Our Lady of San Juan Chapel

Just days after the events of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the original Santa Cruz Mission was dedicated by Archbishop Lucey of San Antonio. The small church, loveingly built by thirty-five of our founding families, was the spiritual home of the people until the beautiful new santuary was completed in 2000. It was always a dream of the parish to re-construct the old church as a chapel on the new campus. The original stone, some of the original wooden beams, the bell, and the cross from the old church were used in the construction of the new chapel. While much smaller with seating for only 40, the new chapel has an appearance quite similar to the old church. The chapel was dedicated on December 13, 2008 by Bishop Gregory Aymond to celebrate the 67th anniversary of Santa Cruz. 

The chapel is open daily for prayer and adoration from 5am - 11pm. 
Yearly, the chapel is closed from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday.

Our Lady of San Juan has always been a central feature of Santa Cruz Church. The origins of devotion to Our Lady of San Juan are found in San Juan de los Lagos, a Mexican town founded shortly after the Spanish located near Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. By 1623, a small image of the Immaculate Conception, brought by the Spanish missionaries, had received a place of prominence in the Church os San Juan de los Lagos. That year a professional acrobat, his wife, and two daughters were performing there. The younger daughter was fatally injured while practicing her act. In response to the plea of an Indian woman they placed the image of Our Lady over the body of the girl who had been killed, and sought the intercession of the Mother of God. 
The girl was immediately restored to life. The authenticity of this miraculous event was later confirmed by the offical investigation carried out by ecclesiastical authorities. From this miracle came a devotion to Our Lady under the title of Virgin of San Juan. It rapidly spread throughout Mexico, which included what is now the southwester part of the United States. The statue of Our Lady of San Juan at Santa Cruz was brought from Mexico when the church was first built in 1941 and still holds a place of honor in the chapel.