Keeping the faith

Willa Cather was one of the preeminent American novelists of the 20th century.

Cather wrote 12 novels but she considered, “Death Comes for the Archbishop,” to be her “best book.”

Published in 1927, the classic historical novel is loosely based on the lives of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, vicar apostolic then named the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, and his lifelong close friend Bishop Joseph Machebeuf.

Lamy and Machebeuf — whom Cather fictionalized as Jean Marie Latour and Joseph Vaillant — were French priests who served together in Ohio before being reassigned to frontier New Mexico in 1851.

A newly published book by Santa Fe historian Garrett Peck — “The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop” — excitingly and deeply explores Cather’s six visits to the American Southwest and how they informed her writing of “Archbishop” and two other novels.

Cather and her long-time partner Edith Lewis lived in New York City. During the summer of 1925 they traveled together to New Mexico, including 18 days in Taos that were critical to Cather’s writing “Archbishop.”

“There were so many inspirations that came about (for Cather in Taos). They visited D.H. Lawrence. … They saw a lot of the (Taos) Pueblo and they learned a lot about Padre (Antonio José) Martínez,” Peck said in a phone interview.

Martínez was a controversial, though popular, Taos priest whom Archbishop Lamy excommunicated. A full chapter of “Archbishop” is on Martínez, whose real name Cather retained. The novel is divided into nine long chapters, or “books.”

“All these ideas were percolating. Willa didn’t know it at the time but she was researching the book. That was followed by a trip back to La Fonda (in Santa Fe), and that was where she brought the aspects together and realized the book she wanted to write,” Peck said.

What makes Cather’s writing relevant to us in the 21st century, Peck stated, is that she examines contemporary issues such as immigration, friendship, exile and faith by looking at the past.

Peck took his novel’s title — “The Bright Edges of the World” — from a phrase in the final chapter of “Death Comes for the Archbishop.”

The now-retired archbishop is dying and reflecting on his life at his residence north of Santa Fe. (Today the residence is part of Bishop’s Lodge resort.)

The phrase “bright edges of the world” is part of this sentence: “The moisture of plowed land, the heaviness of labour and growth and grain-bearing, utterly destroyed it (the air); one could breathe that only on the bright edges of the world, on the great grass plains or the sage-brush desert.”

That short phrase, Peck wrote, means many things — “the boundaries of nature, not yet exploited and harnessed by civilization; the edge of the American frontier; and the narrow path between death and life. … It is also Cather’s critique of how materialism devours our environment in the name of progress.”

Peck further wrote that Lewis, interpreted “bright edges” to mean Cather’s feelings about the town of Red Cloud, Nebraska, where she grew up.

Modern Library named “Death Comes for the Archbishop” one of the best English language novels of the 20th century. The 100th anniversary of its publication is next year.

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Another new book on the subject of Catholicism in New Mexico is “Albuquerque’s Roman Catholic Heritage” by John Taylor.

Taylor, a Peralta resident, writes in the preface that the book’s purpose is to offer a historical overview of the origins, growth and expansion of the Catholic parishes and religious organizations in New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley over four centuries.

Taylor writes that “Catholicism has been a pervasive force by contributing to the region’s spiritual life and well-being.”

In the early 17th century, he writes, the church provided “faith homes and facilities for thousands of New Mexicans, ministered to the less fortunate, administered health care and provided the only education available for children and adults well into the 20th century.”

Taylor also cites some notable failures in the Catholic Church’s outreach in New Mexico.

Early examples Taylor gives are the “zealous priests” of the 17th century who imposed “draconian measures” to try to destroy the native religions in the state. This and other factors resulted in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, he writes.

“The Church has shown similar intolerance of local leaders like (19th century Taos) Padre Antonio José Martínez” and movements like the Penitente Brotherhood, Taylor writes.

“Most recently, the issue of clergy sexual abuse has rocked the church to its foundation and focused attention on this problem and to the need for self-examination. To its credit, the Archdiocese (of Santa Fe) continues to vigorously address this issue.”

The image on the book’s front cover is of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Alameda.

The book is filled with color and black-and-white photographs of church interiors and exteriors, of chapels, of religious iconography and of clerics.

The volume is a publication of the Valencia County Historical Society.

Taylor said the historical society, of which he is a board member, will receive the proceeds of the book’s sales.

Anyone interested in buying a copy of the book should email the historical society at vchs@gmail.com.