About Us

Our Lady of Sorrows has evolved from a small parish, originally named St. Patrick's in 1920, into one of the largest, most recognized parishes in the Rio Grande Valley.  It was renamed Our Lady of Sorrows, in honor of Our Blessed Mother, in 1941.

Fr. John Laurent, OMI, was the first pastor, until 1944, when the parish was turned over to the diocesan clergy of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Under the guidance of Msgr. George A. Doyle, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School was built in 1946. It opened its doors to a group of 47 pupils. In 1955 a new church was constructed.

Fr. Patrick Galloghly was pastor from 1966-1969. He was the first to head Our Lady of Sorrows under the newly formed Diocese of Brownsville. Msgr. Victor Ralph became our next spiritual leader,  and he led us faithfully until his retirement in 1982.

During the tenure of Fr. Ivan Rovira, a new school and parish hall were constructed.  The parish hall was completed in 1986 and named Msgr. Ralph Hall.

Fr. Gilbert Piette was named pastor in 1989. He supervised our first parish directory and our fiftieth anniversary celebration.

Msgr. Gus Pacheco arrived in 1993. During his 14 years at Our Lady of Sorrows, a magnificent new church, seating 1300, was built. The old church is now our chapel.

Our current pastor, Msgr. Gustavo Barrera, celebrated his first Holy Mass as pastor on September 15, 2007, the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows. With his enthusiasm and spiritual guidance, OLS will continue to serve our Catholic family in a way that will challenge us to grow as an evangelizing community.

Pastor History
Fr. John Laurent  1941-1944
Msgr. George A. Doyle  1944-1966 
Fr. Patrick Galloghly  1966-1969 
Msgr. Victor Ralph  1969-1982 
Fr. Ivan Rovira  1982-1988 
Fr. Gilbert Piette  1988-1993
Msgr. Gus Pacheco    1993-2007
Msgr. Gustavo Barrera   2007-Present
Weekend Mass
Saturday Vigil: 4:00pm, 5:30pm. 
Sunday: 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:45am.
12:30pm (Spanish) 

Daily Mass 
Monday - Friday:
8:00am (English), 5:30pm (Spanish)
Wednesday - Friday: 12:00 pm. 

Confessions
Monday & Thursday: 5:00am-5:30pm
Saturday: 10:30am-11:30am