The Arizona sentinel., 1895-10-19
Highest of all in Leavening U Govt Report R@!a!!! @!!! Rs%assE RRskiRs
 ABSOLUTELY PURE

IFS HO oIU0 LII Luo eSCuICneOn IS the monogram of Jesus the Savior of
 men, and that of the Blessed Virgin
 Mary on the left. The life-size
 statue of St. Francis that surmount-
 ed the frontispiece, has decayed
 and fallen away.
 The church built of stone and
 brick, is 105x27 feet inside the walls.
 It's form Is that of a cross, the
 transept forming on each side of
 the nave chapel of twenty-one
 feet square. The nave is divided
 into six portions, marked by as many arches, each resting on two pillars set against the walls, sup porting the roof, which is of brick and cement three feet thick. Above the transept is a cupola fifty feet in elevation. The main wall of the church are to 7 feet thick.
 As you face the altar, there is on the right wall fresco, representing the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples, and on the opposite wall picture, also in fresco, of the Last Supper. These paintings meas ure about 9x5 feet each.
 In the first chapel to the right are the two altars, one facing the nave with the image of Our Lady of Sorrows, standing at the foot of a large cross which is deeply en- graved in the wall, and the other with the image of the Immaculate Conception. In the same chapel are two frescns representing Our Lady of the Rosary, and the Hid den Life of Our Savior. The oppo- site chapel is also adorned with two altars, one dedicated to the Passion of our Lord, and the other to St. Joseph. Also, the two paintings: Our Lady of the Pillar, and the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple.
 The main altar, which stands at | the head of the church facing the nave is dedicated to St. Francis i Xavier, the patron saint. Above the image of St. Francis Xavier is that of the Hcly Virgin; between | the statutes of St. Peter and St. | Paul, and at the summit of the all tar piece, the bust of God, the Creator. On the walls near the main altar are the paintings: The Alteration of the Wise Men, with the Flight into Egypt; and the Alteration of the Shepherds, with the Annunciation.
 The altars, and especially the principal one, are decorated with a profusion of arabesques, in low relief, all gilded or painted in diff ferent colors, according to the re- duirements of the Moorish style.
 Besides the images mentioned, there are the statues of the twelve Apostles, placed in niches cut in the pillars of the church, and many others, representing generally Saints of t'.,e Order of St. Francis. In the Dome of the cupola are the pictures of several personages of the Order.
 From the rooms under the towers, cut in the thickness of the walls, are the stairs leading to the upper stories. Starting from the baptlstry, the second flight reaches the choir. Here are somo frescoes worth noticing. These are: The Holy Family; St. Francis, en- raptured by heavenly love, in a frey | chariot; St. Dominic, receiving from the Blessed Virgin the mission to promote the devotion of the rosary in the world; and the four Evange- lists, with their characteristic at tributes. Two flights moro lead to 1 the belfry, where are four rough | and homemade bells of small size. Twenty-two steps more bring the visitor to the top story of the tower, about seventy-fve feet from the ground. One of the towers was never completed; it lacks the dome 1 and clustering from the second story up.
 The buildings of ths Mission sur rounding the church were repaired | in 1873 with money furnished by | the United States government. | Fhe church itself is in a fair state ! r.