Old Chapel in New Mexico Needs TLC

An old chapel is suffering structural issues and needs repair:

For more than 165 years, the mission church has been a reassuring presence in Pecos Canyon, a steadfast and physical reminder of sacrifices endured by ancestors and of those people’s unflinching Catholic faith. As you drive N.M. 63 through mountains and trees and along the Pecos River, it appears suddenly, like a vision. 

“It’s almost surreal,” said Brian Sandoval, 54, who grew up in Pecos and owns Frankie’s restaurant there. “It takes you back in time when you go in there. It’s a mud church on a hillside. You feel very connected and centered and grounded to the earth.” 

The church, which can accommodate about 100 people, is made of adobe and has a ribbed, metal panel roof. A sacristy constructed in 1962 to replace the original sacristy is the only part of the church made from non-traditional materials. The building has no water or electricity. It is lighted by candles and lanterns and warmed by a wood-burning stove. A low stone wall, built in 1916, surrounds the church, and graves are scattered throughout its yard. 

It is common these days to refer to this venerable building as El Macho Mission Church due to its location in a place named for a male mule. But according to the archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the church was christened Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, when it was built about 1857.