Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of San Xavier del Bac, near Tucson

Marian Advocation of Tucson (Arizona)

The mission of San Xavier del Bac is a Franciscan foundation of the 18th century in territory then belonging to the Virreate of New Spain, now state of Arizona in the United States. The current church was built between 1783 y 1797under the direction of the Franciscans, on the site of an earlier mission founded by the Jesuit Saint Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1692. It is located in the land of the nation Tohono Oʼodham, to the south of Tucson, and is one of the most notable examples of baroque novohispano in the current American territory.

Main data

Origin and history

The mission of San Xavier del Bac is a Franciscan foundation of the 18th century in territory then belonging to the Virreate of New Spain, now state of Arizona in the United States. The current church was built between 1783 y 1797under the direction of the Franciscans, on the site of an earlier mission founded by the Jesuit Saint Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1692. It is located in the land of the nation Tohono Oʼodham, to the south of Tucson, and is one of the most notable examples of baroque novohispano in the current American territory.

Local TRADITION, in the popular name of "White Dove of the Desert" (White Dove of the Desert), highlights the light imprint of the crouched temple that rises in the middle of the Sonora desert, as a sign of peace and presence of Mary in an arid region. However, this title is rather poetic and devotional, applied above all to the whole mission and its silhouette, than to a specific apparition or revelation; there is no documented record of a legend of Marian apparitions linked to the origin of the sanctuary. It is also not clear that the foundation of the mission was linked to a concrete miraculous fact, but to the ordinary missionary work of the Church among the indigenous peoples of the area.

The image and the sanctuary

The main advocation of the temple is Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, holder of the mission of San Xavier del Bac. Inside the temple a Baroque altarpiece richly decorated, with numerous images of a lump and polychrome stew of a novospian tradition; in it is represented the Immaculate Virgin according to the classical iconography: young, serene face, dressed in a robe and mantle, standing on the moon and serpent, surrounded by golden ornamental elements. The imagination of the temple also includes Franciscan saints and other devotional motives, but the Marian focus is the Immaculate, in line with the strong spread of this title in the Hispanic world since the Modern Age.

The temple is officially known as Mission San Xavier del Bac, Latin rite Catholic church belonging today to the Diócesis de Tucson. It has a Latin cross plant, two towers (one of them unfinished), dome on the cruise and a lush interior decoration of stucco and mural painting, typical of the missionary baroque of the north of New Spain. The whole also includes units of the former mission, cemetery and elements of indigenous and missionary community life. It is not known that the temple has been raised to minor basilica ni a National sanctuaryIt is an important historical church and a place of regional pilgrimage, also valued as an artistic monument and cultural heritage.

Sponsorship and coronation

La Immaculate Conception of San Xavier del Bac has a strong identity character for the Tohono Oňodham community and for the Catholics of the Tucson region, but does not know that it has been declared official employer of the diocese, of the city or of the state of Arizona with a specific decree of the ecclesiastical authority of national scope. The mission is, rather, a Marian sanctuary of regional reference and historical symbol of the Catholic presence in the southwest of the United States.

As regards a possible canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception venerated in San Xavier del Bac, in the documentation consulted (official history of the mission, diocesan sources and collections of Marian coronations) does not contain a documented canonical coronation. As a result, it cannot be safely attributed year, pontiff or pontifical delegate for such an act.

Party and devotion

The advocation is celebrated liturgical in the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, el 8 Decemberin communion with the entire Latin Church. Around this date, solemn celebrations take place in the mission of San Xavier del Bac, with the Eucharist, processions and cultural expressions of the local community. The devotion is also fed by pilgrimages throughout the year, especially by the faithful Tohono Ożodham and Catholics from Tucson and other areas of Arizona, who come to entrust themselves to the Virgin and to contemplate the temple known as the "White Dove of the Desert."

The mission is one of the most visited shrines in the south-west and receives a constant flow of pilgrims and visitors, both for religious reasons and for their historical and artistic value. Popular piety is especially expressed in the participation in Mass, in the presentation of intentions, in the burning of candles, in floral offerings and in the gestures of veneration before the Marian images of the interior of the temple. The characteristic features of this devotion are the integration of indigenous and Hispanic cultural elements, and the perception of the sanctuary as a place of maternal protection of Mary in the middle of the desert.

Link to the Rosary

The available sources on San Xavier del Bac do not contain a specific or historical relationship of this advocation with a concrete event linked to the prayer of the Rosary (for example, apparitions, famous historical co-fradies or miracles directly linked to the Rosary).

However, because it is a the Immaculate Conception in a sanctuary of strong popular arraigo, the Rosary It is a natural part of devotional life: Mary's contemplation "full of grace" accompanies the meditation of the joyful, luminous, painful and glorious mysteries in which the whole history of salvation is traveled. In this context, the Rosary helps the faithful to receive, in the imitation of Mary, the will of God, and to contemplate Christ from the heart of the Mother, making the "White Dove of the Desert" a privileged place for perseverant Marian prayer, both personal and community.