About Us
OUR MISSION
Our Lady of Perpetual Help takes its inspiration from Ezekiel 34:16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed. . ."
Oh how easy it is to get lost! With our cell phones and iPads, our 24-hour news cycles, there’s virtually nowhere to go for a moment of peace and quiet.
That’s where Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church comes in. We provide a holy place of respite in the tumult of life. So come, put aside the cares of the week and find yourself in the presence of God.
OUR HISTORY
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, as we see it today, was built in 1967 after permission was granted by Bishop Humberto Medeiros to establish a parish on the 5.33 acres of land at Kendlewood and 22nd Street, McAllen. This acreage, including a frame home, had been purchased in 1953 by the Sacred Heart Parish under the guidance of Father Frederick Brockman, O.M.I. Thereafter, some more acreage was purchased which extended the property to North 23rd Street.
Originally, according to various sources, a small wooden chapel donated by Gertrudis (Tulitas) Garza had been brought from Granjero, Texas and placed at 22nd Streed and Ebony Avenue. In 1953, Tulitas and Sister Inez, a local nun, together with some young ladies from the neighborhood taught C.C.D. classes in this chapel. In 1954, a hollow-tile-chapel was built in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The first priest to offer Mass in the chapel was Father Joseph O'Brien O.M.I.
In 1955, Father John Busch, O.M.I. was transferred to Sacred Heart Parish. He saw the need for catechetical instruction and invited the Victory Noll Sisters from Indiana to establish the program in 1957. The Sisters lived in a convent on the grounds of Our Lady of Perpetual Help church and worked out of this center. Permission was later obtained by Father Busch to build a church on the property at a cost of $150,000. The chapel was then converted in to a parish hall with an addition to be used for meetings and a St. Vincent de Paul distribution center. An educatin center wes also built ont he southeast corner of the property for catechetical instructions.
The dedication ceremony by Bishop Medeiros took place on May 26, 1968, with Father Raymond Pomaville, O.M.I., the pastor, assisting.