Introduction

[CBC]

In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows--gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness.

[Jane]

Thank you to all who post comments. I’m not one who will interact much, but appreciate your input. This group is good for me. It introduces authors I’d never otherwise know.

[Kerstin]

This is one of my favorite novels. The first time I read it I read it twice back-to-back.
A few years back we were in Santa Fe and went into the church Bishop Lamie built. Unfortunately the interior was altered during the 1970s or thereabouts. During the entire trip the novel was never far from my mind.
It is absolutely astounding how large the diocese was in the 19th century. The hardships and the long distances they had to travel on horseback in a difficult landscape to serve their flock and/or uproot many deteriorated situations is astounding.

[Mariangel]

Nowadays, the diocese of Fairbanks is enormous, and the very few priests (for the vaste territory) also endure great hardships and long travels. Their newsletters are very interesting to read:

https://dioceseoffairbanks.org/alaska...

[Laurel]

Read this book years ago when I discovered Willa Cather. Last year I recommended it to my husband, who likes to read books about godly persons, and he loved it, too. Cather illuminates her two great characters, the archbishop and New Mexico, in a soul-satisfying way that few authors can manage.