Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, out in Hidalgo County. Now settle in, because this story starts with a land deal and ends with something a whole lot bigger than one church on one street. In 1908, the Capisallo Land Company donated land to the Oblate Fathers for the construction of a Catholic church.

That's how it began. Just a plot of ground, a promise, and a purpose. By February of 1909, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church on Hidalgo Street was dedicated and open for worship.

Then in 1912, Reverend Enrique Janvier, O.M.I., became the first pastor. The church was finding its footing, and the community was growing right along with it. The Capisallo Land Company came back around in 1910 and donated four acres for a Catholic cemetery, so the faithful would have a place to rest as well as a place to pray.

Now here's where the story starts to stretch its legs. In 1915, a parochial school opened under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy, and those sisters kept that school running all the way to 1961. That is decades of children, decades of lessons, decades of faith handed down in a classroom.

Then under Father Ivor Gourmelen, a new brick church rose up at the corner of Third and Vermont Streets, and it was dedicated on October 29, 1922. Brick and mortar, cornerstone and steeple. But the truest measure of Our Lady of Mercy?

It became the mother church for seven other Catholic churches and fostered a dozen missions across Hidalgo and Cameron Counties. One donation of land in 1908, and what grew from it spread across two counties like roots runnin' deep and wide. That's not just a church.

That's a foundation.

What the marker says

OUR LADY OF MERCY CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 1908, THE CAPISALLO LAND COMPANY DONATED LAND TO THE OBLATE FATHERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A CATHOLIC CHURCH. OUR LADY OF MERCY CATHOLIC CHURCH ON HIDALGO STREET WAS DEDICATED IN FEBRUARY 1909 AND REV. ENRIQUE JANVIER, OMI, BECAME THE FIRST PASTOR IN 1912. IN 1910, THE LAND COMPANY DONATED FOUR ACRES FOR A CATHOLIC CEMETERY. A PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, UNDER DIRECTION OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY, OPERATED FROM 1915 TO 1961. UNDER FATHER IVOR GOURMELEN, A NEW BRICK CHURCH WAS BUILT AT THIRD AND VERMONT STREETS AND DEDICATED ON OCTOBER 29, 1922. OUR LADY OF MERCY CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS THE MOTHER CHURCH FOR SEVEN OTHER CATHOLIC CHURCHES AND FOSTERED A DOZEN MISSIONS IN HIDALGO AND CAMERON COUNTIES.