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 St.
Joseph Parish serves Monte Vista, a town located in the high mountain San Luis
Valley. The valley is surrounded by the Sangre de Cristo mountain range to the
east, and the San Juan range to the west. Many residents in the valley raise
cattle or crops like potatoes and alfalfa. In 1997, St. Joseph’s entered into
the cluster model with Holy Name of Mary, Del Norte, (and missions), and St.
Frances Jerome, Center, and its mission of Saguache.
From
the beginning of the arrival of five diocesan priests from Denver in 1887, the
pages of St. Joseph’s history are scarred with financial, religious and racial
prejudice, unfortunate hallmarks of the original parish.
Records
from Holy Name of Mary in Del Norte, of which Monte Vista was a mission for
forty years, indicate the Jesuit Fathers were entrusted with the Monte Vista
area. According to the records, the first church was built in 1890. The upstairs
served as a church and the ground floor was to be used as a school, a project
that was never realized. The debt on the building was burdensome, and money was
continually being borrowed from other sources to cover expenses. With much
effort and a bit of luck, the church was debt free by 1898.
Money
was the least of St. Joseph’s problems: Wrote the Jesuit priests, “The races
don’t and won’t pray together. If the whites are first for mass, the
Mexicans leave. If the Mexicans are first, the whites leave. The Holy Sacrifice
is like Babylon…but then so is the whole town. Catholics are not
appreciated.” The solution offered was to build another church in Lariat. And
while the project was undertaken, only the exterior walls were ever completed.
For
the first thirty or forty years of the parish, Sacramental life was very
limited. Mass was offered once a month, and most people traveled a full day to
Del Norte for baptisms and marriages. In spite of difficulty, the Catholic
community continued to flourish. Reports indicate ninety souls were active
parishioners in 1920. But then in 1921, fire sparked in the roof of the parish,
and it slowly burnt to ground.
The
tragic fire proved to be a blessing in disguise. In the spring of 1922,
parishioners worked day and night to build a new church from brick left behind
in the fire, and from stone scavenged from the Lariat church.
Since
the early 1930s, there had been a desire for Catholic education in the parish,
and in 1949, under the direction of Fr. James McDevitt, school doors were
opened. The school was a transformed army barrack building purchased from the
Pueblo Army Air Base. It was dissembled and transported precariously over La
Veta pass, piece by piece, and then re-erected by parishioners.
The Sisters of St. Joseph,
from Wichita, followed by the Benedictine Sisters of Atchison, staffed the
school, which grew and expanded to accommodate over 245 children. St. Joseph
School was an integral part of Monte Vista for almost thirty years. But like
many other Catholic schools, declining enrollment and interest in private
education forced it to close its doors.
Following
the closing of the school, renovation on the building resulted in the current
church. Today, the old prejudices that plagued
St. Joseph’s have dissipated, and the
congregation has grown strong in unity and faith, boasting a following of 750
families. The present church is an example of how faith can overcome adversity.
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