WOODLAND — With joy and gratitude, the parish community of Holy Rosary gathered on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, for the solemn dedication of their new church. Most Rev. Jaime Soto, Bishop of Sacramento, presided at the Mass of Dedication, marking a historic moment for the parish founded in 1870.
The new church is the fifth in the parish’s history and the culmination of decades of prayer, planning, and preparation by the community. Discussions about the need for constructing a new church began in the 1990s under the leadership of then-pastor Fr. John Boll.
Designed in a cruciform layout in the Spanish mission style, the church seats over 1,000 people and preserves many treasured elements from the previous church building, including stained-glass windows, rose windows, statuary, and the Stations of the Cross.
The dedication Mass brought together parishioners, priests of the Diocese of Sacramento, the architects and engineers who helped bring the project to completion and civic leaders. Several former pastors were also present alongside the current pastor, Rev. Jonathan Molina.
The dedication began when Bishop Soto received the blueprints and the keys to the church from the architect before approaching the main doors and knocking three times, symbolically opening the new sacred space for worship. The rite that followed reflected the Church’s ancient tradition of consecrating a building for divine worship.
The altar, the walls of the church, and the faithful were first blessed with holy water. The Litany of Saints was sung, invoking the intercession of the saints as the Church on earth joined its prayer with the Church in heaven.
During the rite of dedication, relics of St. José Sánchez del Río, the young Mexican martyr and patron saint of children, adolescents, and persecuted Christians were placed within the altar. Bishop Soto then anointed the altar and the walls of the church with Sacred Chrism, marking the altar with five crosses recalling the five wounds of Christ.
The altar and church were then incensed, symbolizing the sacrifice of Christ offered upon the altar and the prayers of the faithful rising to God.
Former pastor Fr. John Boll and current pastor Fr. Jonathan Molina then lit the altar and church, a sign of Christ as the light of the world.
In his homily, Bishop Soto reminded the faithful that while the beauty of the new sanctuary is striking, its deepest meaning lies in the faith of the people who worship there.
“No one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ,” the bishop said, quoting St. Paul.
“Jesus is the foundation,” Bishop Soto continued. “Our faith, joined with that of the apostles and all the saints, is the rock upon which we have raised this place so that God’s holy name may be praised and his divine mercy may pour forth from this altar.”
Following the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament was placed in the tabernacle of the new church for the first time.
For the parishioners of Holy Rosary, the dedication marks not simply the completion of a building project, but the beginning of a new chapter in the life of a community that has served Woodland and rural Yolo County for more than 150 years.
As Bishop Soto reminded the faithful, the church building now stands as a visible sign of something even greater: the living temple formed by the people of God themselves.
“You are the temple of God,” he said, again quoting St. Paul. “The Spirit of God dwells in you.”
