About St. Victor Mission Chapel · Lakehills, Texas
St. Victor Mission Chapel is a mission church of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bandera, Texas, serving the Catholic community around Medina Lake in Lakehills, Texas. Weekends at the chapel are kept simple and faithful: Saturday evening Mass at 7:00 PM and Sunday morning Mass at 9:45 AM, plus a Monday afternoon Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. The mission's life is woven into the larger St. Stanislaus parish family — sharing its pastor (Rev. Msgr. Frank Kurzaj), its deacon, its Coordinator of Religious Education, and ministries that reach across the Bandera / Pipe Creek / Lakehills area. A new chapel building was dedicated in January 2019 by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, the capstone of a parish story that began in a lakeside store in 1956.
- Established
- 1956
- Patron
- St. Victor (Pope St. Victor I)
- Rector
- Rev. Msgr. Frank Kurzaj
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of San Antonio
Why belong here
St. Victor Mission Chapel offers a small, close-knit Catholic community on the shores of Medina Lake with a calm weekend Mass schedule — Saturday evening at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 9:45 AM — plus a weekly Monday Holy Hour of Adoration. Because it is a mission of St. Stanislaus in Bandera, parishioners benefit from a much larger family of ministries — Faith Formation, Knights of Columbus, Guadalupanos Society, St. Vincent de Paul, Altar Society, Homebound Ministry and more — while still worshiping in a mission-sized setting. Religious Education for St. Victor's children meets on Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30 AM, and Lakehills-area homebound parishioners are personally visited by St. Victor ministers of the Homebound Ministry.
Mass times at St. Victor Mission Chapel
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 20 minutes before every scheduled Mass, or by appointment (heard by Fr. Frank Kurzaj)
Adoration times
- Monday 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration at St. Victor Chapel)
St. Victor Mission Chapel — Overview
St. Victor Chapel is a mission of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bandera, Texas, serving the Lakehills / Medina Lake area. It maintains a simple weekend Mass schedule and a Monday Holy Hour of Adoration, and is supported by the parish office in Bandera. All sacramental records, registration, and parish communications are handled through the main St. Stanislaus parish office at 311 7th Street, Bandera, TX 78003 (P.O. Box 757, Bandera, TX 78003), reachable at 830-460-4712.
- Type: Mission Chapel of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Bandera
- Diocese: Archdiocese of San Antonio
- Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Frank Kurzaj
- Deacon: Carl Rutkowski
History of St. Victor Chapel (1956–2019)
St. Victor's roots go back to January 15, 1956, when 29 people met at Adolph's Store on Medina Lake to begin a chapel closer to home. The first Mass was celebrated on Sunday, February 12, 1956, with 61 people crowded into the 18' x 63' store. The store was purchased for $3,900 and slowly improved with donated pews, vestments, altar furnishings, and a bell. A new chapel was built in 2018 and dedicated on January 13, 2019 by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, with a relic of St. Victor sealed in the Altar.
- First Mass: Sunday, February 12, 1956, at Adolph's Store, Medina Lake (61 people in attendance)
- Founding meeting: January 15, 1956 (29 attendees; 13 families registered)
- Founding families: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mazurek led the effort
- New chapel construction: began January 2018; designed by Mark Morkovsky of Morkovsky & Associates; built by J. C. Stoddard Construction
- Dedication Mass: Sunday, January 13, 2019, 4:00 PM, principal celebrant Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller
- Concelebrants: Msgr. Frank Kurzaj (pastor), Very Rev. John Nolan (past pastor), priests of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Deacon Carl Rutkowski
Patron: St. Victor (Pope St. Victor I)
The chapel is named for St. Victor, in gratitude to Father Victor, a priest who was especially supportive of the new mission in its earliest years. The patron himself — St. Victor I — was the first Black Pope and came from Africa, becoming Pope in 189 A.D. A relic of St. Victor was placed in the Altar of the new chapel at the 2019 dedication Mass.
- St. Victor I — Pope and Martyr, r. 189–199 A.D.
- First Pope of African origin
- Feast day: July 28
- Relic of St. Victor enshrined in the Altar at the 2019 dedication
Clergy and Staff (shared with St. Stanislaus)
St. Victor is served by the clergy and staff of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bandera. Fr. Frank Kurzaj is the pastor, and Deacon Carl Rutkowski assists at both the parish and the mission. Parish-office and faith-formation staff support St. Victor's liturgical and educational life.
- Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Frank Kurzaj
- Deacon: Carl Rutkowski
- Parish Office Manager: Lindsay Mace
- Administrative Assistant: Michelle Frost
- Coordinator of Religious Education (CRE): Rebecca Neill
- Maintenance: John Escalera
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Religious Education at St. Victor Chapel is coordinated through the parish office by Rebecca Neill, the Coordinator of Religious Education. Classes are held at the chapel on Sunday mornings from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, so that students can attend Religious Education and then join the 9:45 AM Sunday Mass. The program runs from September through April each year.
- St. Victor Religious Education: Sundays 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM (September – April)
- Coordinator: Rebecca Neill — reachable through the parish office at 830-460-4712
- Sacramental preparation (Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation) coordinated through the parish office
Ministries Serving St. Victor
As a mission of St. Stanislaus, St. Victor draws on the full list of parish ministries. The Homebound Ministry specifically notes that 'St. Victor Ministers visit residents who live in the Lakehills area,' and music for the chapel is provided by Diana and Jeffrey Edwards and their family. A weekly Monday Holy Hour of Adoration is maintained at the chapel.
- Homebound Ministry — St. Victor ministers visit Lakehills-area parishioners
- Music Ministry — Diana & Jeffrey Edwards and family
- Eucharistic Adoration — Monday Holy Hour
- Parent-parish ministries shared with St. Stanislaus: Altar Society, Guadalupanos Society, Knights of Columbus Council #10258, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Prayer Blanket Ministry, Rosary Makers (His Holy Face), Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors/Commentators, Greeters, Pastoral Council, Finance Council, ACTS, Youth Ministry, Faith Formation/OCIA, Safe Environment
Annual Events and Fundraisers
Two long-standing events — the Spring Festival and the Turkey Supper — have sustained the chapel's improvements across the decades. The chapel also hosts periodic community gatherings such as the St. Victor Festival.
- Spring Festival — first Sunday of June
- Turkey Supper — first Saturday of November
- St. Victor Festival — community event (e.g., June 3, 2018 at the Lakehills Civic Center)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Charles Schmidtzinskycirca 1956
Pastor of St. Stanislaus in Bandera who helped launch the chapel effort with the Mazurek family
- Very Reverend John Nolan
Past pastor of the parish; concelebrated the 2019 dedication Mass of the new St. Victor Chapel