The colorful and historic city of San Antonio, named after the great preacher of Padua: St. Anthony, is the oldest civilian settlement in the Lone Star State. It was founded in 1718 by Franciscan missionaries who had crossed north from Mexico and settled here on the Feast of St. Anthony and today is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the United States, attracting over six million visitors annually.
The highlight of a trip to San Antonio is the 15 mile River Walk with its promenades, restaurants, shops and hotels lining both banks of the narrow river while sightseeing barges float along. There is also the Tower of the Americas, the impressive Witte Museum with its dinosaur collection, the Smithsonian affiliated Institute of Texan Cultures, the children’s DoSeum, and the San Antonio Zoo.
An added bonus for families with young children is that, next to Orlando or Anaheim, San Antonio has a fabulous collection of theme parks right outside the historic city center, including Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Aquatica, Morgan’s Wonderland, Legoland Discovery Center. A short drive outside of the city are the Natural Bridge Caverns – expansive caves where visitors of all ages can get up close with the stalagmites and stalactites, and experience the world’s largest outdoor sky trail.
While the above attractions would be more than enough to fill your days in San Antonio, there is also a string of Catholic jewels spread across the city that I highly recommend you add to your travel itinerary.
The Old Spanish Missions
While most of us are familiar with the Camino de Santiago or Camino Francesa in Europe, how many have heard of the El Camino de San Antonio? Well, you can make your own many pilgrimage along the shores of the San Antonio River visiting all five of the missions established by the seventeenth century Franciscans. The Archdiocese of San Antonio has resources for those interested in making the pilgrimage here.
The historic and religious significance of this chain of missions cannot be overstated, and they were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015; the only UNESCO site in Texas. Much of the credit for preserving the missions, not only as historic relics but active parish churches, is credited to the work of one man: Monsignor Balthazar Janacek, “Father Balty,” who tirelessly led the preservation of the missions and sustaining active parish life in each of them, for forty years up to his death in 2007.
While the Alamo is the most famous of the missions (and the only one that has been secularized and is no longer a church), the most intriguing is Mission San Jose. Known as the “Queen of the Missions,” it was founded in 1720 by the Apostle of Texas, the Venerable Fr. Antonio Margil. Its imposing bell tower and elegant dome draw visitors today, just as they surely drew the Native Americans at the time to discover the saving power of Christ through the sacraments and celebration of Holy Mass . Today, visitors can even experience the weekly Sunday mariachi mass.
The well preserved interior of the church is just as impressive as its historic exterior. The retablo rising behind the altar displays a statue of St. Joseph bearing the Christ child, believed to have been the original statue brought to the mission by Fr. Margil. Pilgrims can also venerate relics of both Fr. Margil and the founder of the Franciscans, St. Francis of Assisi, inside the mission (plus a life size replica of St. Francis in death).
Father Margil is a fascinating figure in the region’s Catholic history. He modeled Christ’s humility to the fullest, often signing his name as La Misma Nada (Nothingness itself). This humility obscures the phenomenal missionary activity he undertook in the New World: he led the Franciscan Missionary College, traveling barefoot all across Central America, Mexico, and north to Texas and Louisiana spreading the Good News.
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower
On the West Side of San Antonio, near Sea World and Lackland Air Force Base and just off of Interstate 35, is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower is the oldest national shrine to St. Therese of Lisieux in the United States, established in 1926 by the Carmelite friars who had fled persecution during the Mexican Revolution. The high altar is framed by an absolutely stunning depiction of St. Therese meeting Christ in Heaven. The church’s stained glass windows are a wonderful lab for teaching the life stories of the greats of Carmelite history: the Little Flower, St. Therese of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and even the prophet Elijah (who by tradition is a founder of the order).
The highlights of the Basilica are the Tomb Chapel, where behind rose-infused wrought iron gates, is a full scale replica of the burial chapel of St. Therese in Lisieux and houses a second class relic of the saint, a ring that belonged to Therese (a first class relic is brought out for veneration every Tuesday). The Basilica also displays a life size portrait of the saint that was donated by her sisters; her face was painted directly by Therese’s blood sister, Celine Martin, and provided as a gift to the Basilica.
Catholic heroes of the West Side: Our Lady, the Pope, and a trailblazing padre
While in the West Side, be sure to stop by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center to snap a photo of the world’s largest Marian mosaic, a four story mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Unlike modern art which suppresses the spiritual, this mural is a reminder of how integral the faith remains in expressions of Chicano and Tejano culture.
The mural is also a beacon of hope for a neighborhood that has witnessed extreme poverty for decades. Just beyond the mural is one San Antonio’s poorest barrios. Although it has experienced crushing poverty and hardship, it has also been blessed with many graces – from the visit of St. John Paul II to the neighborhood in 1987 to the more recent miracle of a weeping Marian statue in the local Catholic parish; a reminder of Our Lady’s care for her suffering people. The statue is inside Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, accessed through the courtyard of the Guadalupe Center.
This San Antonio neighborhood can also lay claim to one of the most trailblazing priests and social activists of the 1930s, the Jesuit padre Fr. Carmelo Tranchese. While pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, he launched a national crusade for national public housing pointing to the conditions in this barrio (over crowded with many poor Mexican refugees living in squalor), corresponding with President Roosevelt and convincing Eleanor Roosevelt to walk the streets with him, to drive home the point.
Downtown San Antonio
At the geographic center of San Antonio and the heart of the River Walk are two sites integral to Texas history: the cradle of Texas liberty – the Alamo – which was first established as a mission in 1718; and San Fernando Cathedral, which dates from 1731 and has the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States.
The famous Battle of the Alamo connects these two sites: General Santa Ana famously flew a red flag from the Cathedral’s tower at the start of the Battle, signalling his intent to annihilate the Patriots gathered in the Alamo. And in the vestibule of the of the Cathedral is a small tomb containing the remains of three of the Patriots killed in the Battle of the Alamo, Davie Crockett, William Travis, and Jim Bowie. In the Main Plaza, the facade of the Gothic Cathedral provides the “screen” for a 25 minute light show – the Saga – that captures these events in telling the history of San Antonio.
Entering San Fernando Cathedral, visitors can venerate relics of two well known travelers – Pope St. John Paul II (who visited the Cathedral in 1987) and St. Toribio Romo, the martyred Mexican priest who is the patron of immigrants and was canonized by John Paul II in 2000. Other notable sites are the side altar to Our Lady of Candaleria, the patroness of the Canary Islands, a memorial to the original 15 families from the Canary Islands that established this cathedral and named it after the medieval King St. Ferdinand of Spain. The nearby baptismal font is over 250 years and was a gift of King Charles II of Spain. The courtyard of the Cathedral – the Plaza de la Cruz – is crowned by a statue of the “cross of La Conchita” with the spear piercing the Sacred Heart, depicting a touching vision of the Mexican mystic Blessed La Conchita.
The RiverWalk is a short walk from the Cathedral and there are two other beautiful churches located right on the RiverWalk in downtown San Antonio. First is St. Mary’s Church, the city’s 2nd oldest church. The bright hues and gold flourishes that adorn its interior are a fitting tribute to Our Lady, as are the stained glass windows depicting the first three mysteries of the Rosary and the Marian statuary lining the nave. The second RiverWalk church is the German parish of St. Joseph’s which evokes Old Europe in the heart of San Antonio, complete with a relic of the True Cross inside the main altar. Many of its paintings and stations of the cross were painted by its former pastor.
Before leaving the downtown, be sure to take time to visit the historic Market Square, a three block outdoor market lined with Mexican shops and restaurants; the largest Mexican market in the United States, the Tower of the Americas, and the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum, for a taste of cowboy culture in the state’s oldest saloon.
Oases in the city – gardens and the shrines to Our Lady of Czestochowa and Our Lady of Lourdes
San Antonio is blessed with both natural oases across the city, especially the Botanical Gardens as well as lush spiritual oases honoring the great devotions of Europe. Some of the great natural attractions – the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, the splendid Japanese Tea Garden, and even the San Antonio Zoo – are all located in the north end of the city, near the Witte Museum and the Doseum.
It is also in the north end that you will find the Oblates’ Lourdes Grotto and Our Lady of Tepayac Shrine, with an outdoor replica of both the Lourdes Grotto (where Mass is regularly celebrated), and a re-creation of Tepayac Hill where Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego. The Oblates’ chapel is also open for Eucharistic Adoration, and the grounds are filled with sculptures, including a mural honoring the “Calvary of Christ,” the Oblates who traveled the Rio Grande Valley on horseback spreading the Gospel.
At the other end of the city, in the south side, is the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, on the beautifully landscaped grounds of the Seraphic Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows convent. The shrine has a reprint of the Black Madonna image. The grounds are beautiful with gardens, fountains, and outdoor stations, and there is also an impressive collection of relics on display, as well as a chapel dedicated to the Divine Mercy.
DAY TRIPS FROM SAN ANTONIO
There are also some interesting Catholic sites within a day’s trip of San Antonio, whether you are interesting in heading south to fantastic National Basilica of San Juan del Valle and the beaches of the Gulf Coast or north into the famed Texas Hill Country and the historic painted churches of Texas. Read more about these adventures in my blog post on day trips from San Antonio.
CATHOLIC CONCIERGE 
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