Blessed Sacrament Academy - Silva Yearbook (San Antonio, TX)

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A I Morkovsky, A. B. Chaplain Foreword Guided and encouraged by the unseliish, unwaver- ing devotion of those whose chief concern has been the task of leading us along the path of Reason to the high hill of Faith, we have known the perfect Truth and loved the Supreme Good. To be forever unsatisfied with anything less must be our lasting heritage, and this Silva a permanent reminder of our glorious ioumey. Page Five

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Page Four DEDICATICN REVEREND MOTHER GERARD Superior General of the Sisters of Incarnaie Word and Blessed Sacrament of the Archdiocese oi San Antonio

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Immaculate Conception Mission The Immaculate Conception Mission, the First Mission is located one league from San Antonio-or from the Main Plaza, the former location of the capital , This mission was founded in the year 1716 by Rev. Father Anthony Margil. Because of the trouble with the Indians and the French, it was moved from the location near the Mission San Francisco de los Tejas to its present location in the year l73O. lt is the best conserved mission in Texas. Repairs have been made recently, and religi- ous services are now conducted in the church. This mission is constructed in that quaint and peculiar style, the style of all missions. Some savants have tried to describe and classify this style of architectures as Christenized Moorish style-but plain mission style seems to fit best after all. ln the center of the square front of this mission, flanked on either side by a belfry whose top is finished with a beautiful dome, there is the principal door, surmounted by a triangular facade. Beyond a doubt, the impression is distinctly Moorish . But the church itself, facing west, is built in the shape of a cross and there the Moorish impression is lost entirely. The whole outside of the building is cvvered with some sort of a mortice of cement, which is applied in various geometrical forms. The one tower contained a room in which were kept the sacred vestments and other articles not in daily use. In the other tower was the baptistry and also an altar. The walls of the baptistry are decorated with various emblems, among them the cord of the Francis- cans, a serpent and the pictures of the sevei sorrows. A vestibule between the towers forms the entrance to the church. A dome, said to be far more beautiful in its proportions than the dome of the Capitol at Washington, permits the entry of light into this house of God, the very atmosphere of which breathes devotion. The choir loft is still fairly intact, and the acoustics of this church are remarkably good. The sacristy is most noteworthy for the thick walls, into which cabinets of real antique design are built. The stranger should not leave this mission without a visit to the roof, in order to feast his eyes upon the wonderful landscape surrounding this mission. Here are the broad fields, where once industriously toiled and titled the converted Indian, before the eyes of our imagination we see the worthy Franciscans walking among the laborers: we note the brown habit, the hood, the rosary and the cord. VV' e note the aqueducts, the ditches through which flowed the waters of the river to fields of cotton, corn, cane and frijoles. The St. Iohn's Seminary is erected adjoining this mission and our Academy is within its shadow. -Madge Leleux Page Six