San Antonio, Texas, United States
For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.
—William Penn (1644–1718), Quaker and visionary
The gorgeous focal point of this old Texas cathedral, built in 1738, is an ornate gold tabernacle of the Crucified Christ and the Holy Spirit, surrounded by heart-stopping retablos (devotional paintings based on church art) of saints, believed to have been created in Seville, Spain. A majestic statue of King Ferdinand III of Spain, namesake of the cathedral, appears to stand as guardian and protector of the sanctuary’s beautiful treasures: shrines to Our Lady of Candlemas, patroness of the Canary Islands, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, a reliquary containing the relics of the “Heroes of the Alamo,” and a coffin engraved with the Lone Star that holds remains of the fallen soldiers.
If your heart is heavy over the loss of a soldier and praying would lighten your spirit, come pray in the San Fernando Cathedral. It is located at 115 Main Plaza, in the downtown area between Highways 10 and 37.
Let the grief wash over you. Pray to the Lord and his Holy Mother to help you bear the burden of loss. Give thanks when you feel your heart growing lighter and the weight of grief shifting.
It was from the tower of San Fernando that General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana ordered the dropping of the red flag to start the battle of the Alamo.