Our Lady of Sorrows Church

Our Lady of Sorrows Church was originally built in 1857 and served as the congregation's house of worship for more than one hundred years. An excellent example of adobe architecture, it features a stuccoed brick exterior, twenty-foot high walls that are between 3.5-4.5-feet thick, two bell towers, and a gable roof. The layout is a cruciform shape. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The first Catholic parish in the Bernalillo area established by 1700 and was called La Parroquia de Nuestra Padre San Francisco de Los Españoles de Bernalillo. However, it ceased to exist by 1746 and the residents came under the jurisdiction of the mission church at Pueblo of Sandia. Over the next century, the area was part of Spanish, then Mexican, then American control. In 1826, with the financial assistance of a wealthy ranching family, a church was built after residents received permission from Mexican authorities. In 1850, Pope Pius IX established the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico (by then New Mexico had become American territory following the Mexican-America War) and appointed Father Jean Baptiste Lamy as bishop the next year. By 1853, the Diocese of Santa Fe was founded and covered an area that included New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado (over time, the diocese was divided into smaller units; Our Lady of Sorrows still remains of a part of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe).

Bishop Lamy oversaw the construction of 45 new churches and chapels, including Our Lady of Sorrows, and the repair of around 18 others. Another priest, Fr. Joseph Fialon, supervised the construction of the church. The Perea family once again provided the funds for the project. The church originally had a dirt floor, a front balcony, and a dirt roof supported by beams called "vigas." Our Lady of Sorrows was rehabilitated in 1892 to make improvements such as a new floor, ceiling, and pilasters, and pyramidal roofs and louver windows on the towers. Little changes were made to the church in the 20th century although the exterior wall was replastered many times in different colors. The adjacent modern church was erected in 1971.

Cook, Sylvia & Baxter, John. "Our Lady of Sorrows Church." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. April 29, 1977. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/77000927_text.

Homepage. Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://olosbernalillo.com.