Holy Trinity parish has a history as rich as Llano's legend and lure. At the turn of the 20th century, the Catholic Church came to Llano as a mission served primarily by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who travel to Llano on horseback from Mason. The first land the mission owned was purchased for $1.00 at the corner of Dallas and Bessemer streets, and a small wooden church was erected. The manager of the lumber company, a devout Lutheran, donated yellow pine to make slatted benched for the new church.
Two orders of Sisters came to serve the growing mission and work alongside the Oblates. They were Sisters of Divine Providence and the Victory Knoll Catechists. As the mission grew, the pastor foresaw the need for a new church and more land for additional buildings. The Austin Diocese, which was formed in 1947, bought three lots adjacent to the church property for $4000 in this inaugural year. The small Thompson house, which stood on the new property, was used for religious education classrooms.
As the church grew, the parish recognized the need for a larger sanctuary and began saving funds to build a new church. By 1975, $25,00 had been raised, but more was needed. Fr. Anthony Goossens, the pastor since 1970, was friends with movie star Sophia Loren. Through this friendship, Ms. Loren donated a ring to help the parish raise the additional money needed to begin construction. A raffle was organized, and nearly 70,000 tickets sold, raising the total available to nearly $55,000, and work was begun with the assistance of an Austin architect who volunteered his services. The church was dedicated in July, 1977.
In 1982, Holy Trinity had grown from Mission to full Parish status, and a rectory was added to house a permanent priest. The parish hall was built in 1989, completing the layout of the current site. Finally, the 1990's brought wonderful enhancement to the sanctuary with the addition of 20 beautiful stained glass windows, depicting the four gospel-writers and the story of salvation in symbolic pictures.
Holy Trinity's 100-plus years have seen it grow from a frontier mission to a modern and thriving parish ready to carry on into the 21st century. May God continue to bless us, our land, and our community of Llano.