About St. Margaret Mary · Pharr, Texas
St. Margaret Mary is a Roman Catholic parish in Pharr, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. Founded in 1927 and part of the Diocese of Brownsville, it serves a bilingual community with regular Masses in both English and Spanish. The parish is the historic birthplace of what became the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle — in 1920, Rev. Alfonso Jalbert, O.M.I., established the original Marian devotion in a small wooden chapel on parish grounds in Pharr, which later grew into the major nearby shrine in San Juan. Today the parish continues its weekly rhythm of weekday and weekend Masses, Friday Holy Hour and adoration, and Friday confessions.
- Established
- 1927
- Patron
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
- Rector
- Rev. Raymond O. Nwachukwu
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brownsville
Why belong here
St. Margaret Mary offers a stable, bilingual Catholic home in the heart of Pharr, with weekend Masses in both English and Spanish, a weekly Friday Holy Hour and Spanish Mass, and regular Friday confessions. It is a parish with deep Rio Grande Valley roots — the very place where, in 1920, the Marian devotion that grew into the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle was first planted. Worshippers looking for a community where English- and Spanish-speaking families pray side-by-side, with daily Mass opportunities and a century-old neighborhood presence, will feel at home here.
Mass times at St. Margaret Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Adoration times
- Friday 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Holy Hour followed by Spanish Mass)
Parish Identity & History
St. Margaret Mary is a Roman Catholic parish in Pharr, Texas, founded in 1927 in the Diocese of Brownsville. It belongs to the cluster of Rio Grande Valley parishes established that same year, alongside Immaculate Heart of Mary (Harlingen), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Raymondville), Our Lady Star of the Sea (Port Isabel), and Sacred Heart (Edinburg). For nearly a century the parish has ministered to the bilingual community of Pharr.
- Founded: 1927
- Diocese: Brownsville
- Address: 122 W. Hawk Ave., Pharr, TX 78577
Birthplace of a National Marian Shrine
The parish's most remarkable claim in Catholic history is its role as the seedbed of the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle. In 1920 — seven years before the parish's formal 1927 founding — Oblate Father Alfonso Jalbert built a small wooden chapel on parish land in Pharr dedicated to Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. That devotion was later transferred to San Juan, Texas, where it grew into one of the most visited Marian shrines in the United States, drawing over a million pilgrims a year, being declared a national shrine in 1998, and being elevated to minor basilica status by Pope John Paul II in 1999. The Shrine's official history explicitly identifies the modest chapel at St. Margaret Mary Church in Pharr as its starting point.
- 1920 — Rev. Alfonso Jalbert, O.M.I., establishes the chapel of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos on parish grounds.
- The devotion is later moved to San Juan, Texas.
- 1998 — designated a National Shrine; 1999 — elevated to minor basilica by Pope John Paul II.
Visit, Contact & Directions
St. Margaret Mary is located at 122 W. Hawk Avenue, Pharr, Texas 78577, on the west side of town. Visitors traveling via U.S. Expressway 83 should take the Cage Boulevard exit and turn right onto West Hawk Avenue, which leads directly to the parish. The parish office can be reached at (956) 787-8563 or by email at [email protected]. The official diocesan parish page is published at cdob.org.
- Address: 122 W. Hawk Ave., Pharr, TX 78577
- Phone: (956) 787-8563
- Email: [email protected]
- From US-83: exit Cage Blvd., turn right onto W. Hawk Ave.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Raymond O. Nwachukwueffective 12/01/2017 – present
Current pastor per Diocese of Brownsville parish finder
- Rev. Juan Manuel Salazareffective 05/02/2024
Listed by Diocese of Brownsville alongside the pastor (likely parochial vicar/associate)
- Rev. Lawrence 'Larry' J. Klein
Served as pastor of St. Margaret Mary during his decades in the Diocese of Brownsville before assignment to St. Anthony Parish