After our business meetings in Albuquerque, I went out in quest of a Cinco de Mayo celebration. I'd been searching the newspapers and tourist guides, but nothing at all was mentioned, so I headed to the Old Town section of downtown Albuquerque, which includes the original plaza, church and buildings from back when Albuquerque was founded in 1706.
One of the more interesting things on the plaza was St. Felipe de Niri Church, the original church from the early days of Spanish colonization in New Mexico. It's a very small, narrow church, and I found the art and statuary to be particularly interesting. If you look closely at the figures in the reredos behind the altar, you'll see a definite "conquistador" theme with Jesuits and explorers. I gather the parish is more of a tourist attraction than an active parish, since there was only one Mass scheduled for the day, and there was no special Mass observance for Ascension Day, which it also was.....I guess I should have looked for a proper Episcopal church if I'd wanted to observe a holy day of obligation on its proper day, instead of being transferred to a Sunday.
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