In a small building at the corner of Onaga and Church Streets, Fr. Norman Smith celebrated the first Mass at St. Mary of the Valley, Yucca Valley, on Palm Sunday 1953. Fr. Edward Creighton assumed duties as pastor the following November.

The year 1954 saw several sacramental firsts at St. Mary: Confirmation (14), First Communion (4), a marriage and the funeral (of the bride, killed in an auto accident). 

The first Mass in what is now the "old church" was offered on June 5, 1955, and the first Mass in the "new church" was celebrated on June 12, 1994, one year short of 40 years later. 

The parishioners of St. Mary of the Valley joyfully anticipate celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of their parish.