Religious Art from Spanish Colonial Arizona

​We parked outside of Tuscon, Arizona for a week in a Tuscon Mountain Park next to Saguaro National Park.  It was a friendly place and we concentrated on work, with an occasional hike through the saguaro forest or a side trip into the city for a jazz concert or meal.
 
On Friday, we headed south and our first stop was a beautiful Spanish colonial mission, San Xavier del Bac.

The Mission of San Xavier del Bac.

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. The current church was completed in 1797 and underwent a massive restoration in the late 1990s.

In this side altar, Mary is surrounded by saints.

The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with amazing original statues and mural paintings like what I saw when I wandered around Central America many years ago.

This statue captures the Sorrows of Mary.

The simple angel is painted in a Spanish folk art style.

You see Jesus on the cross as you leave the church.

Across the apse of the church, the statue of the Sorrows of Jesus hovers above a reclining St. Francis. Pilgrims come from all over to pray for the saint’s intercession in their troubles.

A side chapel where you can pray to the Virgin Mary together with Jesus and dozens of saints.

Saint Buenaventura.

After that beautiful stop at San Xavier del Bac, we headed south and west to Las Cienegas National Conservation Area where we are parked at one of two dry campgrounds in the lovely grasslands of Arizona.  More on that coming up....