The Spanish Missions re-visited

Yesterday afternoon I got to play Tour Guide -- which is always a fun occupation for me. You see, my upstairs neighbor, Dennis from Detroit, had not visited the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, altho' he'd been to The Alamo (originally a mission, too -- the first here) and other downtown historical attractions.

So we went out to the other four missions, starting with Mission San Francisco de la Espada ("Espada" for short), the furthest away from the city center, in the most rural setting and probably my favorite of the missions. The chapel door has a Moorish-style arch. Dennis even remarked about the Moorish look as we approached it. It looks like straight out of The Alhambra in Spain. Inside, the kneeling bench on the back of each pew is covered with sarape material -- very colorful! There are statues of Jesus, Mary and behind the communion table, Saint Francis of Assissi (in Spanish San Francisco de Asis). How a mission named after such a peace-loving saint got the tag de la Espada (of the sword) is still somewhat of a mystery; several suggestions have been proposed. A most likely one is that the statue's empty hands, which are positioned as if they once held some long object, MAY have held a sword (for whatever reason -- St. Francis as defender of the true faith???).

Then it was on to San Juan Capistrano (not the mission of the swallows song, tha one's in California), San José y San Miguel de Aguayo and Concepción. It was great to view all the missions again. (The two furthest away are nowhere near VIA bus lines.) So, even tho' it was a very hot afternoon, it was an enjoyable and informative tour, for both of us. Especially when we were visiting the grist mill at San Jose, and got in on a Park Ranger guide's explanation of the millstones used for grinding grain.

On our way back into the central city, I gave Dennis directions for driving us past the fourth mission in the park: Misión Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción, Mission Concepcion for short. We slowly drove thru the parking lot and down Mission Road, viewing the unrestored stone place of worship with its twin towers and central dome. The acoustics in this, the oldest unrestored church building in these United States, have been compared to the terrific acoustics of the Mormon Tabernacle! We did not go in; I got the impression that Dennis was tired from the overwhelming wealth of information at these, the greatest jewels in in San Antonio's treasure chest. (I had made this "greatest jewels" in the city's "treasure chest" in an earlier posting.)

Yup, there is much to see and learn of San Antonio's matchless spiritual and historical heritage in the San Antonio Missions NHP!