A Tale of Two Pilgrimages: San Xavier and Magdalena

 

Making a pilgrimage is a response to an inner call, a tug at one’s heart to leave home and what is comfortable, even to face the unknown and physical discomfort, to arrive at a destination that holds great significance for a deeply personal reason. One might need to travel great distances, perhaps cross oceans and deserts to get there, but whatever the destination, the journey to that holy site can have a profound effect on a person’s life and their soul. 

 

Sometimes, however, due to life circumstances, travel concerns, or health issues, a person might not be able to undertake such an arduous trip. If that is the case, how does one answer the call to pilgrimage? For Southern Arizonans, the answer might be closer than you think: Mission San Xavier del Bac.  

 

Located just nine miles south of downtown Tucson on the Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation, Mission San Xavier is a unique answer for those who want a “close-to-home” pilgrimage experience because this pilgrimage coincides with the annual, centuries-old Magdalena Pilgrimage to Mission Santa Maria Magdalena in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico. And while the journey can be made any time of the year, starting from literally anywhere a person wants to start, the San Xavier Pilgrimage traditionally culminates on the same day as the Magdalena Pilgrimage as well, October 4.

 

The beautiful parallels between these two pilgrimages and their destinations echo the very nature of the ministry their mutual founder, the 17th-century Jesuit missionary, Venerable Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino whose devotion to his patron St. Francis Xavier he imprinted in both missions. Both had a special place in Kino’s heart. 

 

Mission Magdalena is where Padre Kino collapsed and died on March 15, 1711, while saying Mass, dedicating a small capilla chapel to his beloved patron, St. Francis Xavier. When Kino was a young college student, he was miraculously healed of a mortal illness through the intercession of the Saint. After becoming a missionary and taking the name Francisco as his vowed name, Kino brought his devotion to San Xavier to the peoples of the Sonoran Desert and beyond. Today, Kino’s skeletal remains still lay in Magdalena, close to where he died and may be viewed by pilgrims. 

 

In the current Capilla de San Francisco in Magdalena is a reclining statue of St. Francis Xavier, like the one Kino commissioned and brought with him on his final visit. His intention was to journey northward and bring that statue to Mission San Xavier after he finished the dedication in Magdalena. According to Kino lore, after Kino died, when others tried to fulfill his wish and transport the statue, one mishap after another involving a donkey and a cart prevented its transfer to Mission San Xavier. Everyone then assumed that it was meant to stay in Magdalena. 

 

In some Heavenly way, it also seems that Padre Kino made sure that the people of Mission San Xavier would not be left without a reclining statue of St. Francis Xavier. One did eventually arrive at San Xavier from another Kino mission, San José de Tumacácori, in the mid-19th century. Today, pilgrims and visitors can venerate the reclining statue in the west transept of Mission San Xavier. The goal of pilgrims upon reaching either mission, is to venerate the statue by lifting the head of the Saint easily with one hand. Many believe that if they can do this, then they have successfully completed the promise of their pilgrimage.  

 

Unfortunately, at Mission San Xavier, because of health concerns after the pandemic, the reclining statue is now encased in plexiglass. So, no one can touch it. There is, however, a cloth extending near it that pilgrims may touch and use to venerate the Saint. 

 

Mission San Xavier is also a very special pilgrimage destination because of the great love Padre Kino had for the Tohono O’odham People of the Village of Wa:k. They had welcomed him in 1692 and, in 1700, he helped them build the foundation of their own new mission church dedicated to San Francisco Xavier. Kino had wanted to make Mission San Xavier del Bac his home. He was granted permission to do this by his superiors if they could find a replacement for him at Mission Dolores in Sonora. But a replacement was never found. Seventy-six years after Kino died, the mission church of San Xavier del Bac was completed by the Franciscans in Jesuit style with many Jesuit Saints abounding within. When one is there, inside this architectural and spiritual treasure, one cannot help but feel Padre Kino’s love for Christ and the people he served. Mission San Xavier is, as one dear friend put it, “…Kino’s Querencia, a good and best place to be,” a place of belonging and strength. 

 

The O’odham community has a deep reverence for Mission San Xavier, “The White Dove of the Desert,” which has sat on their land, in their care for centuries. They have looked after it especially during the long years when it was abandoned, even keeping the statues and art in their homes, protecting them from harm. Because of their care, visitors and pilgrims can now enjoy and be uplifted by the original art and statues in the mission church.  

 

On the land around San Xavier Mission there are also inspiring places to pray such as Grotto Hill with the replica of the Grotto at Lourdes, France. At the top of the hill is a white cross where one can sit and look over the landscape that the O’odham villagers and Padre Kino looked upon more than 300 years ago. 

 

For many O’odham, walking a pilgrimage to Magdalena (Mali:na) is a time-honored event they have participated in with their families for generations. The pilgrim routes of today make their way through the same ancestral homelands of the O’odham, Yoeme (Yaqui), Mayos, and other Indigenous communities. The O’odham traveled those familiar footpaths, eventually working side-by-side with Padre Kino on construction of buildings, planting, and raising cattle and horses. In doing so, they also came to love Kino and claimed St. Francis Xavier as their Saint as well. For the O’odham, walking a pilgrimage to Magdalena is a celebration of life. They give thanks to the Creator for His blessings. It is a time of singing songs and telling stories. There are prayers, and bonding with one another as they walk together in a spirit of unity and gratefulness while carrying the sufferings of life. 

 

Dr. Seth Schermerhorn, professor of American Studies at Hamilton College in New York, has made the pilgrimage to Magdalena with the same group of O’odham walkers five times. What began as an academic adventure on his first pilgrimage soon became something quite different. So much so, that by the third year, he became keenly aware of the suffering and tough challenges his companions were facing in life, even though they never spoke at length about their motives for making the walk. “One of the things that really had an impact on me was seeing other people’s suffering… It was really moving for me, personally.” In witnessing his tears, someone then said to him, “Seth, you have a good heart.”  

 

Whether the destination is Mission Magdalena or Mission San Xavier, there is much more to making a pilgrimage than just getting there—a lot more. A pilgrimage is an experience that changes lives, heals, and transforms. Pilgrimage is all about purifying one’s heart. The journey begins with making a manda, a promise the pilgrim makes to God or to St. Francis to walk the pilgrimage with sincere intention, giving their whole self as they seek answers to their prayers. Whatever the request, the manda is not bargaining with God or St. Francis; a manda is a living prayer of petition, reparation, or thanksgiving that involves body, mind, and soul. Only two things are required in fulfilling a manda: true faith and a clean heart.  

 

Just as with the Magdalena Pilgrimage, when walking to Mission San Xavier blessings abound. Strangers and friends alike bond in extraordinary ways. No matter the number of miles you walk, or the nature of your manda, sharing a common goal with fellow pilgrims is an opportunity to connect with other people of faith, and grow from the experience.  

 

In Magdalena, after completing their pilgrimage, pilgrims then enjoy a massive, city-wide celebration, La Fiesta de San Francisco. Held on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, a Franciscan saint, it is a huge party overflowing with food, games, shopping, and the traditional music and dancing of the various Indigenous groups, such as the Yaqui Deer Dance. The celebration originally took place on December 3, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit. But after the Spanish Crown expelled the Jesuits from New Spain in 1768, Franciscans took the missionary lead bringing with them devotion to the founder of their order, St. Francis of Assisi. Also, since holding fiestas and travel in December became difficult and dangerous for pilgrims, the date was moved up to October 4.  

 

Today, the Fiesta is truly a celebration of the three Franciscos: Kino, Xavier, and Assisi, and is unparalleled in Sonora and beyond. People and vendors come from all over Mexico to Magdalena de Kino to participate in the festivities. It is a true reward for tired, hungry pilgrims. 

 

For those completing their pilgrimage at Mission San Xavier, there is also no shortage of celebrations. This year, the festivities begin on October 3, and continue into Sunday, October 4, the actual feast of St. Francis of Assisi. There will be Masses, rosaries, and a 7p.m. candlelight procession, fireworks, food, and dancing. The procession begins in the mission church with the reclining statue of San Xavier carried outside in the open area in front of the church.  

 

It is worth reflecting upon the fact that Padre Kino himself was the very first person to complete his manda to San Xavier. When he died at the age of 66, Kino had spent his life walking and riding horseback, keeping his promise to serve others and bring Christ to them. With his last breath, with the purest of hearts, Kino’s manda was fulfilled there in the chapel he had just dedicated to his beloved patron, San Francisco.  

 

In a recent documentary about the Pilgrimage to Magdalena, Father Vicente Lopez of the Patronato De Kino said, “People ask me if Father Kino is going to be a saint, and doesn’t he need a miracle? And I say, the miracle is that 300 years later, the people are still cabalganta (horseback riding) in his honor and to the holy Saint he brought to the chapel where he died! This convergence is profound!” 

 

Padre Kino built bridges: bridges of peace between people of different, sometimes clashing, cultures. The Magdalena Pilgrimage and the San Xavier Mission Pilgrimage are evidence of that peace. They are life-changing experiences that are both deeply personal and yet build a deep sense of community. The spirit of generosity prevails because together people of different cultures, faiths, and backgrounds are sharing the struggle and physical challenges, as well as the joys of talking, singing, and praying together. They are protecting each other as thousands walk over the desert landscape, along the highways, up hills, across washes and riverbeds. The bonds of unity grow deeper, and each person’s faith gets stronger. This unity and peace among people who make these pilgrimages are the fruits of Padre Kino’s hard work, the timeless gift of the love he shared with the world through his life.