Summertime can provide opportunities to do a bit of travel, see some interesting places, and learn something along the way. Over the years, I have discovered some fascinating and beautiful places in our beloved state. Some of them serve to illustrate our rich Catholic history. In this article, I would like to share a few little-known treasures around the state of Texas, with the hope that some of you might venture to see them for yourself.
STANTON Right here in our own diocese, the 1884 Carmelite Monastery in Stanton is a well-restored adobe structure that includes an interpretive and educational center, located near the parish church of St. Joseph. This adobe structure was built by German Catholics who came to West Texas from Scipio, Kansas. With its four-foot thick walls, it survived the highly destructive tornado of 1938.
MENARD In the eastern part of our diocese, the town of Menard is rich in history. You can visit the remains of the Spanish Presidio San Sabá, once known as Presidio San Luís de las Amarillas, a fortress constructed in 1757 to protect Spanish interests in the area. Also in Menard is the original Sacred Heart Church, which was built in 1870 along the historic ditch walk. It houses a painting of the massacre of 1758, when the Comanches destroyed the mission church of San Sabá, killing the Native American parishioners along with their two Spanish Franciscan priests, Fathers Alonso de Terreros and Joseph Santiesteban.
SAN ANGELO In downtown San Angelo, along the Concho River near the Oakes Street bridge, there is an outstanding set of new bronze statues created by sculptor Vic Payne of Wyoming. They depict the Venerable Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda and two Native Americans of the Jumano tribe, commemorating the historic beginnings of Christianity in this area through the evangelizing activity of this Spanish mystic in the 1620s.
LLANO If you are ever driving through Llano in the Hill Country, stop and visit Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Highway 71. Look for a small plaque on the front side of the church. It commemorates the fact that the famous Italian actress Sophia Loren generously donated some of her jewelry to help pay for the construction of the church.
PADRE ISLAND At the south end of Padre Island, in Isla Blanca State Park, there is an impressive statue called “Christ of the Fishermen.” It is dedicated to the brave fishermen who lost their lives at sea there.
Also on Padre Island is another statue of tremendous historic importance for Catholic Texans. The bronze statue of Father José Nicolás Ballí is located on Padre Boulevard, at the east end of the Queen Isabella Parkway. Padre Island is named after this priest. The island, known as the Isla de Santiago grant, was granted to his grandfather by the King of Spain in 1759. Father Ballí’s ancestors emigrated from Spain in 1569. His parents owned more than one million acres of land in South Texas. Through his family, Father Ballí came to own the island. He was the first to have the island surveyed, he brought in families to settle there, and he built the first church there for the conversion of the Karankawa Indians.
SAN JUAN Also in the Rio Grande Valley, I highly recommend spending some time in prayer in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in San Juan, Texas. It is a highly important pilgrimage site for Catholics from the United States, Mexico, and Canada. You can light a candle, visit the gift shop, and attend a Mariachi Mass. It is worth a special trip to South Texas just to pray in this shrine.
GALVESTON On Galveston, besides visits to the beach and the Strand Historic District, don’t forget to pay a visit to St. Mary Cathedral Basilica on Church Street. It is the mother church of the Catholic Church in Texas. Galveston was once the only Catholic diocese in Texas. Another great historic building is the famous Bishop’s Palace, a Victorian-style stone house at Broadway and 14th Street, built for a local family between 1887 and 1893 by Catholic architect Nicholas J. Clayton. The house was purchased by the Diocese of Galveston in 1923 and became the residence of Bishop Christopher E. Byrne. It is now owned by the Galveston Historical Foundation. Nicholas J. Clayton was a devout Catholic born in Ireland in 1840. He was one of the first professional architects to establish a practice in Texas. He built some of the most beautiful and historic structures in Texas.
BEAUMONT When in Beaumont, any West Texas Catholic should visit St Anne’s Catholic Church, where there is a magnificent mural of Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda, the 17th-century Spanish mystic cloistered Conceptionista nun known as the Lady in Blue. A large mural on the wall of this parish church depicts Sor María teaching the Native Americans of West Texas. Around the border of the mural are painted replicas of the embroidery by Sor María, depicting the animals and plants of West Texas. She had personal knowledge about such details of life in Texas, yet she never physically traveled outside of Spain.
PINEY WOODS If you are ever in East Texas, I recommend a visit to the Mission Tejas State Park. It is located on Highway 21 in Houston County, in the Piney Woods near Crockett. Inside this beautiful state park is a replica of the chapel from the Spanish Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, which served the Tejas Indians from 1690 to 1693. There is also an explanatory display of the history of the Spanish mission. Also in this park is an original segment of the El Camino Real de los Tejas, which was the predominant overland route across Texas for centuries, stretching from San Antonio, Texas, to Natchitoches, Louisiana.
WACO In the city of Waco is a local parish church called St. Francis. There is a plaque on the front of this church, explaining the fact that this was the location of the very first Cursillo Retreat in the United States. It was brought there by Father Gabriel Fernandez and two airmen from Spain — Bernardo Vadell and Agustin Palomino — who were in training with the U.S. Air Force at the old Waco Air Force Base. The Cursillo Retreat was the root from which sprang a variety of other retreat movements, such as Search, ACTS, Awakening, Teens Encounter Christ, Kairos, and Walk to Emmaus.
PAINTED CHURCHES A very popular tour in Central Texas is the Painted Churches Tour, in places like Praha, Schulenburg, Dubina, and Fredericksburg. These Gothic-style churches were built by Czech and German immigrants in the 1800s. They painted the walls, altars, arches, and ceilings of the simple wooden sanctuaries in beautiful patterns of color. You can visit them on your own or join an organized tour. While you are there, I suggest also visiting the more contemporary building of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville to see the magnificent and well-preserved oil paintings that adorn the interior walls of the church. They are most impressive.
SAN ANTONIO In San Antonio, the famous Spanish mission churches provide many opportunities to pray and learn about our history. There is also a little-known tidbit of Texas Catholic history to be found along the famous River Walk downtown. Near the Arneson River Theatre and La Villita, if you look carefully along the sidewalk, you can find a stone plaque that depicts the site of the first Catholic Mass to be celebrated in San Antonio, on June 13, 1691. Since that day was the Feast of St. Anthony, they renamed the river “San Antonio.”
AUSTIN There is a hidden treasure of Catholic history in Austin in a place you would never expect. When I lived in Austin, there was a large granite monument on a grassy hill at Barton Springs Pool within Zilker Park. I’m not sure if that monument is still located there. It explained that Barton Springs was the location of three early Franciscan mission churches that served the local Native Americans from 1730 to 1731: San José de los Nazonis, San Francisco de los Neches, and Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainai. When these missions were closed, they were transferred to San Antonio and were reestablished as the San Juan Capistrano mission.
These are only a few of my travel tips for Catholics in Texas. I hope you will have a chance to visit some of them, and to start your own favorite list of Texas Catholic historical sites. Our presence in Texas is long and vibrant, and we have much to celebrate.