It’s been nearly sixty years since St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Spur had any substantial fix-up to its building. And now it’s happening all in a matter of days.
Thanks to a team from St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lampasas, Texas—many of whom have longstanding family connections to Spur—the sanctuary has been freshened up with new lighting, stucco work, paint and structural improvements, over a frenzied period of days in late April. New flooring is on the near horizon. Plumbing has been repaired. Flowers have been planted.
But most inspiring of all are a dozen new stained-glass windows provided through donations. The rich colors of two foyer windows depict the Divine Mercy and the Virgin Mary; ten smaller windows in the sanctuary show scenes from the life of Christ; the Virgin Mary; and Saint Michael. Numerous families of St. Mary’s each provided a window that will bear a donor plaque. “We ended up needing more windows,” explained parishioner Anita Brito, who said that the memorial windows were the idea of church member Cathy Owens.
Victor Olivarez, head of the Lampasas group, said that he usually works with youth groups to assist communities in need. But this time he rounded up carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other professionals who were willing to take time away from their day jobs to renovate Spur’s St. Mary’s.
The work in Spur involved removing paneling and scraping, resurfacing, and painting interior walls; building a platform to even up the space between the priest’s dais and the altar; and installing attractive new wall sconces. On the last Saturday in May some 20 workers spread out through all of the building’s spaces. Everyone had a job to do—including the small fry, who helped keep the spirit joyful.
The project should wrap up with a return visit in a couple of seeks, said Victor.
On a mission
St. Mary’s of Spur has its origins in an early twentieth-century movement to provide places for regular worship in the Catholic faith, according to a typewritten history kept by the parish, “St. Mary’s and Missions” (1977–78).
The earliest missionaries, the booklet explains, “came up from Sweetwater in 1909 and a Father Jose visited the Rotan area from Dallas on several occasions.” The former ranching lands west of Fort Worth and north of the rolling plains— which had not so long before been the purview of the Comanches and Kiowas—constituted a vast mission territory lacking permanent parishes.
The diocese looked first to the area south of Spur, and in 1928 built missions in Aspermont, Jayton and Rotan. A small frame church and a rectory were constructed in Jayton for a few thousand dollars, and priests would travel from there to Spur on fifth Sundays to celebrate Mass.
Some in Spur remember masses being conducted as early as 1920 on the Garcia farm, and in the 1940s in an old storage shed downtown.
But by 1948, when Jayton built a new masonry church, the wooden “traveling church” was moved up the highway to Spur and set on two acres of land purchased from Joe Castro for $1,200.
It didn’t take long for the congregation, which grew to support a choir, a youth club, and an altar society, to require a larger sanctuary for its services.
In 1950, under the direction of Father B. A. Erpen in Rotan, bigger plans were made. St. Mary’s new building was a handsome mission-style church topped by a cross, featuring a bell tower to the side and dormitories upstairs for the nuns who came to teach.
The new church was blessed by Bishop Laurence J. FitzSimon in February 25, 1954. The “traveling church” moved on up the highway to Turkey to serve another mission.
Since that time St. Mary’s has itself helped built a mission that became Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Matador. The bells of St. Mary’s—now electronic—continue to toll the hours on Spur’s southeast side, drawing a diverse and devoted church family to worship each week.
A labor of love
Brito, who’s on hand anytime there is a meal to be served or a task to be done, gathered a list of the volunteers who have helped with the St. Mary’s renovation.
They include Dominic Argo, Al Boberg, Carol Boberg, Jeff Cardon, Evangeline Davis, Lydia Davis, Victoria Davis, Lucia Greer, Kevin Martinez, Angie Olivarez, Pat Olivarez, Raul Olivarez, Rene Olivarez, Victor Olivarez, Matt Reed, Rose Reed, Teresa Reed, Melinda Segura and Gloria Vasquez.
All costs of the renovation were provided by the Austin Knights of Columbus.
St. Mary’s is located at 402 East 6th St. in Spur. Mass is said at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. All are welcome.
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