History :

St. Patrick Parish in Bloomington embraces an area that includes the southern part of Victoria County and the northwestern section of Calhoun County. Until Fr. Peter M. Baque came from Edna in 1915 to celebrate Mass in a small bungalow in Bloomington, Catholics of the area attended Mass in one of the churches in Victoria. The bungalow was succeeded by an abandoned schoolhouse and that in turn by a former pool hall as the site for Sunday Mass.

In 1916 a funeral parlor was bought from J.E. Ryan of Victoria with help from the Catholic Church Extension Society and remodeled into a church by the Warburton and Skarda families. Even after the remodeling, some of the caskets in the original containers were used for the Altar and in various other ways. When Bishop Arthur J. Drossaerts dedicated the Church in honor of the Sacred Heart on January 13, 1920 he pointed to the caskets as a poignant reminder of death.

The building was used until 1942 when it had to be abandoned after being severely damaged by a hurricane. During that year Bloomington was officially attached as a mission of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Victoria. In 1943 the Trinitarian Fathers took over the administration of Sacred Heart Church. In the following year a new building was erected at the corner of Third and Rail streets. The twenty-four by fifty foot structure, considered “much too large for the congregation” at the time, was soon crowded beyond capacity.

Final recognition of the area came in 1959 when, on September 15, the original Sacred Heart Mission was established as St. Patrick Parish. A member of a prominent Catholic family donated the building of a new church complex located on Highway 185 in honor of his parents. The facility is a contemporary Spanish mission-styled structure. The furnishings for the Church came from the people of the parish.

In 1975 a multi-purpose parish hall was added to the parish complex. This new building offered classroom space, kitchen facilities, and meeting areas. In the following years the kitchen would be upgraded, the interior of the hall remodeled, a large storage facility added adjacent to the hall, and large barbecue pits and an adjoining workroom would be built behind the hall.

On May 29, 1982 the Diocese of Victoria was established and St. Patrick became part of the new diocesan territory.

In 1990 the St. Patrick Council 10751 of the Knights of Columbus was established as an integral part of the parish. The small yet active men’s council meets monthly.

In 2000 a new office building was added to the parish complex. Following the original master plan of the property, the large space compliments the mission-styled exterior and contains the pastor’s office, a conference room, and a large “Heritage Room” for meetings and small banquets and is equipped with kitchen facilities.

In November of 2001 Court St. Patrick #2494 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas was established. The new court offered many of the women of the parish the opportunity to get more involved in their faith and church.
As of 2005, with the completion of a new census, the parish numbers over 300 registered families, and proudly boasts of a Knights of Columbus Council, Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court, The Guadalupanas Society, Parish Rosary Group, Vida Nueva Choir, a religious education program educating 200 students, and numerous parishioners who step forward each time they see a need and respond with generous hearts and love for their Church.