SAN XAVIER MISSION-Chapter Three

Tohono O'Odham means 'desert people' and the plants of the Sonoran desert provide the materials for their much sought after baskets. 

These are some beautiful examples on display in the San Xavier Mission museum.

This is their flag.

The 'man in the maze' is often connected with this tribe and symbolizes man's spiritual search toward 'center.'

Here, it is painted on a wall in the museum.

This also is painted on a wall in the museum.

I love the colors!

On the facade of the church, you will see this cat chasing the mouse.  Legend has it that if the cat ever chases the mouse, that will be the end of the world.

Buildings such as these cast some pretty interesting shadows at times.  I was happy that I didn't miss this one!

Along a courtyard wall of an adjacent small chapel are the stations of the cross.

Inside the little chapel is this.

These are the bells on the small chapel.

so pretty....so peaceful.

a cross-topped arch

A mosaic-tiled St. Francis

and the Virgin of Guadalupe

On one of the ramadas, I saw this 'cristo.'  A young Tohono O'Odham woman told me her grandfather had made it and placed it there, many,many years ago.  This may be my favorite piece of all the religous art to be found at San Xavier. 

To learn more about the Tohono O'Odham people, visit

http://www.sanxaviermission.org/Tohono.html

Also, there seem to be many good videos on youtube.  I especially like this one which shows the special relationship of the T. O. people with the saguaro cactus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjsvGg5kAgM

It  has become apparent to me, that I have consistantly typed "O'Odham"...when it fact it should be written O'odham.

I am grateful for your forgiveness of my ignorance and carelessness.

And I am grateful for San Xavier Mission and the Tohono O'odham- people of the desert.

SAN XAVIER-THE CHURCH

San Xavier Mission is stunning.
It's breathtakingly,surprisingly beautiful.

Unlike the equally beautiful Spanish mission at San Juan Capistrano, San Xavier has the element of surprise.  You drive up onto it, from a barren, arid, desert land and it hits you right in the face.

San Juan Mission, as I recall, is nestled amongst many trees and in a fairly urban area.  It reveals itself to you little by little.  Not so, The Dove of the Desert.

Approaching the mission from state highway 19, you enter the Tohono O'Odham reservation and cross the Santa Cruz river.  Yes, it's one of those usually dry rivers which run through Tucson.  Occasionally, though...this

looks like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7iJhLUflGk&feature=related

which helps to explains the full name of the mission, which is San Xavier del Bac.  'Del bac' means...where the water reappears.  Arizona has many rivers which go underground for a time and then emerge, once again, on the surface.  Water, on the desert, is worth more than gold.  So, a place where water appeared must have seemed like paradise.

You do get a glimpse of the dove, from the highway.  Actually, you can see the gleam of the dome of the mission from many high points around Tucson.  But nothing prepares you for your first good look of it, as you turn the corner and see this.

That stark white against that blue sky leaves you breathless.

Let's take notice of something right here.  Do you see the difference in the color of the left tower and the right one?  Does it remind you of a Clorox commercial?  For many years now, restoration work has been done on this historic building.  What you see is the difference in the tower which has been restored and the tower which has not.  Another bit of information to digest is this:  No one has ever known...nor probably ever will know...just why that right tower was never finished.

It is a mystery.

http://arizonanotebook.com/?p=660

You must remember that almost everything you see in and on this mission is made of mud....adobe, to be precise.  Trees are scarce on the Sonoran Desert now and most assuredly also were back in the 1700's when construction began.  Embellishments which would have been carved in wood or cast in precious metals in European churches could only be made from the lowly adobe from which the very building itself was created. 

Even on a desert, mud doesn't last forever, so in 1989 restoration was begun and is ongoing.

This is what a lot of the interior looked like in its 200+ year old state.

The many pictures to follow will show off the true beauty after the restoration.  I am ignorant about both Catholicism and architecture and don't know the right terminology for the things I will show you.  I will just let the  pictures speak for themselves.

There is a vast amount of interesting information and many pictures of the restoration on this website.

http://www.patronatosanxavier.org/

It was difficult to take pictures the day we were there.  Even after the last Mass, the church was filled with people...lighting candles and praying or taking pictures and gawking.  My favorite times to visit are on weekdays when there are fewer people.  Perhaps I'll try again, another day, to get some better pictures to share.

The small museum is well worth the time it takes to visit it.  It is housed in the original living quarters for the priests. Note the thickness of the walls.

I'm thinking these steps, leading to a window, were for the express purpose of facilitating the necessary (at the time) practice of watching for marauding Apaches.

These halls are so very narrow...and have very low ceilings.

Look at the detail even in such a place as the hall ceiling.

This hallway is even more narrow and low-ceilinged than the other one!

Some artifacts on display in the original dining area.

I love this fireplace.  It doesn't have a chimney but it does have two quite practical indentations to hold clay vessels.

The courtyard used to be heavily planted with groundcovers and other plants.  It was determined that all that moisture was part of the cause of the disintegration of the adobe plaster, so a few years ago, it was paved with bricks and most plants removed.  It isn't as lovely as it was back then....but obviously, this change was necessary.

Once again, I find myself with many leftover pictures. 

So.........

Chapter Three...tomorrow.

I am grateful for the people who stepped in to save this wondrous and special place.

SAN XAVIER MISSION-The White Dove of the Desert

When we have visitors, as you well know, the first place in Tucson that I take them is De Grazia’s Gallery In the Sun.


Next on the list is this very special place, San Xavier Mission-the White Dove of the Desert.

We went there on Valentine’s Day. It was a lovely day of brilliant sunshine and perfect temperatures.

The place was jam-packed with both tourists and worshipers. First ,on our agenda, was food. Of course!

All these ramadas are sheltering Tohono O'Odham people who are making and selling frybread with various toppings and fillings..and they’re doing a brisk business!

There is the scintillating aroma of many mesquite fires. Wood smoke is my favorite perfume! I am drawn like a bee to honey.

We stop at the ramada of Jennifer Juan and her father, Frank. They generously allow me to make a pest of myself taking one picture after another while they are busy cooking up these scrumptious offerings.

Beginning with these dough balls, Jennifer quickly, efficiently and expertly produces a tortilla.

Look how perfectly round it is!  How paper thin, it is!!

She has done this a time or two, ya think?

I have tried doing this. It is very hard to do. My Navajo friends gave up on me as my tortillas all turned out grossly misshapen. I claim that I was only trying to pay tribute to Australia as all mine turned out looking like that continent.

Into the very hot fat it goes………

Before you know it, it begins to blossom into a thing of beauty!

To pop up, moments later, looking like this.

A quick flip with a fork and....

Next, the fillings or toppings of your choice go on. Today, we were hungry for more than a snack, so we missed out on the lovely delicacy of hot fry bread drizzled generously with honey.

I’m drooling over the memory of that tasty concoction. Perhaps next time.

But for now...this will surely do!

When I first came to Tucson, I heard about a pageant to be held at the mission and I went to it. Jennifer and I got to talking and I mentioned that event. She told me that she had been one of the participants in what turned out to be the last one held. She had been one of the “Indian” children who followed Father Kino into the village. I distinctly remember that part of the pageant and it was really fun to connect with someone who shared this memory from so many years ago.   It was a beautiful event and I’m sorry to say that the lack of finances stopped it. I am so grateful that I got to witness it. 

After we ate, we took a stroll up Grotto Hill.

The grotto was built in this black lava rock in 1908 and is still a place of prayer for many. It’s also just a fun place for kids of all ages to do some rock hopping!

On our way toward the hill, look what we saw!

Road Runners are just so darn cute!

I can't help myself.  I have to tell a grandma story.

My youngest grandchild, Skye, once informed us that the job of a roadrunner is to run around all over everywhere and tell everybody how the roads are.  The reason he knows that, he says, is because he, Skye, is the president of all the animals.

So, now, you know.

These beautiful animals guard the entrance to Grotto Hill.  They are cast iron...built in 1908.

The hill provides different views.  Looking to the west, you see the Tucson Mountains.

Those green fields are the alfalfa grown by the Tohono O'odham people.

Looking to the North, you see the Santa Catalinas...with some snow left on them.

Just beneath the hill we saw this.  I can imagine the kids having a wonderful time writing words with rocks.  I'd love to do that myself again.

But this is the heart of Grotto Hill.

We walked the path around Grotto Hill to the other side....and look who we found!

Perhaps it is a sacred space to him, too.

I did not intend to take a picture of this gentleman praying.  I would never do that purposely.  But, sometimes, my camera catches something beautiful...too beautiful not to share.

I am so grateful for this place.  I am grateful to Jennifer and Frank for their graciousness.  And I am grateful for Frank's service in Viet Nam.  I am grateful to the Tohono O'Odham for sharing with us all, this beautiful White Dove of the Desert.

Tomorrow's blog will be about the mission itself.  But for me, the 'place' includes so much more than the church.  It is the totality.  It is the memory of the pagaent I attended so long ago....dancing with local historian, Jim Griffith....to the music of a chicken scratch band.  Seeing Jennifer and the other 'actors' portraying the history of this spot on the map...from the earliest native people to the conquistadores to the arrival of the Catholic priests.  A huge circle of bonfires, lighting the night, as the statue of Mary was carried, followed by Yaqui and ToHono O'Odham dancers, mariachis playing and singing and priests praying and burning incense...all followed by an enormous display of fireworks behind that white dove on a dark desert night.

It inspired Ted De Grazia, too.

http://degrazia.org/Shop.aspx?page=Prints