Archive All Issues November 1986

Pilgrimage to San Xavier

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by Bernard L. Fontana

Featured in the November 1986 Issue of Arizona Highways

Destination for hundreds of pilgrims each year, Mission San Xavier del Bac rests serenely in the desert southwest of Tucson as it has for nearly 200 years. The mission was founded by Jesuit priest and explorer Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1700; the present structure was completed by the Franciscans in 1797.
Destination for hundreds of pilgrims each year, Mission San Xavier del Bac rests serenely in the desert southwest of Tucson as it has for nearly 200 years. The mission was founded by Jesuit priest and explorer Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1700; the present structure was completed by the Franciscans in 1797.
BY: BERNARD L. FONTANA

San Xavier

To become a pilgrim is to embark on an adventure, to leave the comfort and security of one's home, neighbors, and familiar surroundings as an act of faith. It can be motivated by the need to do penance. It may be inspired by a sense of thanksgiving. It can be a sacrifice offered in petition. A pilgrimage must, however, have a sacred place as its goal. The tradition of pilgrimage is as old as organized religion. And the custom is alive and thriving in southern Arizona where Mission San Xavier del Bac, founded in 1700 by Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino, has become the magnet for peregrinos, pilgrims, who walk to the mis-sion, hundreds of them each year. The journey has to be on foot. Driving or riding doesn't count. The Mission San Xavier we see today was built by Franciscans between the late 1770s and 1797. It is the parish church for Papago Indians who live on the San Xavier Indian Reservation; it is one of Arizona's most popular tourist attractions; and, beginning possibly as early as the last century, it has become a center of pilgrimage for many of the region's mexicanos, Americans of Mexican descent who are bearers of a Christian tradition rooted in antiquity. The mission is located about nine miles south of downtown Tucson. On any day of the week, but especially on weekends, sion, hundreds of them each year. The journey has to be on foot. Driving or riding doesn't count. The Mission San Xavier we see today was built by Franciscans between the late 1770s and 1797. It is the parish church for Papago Indians who live on the San Xavier Indian Reservation; it is one of Arizona's most popular tourist attractions; and, beginning possibly as early as the last century, it has become a center of pilgrimage for many of the region's mexicanos, Americans of Mexican descent who are bearers of a Christian tradition rooted in antiquity. The mission is located about nine miles south of downtown Tucson. On any day of the week, but especially on weekends, pilgrims make their way south along Mission Road or east along San Xavier Loop Road toward the church. They walk singly, in pairs, trios, or in larger groups. Their heads are uncovered, or they wear widebrimmed hats, baseball caps, or bandannas. A few wear the religious habit of a saint or sectarian figure. Some carry umbrellas. They may carry water bottles and be without visible logistical support. Or they may walk ahead of a car or truck that will park, then catch up again every few hundred yards. They walk unaided, although some use walking sticks, canes, even crutches. The pilgrims are of all ages: young children who are hardly more than tod-dlers, boys and girls, young men and women-some with babes in armsmiddle-aged, and elderly. Some stand erect; others are stoop-shouldered. Some walk briskly; others, idly, playing as they go and aiming rocks at rabbits or birds in the brush beside the road; still others shuffle along, painfully determined to make it all the way to their destination. There are those who laugh, smile, and talk. There are those whose countenances are grim, sad, or reflective and who say little or nothing. They share a common goal. It is to cover the miles on foot to Mission San Xavier del Bac and, once there, to give thanks to God through one of the saints for a blessing received or to petition for a blessing desired. For some, the walk is not enough. A few elect to give further evidence of their devotion and added meaning to their sacrifice by going the length of the nave-or sometimes all the way from the gate at the atrium in front of the church-on their knees. Fewer still throw themselves flat before the high altar. Many light votive candles in honor of a particular saint (more than three dozen are represented inside the church by images sculptured in the eighteenth century). Many more affix small metallic votive offerings (milagros), usually in the shapes of afflicted body parts, to the covdlers, boys and girls, young men and women-some with babes in armsmiddle-aged, and elderly. Some stand erect; others are stoop-shouldered. Some walk briskly; others, idly, playing as they go and aiming rocks at rabbits or birds in the brush beside the road; still others shuffle along, painfully determined to make it all the way to their destination. There are those who laugh, smile, and talk. There are those whose countenances are grim, sad, or reflective and who say little or nothing. They share a common goal. It is to cover the miles on foot to Mission San Xavier del Bac and, once there, to give thanks to God through one of the saints for a blessing received or to petition for a blessing desired. For some, the walk is not enough. A few elect to give further evidence of their devotion and added meaning to their sacrifice by going the length of the nave-or sometimes all the way from the gate at the atrium in front of the church-on their knees. Fewer still throw themselves flat before the high altar. Many light votive candles in honor of a particular saint (more than three dozen are represented inside the church by images sculptured in the eighteenth century). Many more affix small metallic votive offerings (milagros), usually in the shapes of afflicted body parts, to the cov(FAR LEFT) Its unique design and ornate decoration have led authorities to acclaim San Xavier del Bac "the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. "JERRY JACKA (LEFT, AND BELOW, LEFT) Some come in search of spiritual solace, some in hope of physical healing, some in gratitude for miracles granted. Pilgrims-mostly Mexican-Americans from southern Arizona-plod through the dust and hot, bright sunshine to San Xavier del Bac's cool sanctuary as an act of devotion and faith. GREG KELLER/JACK DYKINGA Cisco lying on an altar in the west chapel. The majority of these pilgrims are carryinging out the terms of a vow (manda) made to God through the intermediary of a saint. Others make straightforward requests. Notes left beneath burning votive candles in the mission's mortuary chapel during a typical month tell part of the story: "As que me rinda el dinero, St. Lazaro" (Make the money stretch, Saint Lazarus). Or another, in translation: Fairest sainted Child of Atocha [i.e., Christ who appeared as a child and aided the Christians at the time of the Moorish invasion of Atocha, Spain), we give you thanks for all the favors we have received from you daily. Thank you, adored Child of Atocha,for having helped my little son J.... with his left hand and for his having come out of his two operations well and able to use his little hand. Many thanks to you, Child of my heart. I promised to dress him like you for three months, and I fulfilled my promise, and now I offer you his habit [a beautifully hand-sewn tunic and cape) in the name of my son J. From now on, you will be his advocate; so take care of him, protect him, and guide him on the right path now and forever. Thank you for your miracles and blessings, sainted Child of Atocha. And in English, written on the back of a voided personal check: Dear God-I am in so much trouble with the law. Please help me be strong and give me thoughts to help me and my family and friends who are going through this with me. I'm beg ging you to please help. I don't want to go to prison. And I don't want to be scarred for life. God help me be out of this and let all this be over with real soon. With nearly equal anguish: My Dear Sweet Jesus, Sacred Heart, Here I am asking you please to help me in my life, help me with my divorce. Please! Don't let me hurt anybody! Help me to make a better future for me and my kids. I promise to try very hard. Please be with me all the way. Please help my husband not to hurt so much. Help him, please. Forgive me my sins. Have mercy on me.

WHEN YOU GO...

"Today we started preparing the foundations for a very large and spacious church and mission residence at San Xavier del Bac...."

-Eusebio Francisco Kino, April 28, 1700 Father Kino was never able to complete his dreams of a mission at Bac. The lovely church known as the "White Dove of the Desert" is the result of the labors of another Catholic missionary, Juan Bautista Velderrain, who came to San Xavier in 1776 and died there in 1790. The finishing work was concluded in 1797 under Father Juan Bautista Llorens. Today San Xavier stands as a spectacular Mexican Baroque legacy of the devoted padres of the past. From Tucson, take Interstate Route 19 south to the San Xavier Road exit, about nine miles. Masses are conducted weekdays at 8:30 A.M., and on Sundays at 8:00 and 11:00 A.M. and 12:30 PM. Historical lectures are presented hourly every day except Sunday from 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 PM. There is no admission fee; donations are accepted.

For an unforgettable experience at the old mission, plan to visit during the San Xavier Pageant and Fiesta, commemorating the mission's founding-one of a dozen special events of the month-long Tucson Festival in April. For details, telephone the Tucson Festival Society at (602) 622-6911.

For visitor information concerning Mission San Xavier, write or call: The Franciscan Friars, Route 11, Box 645, Tucson, AZ 85746; telephone (602) 294-2624. -R.G.S.

innermost sentiments, whether of pen-ance, thanksgiving, or petition-a place that provides beauty to the eye and suste-nance for the soul.

Respected ethnologist and field researcher at the University of Arizona, Dr. Bernard L. Fontana is well known for his writings on the Indians of the Southwestern deserts.

JACK DYKINGA (OPPOSITE PAGE) Mission San Xavier del Bac from a nearby hilltop. RICK DANLEY Thank you for every blessing you have given us. Please be with me. Give me strength.

I love you.

And most poignant of all: St. Anthony. Please give my baby back. Please.

Pilgrimage. An act of faith, an expression of deeply held religious convictions. And famous, beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac is the goal. It is a holy place in which to receive affirmation of one's

Selected Reading

Biography of a Desert Church: the History of Mission San Xavier del Bac, by Bernard Lee Fontana. Tucson Corral of Westerners, Tucson, 1963.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, by Nancy Newhall, photography by Ansel Adams, drawings by Edith Hamlin. Five Associates, San Francisco, 1954.

(BACK COVER) The frightened snorts of horses, the angry shouts of men, and the ring of cold steel fill the air during Civil War reenactments at Pioneer Arizona, a living-history museum near Phoenix. For more on Pioneer Arizona, see page 29. VAL STANNARD

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