From a Borrowed Church on West Nevada
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Parish sits in the Valverde neighborhood on Denver's near-southwest side, where it has anchored a small but devoted Catholic community for over a century. In November 1923, twenty Catholic families who lived in the neighborhood formed the Valverde Catholic Church Association. They bought a vacant lot at the corner of West Nevada Place and South Navajo, then purchased a small frame church from the local Presbyterians. The men of the Association built the foundation and rolled the secondhand church onto the lot, a building that seated just thirty-five people.
Bishop Tihen dedicated the little frame building to St. Rose of Lima on October 15, 1924, with Father Matthew J. Smith serving as temporary pastor. A month later, Father Smith left to give full attention to the Denver Catholic Register, which he shaped into a nationally prominent newspaper. The Rev. John R. Mulroy became the first permanent pastor in 1925 and moved into a rectory he shared with his mother. Mulroy later served as the founding director of Catholic Charities in Colorado.
The parish grew quickly through the 1930s and 1940s. Father Louis J. Grohman, the third pastor, worked with volunteers to enlarge the church with a new hall and remodel the interior. Parishioners staged themed bazaars, including evenings titled "A Night in Paris" and "A Night in Shanghai," to retire the resulting debt. Father Barry J. Wogan began a long pastorate in 1949 and dedicated a new basement church on West Dakota Avenue between Navajo and Pecos in April 1952. Three years later, Archbishop Urban J. Vehr dedicated a four-classroom school and a ten-bedroom convent at 275 South Navajo for the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.
By 1963 the parish numbered about nine hundred families and Archbishop Vehr approved plans for a new six-hundred-seat brick church on West Nevada Place. The building, finished in 1965, featured laminated wood arches and a free-standing altar canopy decorated with a white enameled dove. The Denver Post headline on June 20, 1965 read "Flood Turns New Church Into Rubble." After the June 16 flood caused one hundred fifty thousand dollars in damage, roughly one hundred fifty parishioners spent the following Sunday hauling out mud and debris. The parish rebuilt with fifty-five thousand dollars from the Archdiocesan Development Program and celebrated its hundredth anniversary in August 2024 with a bilingual Mass, an Italian dinner, and a parish picnic hosted by the Hispanic Committee.
Mass in Two Languages Every Day
St. Rose of Lima celebrates Mass every day of the week in both English and Spanish. Daily Mass is offered Monday through Friday at 8:30 am in English, with the school community especially present on school days, and all are welcome. A Spanish Mass follows each Tuesday and Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm. On Thursday evenings at 6:00 pm the Spanish community gathers for Hora Santa, a holy hour rather than Mass, before the altar.
The weekend schedule begins on Saturday at 4:00 pm with an anticipated Mass in English. Sunday brings Mass at 9:00 am in English and at 11:30 am in Spanish. Both Sunday and Saturday services are livestreamed on Facebook, where the parish page can be found by searching for srl80223su.
Adoration, Confession, and a Spanish Holy Hour
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered every Saturday from 3:00 to 3:45 pm, ending just before the anticipated Mass, and by appointment through the parish office. Parishioners preparing for First Communion are reminded that confession precedes first reception of the Eucharist, and the parish keeps a printed Examination of Conscience to help walk through contrition, confession, penance, and absolution.
Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament takes place on the first Friday of each month from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, joining the Friday 8:30 am school Mass as a regular devotion to the Real Presence. The parish catechesis on the Anointing of the Sick notes that the sacrament is offered not only to the dying but to anyone facing a serious diagnosis, a major operation, or the frailties of old age, and asks families to call the parish office early so a priest can visit.
Sacraments from Baptism to Anointing
The parish prepares Catholics for every sacrament of initiation and healing. Baptism classes are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the parish offices at 355 South Navajo. Parents must be registered in the parish for at least three months and attend Mass regularly. Parents and godparents attend the class together, and Baptisms are celebrated on the last Saturday of the month at 2:00 pm. Godparents must be confirmed Catholics at least sixteen years old, living lives shaped by the sacraments, and either single or married in a valid Catholic marriage; a baptized non-Catholic Christian may serve as a Christian Witness alongside a Catholic godparent. There is a fifty-dollar donation per family, and registration paperwork is due a week before the class.
Adults and children above the age of seven prepare for Baptism through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, meeting Sundays from 10:15 to 11:15 am during the same hour as the children's faith formation classes. The parish also offers Marriage Preparation with an eight-month preparation period required by the Archdiocese, including the FOCCUS Inventory, a Marriage Preparation Program, Natural Family Planning instruction, and a final meeting. Confirmation is prepared over the year with a sponsor who is a confirmed Catholic at least sixteen years old, and the parish offers First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion formation for children using the Signs of Grace curricula.
The Parish School
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Academy shares the parish campus at 1345 West Dakota Avenue, with its own entrance, classrooms, and gymnasium that doubles as a gathering space for parish dinners and celebrations. The school is led by Principal Matthew Madden and Office Assistant Alma Flores. Students take part in the Friday school Mass and other parish events, anchoring the school-parish relationship that has been a hallmark of the Valverde campus since 1955.
Faith Formation for Children
Children's Faith Formation meets on Sunday mornings from 10:15 to 11:15 am, September through April, in the parish offices. The program opens with the prayer "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Parents drop off and pick up their students on time, and an adult is required to sign children in and out. The same hour hosts the parish's informal Secrets of Scripture gathering, a no-homework discussion of the Sunday readings over coffee and tea.
Singing Across Three Masses
The music ministry serves every Mass of the weekend. The 4:00 pm Saturday Mass is looking for volunteers. The 9:00 am Sunday choir is led by soprano Carmen Barron, alto Marie Thoming, tenor Glen Stadig, and pianist Cindy Stadig. The 11:30 am Spanish Mass is supported by its own Spanish choir. Pianists, guitarists, and singers of any language are welcome to join, and the parish invites anyone who loves to sing to step forward.
Parish Brotherhoods and Societies
Three parish organizations carry much of the social and spiritual life of St. Rose of Lima. The Knights of Columbus council was chartered on August 23, 2000, the feast of St. Rose of Lima and the church's anniversary, and now numbers roughly thirty Catholic gentlemen focused on the Order's principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism. The Holy Name Society is the parish's men's devotional organization. The Altar and Rosary Society, open to all women of the parish, supports the care of the sanctuary - candles, altar breads, wine, vestments, linens, banners, Easter candles, and flowers - and meets on the second Thursday of each month from September through May, opening with the rosary before the business meeting.
Reaching the Parish
The parish offices are open Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm and Friday from 8:30 am to noon. The mailing address is 1320 West Nevada Place, Denver, Colorado 80223, while the church and main offices sit at 355 South Navajo. Parishioners and neighbors can stay in touch through a weekly Flocknote e-bulletin, available in English and Spanish, and can support the parish through online giving arranged through Flocknote as well. The parish also points visitors to Formed, the Augustine Institute's Catholic content library, and to outside Catholic media such as Busted Halo and the Catholic News Agency for ongoing formation.