DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way down in Hidalgo County, in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, a congregation was taking shape in McAllen, and it didn't happen overnight. It started the way a lot of things start out here, with somebody making a long ride from somewhere else.
From 1908 until 1911, priests from La Lomita Chapel, over in nearby Mission, were the ones making that journey, ministering to Catholics at McAllen. No local church yet, just faithful people and a priest coming to them. Then, in 1911, something changed.
A mission was begun right there in McAllen, and a wood frame chapel was built. Modest, sure. But it was theirs.
The congregation didn't find itself without guidance during those early years. The Rev. J.M.F.
Guenneugues, O.M.I., of Mission, kept watch over that little flock all the way through 1915. Then the Rev. Francis A.
Dupassieux, O.M.I., came to the McAllen Chapel and took up that work. By 1917, they weren't just holding services anymore. A school had been added.
A rectory had been added. And Sacred Heart was declared an independent parish, standing on its own. Now here's what that quiet growth amounted to.
Sacred Heart Parish went on to serve as the Mother Church to many missions in central Hidalgo County. That wood frame chapel from 1911 became the starting point for a whole web of faith reaching across the county. Planted small, grew wide.
That's the story the marker tells.
What the marker says
Priests from La Lomita Chapel in nearby Mission ministered to Catholics at McAllen from 1908 until 1911, when a mission was begun here and a wood frame chapel was built. The congregation remained under the guidance of the Rev. J.M.F. Guenneugues, O.M.I., of Mission until 1915, when the Rev. Francis A. Dupassieux, O.M.I., came to the McAllen Chapel. By 1917 a school and rectory were added and Sacred Heart became an independent parish. Sacred Heart Parish has served as "Mother Church" to many missions in central Hidalgo County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.