About St. Patrick of Holy Family Parish · Galveston, Texas
St. Patrick of Holy Family Parish refers to St. Patrick Church, the historic Catholic church located at 3424 Avenue K / 1010 35th Street on Galveston Island, Texas. Originally established in 1870 as an independent parish for the Irish Catholics of west-end Galveston, St. Patrick is one of six worship sites now united as Holy Family Parish, a multi-site community created by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo on August 15, 2009 in the wake of Hurricane Ike (September 2008). The parish continues the 1870 mission of Bishop Claude M. Dubuis and worships today in a soaring Gothic Revival sanctuary designed by the celebrated Texas architect Nicholas J. Clayton, which was lifted five feet onto a new foundation between 1905 and 1907 after the Great Hurricane of 1900.
- Established
- 1870
- Patron
- Saint Patrick
- Rector
- Very Reverend Jude Ekenedilchukwu Ezuma (Pastor, Holy Family Parish)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston
Why belong here
St. Patrick offers one of the most striking Gothic Revival interiors on the Texas Gulf Coast — with original stained glass, soaring arches, and circular ceiling windows — inside a building that was physically lifted five feet in 1907 to survive the storms that follow one another across this island. Worshippers can attend a Saturday Vigil in English at 5 PM, a Sunday Mass designated for youth at 10 AM, or the Sunday Spanish Mass at 12 PM, while the adjacent Parish Life Center hosts perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel and weekday OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes. Belonging means joining the oldest west-end parish tradition on Galveston Island now woven into a six-church Catholic community that also reaches across Bolivar Peninsula and Jamaica Beach.
Mass times at St. Patrick of Holy Family Parish
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesdays 4:30–5:30 PM — Ursuline Chapel (1525 25th Street)
- Saturdays 3:30–4:30 PM — St. Patrick Church (1010 35th Street)
- Saturdays 5:30 PM — Our Lady by the Sea Church (Bolivar)
- Saturdays 6:30 PM — Mary Star of the Sea Church (Jamaica Beach)
- Sundays 8:30 AM — Holy Rosary Church
- Sundays 10:30 AM — Sacred Heart Church
- Or by appointment: 409-762-9646
Adoration times
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Perpetual Adoration Chapel — Monday–Friday 8:30 AM–4:30 PM (access code/sign-up through the Parish Office)
- Exposition Tuesday morning following the 7 AM Mass until Benediction Wednesday at 5:30 PM (Ursuline Chapel / school-side of St. Patrick campus)
History of Holy Family Parish and its Six Churches
Holy Family Parish of Galveston & Bolivar was canonically erected on August 15, 2009 — the Solemnity of the Assumption — by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston. The merger was a direct pastoral response to the catastrophic damage Hurricane Ike inflicted on the island in September 2008 and brought together ten predecessor parishes: St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, Sacred Heart, St. Patrick, Holy Rosary, Mary Star of the Sea, Our Mother of Mercy, Reina de la Paz, St. Peter the Apostle, and St. Theresa of Lisieux. Today the unified parish retains six of those historic churches as worship sites — St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, St. Patrick, Sacred Heart, Holy Rosary, Mary Star of the Sea (Jamaica Beach), and Our Lady by the Sea (Bolivar) — and has unified its Catholic presence across the island and the Bolivar Peninsula.
History of St. Patrick Parish (the West-End Irish Church)
St. Patrick Parish traces its origins to 1870, when Bishop Claude M. Dubuis established a parish to serve the rapidly growing west end of Galveston Island, then populated largely by Irish immigrants. A wooden sanctuary was built and named for St. Patrick, the patron of Ireland, but storms destroyed it within a year. Father Laurence Glynn, arriving in 1871, rallied the survivors, and by 1877 an imposing Gothic church — designed by the celebrated Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton, himself a parish member — was completed. A parish school was added in the 1880s, and the parish became a leading Catholic institution on the island.
- 1870 — Parish established by Bishop Dubuis; wooden sanctuary built.
- 1871 — Storms destroy the first sanctuary; Rev. Laurence Glynn arrives.
- 1877 — Gothic church completed, designed by Nicholas J. Clayton.
- 1880s — Parish school established.
- 1900 — Great Galveston Hurricane; the original tall spire collapses onto the sanctuary.
- 1905–1907 — Church lifted five feet onto a new foundation; Our Lady of Guadalupe mission founded (parish status 1927); Queen of Peace mission founded.
- Late 1980s — Parish elementary schools consolidated; St. Patrick school repurposed for parish offices, religious education, and social events.
- 1996 — Texas Historical Commission Marker #7176 dedicated at Avenue K and 34th Street.
Architecture and Storms: A Survivor of the Gulf
St. Patrick's signature Gothic Revival design — pointed arches, soaring stained glass, and circular ceiling windows — bears the unmistakable mark of Nicholas J. Clayton, the Irish-born architect whose fingerprints remain across Galveston's Victorian streetscape. The current building replaced Clayton's 1877 sanctuary after its original spire, then the tallest in Texas, collapsed during the 1900 hurricane. Between 1905 and 1907 one hundred men turned manual screw jacks to lift the massive masonry church five feet onto a new foundation, complying with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' mandate to raise every Galveston structure after the great storm. That unusual lift is credited with sparing the church from flood damage during Hurricane Ike in 2008. In 2019 the building's aging asphalt-shingle roof was replaced with 9,000 sq ft of .040-gauge Snap-Clad aluminum standing-seam panels from Petersen/PAC-CLAD, designed for the punishing Gulf climate.
Religious Education, OCIA, and Youth Ministry
Faith formation at Holy Family Parish includes the OCIA — Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (the process formerly known as RCIA) — for adults seeking full communion with the Catholic Church, meeting weekly September through May. Child Catechesis & Evangelization (the parish Religious Education program) is directed by Sr. Betty Kalu, HHCJ; Allan Weilert serves as Director of Religious Education and Jennifer Gay serves as Youth Minister. The Director of Liturgical Music is Racheal Schraufnagel. Coordinator of Family Life and Pastoral Ministries is Sr. Emilia Ogar, HHCJ.
Parish Ministries, Groups, and Outreach
Holy Family Parish supports a wide range of lay ministries. The ACTS retreat ministry offers retreats in both English and Spanish, rooted in Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service. A monthly Food Pantry / Food Distribution is hosted on the 1st Thursday of each month from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM. The parish also coordinates family-life and pastoral ministries, liturgical music, and a large diaconal corps that assists at Masses and provides pastoral service across the six churches.
- ACTS Retreats (English & Spanish) — contact Francisco Castro (Spanish) or the parish office
- Food Pantry — 1st Thursday, 8:30 AM–12:00 PM
- Family Life & Pastoral Ministries — Sr. Emilia Ogar, HHCJ
- Liturgical Music — Racheal Schraufnagel, Director
- OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults)
Parish Clergy and Staff
Holy Family Parish is led by Very Reverend Jude Ekenedilchukwu Ezuma, Pastor/Rector, assisted by Parochial Vicars Reverend José Alonso (Fr. J Serrato) and Reverend Stephen Payne. The deacon corps includes Deacons Doug Matthews, Kimble Nobles, Jeff Willard, John Pistone, Robert 'Buzz' Standridge, Sam Dell'Olio, and Jonathan Wright. Lay staff include Sr. Solange Uzoigwe (Administrative Assistant), Sr. Emilia Ogar, HHCJ (Coordinator of Family Life and Pastoral Ministries), Sr. Betty Kalu, HHCJ (Director of Religious Education), Allan Weilert (Director of Religious Education / Faith Formation), Jennifer Gay (Youth Minister), Debbie Nichols (Bookkeeper), Julie Chavez Zavala (Facilities Manager), and Joshua Yono (Facilities and Maintenance).
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Laurence Glynn1871–
Arrived in 1871, just days after storms destroyed the original wood sanctuary; rallied the congregation and led them through the building of the 1877 Gothic church.
- Fr. Danek1979 (context)
Pastor of St. Patrick in 1979, when he led the founding of the mission Reina de la Paz (later an independent parish, now part of Holy Family).
- Rev. John Bok2008 (Hurricane Ike era)
Parish priest during Hurricane Ike; quoted in a FEMA case study on the 1907 elevation that saved St. Patrick in 2008.