Status Updates From Death Comes for the Archbishop

"[it] had that irregular and intimate quality of things made entirely by the human hand."

"old men trying to remember their catechism to teach their grandchildren. The Faith planted by the Spanish friars and watered with their blood was not dead; it awaited only the toil of the husbandman."

"though the goat had always been the symbol of pagan lewdness, he told himself that their fleece had warmed many a good Christian, and their rich milk nourished sickly children."

"When [he] asked her to give him his portion without chili, the girl inquired whether it was more pious to eat it like that. He hastened to explain that Frenchmen, as a rule, do not like high seasoning, lest she should hereafter deprive herself of her favorite condiment."

"here he lay in comfort and safety, with love for his fellow creatures flowing like peace about his heart."

"They told him the simple story of their lives. They had here all they needed to make them happy."

"From the moment he entered this room with its thick whitewashed adobe walls, Father Latour had felt a kind of peace about it. In its bareness and simplicity there was something comely...their manners were gentle, their voices low and agreeable."

"His mare stumbled...he was sorrier for his beasts than for himself. He, supposed to be the intelligence of the party, had got the poor animals into this interminable desert of ovens."

"their talk touched upon many matters, but they avoided politics, as men are apt to do in dangerous times."

"'He will have no easy life, your Eminence. That country will drink up his youth and strength as it does the rain. he will be called upon for every sacrifice, quite possibly for martyrdom."

"He must be a man to whom order is necessary - as dear as life.'"

"'The desert down there has a peculiar horror...the very floor of the world is cracked open into countless canyons...the post is carried by hunters, fur trappers, gold seekers, whoever happens to be moving on the trails.'"