Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller Date: October 6, 2019
Rosie & I camped at the Tucson KOA then attended Catholic Mass at the historic Mission San Xavier del Bac, an old Spanish Mission built in 1797. This church was beautiful outside and inside and looked it could be in a western movie scene. There was no air conditioning and the acoustics were not very good. The mass was great with some of it in Spanish. The parishioners were 50% of Spanish/Mexican descent.
In the back of the church we were shown an old original door with the date 1797 (Photo#7)). Inside was intricate, beautiful carvings, paintings, statues and a mummy of an alleged Spanish Saint. This was an oddity to me as parishioners would file by the mummy (Photo#8), kiss and give the mask over the face and give the sign of the cross or they would raise the mummy’s head and do the same thing. Outside just east of the church was a trail leading up a hill that had a white cross on top (Photo#9). On top of the church I saw a large hawk next to the cross (Last Photo).
After mass we ate delicious Mexican burritos sold outside at booths by parishioners.
