The first place of Catholic worship in Lampasas County was built in 1880 by William Mack Wittenburg on a ranch about seven miles west of Lometa which was served from time to time by visiting priests. Not until 1885 was there a place of Catholic worship in the city of Lampasas. In that year a frame church was built and dedicated under the title of St. Mary located on West 5th Street.

For many years Mass was celebrated once a month in St. Mary's of Lampasas. The first priest on record was a Rev. F. J. Smith of whom there is little history. Father P. M. Lennartz followed him in 1887, a visiting priest from St. Mary's of Temple, of which he was pastor.

The heroic priest of God, Father P. A. Heckman, also of St. Mary's in Temple, served St. Mary's of Lampasas from 1892~1906. He was one of the first of many priests to offer monthly Mass in Lampasas. Usually Father Heckman came on horseback and frequently remained overnight in a sacristy that was scarcely more than six feet long and half as wide. For eight years Father Heckman labored and left a noble example of zeal for the priests who followed. Of special interest to Father Heckman were the Mexican Americans; he was instrumental in bringing the Franciscan Fathers here to labor among them.

Though it did not belong to St. Mary's Parish, it may be well to note that the Dominican Sisters established a convent and girls' boarding school in Lampasas in 1900. For a number of years their chaplain offered a regular weekly Mass at St. Mary's Church. This priest was Father Joseph LeGardeur. In 1907 he became pastor of St. Mary's. He died in Lampasas on December 11, 1909, and was buried here. Later his body was moved to Houston and interred in the Garden of Gethsemane Cemetery.

For a brief time St. Mary's had the rare privilege of having the Bishop of the Diocese (then the Galveston Diocese) as its acting pastor; for several weeks in 1921 the late Reverend Christopher E. Byrne took charge of St. Mary's.

In 1927, soon after the arrival of Father Thomas A. Ryan, a rectory was built and thus Father Ryan became the first resident pastor of Lampasas. It was also during his pastorate that the parishioners of Lometa financed and built their Church of the Good Shepherd.

Other zealous priests succeeded Father Ryan as pastor in the years 1931-1945. Fathers Henry T. Schroeder, Thomas A. Carney, T. T. Cronin, Louis A. LeBlanc and William F. Roach. Many problems confronted these pastors of St. Mary's. First, there was such a scarcity of Catholics to work with; worse yet, they were scattered all over the immense parish of 3,200 square miles.

Often helping these priests were the Holy Cross Fathers of Austin, Even going back to the days of Father Heckman, they frequently came to Lampasas. Sometimes it was to assist at Christmas and Holy Week ceremonies, at other times it was to relieve the pastor so he could go on vacation, and even at times the Holy Cross priests came for months at a time when the pastor was ill.

Under Father William F. Roach, from 1939 to 1945, St. Mary's and its Missions began its greatest program of expansion and growth. Father Roach erected five large churches of native stone and limestone: Our Mother of Sorrows at Burnet (which up to then was a county without a church); St. Mary's with a rectory (for the English-speaking people) and St. Christopher's (for the Spanish-speaking people), both in Lampasas; Our Lady of Lourdes Church at Gatesville (the first Catholic church in that county); and Sacred Heart of Killeen.

It should be kept in mind that before these churches were built, Mass was nevertheless celebrated in those localities. Sometimes the pastor offered Mass in private homes and when it became too crowded there, he might offer the Eucharist in a large store or the town movie theater.

In spite of finding materials as well as laborers hard to get, and in spite of having to spend much of his time counseling with and serving the 80,000 men at Fort Hood (which was within the parish boundaries), Father Roach still found time, the strength, and above all, the faith to build these churches.

In 1945 the Bishop of Galveston placed the mission church of Bertram, Texas, under the care of St. Mary's Missions of Lampasas. The pastor of St. Helen's Parish at Georgetown, Texas originally built this church.

In 1945, operation of St. Mary's parish was taken over by priests of the Holy Cross community. Four years later under the pastorate of Father Eugene Dare, Bishop Louis J. Reicher of Austin blessed on May 8th, 1949, a four room parochial school with attached convent, accommodating five sisters. The school taught from the first through the eighth grade. At the end of the school term of 1956-57, the school was closed as a regular teaching institute because of an acute shortage of teaching Sisters along with spiraling school costs. Since 1957 the school facilities have been utilized in a different but very successful manner. St. Mary's operates what is known as a "Catechetical Program" for its children. This would be the equivalent to "Sunday School", except it is offered to the children of the parish during the week. The Sisters of St. John conducted classes in St. Mary's Catechetical Program. Two Sisters resided in Lampasas during the week in a convent situated above the school. In addition to teaching religion classes, the Sisters did extensive home visitation.

On January 8th, 1970, the beautiful mission style church and rectory that was built by Father Roach was destroyed by fire. The fire was attributed to a defective heating system. In the rectory at the time of the fire were Fathers Peter Noble, the pastor, and Steve Montenegro. Father Montenegro escaped without injury but Father Noble was hospitalized, He later recovered satisfactorily.

THE NEW CHURCH BUILDING

Bids for the new building of St. Mary's Catholic Church were opened on Tuesday, April 27, 1971. Construction began shortly after the contract was signed and the first Mass was celebrated on Thursday, March 2, 1972.

The exterior of the beautiful new church building is of solid brick wall construction with cast stones on the entrance. The color scheme of the brick matches the existing buildings, which are constructed of native limestone. The interior of the church is of brick in a soft rose shade. The interior front and rear walls are paneled in light oak, and the church benches, same wood and color, to match. The ceiling is cathedral-style with exposed wooden beams and the Sanctuary furnishings are of dark finish to add contrasting color.