About St. Bridget · Oilton, Texas
St. Bridget Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the rural community of Oilton, Texas (Webb County), about 32 miles east of Laredo on State Highway 359. It is a Franciscan mission cared for by the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) and is attached as a satellite of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville, which serves as its mother parish. The mission celebrates a bilingual (English–Spanish) Sunday Mass and is one of only a handful of missions still entrusted to the Franciscans in the Diocese of Laredo.
- Patron
- St. Brigid of Ireland (Brigid of Kildare)
- Rector
- Fr. Juan Jose Ibarra, OFM
- Diocese
- Diocese of Laredo
Why belong here
St. Bridget Mission offers a close-knit, bilingual Catholic community in a small South Texas ranching town, with Sunday Mass celebrated in both English and Spanish. As a Franciscan mission under the pastoral care of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville, it brings the spiritual charism of the Order of Friars Minor to a rural congregation that would otherwise have limited access to regular Mass. Families who worship here enjoy a simple, traditional worship life rooted in nearly a century of Franciscan service to the Oilton area.
Mass times at St. Bridget
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Before and after Mass
About St. Bridget Mission
St. Bridget Mission is a Roman Catholic mission church serving the small South Texas community of Oilton in Webb County. It belongs to the Diocese of Laredo and is cared for by the Order of Friars Minor (OFM Franciscans) from its mother parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Hebbronville. The mission offers a bilingual Sunday liturgy in English and Spanish for the ranching families of the surrounding countryside.
- Type: Catholic Mission
- Diocese: Diocese of Laredo
- Mother Parish: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hebbronville
- Pastoral care: Order of Friars Minor (OFM)
History
Oilton itself began life as Torrecillas, a 19th-century rail stop on the Texas-Mexican Railway, and took the name Oilton in 1922 after oil was discovered nearby. The Catholic mission was assigned, along with many other small South Texas communities, to the Franciscan friars who cared for the Hebbronville parish starting in 1926.
- Oilton (originally Torrecillas) founded as a railway station in 1881
- Post office and name 'Oilton' established in 1922 after nearby oil finds
- Mission included in Franciscan pastoral territory served from Hebbronville
- In 2000, after the Diocese of Laredo was created, Bruni, Oilton, and Mirando City remained the three missions under Franciscan care
Franciscan Heritage
The mission belongs to a long Franciscan pastoral tradition in the Hebbronville area that began in 1926 when Fr. Bernardino Madueño, Fr. Jose Guadalupe Torres, and Fr. Pascual Ruiz arrived from Mexico. Their successors have continued to serve the ranching communities of the South Texas Plains, of which Oilton is one of the smallest.
- Franciscans (OFM) arrived in Hebbronville in 1926
- Oilton has been part of the Franciscan mission field of Hebbronville for much of the 20th century
- St. Bridget Mission is one of only three Franciscan missions remaining in the Diocese of Laredo
Patron Saint: St. Brigid of Ireland
The mission is named for St. Brigid of Kildare (c. 451–525), one of the three patron saints of Ireland alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba. She founded the important abbey of Kildare and is venerated as patroness of Ireland, of poets, healers, blacksmiths, livestock and dairy workers.
- Feast day: February 1
- Patroness of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and St. Columba
- Patroness of poets, healers, blacksmiths, livestock and dairy workers
- Feast day coincides with the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring
Mass & Liturgy
St. Bridget Mission serves its small bilingual Catholic community with a weekly Sunday Mass celebrated in both English and Spanish. The liturgy is supported by the OFM priests who travel from the mother parish in Hebbronville.
- Sunday Mass: 10:00 am (English / Spanish)
- Confessions: before and after Mass
- Parish office hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Parish Staff & Clergy
The mission is staffed by Franciscan friars of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) who serve the Hebbronville-area missions. Day-to-day parish coordination is handled by a lay parish contact.
- Pastor: Fr. Juan Jose Ibarra, OFM
- Parochial Vicar: Fr. Pablo Cesar Cisneros, OFM
- Parish Contact: Patricia Lopez
Contact & Visit
St. Bridget Mission can be reached through the parish office in Hebbronville, which serves as the central point of contact for all the Franciscan missions in the area. Visitors traveling from Laredo or Hebbronville will find the church in the small town of Oilton, on Welhousen Street.
- Address: Welhousen St., Oilton, TX 78371
- Phone: (361) 527-3865
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: olghebbronville.com/missions/st-bridget
- Office hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Getting to Oilton
Oilton is a small community in the ranch country of Webb County on State Highway 359, roughly 32 miles east of Laredo and about 24 miles west of Hebbronville. Visitors should plan for a rural drive through the South Texas Plains.
- Located on State Highway 359
- About 2 miles east of Mirando City
- Roughly 32 miles east of Laredo, 24 miles west of Hebbronville
- Population: ~152 residents (2010 census)
Mother Parish: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hebbronville
St. Bridget Mission is formally a mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hebbronville, the mother church of the South Texas Franciscan pastoral field. Our Lady of Guadalupe itself traces its Catholic roots to 1890 and has been under Franciscan care since 1926; its website is the principal online hub for information about St. Bridget.
- Mother Parish: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Hebbronville, TX
- Parish website: olghebbronville.com
- Other Franciscan missions under Our Lady of Guadalupe: Sacred Heart (Bruni), St. Agnes (Mirando City)