About St. Joseph · Princeton, California
St. Joseph Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church serving the rural community of Princeton, in Colusa County, California. It is administered as a dependent mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in nearby Colusa (the parent parish was established in 1870), and both parishes are part of the Diocese of Sacramento's Colusa County / Sutter Buttes Deanery. A bilingual Sunday Mass is celebrated in the mission, drawing worshippers from the small farming and ranching community of Princeton and the surrounding Sacramento Valley.
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Rector
- Rev. Sagar Kumar Gade (Parochial Administrator); the mission is served from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Colusa, where Rev. Jacobo Caceres is Pastor (per 2024-2025 Diocesan Directory).
- Diocese
- Diocese of Sacramento (Colusa County, Sutter Buttes Deanery)
Why belong here
St. Joseph Mission offers the small Princeton community the gift of a regular Sunday Mass close to home, celebrated bilingually in English and Spanish to welcome the area's farm-working families and long-time residents alike. As a mission of Our Lady of Lourdes in Colusa, it connects parishioners to a larger sacramental and faith-formation life — including baptisms, marriages, quinceañeras, and a parish food pantry — while preserving the intimate, family-scale worship of a country chapel.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. Joseph Mission
St. Joseph Mission is the Catholic mission church serving Princeton, California, a small rural community in the western Sacramento Valley within Colusa County. It is a dependent mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Colusa and is listed in the Diocese of Sacramento's official parish directory as part of the Colusa County, Sutter Buttes Deanery. The mission's address, First and Center Streets, places it in the heart of Princeton's small historic core.
- Type: Mission church
- Parish family: Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa (est. 1870)
- Diocese of Sacramento — Colusa County, Sutter Buttes Deanery
- Patron: St. Joseph
History
The mission's story is tied closely to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Colusa, which was established in 1870 by priests who built and staffed Catholic worship across a wide swath of Colusa County. Princeton — a small ranching and farming settlement on the valley floor — has long been served by Colusa as one of its out-stations. The mission is grouped with Our Lady of Sorrows Shrine at Sycamore as the two mission/station communities cared for by the Colusa parish. No specific founding date for the Princeton mission itself is published online.
- Parent parish Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa, established 1870
- Sister-mission: Our Lady of Sorrows Shrine, Sycamore
- Historically served by 19th-century priests who ministered across rural Colusa County
Clergy & Staff
St. Joseph Mission does not have a resident priest of its own. It is administered by clergy assigned to the parent parish in Colusa. The Diocese of Sacramento's online parish page lists Rev. Sagar Kumar Gade as the Parochial Administrator for the Princeton mission, while the 2024-2025 Diocesan Directory lists Rev. Jacobo Caceres as Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Colusa, with Deacons Ruben Fuentes and Dr. Julian Lazaro Delgado assisting at the Colusa parish.
- Parochial Administrator: Rev. Sagar Kumar Gade
- Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes: Rev. Jacobo Caceres
- Deacon Ruben Fuentes
- Deacon Dr. Julian Lazaro Delgado
Liturgy & Languages
The mission's regular Sunday liturgy is bilingual, weaving together English and Spanish so that longtime valley families and newer immigrant farm-working households can worship together. The mission is part of the Roman Rite (Diocese of Sacramento) and follows the parish's liturgical calendar published by the Colusa parent parish.
- Rite: Roman (Latin) Rite
- Languages: English, Spanish
- Sunday Mass: bilingual
Sacraments
Because St. Joseph is a dependent mission without a resident priest, the celebration of most sacraments is coordinated through Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Colusa. The mission community shares in the parent parish's preparation programs and celebrations for the sacraments.
- Baptism — coordinated through Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa
- Marriage — coordinated through Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa
- Quinceañera — coordinated through Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa
Parish Outreach & Community Life
Through its parent parish in Colusa, the mission community is part of a broader Catholic outreach that includes a parish food pantry serving Colusa County families. The mission itself is a small, close-knit country chapel that brings together Princeton-area farm and ranch families for Sunday worship and the great feasts of the Church year.
- Parish food pantry (Colusa)
- Community events hosted with Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa
- Country-chapel atmosphere typical of Sacramento Valley mission churches
Contact & Visiting
Mail and phone inquiries are handled through the Our Lady of Lourdes parish office in Colusa. The mission is located at the corner of 1st Alley and Center Street in Princeton, California.
- Address: First and Center Streets, Princeton, CA 95932
- Phone: (530) 458-4170
- Mailing address: 745 Ware Avenue, Colusa, CA 95932 (parish office)
- Website: scd.org/parish/st-joseph-mission-princeton