Around Corwin Road in the High Desert
Our Lady of the Desert Catholic Church stands on Corwin Road in Apple Valley, a parish of the Diocese of San Bernardino serving the High Desert communities of San Bernardino County. Members drive in from Apple Valley and the surrounding towns for daily Mass in English, a Sunday Mass in Spanish, faith formation classes for children and teens, an evening Spanish Mass on Wednesdays, and a parish life that includes everything from a food pantry to Alcoholics Anonymous to a youth ministry called LIFE TEEN. The parish is run by the priests of the Congregation of the Resurrection, a religious order of priests and brothers with roots in nineteenth-century Poland and a long history of parish work in the United States.
The parish describes itself as a community gathered under the guidance of Mary, the Mother of God. Its mission statement, set by the parish council, names the work plainly: through the witness of the Gospel, the parish helps to shape a society with greater respect for human life, economic and environmental justice, cultural diversity, and global solidarity, so that it becomes a church where everyone feels welcome and through it finds happiness and salvation.
Mass in English and Spanish, Every Day of the Week
Our Lady of the Desert keeps a steady rhythm of Mass. Monday through Saturday, the church offers a 7:30 AM Daily Mass. On Wednesday evenings, a Spanish Mass is added at 7:00 PM, giving Spanish-speaking families a second weekly gathering on top of the Sunday Spanish liturgy. Saturday afternoon brings the Vigil Mass at 4:00 PM, and Sunday brings the full slate: 7:30 AM in English, 9:30 AM in English, 11:30 AM in Spanish, and 2:00 PM in English.
The Sunday Spanish Mass draws one of the largest gatherings of the week. Bilingual bulletins and homilies are part of the regular rhythm. Each Sunday, the priest's homily is posted in both English and Spanish, and the parish's written materials - registration packets, calendars, and sacramental forms - are available in both languages. Parish content can be toggled between English and Español from the top of every page.
Confession, Adoration, and Wednesday Evenings
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is heard every Saturday at 2:30 PM in the back of the church, half an hour before the Vigil Mass. Priests are also available to hear confessions by appointment. During Advent and Lent, communal Reconciliation Services are scheduled and announced to the parish in the bulletin.
Eucharistic Adoration fills Friday mornings through Friday evenings, beginning after the 7:30 AM Daily Mass and running until 7:00 PM. The Friday block of adoration is one of the quiet anchors of the parish week, giving parishioners a long window for prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The Wednesday evening Spanish Mass opens a second midweek gathering for those whose work schedules or family rhythms make Sunday difficult.
A Resurrectionist Parish at 18386 Corwin Road
The priests of Our Lady of the Desert belong to the Congregation of the Resurrection, a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in Poland by Bogdan Janski and brought to the United States in the late nineteenth century. The order takes its name from the resurrection of Christ and is dedicated to the formation of priests and the work of parishes. The pastor, the Rev. Delwyn G. Haroldson, C.R., and a priest in residence, the Rev. Henry Ruszel, C.R., are both members of the congregation, as was the founding generation of the order. The parochial vicar, the Rev. Joseph Ellison, rounds out the priestly team, with a third priest available for sacramental emergencies and special liturgies.
The provincial offices of the Congregation of the Resurrection in the United States are in Chicago, on North California Avenue. Our Lady of the Desert is one of the parishes the congregation staffs, and the parish draws on the order's tradition of parish preaching, sacramental ministry, and devotion to the Eucharist. The Resurrectionist charism is visible in the parish's strong sacramental life, its preaching focus, and the regular posting of the pastor's homily online for parishioners who cannot attend in person.
Faith Formation from Cradle to College
The parish runs one of the most complete faith formation programs in the High Desert. For children younger than six, the parish offers an Infant Baptism Class, coordinated through the parish office. Children ages four to seven are welcomed into the Liturgy of the Word, a special dismissal during Sunday Mass that introduces them to the scriptures at their own level. First Reconciliation and First Communion are typically received in second grade, after a year of preparation.
For grades one through five, weekly Faith Formation Classes gather children for age-appropriate catechesis. Grades six, seven, and eight are served by EDGE Middle School Ministry, a national program designed for the energy and questions of early adolescence. Grades nine through twelve are served by LIFE TEEN, a youth ministry that combines catechesis, small groups, retreats, and fellowship. Confirmation is normally celebrated in the sophomore or junior year, with a two-year preparation track that includes sponsor forms, a sponsor retreat, and the bishop's visitation. The parish is also home to a POWER Young Adult Group for college-aged Catholics and a LIFE TEEN Core, a leadership track for older teens who serve the younger EDGE and LIFE TEEN programs.
For adults, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) walks catechumens and candidates through the teachings of the Catholic Church, the liturgical year, and the sacraments of initiation. The parish also runs an ongoing Adult Confirmation class for Catholics who never received the sacrament as teenagers. A Marriage Preparation track, with separate English- and Spanish-speaking mentor couples, prepares engaged couples for the sacrament of Matrimony.
The Seven Sacraments in the Life of the Parish
The parish's sacramental ministry centers on the seven sacraments defined by the Catholic Church. Baptism for infants and children up to age six is scheduled after a parent interview and registration, with Sylvia Fath as the baptismal coordinator. Children older than the age of reason and unbaptized adults prepare for baptism through the RCIA process, and adults or children who were already baptized in a valid Christian church are received into full communion without rebaptism.
First Communion is prepared in the second-grade year, with a two-year catechesis leading up to it. The parish emphasizes that the Eucharist is not a symbol but the real presence of Jesus Christ - Body, Blood, soul, and divinity - under the appearances of bread and wine. Confirmation is conferred by the bishop, who visits the parish for the liturgy. Reconciliation is offered weekly on Saturdays. The Anointing of the Sick is available to any parishioner facing serious illness or the frailties of old age, and may be received more than once; the parish office coordinates the sacrament with the priest, and a communal celebration of the sacrament is held in conjunction with the Mass when appropriate.
Marriage preparation begins six months to a year before the hoped-for wedding date, with the parish office referring couples to mentor couples and to a fuller marriage preparation program. Holy Orders - the sacrament by which a man is ordained a deacon, priest, or bishop - is coordinated through the parish's vocational support, with referrals to the Diocese of San Bernardino's Vocations Office. Funerals, quinceañeras, and wedding anniversaries are arranged through the parish office as well, with the pastoral assistant coordinating the liturgical and logistical details.
Choir Directors, Lectors, Ushers, and Liturgical Ministry
Because Our Lady of the Desert celebrates five Sunday Masses plus a weekday and Saturday schedule, the parish staffs each liturgy with its own liturgical ministers. Five choir directors lead music at the Sunday Masses: Wendy Durke at the Saturday Vigil, Stephen Arment at the 7:30 AM English Mass, Christina Rohrbaugh at the 9:30 AM English Mass, Ramiro Alvizures at the 11:30 AM Spanish Mass, and Rhonert Pascual at the 2:00 PM English Mass. The choirs sing in English and Spanish, with a bilingual repertoire for solemnities and feast days.
Lectors proclaim the scriptures at each Mass. Readers must be confirmed, while greeters and ushers have no sacramental prerequisite. A separate Spanish-language lector team reads at the 11:30 AM liturgy. Ushers are scheduled for every Mass, with Ralph Knipstein leading the Saturday Vigil team, Patrick A. Lopez at the 7:30 AM Mass, Flo Donaldson and Roger Perez at the 9:30 AM Mass, Jose Fernandez at the 11:30 AM Spanish Mass, and Robert Cardenas at the 2:00 PM Mass. Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion - lay men and women who assist the priest in distributing Communion - are also scheduled at every Mass. Eucharistic Ministers must be confirmed.
Altar Servers, including children who have made their First Communion, assist the priest at the altar. The Altar Server ministry is led by Elizabeth Schafer. The Linen Ministry washes and irons the altar cloths, purificators, and corporals used at Mass, with Flo Donaldson coordinating. The Flower Ministry arranges the floral displays around the altar and the church, with seasonal arrangements for Christmas, Easter, and the parish's patroness feast day.
Recovery, the Food Pantry, and the Ministry Building
Our Lady of the Desert's Ministry Building, a separate structure from the church, hosts an unusually large recovery and outreach program. Five separate recovery groups meet in the building each week. Alcoholics Anonymous gathers on Tuesday evenings at 5:30 PM. Narcotics Anonymous meets on Monday evenings at 7:00 PM. Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) meets twice weekly, on Monday evenings at 6:00 PM and Wednesday mornings at 10:00 AM. Compulsive Eaters Anonymous (CEA-HOW) gathers on Saturday mornings at 9:30 AM. The parish also partners with the Diocese of San Bernardino's St. Vincent de Paul conference to host a Food Pantry on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM, distributing groceries to families in need from the High Desert.
The parish is also home to a Charismatic Prayer Group that meets in both English and Spanish. Members gather for praise, scripture meditation, and prayer ministry, with the prayer team laying hands on those who come forward. Our Lady of Fatima Blue Army Prayer is another devotional group, dedicated to the Fatima message and the praying of the rosary. A Deaf and Hard of Hearing ministry is coordinated through Tina Wilson for the English-speaking group and Linda Hardy for the Spanish-speaking group, with the parish working to include hard-of-hearing parishioners in the liturgy and parish life.
The Serra Club, Knights, Daughters, and the Wider Parish Family
Our Lady of the Desert hosts the Serra Club of the High Desert, a chapter of an international Catholic lay organization that promotes vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The Serra Club meets regularly, prays for seminarians, and supports discernment events for young men and women considering religious life. Each year, the club invites a priest or seminarian to share his vocation story, and the parish publishes recordings of those talks.
The Knights of Columbus Council associated with the parish is led locally by Bob Johnson, and the council meets for the regular works of the order: fundraising for parish and community causes, support for Catholic education, and the Keep Christ in Christmas campaign. The Catholic Daughters of the Americas, a national lay women's organization, has an active court at the parish, with Lorena Meza serving as regent. The Catholic Daughters meet for prayer, study, charitable work, and fellowship.
For seniors, a Dance and Exercise Class meets weekly under the direction of Cicy Rosado, offering low-impact movement and an opportunity for fellowship. A Sunday Scripture Study group meets for a deeper look at the coming Sunday's readings, with Peggy Perring-Mulligan coordinating. Emmaus Spiritual Accompaniment offers one-on-one spiritual direction with trained lay ministers, with Anne Bremser available for English-speaking parishioners. The Marriage Preparation program pairs engaged couples with mentor couples - Tom and Ilene Gilmore for English-speaking couples and Patrick and Lisette Lopez for Spanish-speaking couples.
Marriage, Quinceañeras, and the Parish's Pastoral Reach
The pastoral assistant, Andrea Mendoza, coordinates the parish's pastoral care work, including funeral Masses, the Anointing of the Sick, and visits to homebound parishioners. The parish reaches out to families preparing for the quinceañera, a Latino Catholic celebration of a young woman's fifteenth birthday. The quinceañera includes a Mass of Thanksgiving, a special blessing by the priest, and often a reception in the parish hall. Imelda Salgado in the parish office coordinates both weddings and quinceañeras, and is the primary contact for couples and families arranging these celebrations.
The parish's Pro-Life ministry, led by MaryAnn Carroll, prays outside the local abortion clinic, organizes the annual March for Life pilgrimage, and brings parish attention to issues of life and dignity. The Pro-Life ministry works in tandem with the Diocese of San Bernardino's Respect Life Office. The parish also participates in the diocesan VIRTUS program, a safe-environment training required of all adults who work with children and vulnerable adults. Andrea Mendoza is the parish's Safe Environment coordinator.
Becoming Catholic, Returning Catholics, and the Newcomer Door
For those inquiring about the Catholic faith, the parish runs the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults year-round. RCIA is a communal process of formation that walks inquirers through the teachings of the Church, the liturgical year, the sacraments, and the lived practice of the faith. The parish welcomes catechumens (those not yet baptized) and candidates (those already baptized in another Christian tradition) into the same formation track, with adaptations for each group's needs. Sponsors accompany each inquirer through the process.
The parish has a separate page and message for returning Catholics: those who were baptized and perhaps received Communion and Confirmation, but who have not been active in the Church for some time. The message is simple: the parish misses those who have been away, and the door is always open. Newcomers to the parish, whether lifelong Catholics looking for a new parish home, new residents of the High Desert, or those returning to the practice of the faith, are invited to register as parishioners through a registration form available on the parish's Newcomers page. A bilingual welcome greets visitors on the page in both English and Spanish.
Beliefs, Prayer, and the Liturgical Calendar
The parish's teaching page on Catholic belief begins with the Nicene Creed, recited at Mass each Sunday, and walks through the central teachings: one God, three divine Persons in the Holy Trinity; the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ; the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ as the Paschal Mystery at the heart of the faith; the Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic; the forgiveness of sins through Baptism; the communion of saints; and the hope of resurrection and life everlasting.
The parish teaches the seven sacraments, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy, the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance), the Ten Commandments, the two greatest commandments, the eight Beatitudes, the fourteen Stations of the Cross, the Precepts of the Church, and the four marks of the Church. Each topic is presented in plain language, drawing on scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
The parish keeps the universal liturgical calendar: Advent with its four Sundays of preparation, Christmas lasting from Christmas Eve through the Baptism of the Lord, Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, the sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the Great Easter Vigil and the fifty days of Easter culminating at Pentecost, and the long season of Ordinary Time. Solemnities, feasts, and memorials of saints and holy days are celebrated alongside the Sunday liturgy, with the bulletin and the homily drawing attention to each one.
The Rosary, the Homily, and a Sunday Bulletin
Each Sunday, the pastor's homily is recorded and posted online, in English and Spanish, for parishioners who could not attend Mass or who want to revisit the reflection. The homily file is uploaded to the parish's homily page, and the priest often previews the upcoming Sunday's scriptures in a brief weekday reflection. The parish also prays the Rosary in a Spanish-language series led by Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino, with the video series available through the parish.
The parish produces a weekly bulletin with the upcoming Sunday's readings, the celebrant schedule, announcements, faith formation news, and the names of the recently deceased, the sick, and the recently baptized. The bulletin archive is posted online, going back more than a year, with each Sunday's bulletin available as a downloadable PDF. The bulletin is also published in a Spanish-language edition.
Scrip, Online Giving, and the Work of the Parish
The parish raises a portion of its operating income through the Scrip program, a gift card rebate program in which parishioners purchase gift cards from local and national retailers through the parish office, with a percentage of each purchase rebated back to the parish. Scrip is sold after Sunday Masses, and prepaid orders can be placed through the parish office. The Scrip form is available as a PDF download.
Online Giving is also available through the parish's secure online giving platform, hosted by Our Sunday Visitor (OSV). Parishioners can set up recurring gifts, choose specific funds, and adjust their giving at any time. Online gifts are credited to the donor's year-end tax statement, and credit card giving is available for those who want to take advantage of rewards programs.
A Parish of Two Languages and Many Doors
Our Lady of the Desert is at once a Catholic parish, a bilingual community, a school of faith for every age, a recovery center, a food pantry, a choir, a youth group, a vocation-promoting chapter, and a place of prayer. The priests of the Congregation of the Resurrection, together with the parish's lay staff and hundreds of volunteers, keep the church open, the candles lit, the bread and wine on the altar, and the doors wide for newcomers, returning Catholics, and the people of Apple Valley and the High Desert who come to pray.