Skip to content

The Missions.

buy Pregabalin australia The abandoned mission church of Tumacacori.

http://theglutengal.com/gluten-free-recipes/dessert/extra-fudgy-brownie-dessert/ Last weekend I visited the abandoned mission of Tumacacori after attending mass at the flourishing one of San Xavier del Bac.  I also watched the excellent Robert Bolt-written movie The Mission, which takes as its theme the political difficulties of the Jesuits which led to their dissolution by the pope in 1773.  The entire theme could use a full essay treatment – the connection between worship and farming present in these missions is such a tempting template – but I am not certain I will have the time to write about it while I am here in Arizona.

San Xavier del Bac, which is one of the most extraordinary buildings in America, is a miracle of craftsmanship which photos hardly do justice to.  The only things in the entire church which appear to have seen the touch of a machine are the floor tiles and the pews.  Everything else is irregular, human, hand-hewn, and beautiful.  I had the honor of spending the Easter triduum at this church, which is woefully underappreciated by the faithful here (I had imagined it might be difficult to see services in so small a church here, but it was not even full).  But even San Xavier, which is in superb condition, went through a period of thirty years of complete abandonment.  Phocion Way, who wrote a minor travel classic about the area entitled Overland by Jackass Mail, wrote about the abandoned mission thus:

The birds are its only occupants and they sing praises from morning until night.  They build their nests on the heads of the saints, and warble their notes of joy while perched on their fingers.  They do not respect the sacred image of Christ for a noisy swallow has built her nest in the crown of thorns that encircles his brow, and at this moment is perched on his bleeding hand scolding loudly at my near approach.  The door is always left open, but the property of the church is not disturbed.  The natives look upon the structure with a feeling of awe and could not be persuaded to deface or injure it.  If this country should ever again become thickly populated, it will be renovated and repaired and again used as a place of worship.

One Comment