Visiting old churches reminds us of history and traditions that have been forgotten. These old churches were built when Catholicism was Catholic and Sacred was Sacred. It is extremely important to study History, especially Catholic Church History. So when you visit the missions or any other Catholic institutions, like seminaries or hospitals, you see how many priests and nuns there were and how they dressed in habits and cassocks.
As part of the Traditional Catholic Summer School, we went on a field trip Holy Family parish in Tucson Arizona, (that is staffed by the Institute of Christ the King). The priest there is Canon Avis. The priests of the Institute are not called Fathers, but Canons.
We wanted to connect with his parish because they only offer the Latin Mass. It turned out that he was originally from Phoenix and had served the Latin Mass for Fr. Saenz when he was a young man. I asked him to give us a talk about Christendom. He said it is to be political, but that is not he case, so all we can do is let Jesus Christ the King rule over us and our families. He also reminded the boys of thinking about their vocations, priesthood or father of a family. He told the girls about the religious life too. They have a women’s group, (Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus), who pray for priests.
They were so kind as to lend us their hall to be able to sit down, out of the hot sun, and eat our picnic lunches.
Picture from Wikipedia
Then we headed to San Xavier del Bac Mission, just south of Tucson. An Italian Jesuit priest, Padre Eusebio Kino, founded this mission 1692. It was named after the great Jesuit Missionary, St. Francis Xavier who baptized thousands and thousands of Catholics in the 1500’s.
Timeline:
With just one visit, you pass through 200 years of history, good and bad. This mission also reminds us of our Catholic duty to go and convert and baptized all nations, the last thing Jesus asked us to do before He ascended back to Glory.‘Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.’ Matthew 28:19-20
Everywhere at this Mission you see traditional Catholic things from the good holy days of past.
- Beautiful church architecture that attracts all people no matter what religion they are.
- Altar facing God and the Tabernacle in center of church,
- Saints statues,
- Vestments,
- and priests in cassocks.
- Altar Cards
We are so blessed to be traditional Catholics and to know what pleases God and what converts people to Jesus’ Catholic Church. Please pray for the Church to begin to send out missionaries again and to stop saying all religions are fine. There is only One God, One Faith, One Church and One Truth.
The original author of this blog passed away in July of 2016. RIP Father Carota.