. The new church was completed in 1988 — roughly on the first anniversary of the tornado — and was dedicated by Bishop Peña as a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
- May 22, 1987 — F4 tornado destroys Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Hall and most of Saragosa; 30 dead, 100+ injured
- June 10, 1987 — Memorial service on the old Head Start foundation; names of victims read aloud
- Sept. 7, 1987 (Labor Day) — Bishop Raymundo J. Peña leads groundbreaking of new shrine
- 1988 — New 11,000-square-foot shrine completed and dedicated by Bishop Peña
The 1987 Saragosa Tornado
The Saragosa tornado was a violent multiple-vortex F4 that formed just east of Balmorhea at about 8:16 p.m. on May 22, 1987, and tracked nearly three miles through the town along a path roughly 880 yards wide. Estimated winds reached 207–260 mph. Eighty percent of Saragosa was destroyed: 118 homes, the post office, a grocery store, two churches, a school, and the Catholic Hall. Damage was estimated at $1.4 million (1987 USD). Twenty-two of the dead were inside the Catholic Hall at the moment of collapse; eight more died elsewhere in town, including one in a car. The tornado warning had been issued 21 minutes before impact, but Saragosa had no siren, no local police or fire service, and many residents relied on Spanish-language Mexican radio that did not carry U.S. weather alerts. A tornado siren and a hardened community storm shelter are now part of the town's permanent infrastructure.
- Formed: May 22, 1987, 8:16 p.m. CDT
- Dissipated: 8:20 p.m. CDT — only 4 minutes on the ground
- Fujita scale rating: F4
- Maximum width: 880 yards (800 m)
- Fatalities: 30 (22 inside the Catholic Hall)
- Injuries: ~121
Architecture and Construction
The new shrine was designed by Bert Mijares of Booth, Keirsey, Mijares, Architects of El Paso, who donated the architectural design. The completed facility is approximately 11,000 square feet and was built with funding from insurance proceeds on the destroyed church, $22,775 in donations, and a major grant from the Catholic Extension Society. The sanctuary seats 400 people, and a defining external feature is a large pilgrim courtyard designed to accommodate gatherings of up to 1,000. The complex also includes classrooms, parish offices, and a youth retreat center. Adjacent to the shrine, the Saragosa Multi-Purpose Center — completed first — is a steel-reinforced masonry 'U'-shaped building with a 30-by-76-foot underground storm shelter that can hold up to 180 people, engineered to survive a direct F4 hit.
- Architect: Bert Mijares, Booth Keirsey Mijares Architects (El Paso)
- Total area: ~11,000 sq ft
- Sanctuary seating: 400
- Pilgrim courtyard capacity: ~1,000
- Funding: insurance + donations + Catholic Extension Society
- Adjacent Multi-Purpose Center storm shelter: 30 × 76 ft, 180-person capacity
Pastoral Leadership and Administration
The shrine is administered as a mission of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Pecos, under the Diocese of El Paso. Day-to-day sacramental care is provided by the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (MNM), who staff the wider Pecos-area cluster of missions. Father Daniel Rojas, priest for Saragosa and Balmorhea, guided the community through the immediate aftermath of the 1987 tornado and the groundbreaking for the new shrine. Today the cluster is led by Rev. Jose De la Cruz Longoria, MNM (Pastor) with Rev. Gabriel Terrones Marin, MNM (Parochial Vicar) and Deacons Oscar Machuca and Rudy Villegas.
- Father Daniel Rojas — priest for Saragosa and Balmorhea (1987 tornado era)
- Rev. Jose De la Cruz Longoria, MNM — current Pastor
- Rev. Gabriel Terrones Marin, MNM — Parochial Vicar
- Deacon Oscar Machuca
- Deacon Rudy Villegas
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
The annual Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 is the centerpiece of the shrine's devotional life. The feast commemorates the 1531 apparition of the Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City, and is observed across the Diocese of El Paso and the wider U.S. Catholic Church with processions, matachines dances, midnight serenades of 'Las Mañanitas,' and bilingual Masses. The shrine's pilgrim courtyard — sized for up to 1,000 people — was explicitly designed to host such gatherings, and the December feast draws pilgrims from Pecos, Balmorhea, Barstow, and beyond.
- Feast day: December 12
- Devotions: processions, matachines, 'Las Mañanitas' serenades
- Closing Mass traditionally bilingual with mariachi
May 22 Memorial Observance
Each May 22, the town of Saragosa gathers to mark the anniversary of the 1987 tornado. The observance centers on the Saragosa Multi-Purpose Center, where a memorial plaque lists all 30 victims, and the adjacent Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which stands on the foundation where the original Catholic Hall collapsed. Bishop Peña first celebrated a memorial Mass on the foundation within weeks of the storm; the rebuilt shrine itself was dedicated on the first anniversary, making May 22 both a day of mourning and a day of hope.
- Memorial plaque listing all 30 tornado victims at the Multi-Purpose Center
- Annual bilingual memorial Mass
- Multi-Purpose Center courtyard used for community gathering
Visiting and Pilgrimage Information
The shrine sits on Highway 17 South in Saragosa, Reeves County, and is open in conjunction with scheduled Masses and special events. Pilgrims and visitors are encouraged to coordinate through the Santa Rosa de Lima Parish office in Pecos (432-445-2309). The adjacent Saragosa Multi-Purpose Center is itself a memorial site — both for the victims listed on its plaque and as a tangible demonstration of a community rebuilt to F4-resilient standards. The site is reached by car; there is no public transit to Saragosa, and the nearest interstate is I-10.
- Address: Hwy. 17 S, Saragosa, TX 79780
- Administered from: Santa Rosa de Lima Parish, 620 E. 4th St., Pecos, TX 79772
- Phone (cluster office): 432-445-2309
- Phone (parish listing): 432-375-2209
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Daniel Rojas1987 (at time of tornado and groundbreaking)
Served as priest for Saragosa and Balmorhea at the time of the May 22, 1987 tornado and led the parish through the 1987 groundbreaking and 1988 rebuilding.
- Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (MNM) — clustered pastoral team based at Santa Rosa de Lima, Pecoscurrent
The shrine is administered as a mission of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Pecos, staffed by MNM priests including Rev. Jose De la Cruz Longoria (Pastor) and Rev. Gabriel Terrones Marin (Parochial Vicar), with deacons Oscar Machuca and Rudy Villegas serving the cluster.