As Catholics, we tend to take for granted our rich history, and as Americans we think we have to travel to far off Europe or Jerusalem to discover it. But the truth is there is a rich Catholic history right here in the U.S. A shining example is Santa Fe, New Mexico, originally named La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís (“The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi”). It is home to the oldest church in the U.S.-  San Miguel Mission, built in 1626 (however this is not the original structure) and it houses the oldest reredos in New Mexico.

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe built in 1777. It is the first shrine in the U.S. to Our Lady of Guadalupe, as far as I can tell anyway. It seems to be important in Santa Fe to be the first at something.

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis Assisi sits on the site of the first church in Santa Fe built in 1610. It was destroyed and rebuilt in 1714 and named in honor of Santa Fe’s patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi. A piece of this church and evidence of our Catholic history still remains in a small adobe chapel in the Basilica. A statue of Our Lady of Conquistadora resides there and is the oldest statue of Mary in the United States. A statue of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha stands in front of the Basilica.

Santa Fe is also home to The Loretto Chapel, now  a bit of a tourist trap, but a nice story to remember how Gods angels visit us. The story is here for you to read and pictures of the staircase which I, oddly enough, didn’t take. Or you can view the movie The Staircase with Barbara Hersey.

And that reminds me of another excellent movie about nuns in the desert between Santa Fe and Taos,  Lilies of the Fields, with Sydney Poitier. I went looking for the chapel and found this.

Is that it? Probably not, but it killed an afternoon in the desert.