About St. Joseph · Salineno, Texas
St. Joseph Mission is a small Catholic mission church in Salineño (Salineno), Texas, a historic ranching community on the Rio Grande in western Starr County. It is one of four mission chapels served by Our Lady of Refuge Parish in nearby Roma, within the Diocese of Brownsville. The community is almost entirely Spanish-speaking, and Mass at the mission is celebrated in Spanish. The mission traces its origins to the traveling Oblates of Mary Immaculate who first brought the sacraments to the ranches of the upper Rio Grande in the mid-1800s, with the chapel at Salineño built around 1906.
- Established
- 1906
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brownsville
Why belong here
St. Joseph Mission is the spiritual home of the historic ranching community of Salineño, where Mexican Catholic families have worshipped for well over a century. Sunday Mass in Spanish keeps alive the faith of those served by the original Oblate missionaries, and the small mission sits beside the community's well-kept Catholic cemetery, anchoring the spiritual life of the ranch settlements along the Rio Grande. It is a place where visitors are welcomed into a tight-knit, bilingual-borderlands Catholic community rooted in family, tradition, and the river.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
St. Joseph Mission, Salineño, Texas
St. Joseph Mission is a small Catholic mission chapel serving the historic ranching community of Salineño on the Rio Grande in western Starr County, Texas. The mission is a dependent chapel of Our Lady of Refuge Parish in nearby Roma, within the Diocese of Brownsville, and is one of four missions that the Roma parish shepherds along the river.
- Type: Mission (dependent chapel of Our Lady of Refuge, Roma)
- Diocese of Brownsville
- Language of Mass: Spanish
- Sunday Mass at 11:00 AM
History of the Salineño Mission
Catholic life in Salineño grew out of the Oblate of Mary Immaculate mission field established along the Rio Grande in the 1850s. From their base in Roma, the Oblates traveled up and down the river visiting ranches and villages; by the early 1900s a chapel had been built at Salineño, with the Texas State Historical Association dating the formal establishment of the mission church to 1906. The mission church replaced the earlier ranch school on the same site and has served the largely Mexican, Spanish-speaking ranching families of the area ever since.
- 1853 — Oblates of Mary Immaculate expand mission territory west into Starr County from Brownsville.
- 1854 — Father Jean-Marie Gaye, OMI, establishes a residence in Roma, head of steamboat navigation on the Rio Grande.
- Late 1800s — Oblates build chapels at several ranches in Starr County, including one at Salineño.
- 1906 — Mission church formally established at Salineño.
- Twentieth century — Mission passes to the pastoral care of Our Lady of Refuge Parish, Roma, within the Diocese of Brownsville.
The Oblate Trail and Our Lady of Refuge, Roma
The mission at Salineño is a direct legacy of the Oblate Trail, the chain of mission stations the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate built along the Rio Grande between Brownsville and Laredo. Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Roma — listed by the Diocese of Brownsville as established in 1853, with church buildings dating to 1854 and 1905 — is the mother parish that today ministers to St. Joseph Mission and three other river chapels.
- Our Lady of Refuge Parish, Roma — established 1853
- Holy Trinity Mission, Falcon Heights
- Lamb of God Mission, Fronton
- Holy Family Mission, Los Saenz
- St. Joseph Mission, Salineño — about 15 km upriver from Roma
Mass and Worship
The mission celebrates one weekly Mass, on Sunday morning at 11:00 AM, in Spanish. Like other small diocesan missions in South Texas, weekday Masses, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and other devotions are typically offered at the mother parish in Roma or at neighboring chapels; visitors planning a visit should confirm the current schedule with Our Lady of Refuge Parish.
- Sunday Mass: 11:00 AM (Spanish)
- Parish office phone (Our Lady of Refuge): (956) 849-1455
The Salineño Community
Salineño is a 250-year-old community on the Rio Grande about twelve miles northwest of Roma, originally the headquarters of Rancho Salinas. Ranching in the area began in 1734, and the residents were — and remain — predominantly Mexican-American Catholics. The community is well known today both for its deep ranching and religious traditions and for the winter bird-watching compounds that attract thousands of visitors each year to see rarities such as the brown jay, Audubon's oriole, and Altamira oriole.
- Founded as a ranching settlement; cattle, horses, sheep, and goats by 1757
- Near an ancient Indian river crossing used until local bridges were built
- Population was 155 in 1990 and 304 in 2000
- Famous wintering site for rare Rio Grande valley birds
- Adjacent Catholic cemetery: Cementerio Católico de Salineño ('El Panteón de Salineño')
Contact and Visit
St. Joseph Mission is administered through Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Roma. The parish phone line, the parish mailing address, and the parish Facebook page are the best ways to reach the mission and to confirm the current Mass and sacramental schedule.
- Address: Iglesia Street, Salineño, TX 78584
- Parish phone: (956) 849-1455
- Parent parish: Our Lady of Refuge, 4 St. Eugene de Mazenod Ave., Roma, TX 78584
- Official social: http://www.facebook.com/OLRRoma/