edited by Father Thomas Steele, S.J., Paul Rhetts, and Barbe Awalt
456 pages/102 illustrations
HARDCOVER 1-890689-00-9 $29.95
DESCRIPTION
1998 was the Cuarto Centennial of the settlement of the American Southwest. It is also the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Church in New Mexico. A new book by LPD Press of Albuquerque, NM, focuses on the history in the life of the people of New Mexico, originally a territory which included New Mexico, Arizona, southern Colorado, southern Utah, and western Texas. Seeds of Struggle - Harvest of Faith features twenty-three essays from some of todays leading scholars and historians. The book is an outgrowth of the research papers presented at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe's Cuatro Centennial Symposium on the History of the Catholic Church in New Mexico held in Santa Fe in later 1997. Authors include: Marc Simmons, Fr. Bob Wright, Nancy Hanks, Fr. Thomas Steele, Pauline Chávez Bent, Pedro Ribera-Ortega, Fr. Jerome Martínez y Alire, José Antonio Esquibel, Paul Kraemer, and many more.
REVIEWS "The Catholic Church in so old in New Mexico, former Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez once remarked, that it could have said Mass for the safe landing of the Puritans. This lengthy heritage is celebrated in this book of twenty-three essays, all derived from a 1997 Santa Fe symposium. Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan sets the tone with a thoughtful introduction, and Thomas J. Steele, S.J., the foremost expert on New Mexico Catholic history serves as major editor. . . . Although more a mosaic than a comprehensive narrative, Seeds of Struggle, Harvest of Faith provides the best overview of New Mexican Catholicism now available." -- New Mexico Historical Review, January 2000
"1998 marked the 400th anniversary of the Spanish entrada into New Mexico. It was also the anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Church in this "land of enchantment." To commemorate those events, LPD Press published Seeds of Struggle - Harvest of Faith, a collection of twenty-three essays that focus on the history of the Church in the life of the people of New Mexico. The book was an outgrowth of the scholarly papers presented at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe's Cuarto Centennial Symposium held at the Santuario de Guadalupe in 1997. In this volume one can explore various aspects of Spanish Colonial history, church politics, architecture, genealogy, religious orders, the clergy during the colonial period, Archbishop Lamy's legacy, the Church during the Mexican administration, a most interesting inquiry into the role of pioneering Hispanic women as a facet of rural Catholicism, and many other subjects. Authors include New Mexico's premier historian Marc Simmons, Nancy Hanks, Fr. Jerome Martínez y Alire, José Antonio Esquibel, Felix Almaráz, James Ivey, Pauline Chávez Bent, Fr. Thomas J. Steele, to mention a few. Some of the authors have published extensively; for others it is their first literary endeavor. In the foreword the editors and publishers note that they have approached this book differently from their previous publications, simply because it is a quite different book! This is a book that does not overwhelm with colored photographs of devotional art, instead it gives the reader access to important historical information, much of which has never been published. Admittedly, the tone of the volume is what one would describe as academic, but for a persevering reader it is a gold mine of pertinent information, especially if read in digestible increments. In the introduction to the volume, Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan makes us aware that the overall thrust of the collection records the desires, struggles, and accomplishments of the colonists that came to the Northern Frontier, this remote outpost of the Spanish Empire. He says "the thread that runs through the fabric of 400 years is clearly a strong faith in God that has had such a powerful influence in the lives of the people." -- Don Toomey, Tradición Revista, April 1999
AUTHOR INFORMATION
The book consists of 23 essays by some of the leading authorities on Southwestern history. It was edited by Father Thomas Steele, S.J., Paul Rhetts, and Barbe Awalt.