An interesting newspaper story from the Brownsville Herald about the various historic churches of the Rio Grande Valley area features some details on Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church in Roma TX: (
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"Area churches full of history
By Travis M. Whitehead
ROMA, April 20, 2003
Its Easter Sunday, and some parishioners at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church have put in long hours getting things ready for the weeks activities.
The Oblate missionaries are an obscure, but vigorous Catholic order that came to the Rio Grande Valley in 1853 as the Cavalry of Christ. The old churches they founded which includes those at Santa Maria, Roma, Brownsville, and the chapel at La Lomita have a long history interwoven with the tapestry of local ranch life and urban growth fostered by these traveling priests.
So important was the church's role in peoples lives, that ranchers sometimes built churches themselves for the service of the Catholic Church. The church at Toluca Ranch is a testament to the iron will of early pioneers to maintain their spiritual lives amid the toil and adversity of ranch life.
Ramirez and other members of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary are continuing the traditions of service to the Catholic Church and the community that was begun more than a century ago by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
"They would go to the ranches by horseback," said 92-year-old Evita Ramirez. "The cornerstone of our church, Our Lady of Refuge Church, was laid the 18th of September, 1854. The people at that time were not as pious as they are today. They didnt have continued service like we have today. The priests were passing by."
However, respect for priests was still paramount.
"People always considered them divine representatives," Ramirez said. "The people then were very respectful."
Valley churches were an important part of the community in the early days, said Glenn Housley, another local historian.
"They had a totally different meaning to people than they do today," said Housley, 79, of Weslaco. "There was more reverence, they were more respectful. They (priests) held special masses, weddings, funerals, baptisms and communion.
"It was very important, of course, to the founders of the area."
One of the first structures built after the Roma church was La Lomita, according to L.B. McDonald, 72, of Edinburg. Completed in 1865, it is a simple construction made of rough stone.
"La Lomita was one of the way stops," McDonald said. "It was considered a mission for the people there.
"All the construction in those days was made of sillares stone (compressed caliche) and plaster on the outside."
Many of the other churches built by the Oblates were designed in the Gothic style by the Rev. Peter Keralum, who was a French architect before he joined the priesthood. Keralum designed churches in Roma, Santa Maria, Brownsville and other places throughout the region.
Keralum was a traveling priest who often visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, which was built by Antonio Cano in the mid 1800s, according to Canos great-great-great grandson, Manuel Cano of Mercedes.
Antonio Cano built the church on his Campacuas Ranch in northeastern Hidalgo County. The ranch became a center of activity in the 19th century for people who would meet there to sell their livestock, said Manuel Cano, 71.
However, the ranch also became another center of activity for the Oblates, who utilized the church for numerous activities.
"They taught catechism and did marriages and baptisms," Cano said. "They had a big painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe over the altar."
Keralum had spent time at Campacuas Ranch when he left Nov. 12, 1872, on horseback for La Piedra Ranch. He was never seen again, but his remains were found 10 years later by ranchers looking for cattle. It is presumed he lost his way because of his poor eyesight.
Cano said Antonio Canos son-in-law, Florencio Saenz, in 1880 took over a part of the property called Toluca Ranch near present-day Progreso. In 1899, he erected a chapel as an act of thanksgiving for finding a well of sweet water at 60 feet, said local historian Fran Isbell, 78, of Weslaco.
"His little Church of Saint Joseph followed plans left by the French Oblate architect-priest, Father Peter Keralum," Isbell said. "Don Florencio and Doa Sostenes (his wife) gave the church an acre of land, reserving only access to the well, to the Roman Catholic diocese through Bishop Peter Verdaguer, in 1905."
The same year Saenz took over Toluca Ranch, the cornerstone for another small Catholic church Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church was laid at Santa Maria, just a few miles down the river from Toluca Ranch. It was completed in about two years. Isbell said the church was built in Keralums style, although he was already dead.
Santa Maria was a very active community, and the church there became an integral part of peoples lives, Housley said.
"The river came to within half a mile of the church," Housley said. "There was a river port there. The steamboat made regular calls. There were docks for offloading supplies."
The church is also the focus of an interesting tale.
"Theres a story (that) there was a tunnel from the church to the Rabb Ranch across the road to escape from bandits," he said.
Later, however, different forces took their toll on the little church.
"In 1933, the hurricane blew the steeple off of it," Housley said. "And of course that was during the (Great) Depression. It was a long time getting money to put the steeple back on."
Although the Santa Maria and Toluca Ranch churches are no longer active, other churches like Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church continue to serve the community. The La Lomita chapel is still a popular site for those seeking spiritual renewal.
Keeping the steeple on Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in Roma was extremely important to its parishioners when the Rev. Severino Varona decided in 1963 they needed to build a new church.
"He got us involved in building the new church," Ramirez said. "When he came, he said, I am ashamed to see this church. I know you wouldnt have benches like this in your living room."
The parishioners agreed.
"It was very poor," she said. "Everything was so worn. It had been used for so long. The benches were crude, the floor was splintered, you had to step down two or three steps from the main section before getting to the front door."
The new church, she said, is much nicer.
"It has beautiful benches, very wide spacious aisles," she said.
And something more a reminder of the early days of the Oblates in the Valley.
"He decided to let us keep the tower steeple," she said.
The tower a tall, white-painted brick structure with two levels of windows, plus a cupola, a spire and a cross seems to reach toward the bright blue sky as if in homage to all who have served there.
The inside of the tower leads into the small, but spacious church, where long, solid wooden pews sit on a tiled red and blue confetti-print floor. Sunlight pours in through stained-glass windows, depicting renditions of the Pieta, Nativity, Annunciation and other scenes in bright, bold tones of red, blue and purple. Plaques depicting different stations of the crucifixion hang along the beige brick walls.
An older man, taking a few moments from his days labor, steps in, dips his hand in holy water, crosses himself and kneels. He remains there in quiet meditation for a few moments, then continues with his day.
The work of the Oblates is evident even today.
"We have been blessed with an Oblate priest and an assistant," Ramirez said. "Since all these priests were here, weve always had the help of the Oblates."
Ramirez is also a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, which was organized in 1948 by the Rev. Frederick Caldwell, to "promote the prayer of the holy rosary."
"This is the 55th year of service to the church," she said. "Every week, the confraternity takes care of preparing the sanctuary of the church for the weekly mass. We bring flowers for special festivals of the church, and we are always doing the cleaning of the sanctuary. Every year, we give it a spring cleaning from ceiling to the floor."
The confraternity isnt the only Catholic organization working for the good of the community.
"Three times a year, theres a special mass for the elderly," Ramirez said. "The Catholic Daughters of America take care of that. They prepare the mass for the elderly from the daycare centers.
"And then the Catholic daughters have favors for them, like scapulars religious emblems we wear on a string that shows we are supposed to have last rites when we die."
Ramirez said she and other confraternity members, and the parish, continue to work for the improvement of economic and social conditions of the community.
"The spirit of the Oblates of South Texas remains alive," Ramirez said. "We continue to nourish the faith in our youth.""