About St. Margaret Mary · Paraje, New Mexico
St. Margaret Mary is a Catholic mission chapel in the village of Paraje, one of six villages of the Pueblo of Laguna in Cibola County, New Mexico. It is not a standalone parish but one of eight mission churches supervised by the parish of St. Joseph in Laguna, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup. Built in 1935 by the residents of Paraje themselves — who hauled large sandstone blocks by wagon and horse — the chapel was dedicated on July 20, 1935, by the Most Rev. Archbishop Rudolph A. Gerken, D.D., of Santa Fe. It continues to serve the Keresan Catholic community of Paraje, with Mass celebrated on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays of each month and the patron's feast day honored each October 17.
- Established
- 1935
- Patron
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup
Why belong here
St. Margaret Mary is the spiritual home of a small Pueblo Catholic community whose families built the chapel themselves in 1935 and continue to gather for Mass and the October 17 patron feast. Worshippers here participate in a living fusion of Keresan Pueblo tradition and Roman Catholicism that has shaped Laguna's six villages for generations, and visitors are welcomed into a chapel whose sandstone walls were laid by the ancestors of today's parishioners.
Mass times at St. Margaret Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays of Mass: 4:40 pm – 4:55 pm
History of St. Margaret Mary Mission Chapel
St. Margaret Mary Mission Chapel was built in 1935 by the people of Paraje village, who hauled large sandstone blocks by wagon and horse for many weeks to raise the walls. The completed chapel was dedicated on July 20, 1935, by Most Rev. Archbishop Rudolph A. Gerken, D.D., Archbishop of Santa Fe. Longtime residents Mary Analla and Tom Dailey are remembered as among those who hauled the stone. The chapel is one of a series of Pueblo-style mission churches built in the Laguna villages during the 1930s under Franciscan Father Agnellus Lammert and architect John Gaw Meem.
- Built 1935 by villagers of Paraje
- Dedicated July 20, 1935 by Archbishop Rudolph A. Gerken, D.D.
- Sandstone hauled by wagon and horse
- Part of the 1930s Lammert–Meem Laguna mission-chapel program
Patron Saint
The chapel is named for St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), the French Visitation nun and mystic who is known as the apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her feast is observed each year on October 17. The Pueblo of Laguna's history page for Paraje Church notes that 'The feast day of the Patron Saint is celebrated on October 17th.'
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Visitation nun (1647–1690)
- Feast day: October 17
- Apostle of the Sacred Heart devotion
Architects and Builders
St. Margaret Mary was designed by the celebrated Southwestern Pueblo Revival architect John Gaw Meem and built under the supervision of Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM, the Franciscan pastor at Laguna who was assigned there in 1932. Father Agnellus, his father, and his brother contributed much of the labor themselves and worked alongside the village residents. The Paraje chapel is one of four Lammert–Meem collaborations completed in the Laguna villages between 1933 and 1940.
- Architect: John Gaw Meem
- Supervising priest: Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM (Laguna, 1932– )
- Co-builders: Lammert family and Paraje village residents
- Sister chapels: Santa María de Acoma/McCartys (1933), Sacred Heart/Mesita (1936), St. Anne/Acomita (1940)
Supervising Parish — St. Joseph, Laguna
St. Margaret Mary is administered as a mission of St. Joseph Parish, Laguna (1 Friar Rd., Laguna, NM 87026). The parish at the main Pueblo of Laguna village — San Jose Mission, founded in 1699 — is the spiritual 'mother church' for all six Laguna villages (Laguna, Mesita, Paguate, Seama, Paraje, and Encinal) and the satellite Acoma-area chapels. The parish mailing address is the same as St. Joseph's, and phone calls to the mission at (505) 552-9330 reach the parish office.
- Supervising parish: St. Joseph, Laguna (1 Friar Rd., Laguna, NM 87026)
- San Jose Mission founded 1699 — 'mother church' of Laguna Pueblo
- Parochial Vicar listed for the supervising parish: Fr. Joseph Xavier Kanna
- Phone shared with the mission: (505) 552-9330
Paraje Village and Laguna Pueblo
Paraje (Spanish for 'stopping place' or 'residence') is one of six villages of the Pueblo of Laguna, a federally recognized Keresan-speaking tribe whose trust lands encompass roughly 500,000 acres. The village was established in the 1870s by members of the Laguna community who relocated along the San Jose River. Its location on US 66 made it a roadside community in the 1920s–30s, and St. Margaret Mary Mission Chapel — built the same year Route 66 curved through the area — remains the village's active Catholic church.
- Six Laguna villages: Laguna, Mesita, Paguate, Seama, Paraje, Encinal
- Population roughly 1,400 (predominantly Native American, Laguna Pueblo)
- Pueblo lands held in federal trust for the Laguna people
Diocese of Gallup
St. Margaret Mary belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, a multicultural diocese of about 55,000 square miles covering northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, with some 53 parishes and mission churches, 13 schools, and approximately 58,000 Catholics among a total population of 490,000. The current bishop is the Most Rev. James S. Wall, fourth Bishop of Gallup, appointed February 5, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI and installed April 23, 2009. The Cathedral parish is Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup.
- Bishop: Most Rev. James S. Wall (since 2009)
- Cathedral: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Gallup
- 53 parishes, 13 schools, ~58,000 Catholics
Feast Day and Community Celebration
Each year around October 17, the Pueblo of Laguna's Paraje community gathers to celebrate the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Pueblo of Laguna's official history page records that 'The feast day of the Patron Saint is celebrated on October 17th.' The Laguna people also gather at San Jose Mission in the main pueblo for major feasts across the year, while each satellite village hosts its own patron's fiesta.
- Annual patron feast: October 17
- Fiesta observed locally in Paraje each year
- Part of a wider cycle of pueblo patron-saint fiestas
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM1932–1936 (Laguna assignment)
Franciscan missionary who, with his father and brother, supervised construction of St. Margaret Mary (1935) and other Laguna satellite chapels using architect John Gaw Meem's plans.