The Church of San Francisco in Mexico City

1950 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-30
Author(s):  
Fidel de J. Chauvet
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
The Church

Without Doubt one of the buildings of greatest historical merit in the capital of Mexico is the ancient Church of San Francisco. There, shortly after arriving at the Aztec metropolis, the “Twelve Apostles of Mexico,” Fray Martín de Valencia and his companions established their home. These saintly men through their superhuman missionary activity converted that church into a fervent center of religion and culture. Adjoining the large church, they built the famous college of arts and trades destined especially for the Indian youths, which was directed by that great missionary, Fray Pedro de Gante. From that church and its convent the missionaries set forth to extend their activities southward to Peru, and northward to New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas. With reason, therefore, this ancient sanctuary of San Francisco may be considered the cradle of Christian Mexico, as well as the mother church of the Franciscans in the Americas.

Historic Churches of New Mexico Today

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Graziano
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Pueblo Indians ◽  
New Mexican ◽  
Cultural Legacy ◽  
Attachment To Place ◽  
The Village ◽  
The Church ◽  
Previous Scholarship

Historic Churches of New Mexico Today is an interpretive ethnography based on fieldwork among hispanic villagers, Pueblo Indians, and Mescalero Apaches. The fieldwork was reinforced by extensive research in archives and in previous scholarship. The book presents scholarly interpretations in prose that is accessible, often narrative, at times lyrical, and crafted to convey the experience of researching in New Mexican villages. Descriptive guide information and directions to remote historic churches are provided. Themes treated in the book include the interactions of past and present, the decline of traditions, a sense of place and attachment to place, the church as a cultural legacy, the church in relation to native traditions, resistance to Catholicism, tensions between priests and congregations, maintenance and restoration of historic buildings, and, in general, how the church as a place and devotion as a practice are important (or not) to the identities and everyday lives of individuals and communities. Among many others, the historic churches discussed in the study include the Santuario de Chimayó, San José de Gracia in Las Trampas, San Francisco de Asís in Ranchos de Taos, the village churches of Mora County, St. Joseph Apache Mission in Mescalero, and the mission churches at Laguna, Acoma, and Picurís Pueblos.

Spanish Folklore in the Southwest: The Pioneer Studies of Aurelio M. Espinosa

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-237
Author(s):  
J. Manuel Espinosa
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Spanish America ◽  
First Century ◽  
Old Spanish ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
History Of

The centuries-old Spanish folk heritage of our Southwest, and its many faceted and enduring influence on the cultural life of the region, has been written about from various rims of observation. This article describes the pioneer studies of Aurelio M. Espinosa on Spanish folklore in the Southwest, with special emphasis on northern New Mexico. Although he made important contributions to the study of Spanish folklore of southern Colorado, Arizona, and California, and to that of Spain, Mexico, and other parts of Spanish America as well, he devoted most of his research and field work to the upper half of New Mexico which is the richest field of Spanish folklore in the Southwest.In viewing the cultural history of New Mexico, Espinosa reminded his readers that its first century as a Spanish colony, the 17th, was the second great century of Spain's Golden Age of arts and letters. With the vigor of Spain's sense of mission in those centuries, her Golden Age radiated to all parts of Spanish America via Mexico City, Lima, and the other principal colonial capitals. At the same time, from the bookshelf and the store of knowledge of the humble missionary, and the folklore of the Spanish settlers, passed down from generation to generation, the spirit of the Golden Age was reflected on the most remote settled frontiers.

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