Another beautiful day in Paradise. After a quick cup of coffee we were ready to load up the girls and head out for another day of sight-seeing. First on the agenda was a beautiful church in Mescalero. I'm about as WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) as you can get so I'm always in admiration of the beautiful appointments in a Catholic church anyway. This church was no exception with the added twist of being an Apache Catholic church.
I can tell you that the history and the beauty of this place overwhelmed me, as well as the intergration (and, yes, controversy) of Christianity and the Apache religions.
You can't talk about Saint Joseph's Apache Mission without including Father Albert (Braun) who came to the Mescalero reservation in 1916. It was his first assignment after becoming an ordained priest of the Franciscan order. The life on the reservation was as different from his early life in Los Angeles as black and white. He came from culture and he came from comfort - neither would be his on the reservation.
His first home on the reservation was an alcove large enough for a cot and his trunk located behind a blanket, hung for privacy, in the back of the windowless building used for services - if you could call the earth floors, the rotting roof, the crumbling walls a building. Unable to speak the Apache language he used an interpreter, who shared the contents of the collection plate. His first service yielded only seventeen cents. Clergymen lived, in those days, by the generosity of the congregation and the collection plate. Oops.
His parents sent money for a horse, others lent him a saddle and rifle. He preached the word of God from his saddle, riding through the reservation with the trappings necessary to hold mass. He was a crack shot and would show up at an Apache home with a deer, a rabbit, or other game...always a welcome addition to the table, and made the welcome a bit warmer. He was always at the church on Sunday morning ready to welcome those that came to the service.
Father Albert volunteered for service in both World Wars, (and was a POW after Corregidor & Battaan, surviving the death march). It was during WW-I that he saw the stone churches of Europe and dreamed of building one on the reservation. In 1919 the church was begun and was considered complete (without the windows and other touches) in 1939.
On Veteran's Day 1945, Father Albert dedicated the church to those American soldiers from both World Wars who never returned to the land they were defending.
Father Albert was transferred to Phoenix and there he died at the age of 95 on March 6, 1983. His eternal resting place is inside the church he dreamed of, built, and served for most of his priesthood.
A beautiful soul, a friend to the Apache, and a true American hero. More can be read at:
Ravages of Time and Bats Threaten Stone Church on Indian Reservation
The Apache Christ by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM is an Apache holy man dressed in ceremonial clothing, with a sun symbol painted on his upraised left palm and a deer hoof rattle in the right. At his feet is a basket with a grass brush, bags of tobacco, and eagle feather and cattail pollin. He stands atop Sierra Blanca. It is said to represent the coming of age festival for the young women of the tribe - more of this ceremony and a fascinating telling of one of the last of the Jicarilla medicine dances, conducted by an old Apache named Sotli in 1898 to rid a woman of the Bear and Snake Disease can be read at:
Apache Christ
The Apache influence is seen throughout the church tucked here and there, not "in your face" but subtly drawing you into a church build for and by the Apaches.
One of the Stations of the Cross that hung on the walls of the church. Again, Christianity with Apache influence.
The baptismal had understated Apache influence, the staff in front not so understated.
The vase with the plant was tucked away in a corner.
A place to pray and leave offerings and prayer requests.
Homage to the only Native American to become a saint*, daughter of a Mohawk warrior.
* I am Methodist, so not sure what this means but Catholic Online says she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope John Paul II, which to me means she is a saint...but under the canonized statement there is another "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, has not yet been canonized." At any rate she was a pretty brave and intriguing young lady. Her story can be read by clicking on the link for Catholic Online.
Although considered finished in 1939, the windows, floors and lighting had not been installed. Over the years window panes were placed but due to the high winds caused by a natural vortex effect, they were broken. Glass and plexiglass were both used and neither could withstand the wind. In 1961 a company in El Paso, Texas donated the current windows made of a combination of plexiglass and glass.
St. Barbara, patron saint of artillerymen, military engineers as well as miners and others who work with explosives.
St. Clare of Assisi, Foundress of the order of nuns known as the "Poor Clares"
St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases.
St. Thomas, although there a gabillion zillion St. Thomas' I am assuming this is the patron saint of architects since the window includes a facsimile of the church and St. Thomas is holding a T-square (although I doubt they had those when he was around). He was also one of the 12 apostles.
This was something I am not used to seeing in a church. Evidently they are a big nuisance leaving a mess that needs to be cleaned every morning.
As you leave the church you see this beautiful stained glass window above you. It is actually multiple windows joined together. Humbling.
These three panels are a triptych of the Mountain Spirit Dancers. They are dancing in suspension above Sierra Blanca, sacred mountain of the Apache.
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| The interior of the church |
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| The altar with Apache Apostles eating traditional food. |
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| The Apache Christ |
Apache Christ
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| Apache Madonna - Allan Houser |
The Apache influence is seen throughout the church tucked here and there, not "in your face" but subtly drawing you into a church build for and by the Apaches.
One of the Stations of the Cross that hung on the walls of the church. Again, Christianity with Apache influence.
The baptismal had understated Apache influence, the staff in front not so understated.
The vase with the plant was tucked away in a corner.
A place to pray and leave offerings and prayer requests.
Homage to the only Native American to become a saint*, daughter of a Mohawk warrior.
* I am Methodist, so not sure what this means but Catholic Online says she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope John Paul II, which to me means she is a saint...but under the canonized statement there is another "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, has not yet been canonized." At any rate she was a pretty brave and intriguing young lady. Her story can be read by clicking on the link for Catholic Online.
Although considered finished in 1939, the windows, floors and lighting had not been installed. Over the years window panes were placed but due to the high winds caused by a natural vortex effect, they were broken. Glass and plexiglass were both used and neither could withstand the wind. In 1961 a company in El Paso, Texas donated the current windows made of a combination of plexiglass and glass.
St. Barbara, patron saint of artillerymen, military engineers as well as miners and others who work with explosives.
St. Clare of Assisi, Foundress of the order of nuns known as the "Poor Clares"
St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases.
St. Thomas, although there a gabillion zillion St. Thomas' I am assuming this is the patron saint of architects since the window includes a facsimile of the church and St. Thomas is holding a T-square (although I doubt they had those when he was around). He was also one of the 12 apostles.
This was something I am not used to seeing in a church. Evidently they are a big nuisance leaving a mess that needs to be cleaned every morning.
As you leave the church you see this beautiful stained glass window above you. It is actually multiple windows joined together. Humbling.
These three panels are a triptych of the Mountain Spirit Dancers. They are dancing in suspension above Sierra Blanca, sacred mountain of the Apache.
Below these panels are supposed to be four portraits of Cochise, Geronimo, Victorio and Naiche. Both Walt and I took tons of photographs in the church and neither of us shot more than these two guys, so we are assuming the other two have been removed during the restoration. We are sure that the one on the right is Geronimo and fairly certain the other is Victorio.
Stats:
The church is in the form of a cross
64' wide
131' long
50' to rafters
80' to roof peak
Bell tower walls are 4' thick
Tip of cross on bell tower 103' high
Original building materials local
Stone quarried from Bent, New Mexico
Br. Salesius Kraft
A former German artilleryman he came to Mescalero after being ordained. He was crushed to death while trying to unload a large rock from the back of a truck. He is buried beside the church he helped build.
R.I.P.
July 13, 1928
The church is undergoing restoration and it is in its 14th year, with another two expected. We were fortunate enough to talk to the man leading the restoration effort, Tommy Spottedbird whose pride in the church and dedication to the restoration was heartwarming.
Trish had kept the girls in the air conditioned Jeep as we toured the church...I think Marti was ready to head home to lunch.
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| Mommmmmm, are you done yet? I'm hungry! |
(STAY TUNED FOR MORE AS I GET THEM DONE)
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