Welcome to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the oldest church still standing. dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Unties States. The Shrine is the original church structure of an active Roman Catholic Parish of approximately 1,000 families.
The original adobe church structure was built between1776 and 1795 and dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe as a place of worship for the growing Santa Fe neighborhood along the Santa Fe River and off of the bustling Plaza at the end of the Santa Fe Trail.
Today, the historic neighborhood is referred to as the Guadalupe District, connecting the railyard to downtown Santa Fe, and an icon of Santa Fe with the historical church and recently placed bronze statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe looking across the Santa Fe River towards the Plaza.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who appeared to a recent convert to the Faith St. Juan Diego in 1531 and miraculously left her holy image his cloak as a sign of her miraculous appearance and that she wanted a church to be built in that location in what is now Mexico City. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe quickly spread throughout the continent, a devotion that was brought north along the Rio Grande River by the Spanish colonists in the 17th and 18th century. Devotion to Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to grow throughout the Unites States and throughout the world. Our Lady of Guadalupe is known today as the “Patroness of the Americas”. Her feast day is celebrated December 12, celebrated with much devotion on the parish grounds on beginning December every year with Mass, processions, serenades, dances, and other private devotions.