About St. Frances Cabrini · Beaver, Oklahoma
St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church is a small mission parish serving the Catholic community of Beaver, in the far eastern reaches of the Oklahoma Panhandle. It is administered from St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Guymon, which pastors this mission together with Church of the Good Shepherd in Boise City and Sacred Heart Church in Hooker. Sunday Mass is offered bilingually in English and Spanish at 9:00 a.m., reflecting the makeup of the surrounding rural community and the broader Hispanic Catholic presence across the Panhandle. The parish belongs to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
- Patron
- St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
- Rector
- Rev. Udayakumar Kandula (Parochial Vicar of St. Peter the Apostle, Guymon, with pastoral care of the Beaver, Boise City, and Hooker missions)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
Why belong here
St. Frances Cabrini is the only Catholic church serving Beaver and the surrounding rural Beaver County area, giving Catholic families and visitors a regular Sunday worship in their own town. Its bilingual English–Spanish Mass is a meaningful gathering place for both longtime Panhandle residents and the region's Hispanic Catholic families, with the same pastor from the Guymon cluster keeping ties to the wider Catholic life of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Visitors are welcomed to join this small but loyal rural mission community.
Mass times at St. Frances Cabrini
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church
St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church is a rural Catholic mission in Beaver, Oklahoma, the county seat of Beaver County in the far eastern Oklahoma Panhandle. The mission is administered from St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Guymon and belongs to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Sunday worship is bilingual, with a single weekly Mass offered in both English and Spanish to serve the Panhandle's mix of long-established ranching families and Hispanic Catholic residents.
- Mission of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, Guymon
- Located at 101 Ave. C, Beaver, OK 73932
- Part of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
- Sunday Mass celebrated bilingually (English/Spanish) at 9:00 a.m.
Parish History
St. Frances Cabrini was established as a Catholic worshipping presence in Beaver County, in the remote eastern Oklahoma Panhandle, and is today classified by the Archdiocese as a mission of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Guymon. Like other Panhandle missions, it has been served from Guymon rather than by a resident priest. A documented chapter in its pastoral history came when Fr. Basil Keenan, OSB, of St. Gregory's Abbey in Shawnee was assigned as Associate Pastor of St. Peter's Guymon cluster, with explicit responsibility for St. Frances Cabrini in Beaver, Good Shepherd in Boise City, and Sacred Heart in Hooker — a vast swath of the Panhandle.
Pastoral Care & Visiting Clergy
Because St. Frances Cabrini is a mission rather than a parish, its regular pastoral care comes from a priest assigned to St. Peter the Apostle in Guymon. As of assignments effective July 19, 2022, that role is filled by Rev. Udayakumar Kandula as Parochial Vicar, with St. Frances Cabrini in Beaver, Good Shepherd in Boise City, and Sacred Heart in Hooker listed explicitly among the communities under his care.
- Current Parochial Vicar (2022–): Rev. Udayakumar Kandula, resident at St. Peter the Apostle, Guymon
- Earlier cluster priest: Fr. Basil Keenan, OSB (St. Gregory's Abbey) — Associate Pastor for the Guymon/Beaver/Boise City/Hooker cluster, valued for his Spanish fluency
Sacraments & Devotions
As a small mission without a resident priest, day-to-day sacramental and devotional schedules are not separately published for St. Frances Cabrini. Sacraments such as baptism, marriage, anointing of the sick, and First Communion preparation are typically coordinated through the St. Peter the Apostle Parish office in Guymon, which serves the Beaver mission along with Good Shepherd in Boise City and Sacred Heart in Hooker.
- Parishioners are directed to St. Peter the Apostle, Guymon, for ongoing sacramental preparation
- Confession times and Eucharistic Adoration are not separately published for the Beaver mission
The Patron: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
The parish is named for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917), the Italian-born foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She came to the United States in 1889 at the direction of Pope Leo XIII and went on to found hospitals, schools, and orphanages for Italian immigrants across the Americas. She was canonized in 1946 as the first American citizen to be declared a saint and was named Universal Patron Saint of Immigrants — a patronage especially fitting for a rural Panhandle mission with a bilingual English–Spanish congregation.
- Born 1850 in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italy
- Founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) in 1880
- Arrived in New York in 1889; established schools, hospitals, and orphanages across the Americas
- Died December 22, 1917; canonized 1946
- Patroness of Immigrants
- Feast day: December 22
Visit & Contact
St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church is located on Avenue C in Beaver, the county seat of Beaver County in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The mailing address and parish phone line are listed below; pastoral email and the Panhandle Catholic website coordinate day-to-day parish business for the Guymon–Beaver–Boise City–Hooker cluster.
- Address: 101 Ave. C, Beaver, OK 73932
- Phone: (580) 338-7212
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.panhandlecatholic.org/st-frances-cabrini-beaver
- Parent parish: St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, Guymon
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Basil Keenan, OSB
Associate Pastor for St. Peter, Guymon, with mission responsibility for St. Frances Cabrini in Beaver, Good Shepherd in Boise City, and Sacred Heart in Hooker; fluency with Spanish noted as a help in these communities.
- Rev. Udayakumar Kandulaeffective July 19, 2022
Parochial Vicar of St. Peter the Apostle, Guymon, assigned also to St. Frances Cabrini (Beaver), Church of the Good Shepherd (Boise City), and Sacred Heart (Hooker).