So located just outside the city limits, on a reservation, is this lovely place:
It is called the Mission San Xavier del Bac, the White Dove of the Desert. It is a Franciscan mission, and still an active Roman Catholic church. There were tours given every 30 minutes (no funeral this time). The tours are given by volunteers, and they accept gratuities; the gratutities were collected in tithe envelopes by one of the guides. It was founded as a Catholic mission in 1692 and a church with this building by 1797 (the one you see here today).
So looking at the front section, there is a lot of symbolism here. In the middle piece, there are two hands around the cross. The right hand is Christ's. The other is for Saint Francis of Assisi. At the top of the cross is a rope. The Franciscans tied their cassocks with a rope. When you see this symbol, this tells you this church is a Franciscan church. On the two side panels are lions. Spain's mascot was the lion, so Spain helped establish the church. The shell is a symbol for the patron saint of Spain, Santiago, or James the Greater. And further down the panels are several women saints that are saints of music, art, etc. Some of them are missing parts due to erosion. The church is constructed of low-fire clay brick, stone and lime mortar. The lime gives it its white color. Imagine seeing it far, far away while riding in the desert!
When you go inside, your breath is taken away by the artwork.
This is the view from the front door, but let's look at it a little closer:
right side
left side
the altar
ceiling above the altar (hand painted)
above the front door
As you can see, this church is visually stunning inside. There were also paintings on the walls; but I did not have time to take pictures of everything. There were too many people milling about and praying. Again, this is an active church and I did not want to disturb.
The alcove for prayers and candles
Again, visually stunning. So thank you all for coming along to this mission with us. It was free. We just strolled around for about 20 minutes or so. Then we went back to the campsite and chilled out. We are traveling tomorrow to the west coast. Chasing more sunny weather! Y'all come back!😉
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