Patronato San Xavier | P.O. Box 522, Tucson, AZ 85702 | (520) 407-6130 patronatosanxavier.org Nonprofit Patronato San Xavier was founded 1978 to preserve and restore Mission San Xavier. The Patronato Docent Program presents Mission San Xavier Tours for Students Grades 4 to 8 This packet contains information useful to you and your students before, during and after your visit. Before ü Welcome & Introduction ü Mission San Xavier Timeline ü Teacher’s Guide to Terms During ü The Treasure Hunt After ü 10 Question Quiz & Answers ü Crossword Puzzle ü Word Search & Answers
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Patronato San Xavier | P.O. Box 522, Tucson, AZ 85702 | (520) 407-6130 patronatosanxavier.org
Nonprofit Patronato San Xavier was founded 1978 to preserve and restore Mission San Xavier.
The Patronato Docent Program presents Mission San Xavier Tours for Students Grades 4 to 8
This packet contains information useful to you and your students before, during and after your visit. Before
ü Welcome & Introduction ü Mission San Xavier Timeline ü Teacher’s Guide to Terms
During
ü The Treasure Hunt After
ü 10 Question Quiz & Answers ü Crossword Puzzle ü Word Search & Answers
Welcome! We are looking forward to your visit! Some useful information for you and your class: The lead docent for your tour will contact you at least one week prior to your visit. At that time you will want to exchange cell phone numbers in case your arrival is delayed. You can also arrange a meeting place and discuss any special needs or requirements of your group. We suggest you plan a minimum time of 1½-hours for your visit. This packet contains useful materials and worksheets. We particularly recommend The Treasurer Hunt to be printed and brought along with the students to use during the tour. We have clipboards and pencils available. Other useful documents include A Timeline, A Teacher’s Guide to Terms of San Xavier and student worksheets. These might be helpful after your visit to Mission San Xavier. They include a Crossword Puzzle, Word Search and a 10-question quiz. Some schools have found class discussion prior to the visit helps build enthusiasm for their visit. Some basic questions they have explored have been:
• Who was San Xavier? • Who was Father Kino? • What is the time frame connected to San Xavier Mission? • Who lived in the area prior to the arrival of the missionaries and explorers? • Who were the Jesuits? • Who were the Franciscans? • What is baroque style of art and architecture?
San Xavier is an active parish Church and as such, there are particular protocols to be followed. Respect and reverence in the church are expected, especially since there may be worshipers in attendance. When you arrive at the Mission, your lead docent will meet you at the designated meeting place and will introduce you to the other docent team members. Thank you for planning a visit to San Xavier del Bac. We look forward to sharing this amazing place with your class.
1692 Father Kino first visits the village of Wa:k 1700 Father Kino begins the foundation of church that was never built.
1711 Father Kino dies at Magdalena, Sonora. 1756 Father Espinosa, a Jesuit, constructs the 1st church.
1767 King Carlos III expels the Jesuits from New Spain. 1768 The Spanish Franciscans take over the Mission. 1783 Construction begins on the present church.
1797 Construction stops with East Tower incomplete. 1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain, Franciscans are ordered to leave.
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed between Mexico and the United States ending the Mexican-American War.
1854 Gadsden Purchase places Mission within the United States.
1859 Santa Fe Diocese begins 1st repairs on San Xavier. 1887 Earthquake damages San Xavier.
1906 Bishop Granjon begins major repairs on church. 1913 Franciscans return to the Mission.
1953 Church façade is restored including replica pilasters. 1963 San Xavier is designated a National Historic Landmark 1978 Patronato San Xavier is established to preserve the church.
1989 Leaking walls force emergency restoration. 1992 An interior conservation effort begins.
2009 Exterior restoration of West Tower completed. 2012 Kateri Tekawitha canonized.
Tohono O’odham literally means “People of the Desert.” They inhabit the land today and were preceded in the area by the Hohokam and by the Sobaipuris with whom they co-mingled. Wa:k (Bac) is the name of the village where Father Kino founded the Mission in 1692. Wa:k is on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, which in the 1600s flowed with water allowing for the irrigation crops. Bac was the Spanish translation of Wa:k. The Pimera Alta (Upper Lands of the Pimas) was an area of the Sonora and Sinaloa Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It took its name from the Pimas, the name given by the Spanish to the peoples residing in the area. Father Kino founded 24 Missions in this area. Jesuits or the Society of Jesus, was a Catholic Order of priests and brothers founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1634. Francisco Xavier was one of the six original members. Father Kino, the founder of the Mission San Xavier del Bac, was a Jesuit missionary. The Jesuits remained at the Mission until 1767 when they were recalled to Spain by King Carlos III. Franciscans. St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order of priests in 1209. Like the Jesuits, they were missionaries in New Spain. The Franciscans were sent into the Pimera Alta in 1768 to take over the missions. They remained until 1824 when they were recalled to Mexico. The Franciscans returned to San Xavier in 1913. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the treaty signed between Mexico and the United States at the end of the Mexican American War. With the signing of the treaty Mexico ceded a great amount of land to the United States to cover their debts from the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. The Gadsden Purchase. In 1854 the United States purchased the land from the Gila River, south of Phoenix, to the present day border between Mexico and the United States. The United States saw this as the best land for building a southern transcontinental rail route to California. Milagros in Spanish means miracle. The small metal charms, often resembling body parts such as a leg or heart, are pinned by the afflicted to the shroud of the reclining San Xavier in the church. This act is accompanied by asking the Saint to intercede with God to improve the condition.
Adobe bricks are sun dried in wooden frames and are used as a building material. They are not very sustainable because they absorb the moisture from the rains, which then loosens the dirt and sand to be blown away by the winds. Kiln dried bricks are dried in a kiln. The brickwork on the church San Xavier is kiln-dried brick from a kiln on the property when the church was built. It is more durable than adobe brick. The entire church is constructed from kiln-fired brick with the exception of the doors and windows. The Moors were members of the Muslim religion that crossed the Mediterranean Sea in 711 and occupied large portions of Spain. Their architectural influence is found throughout southern Spain. Because of that influence San Xavier incorporates Moorish architectural features into its design. Cruciform Pattern. While San Xavier shows the influence of Moorish architecture, it also clearly is a Catholic building made in the form of a cross. Saint James the Greater, Santiago, is the patron Saint of Spain. He is attributed with bringing Christianity to Spain. Saint James carried a cockleshell around his neck in order to baptize those he came in contact with who were ready to join the Catholic Church. Baroque Architecture came out of the Counter Reformation in Europe in the 16th Century. The Catholic Church settled on this form of architecture to counter the influence of the Protestant churches in Europe. It is very ornate and overstated. The artwork consists entirely of religious features in order to tell the story of how Christianity got its start and how it grew and spread. Soto Coro means under the choir loft. It is the space at the back of the church. Retablo is the ornate back piece beyond the Altar at the front of the church. It is a Baroque interpretation of what Heaven must be like. Kateri Takewithia is the first Native American to be canonized as a Saint in the Catholic Church. She lived in the 1600, the daughter of a Mohawk Indian chief. She has been credited with curing a young boy of serious skin disease.
1. The Tohono O’odham, who were farmers, lived here along the banks of the Santa
Cruz River. They lived in grass and stick oblong homes, but most of their work was done outside under Ramadas.
2. Father Francisco Eusebio Kino arrived in 1692. He brought with him winter
wheat, which gave the Tohono O’odham a source of food when their corn supplies grew lean. This introduced flour tortillas. He also brought citrus trees. Before Father Kino arrived, the only domesticated animal the Tohono O’odham had was the dog and possibly turkey. Father Kino introduced livestock such as horses, cows, sheep and goats. This brought about a huge change to their life style as it changed their way of transportation, diet, clothing, and gave them draft animals to assist with their farming
3. Saint Frances Xavier was a Jesuit missionary. He was one of the original Jesuits,
a monastic order of the Catholic Church. Father Kino prayed to San Xavier when he was sick as a boy and later followed him into the Jesuit order.
4. Before the arrival of Father Kino the land belonged to the Tohono O’odham.
With the arrival of Father Kino the land became part of New Spain and was under the political hand of the King of Spain.
5. This land became part of the United States in 1854 under the Gadsden Purchase.
The United States purchased this land from Mexico to build a southern Trans-Continental Railroad.
6. The Mission Church faces south. At the time the church was built anyone coming
to the church would likely be coming from the South. There was very little population to the North. That is why the beautiful façade faces south.
7. The artwork on the Façade is a wow feature. It invites people into the church.
The artwork was also used by the Missionaries to teach the Tohono O’odham, who had no written language and could not read, about the beginnings of the Christian Church and how it grew.
8. Milagros is the Spanish word for Miracle. If you had a bad leg, or weak heart, or
your crops were not doing well you would get a charm or Milagro and pin it on the cover of the reclining San Xavier and pray to him that he asks God to improve your condition.
The Mission & The Patronato Mission San Xavier Mission San Xavier has inspired countless people across centuries since its foundations were laid in 1783. This National Historic Landmark is a premier example of Mexican Baroque architecture and along with the majestic saguaro, is one of the most recognized icons in Arizona. Today, this active Mission remains a working parish and the spiritual home for many Southern Arizonans. Host to tens of thousands of visitors annually from around the world, in October 2015, the Mission was named to the global World Monuments Fund “Watch” list that includes 50 cultural heritage sites in 36 countries that are at risk from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political and economic change. Patronato San Xavier Absorbing the beauty and inspiring art of Mission San Xavier today is a far cry from the way you would have experienced it 40 years ago. Details now readily seen—vibrant colors, rich murals and glints of gold on the Retablo Mayor—were barely discernible because two centuries of candle smoke, dust, water seepage and general neglect had rendered the interior walls of the Church almost black. Sensing the imminent destruction of the interior of Mission San Xavier, a group of community leaders formed Patronato San Xavier to restore and preserve the interior and exterior of the Mission forever. Much remains to be done. Once the East Tower is completed, future projects include: The ornate facade, the East Wing (built with beams and adobe from the first church built at the Mission), the Mortuary Chapel, the adobe walls, and the 19th century administrative wing. Patronato also is building a permanent endowment to provide for on-going preservation and maintenance needs at the Mission.
