Something I've Always Known...the First Thanksgiving Was Catholic

Spanish settlers and Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving in Florida. Deacon Greg Kandra made mention of two earlier Thanksgiving Celebrations in his blog today. In his post, Is Thanksgiving a Catholic? he finds the answers to the question. Read his post to see the original article.

Of course it was and it makes complete sense that the Spanish Catholics would offer a Mass of Thanksgiving, when arriving in the New World, since Catholicism was (I still think is) a huge part of Spanish culture.

My ancestors didn't come over the Mayflower. They weren't Puritians, Pilgrims, or Protestants of any sort. They were Catholic and yes, they celebrated Thanksgiving long before the Pilgrims did.

My dad's ancestors arrived in what is New Mexico in 1598, but led by Juan de Onate, that that particular Thanksgiving was held in El Paso before they made the journey north, so, I claim ties to that one. Though, I know that the Spanish celebrated the first Thanksgiving in Florida 30 years earlier. These are things I've always known, simply because growing up in New Mexico, I was always away of Spanish, Catholic history in the New World because I had teachers who made sure we were versed in our own history. In my text books, the arrival of the Spanish in the New World covered maybe the first couple of pages and was never mentioned again. I knew because my parents made sure I knew the history and I also knew because I took classes in New Mexican history, though while I always I knew, it always seemed like no one else did.

Now, Onate is not without controversy. Still, without his daring expedition, the establishment of the first coloney here, my ancestors may have never come to New Mexico and who knows if I'd even be here. A couple of links about him here and here.

Photo: reenactment of the Onate Thanksgiving in El Paso. Taken from here.

A Bit About Religion in New Mexico

Santa Fe's Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis is getting a spring cleaning. Well, more like a 40oth Anniversary cleaning. The church is not that old, but the little chapel which houses the City's Beloved La Conquistadora is pretty old. The Journal North ran an article about how does an old Cathedral get cleaned. I think it's fascinating that for the city's 400th anniversary, the mother church of the Catholic presence in New Mexico is getting spruced up.

New Mexico has a very long history of Catholicism. I believe that Baltimore might have been this nation's first Archdiocese, but Catholicism has been in the "new world" for 400 years, all of that time in New Mexico. It wasn't always a serene and happy time historically, but sometimes I think it's often overlooked that there is a long history of Catholicism in this part of the country. New Mexico of course, was a late comer to the US and with so much anti-Catholic sentiment in the nation historically, it wasn't something much to be bragged about I suppose.

I found a great web site that has the history of many of the churches, chapels and sanctuaries in New Mexico. There are renderings of how the Cathedral Basilica would look if the spires had been built. I wish I had time to see all that Churches and Sancutaries of New Mexico has to offer.

I also learned that the first Spanish Catholics were not followers of the Roman/Latin Rite but the Mozarbic Rite which is a Catholic Rite that emerged in Muslim Spain and was quite strong. Apparently, there is a church in Spain where it is still observed and it is under the authority of Rome. I must study more about this.

Also, probably the first Jews in the new world came to New Mexico as well. Crypto-Jews (Sephardic Jews) exiled from Spain helped settle New Mexico too. Though, through the years, their traditions and histories were almost lost and many of the old families are discovering their Sephardic hertiage.

Polish "Anne Frank's" Diary Revealed

I read the news on the Internet more than I watch the TV news or read the newspaper. I suppose I should start reading the paper a bit more these days because I am trying to go back to newspaper reporting as a career.


This news story touched me and brought a tear to my eye. It's about a young Polish-Jewish girl who kept a diary about her experiences for a short time while living in a Jewish Ghetto in Poland during the war. She was only 14. I can't imagine what it must have been like for her. She gave it to her friend to hold when she realized that she might not survive. And now after over 60 years, the friend has come forth and presented it to the Holocaust museum in Israel. What touched me was reading the comment from the girl's youngest sister, who never knew the story of her father before he came to Israel after the war.

It's hard for me to fathom that kind of world but I don't know why since persecution of people based on religious beliefs, race and sexuality and gender continue to this day.