Lamy of Santa Fe

XIII. Day's End at Santa Fe • 1884–1889

XIII DAY'S END AT SANTA FE 1884-1889 l. Changeover IN NOVEMBER 1884, Lamy went to Baltimore-by rail, now, all the way-to sit with his fellow American bishops in the Plenary Council presided over by Archbishop Gibbons. Each delegate was to bring two theologians with him. Lamy had none to call upon, or perhaps to spare, from Santa Fe. He asked that two be assigned him by the cardinal. His voice was heard in the debates. It was not so strong as many remembered it. He was more than gaunt-almost emaciated now. His robes hung loosely upon him, and the great size of his skull was accentuated by the outlines of bones and the hollows of his cheeks sculptured by age. His bulky biretta sat high upon his head. His eyes were entirely recessed in shadow, and his face was wholly pale. The long Mexican ordeal, coming after his illnesses and beyond these the lifetime of extraordinary exertion demanded of his so often vulnerable health, had hurried the reckoning which he was ready to meet. On his return to Santa Fe, he wrote to Leo XIII in December submitting his resignation, with explanations which were sufficient. Now that the succession was insured and vested in Salpointe, Lamy asked again in January 1885 that Simeoni press for the Pope's acceptance of his petition. The request was not yet known to Santa Fe. Salpointe, after nineteen years in Arizona, returned to Santa Fe in February, now as an archbishop. Lamy at once began to divide his tasks with him. One of his gravest wishes was still to obtain governmental help to establish Pueblo schools; and after discussing the matter with him, Salpointe went to visit the ten nearest pueblos, to exam· ine the state of affairs, and to determine whether such schools would be welcomed by the Indians. Their decision, he found, was unanimously in favor of them. He would now be able to present their case if it fell to him to do so. Father Peter Bourgade of Silver City had been appointed to succeed 430 DAY'S END AT SANTA FE • 1884-1889 Salpointe at Tucson, and in April he was summoned to Santa Fe to be consecrated by Lamy. Inviting Machebeuf to the ceremony, Salpointe wrote, "Do not forget to bring your mitre, crozier, and pontifical vestments. You know we aren't rich here, and have here only what is needed in our rituals." He told Machebeuf also that Lamy was well enough, but now that he had a coadjutor, he wanted to do nothing. "I can't blame him-he worked long for the right to rest...." The old archbishop assisted by Salpointe and Machebeuf endured the fourhour ritual of raising Bourgade to the episcopate on 1 May, in the half-new, half-old cathedral; and daylong celebrations followed, with a great dinner, fireworks, and artillery salutes, for it was the first ceremony of its kind ever to have been performed in Santa Fe. Six months after he had offered it, Lamy's resignation was laid before Leo XIII during the papal audience of 28 June 1885. "His Holiness diligently examined the reasons presented by Archbishop Lamy." On 18 July, the Vatican wrote to Lamy that "the Holy Father, with saddened heart, saw the Archdiocese of Santa Fe being widowed by the departure of its good and most worthy Pastor. However, after a close examination of the reasons revealed by Your Excellency, His Holiness has accepted your resignation. Certainly, it seems right and just that Y.E., after all those years of such great and excellent labors in the vineyard of our Lord, should deserve to spend the rest of your life in peace and tranquility.... Under your guidance and administration the cause of our faith has made great strides in remarkable growth...." On the same day, Cardinal Simeoni sent instructions to Salpointe to succeed Lamy immediately, advised him that between them they should arrive at suitable financial arrangements for a pension which would provide a "decent living" for Lamy, and assured Salpointe that at the next papal consistory {he pallium would be requested for him. All formalities accomplished, Lamy was now in a position to take a tablet of faintly blue-lined paper and in the enlarged, deliberate, but still firm handwriting of his seventy-second year, set down the "Resignation of Abp. Lamy and his farewell to the clergy...