Dolores Parish was originally a small mission church known as "La Luz" and was located on U.S. 183 near what is now Montopolis Bridge. It was one of the five churches served by Father Alfred Mendez, C.S.C. that were known as the Holy Cross Mexican Missions.
The present church was built in 1952. At that time it was on the edge of the Montopolis neighborhood. Today it is certainly in the heart of the Montopolis neighborhood.
The parish was named for Nuestra Senora de Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows), the patroness of the preists, brothers and sisters of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
The Congregation of Holy Cross, with sisters, brothers and preists, works in universities, colleges, high schools, parishes, military chaplaincies in the United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Bangladesh, India, Uganda, Haiti, Canada, Brasil and France. In all of their apostolates, they seem themselves as "educators in the faith".
The Franciscanas Hijas de Misericordia were founded in Mallorca, Spain in order to meet the arising needs of the Church, especially among the poor. They work in Texas, Peru, Bolivia, Italy and Spain, where they work in hospitals, schools, kindergartens, day care centers, social work and pastoral ministry. They came to Texas in 1962 and have been at Dolores since 1971.