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The parish of St. Francis De Sales/Our Lady of
Guadalupe serves Lamar and the communities of Eads, Brandon, Sheridan Lake,
Wiley and McClave. Lamar is located in the Arkansas River Valley, 120 miles east
of Pueblo. The area is dominated by ranches, farms and related businesses,
including several large cattle feedlots and pig farms. In recent years other
industries have been introduced to the area.
The history of the Catholic church in Lamar
dates back to March, 1887 when Father A. Brucker, SJ, from Pueblo, first visited
while Lamar was a town of about 800 people, of whom about 25 were Catholic. The
first mass was offered on April 17, 1887, in the town hall and continued to be
offered in private homes, the old Central Hotel and the courthouse until 1904.
Lamar became a mission of La Junta under the leadership of Father J.B. Pitoval
who later became the Archbishop of Santa Fe, NM. Holly, Bristol and Granada
remained missions of Lamar until 1921.
In 1906 the Reverend M.C. Callahan of La Junta
bought the original Presbyterian church building in Lamar and moved it on to
three lots he purchased at Main and Parmenter Streets. In January, 1907, Father
J.A. Bastion was appointed first pastor.
In 1921, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe
was built on North Second Street. It was built by hand of adobe brick provided
by the people. The Parish had the distinction of celebrating one of the first
Spanish-Latin Masses in the history of the Pueblo Diocese.
In 1959, ten acres of land were purchased on Parmenter Street.
In 1963, a school and convent were built on the property with the intent of
moving the church to the same site. Twenty years later, with Faith in the
Future as their theme, the Catholics of St. Francis De Sales and Our Lady of
Guadalupe parishes pledged over $600,000 to build a new church. The new church,
known as St. Francis De Sales/Our Lady of Guadalupe, was dedicated on May 5,
1985. The church seats 537 and is the largest in the Diocese of Pueblo east of
the Continental Divide. Today there are more than 600 households in the parish.
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