Death Comes For The Archbishop

By Willa Cather

Jean Marie Latour is a bishop who has been tasked with establishing the Roman Catholic church in New Mexico, which has just officially become a part of the United States. After a treacherous year-long journey to reach New Mexico, Latour finds some of the Mexican religious leaders less than welcoming. Intent on his goal, Latour works for the remainder of his life to build a solid religious foundation in the fledgling territory.

Willa Cather was inspired to write Death Comes for the Archbishop by the life of Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy who established the Saint Francis Cathedral in New Mexico between 1869 and 1886.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443440998

Willa Cather

WILLA CATHER (1873–1947), the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of more than fifteen books, was one of the most distinguished American writers of the early twentieth century.

Reviews for Death Comes For The Archbishop

[paradiseporch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful story that sneaks up on you - just like life - and death.

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book full of beauty which I cannot love. There is a smugness to the tone and attitudes that made me want to toss it across the room more than once.

[foggidawn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the year 1851, the priest Jean Latour is sent to the new American territory of New Mexico, to re-establish the Roman Catholic Church among the people there. For over 30 years, he works among them, becoming greatly beloved.This is a lovely, refreshing book. It describes the beauty of the southwestern landscape as well as the events of a lifetime of service. Based on the life of the first bishop of New Mexico, this book made me want to revisit Santa Fe and see the cathedral there again. Recommended.

[tomeboy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the very best stories I've ever read.

[lkernagh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Definitely one of those "right book, right time" kind of reads. Cather brings to life a time and place that I feel is irrevocably lost to us. It is a deeply spiritual read, and not just because the focus of the story is on two French missionaries that have come to bring the word to the Southwestern United States. Cather presents the plains of New Mexico and Arizona as stunning vistas peopled by nations Navajo and Hopi nations, influencing how the missionaries approach their seemingly impossible task to tame renegade priests and bring both the new Americans and the older aboriginal nations to embrace the Catholic faith. Cather has a wonderful way with prose and presentation: The story is soft, muted, and reflective in tone while still conveying the strong vibrance of life and communicating that each individual has their own way of embracing religion and a calling. Favorite quote from the book: "He did not know just when it had become so necessary to him, but he had come back to die in exile for the sake of it. Something soft and wild and free, something that whispered to the ear on the pillow, lightened the heart, softly, softly picked the lock, slid the bolts, and released the prisoned spirit of man into the wind, into the blue and the gold, into the morning, into the morning!" An absolutely beautiful read.

[jwhenderson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is based on the lives of two historical figures, Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Joseph Projectus Machebeuf and rather than any one singular plot, is the stylized re-telling of their lives serving as Roman Catholic clergy in New Mexico. The narrative has frequent digressions, either in terms of stories related to the pair (including the story of the Our Lady of Guadeloupe and the murder of an oppressive Spanish priest at Acoma Pueblo) or through their recollections. The narrator is in the Third-Person Omniscient style. Interwoven in the narrative are fictionalized accounts of actual historical figures, including Kit Carson, Manuel Antonio Chaves and Pope Gregory XVI.In the prologue, Bishop Montferrand, a French bishop who works in the New World, is soliciting 3 cardinals at Rome to pick his candidate for the newly created diocese of New Mexico (which has recently passed into American hands). Bishop Montferrand is successful in getting his candidate, the Auvergnat Jean-Marie Latour, recommended by the cardinals. Cather describes the garden setting in great detail. It is carved into the mountains overlooking Rome. The setting is refined and cultivated, underscored by the cardinal's tastes for fine wine, gourmet food, and art. As the Catholic Church has become the predominant civilizing element of Europe, so too will it serve to civilize the American Southwest.The host cardinal admits that his knowledge of the North American continent derives primarily from the Leatherstocking novels of James Fenimore Cooper. But he is eager to champion Ferrand's nomination to the Vicarate if it means he can retrieve an El Greco painting of St. Francis of Assisi his great-grandfather had donated from his collection to a Franciscan missionary priest in the New World.The cardinals find Bishop Ferrand's single-mindedness annoying, and change the subject to current political and cultural events. Bishop Ferrand is unable to take part in the conversation and worries that he has been on the frontier so long that he can no longer engage in clever discussion. Sensing that Ferrand might have second-thoughts about appointing Latour to such a remote, uncivilized, and desolate post, Allande tells Ferrand that it is too late.Father Latour is described as a thirty-five-year-old French Jesuit missionary. The French Jesuits are believed by the cardinals to be great organizers. Ferrand predicts that the New Mexico territory will "drink up [Latour's] youth and strength as it does the rain." Latour also will be called upon to make great personal sacrifices, perhaps even becoming a martyr.Cather foreshadows the color themes she dedicates to the southwestern landscape by describing the dome of St. Peter's as bluish-gray with "a flash of copper light." Later, as the sun sets, Cather describes the sky as "waves of rose and gold." She will eventually use various shades of copper and gold to describe the terrain of New Mexico. In addition, her description of the "soft metallic surface" of St. Peter's contrasts with the hardness of the American frontier depicted by the bishop. Cather also describes the light as both intense and soft, revealing the relative easiness of European life in comparison to the lives of American missionaries.

[elsyd_19 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful!

[kirmuriel-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Kind of boring

[marti.booker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just beautiful.

[nicolewbrown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is loosely based on the life of the first Bishop of the New Mexico Territory, Jean-Baptiste Ramy. It is 1851 and Jean Marie Latour has just been named Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico and Bishop of Agathonica in partibus. The New Mexico Territory is vast and new to the United States having just been won from Mexico in the war, so his diocese is a large one. The seat of it is located at Sante Fe. The Bishop did not come alone, though. He was followed once again by his longtime friend Father Joseph Valliant whom he met in Seminary back in France and with whom he has been doing mission work with in America ever since. The two are an unlikely pair as Valliant has always been sickly, yet hardy in his faith. He is able to raise money for the things the church really needs but basically never takes anything for himself with only a rare occurrence. Latour is hardy in health by his faith has doubts at times. He is good at running the churches and organizing things and does accept the odd nice gift from a parishioner. They compliment each other nicely. I really prefer Father Valliant over Bishop Latour. He's a much more likable fellow and in the book, he has many more friends. They both have their work cut out for them as the Mexican priests don't want to be under the rule of the Americans. And they have no interest to be under the rule of a new French Bishop. There are some good priests and there are some churches that are in need of priests so Valliant and Latour must travel to them to do Mass. Some of these churches are Native American churches and they must contend with their dual religions of Catholicism and the old ways. The author also deals with, to some small extent, how the Native Americans have been treated by both the Americans and the Mexicans, which is interesting considering this book was published in 1927. The problem priests believe in being able to run wild and have sex with whatever woman they choose and pick up money from ventures that are not necessarily legal or morally right. Latour sends Valliant out to one of the churches to preach for a while and bring the congregation back to the righteous path rather than the party path and gives the priest a rest so he can reflect on what he did wrong. But the other two priests prove more wily and harder to deal with and a different solution must present itself.This book is not really a novel with a plot so much as a collection of vignettes. With this title, I must admit I was hoping for something a bit, well, sexier, like a murder mystery or a suspense novel. But instead I got a good, but a not too exciting book, about a Bishop and a priest who tries to set up an American diocese in the old west. The descriptions will make you really feel as though you are there, but they can also go on and on in excruciating detail. Overall this wasn't a bad book if it's your cup of tea.

[untraveller · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good read about the area I'm working in this summer. The book did seem pointless at times, but such are the vagaries of religion....

[daniel5estes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To fully appreciate the textured canvas that is Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, I highly recommend some historical pre-reading for context. An overview of New Mexico's history during the 19th century, with a specific focus on the Mexico Cession of 1848, should give the unfamiliar reader a basic foundation of what life was like. Other helpful areas of interest would be a history of Santa Fe, a comparative study of religions of the region, and a familiarity with the American Indian tribes of the southwest.

[gbelik_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful story of courage and faith and a glorious reflection of the beauty of New Mexico. Bishop Latour and Father Joseph, two young friends and French priests come to the village of Santa Fe to minister to this area in the mid 19th century. They deal with Indians, Mexican and Americans in this area as it develops. The author has a clear reverence for her characters and their surroundings; this was a joy to read.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had trouble getting into this book, although I struggled through to the end - when death finally came for the archbishop. I will say that this novel does seem to fit its period and locale very well, depicting the remoteness and sparseness of the 19th-century American Southwest. The characters and their tales also depict the diversity of the era, with priests and murders rubbing shoulders together. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy Willa Cather's style or books written about the American West.

[vcg610 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Death Comes For The Archbishop is an American classic featuring two French Catholic missionaries in the extremely foreign territory of New Mexico in the 1870's. New Mexico has just been annexed by the United States and the Catholic Church in Rome decides that they must send priests to that remote area to shepherd the Indians and Hispanics that were now only nominal Catholics; their forefathers having been converted when the Franciscan missionaries of Spain had passed through that land in the 1500's. The church of Rome recognizes that the future of the Catholic faith in the New World is at stake. The faith of the people has mixed with ancient traditions of the Indian people and is now diluted by the worldly conduct of many of the existing priests.Father LaTour and his boyhood friend Father Vaillant are serving in Ohio when they receive the call from Rome. It takes a year or two for them to receive the instructions to go and about that long to traverse the United States to get to the destination, Santa Fe, New Mexico. But when they finally arrive, the Mexican priests refuse to acknowledge their authority. It takes a trip on horseback into Old Mexico to get the okay from the Bishop of Durango, whom the New Mexican priests recognize as authoritative in matters related to the church.LaTour and Vaillant patiently work and serve, traveling all over the huge territory to make friends, to baptize children and marry folks who have been living together without the benefit of matrimony, as many priests charge confiscatory prices for these sacraments. They meet and befriend all kinds of people including the great scout Kit Carson.The book is similar to a journal in that it is a more or less chronological listing of the events and interactions of these priests and the people they have come to serve. Their patience, wisdom and perseverance in the face of great adversity defines these men and endears them over time to the people of New Mexico. Ms. Cather's descriptions of the geography as the priests travel miles over mountains and desert land is so vivid that one can picture it's barren beauty vividly.Ms. Cather's descriptions of Father LaTour's thoughts and behavior over the years of his life in New Mexico is a picture of what a mature Christian's thoughts and behavior should be. Father Vaillant is a very different type of Christian...less intellectual; much more of a servant, but both are examples of what great faith in action looks like. And to think of all the years I spent seeing that title and assuming it was a murder mystery...thanks Book Club, and thanks Fay Guy, for leading a wonderful discussion about a very significant piece of literature!

[bayardus-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having read Willa Cather's My Antonia before this one my expectations were probably too high. In My Antonia Cather was able to draw upon her experiences to paint a portrait of Nebraska that communicated that life vividly. That novel stuck with me, from small segments like the struggle and eventual suicide of Antonia's father to Jim Burden's final return trip to that hard land.

Death Comes for the Archbishop does not reach the heights of My Antonia, despite being a competent novel. Cather has no similar depth of experience with New Mexico to draw from like she had for Nebraska, nor does she have the experiences of a priest like she had as a pioneer. Thus, the spiritual life of Latour and Vaillant is barely explored, likewise true for the priestly duties of the two characters. The friendship between these two is the strongest part of the novel, and I enjoyed Cather's exploration of what it means to fulfill your life's ambitions and have to go on living, but it seemed like there could have been a deeper exploration of what it means to have faith in such circumstances, and what the life of a missionary entails psychologically.

Fine writing, with good imagery and realistic depictions of friendship and growing older, but this book didn't convey a depth of understanding like My Antonia did. For a more interesting exploration of the thoughts of a religious man and an aging man, check out Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Willa Cather's novels bring the 19th century American Prairie and Southwest to life, with rich descriptions of both setting and character. Death Comes for the Archbishop opens in 1851, with New Mexico a recent addition to US territory. Father Jean Latour is a French missionary who is sent, along with his lifelong friend Father Joseph Vaillant, to bring New Mexico into the fold. Not surprisingly, this was not always well received. But through a series of vignettes set over many years, Cather shows how the two men built influence and respect with the native community. While Cather's descriptions of the landscape and the people are evocative; her development of the main characters was somewhat less effective, and the two missionaries always seemed somewhat distant to me. Despite this relatively minor flaw, I was moved as the novel -- and the careers of two men -- approached its end.

[janerawoof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Compelling story and writing! Two Catholic missionaries, a bishop and his vicar, friends from seminary days. are sent to New Mexico of the 1880s to reawake the morbid Catholicism of the Spaniards, Mexicans, and Indians living there. This novel consists of 10 vignettes tracing their lives in the mission field, from their arrival in that forbidding territory and their labors among the various classes of people. Then it ends with the deaths of the two men. Cather painted glowing descriptions of the American Southwest, with sympathy for its people. This novel was based on the writings of an actual missionary who lived there at that time. A "must-read."

[trgllylibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes the forms of piety held up as good examples in the story were a bit repellant to me, but I feel like it accurately describes the attitudes of people living at the time. Overall, I came to sympathize completely with Bishop Latour. It was particularly interesting because of the description of the land of New Mexico--it was very familiar and I could tell Cather had been to NM. I also liked getting a detailed, colorful picture of the mixture of people and cultures in the region at the time. In some ways, it was the same as New Mexico is today.

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The settling of the West was a privilege of discovery as well as a supreme test of character for all the pioneers - including men of faith devoted to their God and evangelical mission. With a brilliant sense of place, Cather has written a simple tale of unflinching faith and purpose. She embodies in her main characters a bold love and respect for a new, unknown world. The characters in this novel are beautifully and clearly drawn. They seem very real. Many lives are personally enhanced and spiritually impacted as they all become inextricably intertwined within an era of historical significance for the Mexicans, Indians and conquering Europeans.The descriptions of the landscapes are stunning. You become immersed in the natural wonder and beauty of an unspoiled environment. It's been a long time since I've read a book by Willa Cather and had forgotten her style. This was a reminder of her great ability to portray a lifestyle and a land at once severe and miraculous in their unique ways.

[ffortsa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While presented as fiction, this is actually the story of Jean-Baptiste Lamy (here named Jean Marie Latour), a missionary from France who was sent first to Cincinnati and then to Santa Fe, New Mexico as bishop of the new diocese. Cather is wonderful in her descriptions of the land and the hardships of the indigenous people and the travelers, but her work here is too episodic and hagiographic for my taste.Curiously, many of the significant events in Bishop Latour's life happen off-stage: his decision to become a missionary, his appointment as Bishop, the death of his life-long friend and vicar in Colorado (he does attend the funeral). The Navaho struggle to keep their land is discussed after the fact at the end of the book, although it would have been hugely important at the time. More time is spent on his decision to build a cathedral out of a particular stone he found in the area, and his decision to send for a French architect who could build it in the Romanesque style.3 1/2 stars mainly for the descriptive power of the writing, and the mention, toward the end of the story, of the Navaho and their culture, which reminded me of Tony Hillerman's books set in the same area.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still, - and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, under one's feet, but what one saw when one looked about was that brilliant blue world of stinging air and moving cloud. Even the mountains were mere ant-hills under it. Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky. The landscape one longed for when one was far away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky!"I had not read Cather before, and I must say that this was a lovely introduction to her. The writing is descriptive and beautiful, the characters fully fleshed, and the pacing slow and languid, but not boring. It reads almost like a collection of linked stories - brief dips in and out of the life of two priests in the newly acquired territory of New Mexico. Cather's writing brings the setting to life, making it a main character in the book. Bishop Jean Latour and his vicar, Joseph Vaillant have been friends for years, beginning in France where they took their vows and continuing into the New World where they serve first in Ohio before being sent to New Mexico. This is an historic time for New Mexico, and Latour has been chosen to take charge of the diocese in this harsh terrain. He must battle more than the landscape in his travels - just getting there is not easy, taking him almost a year, but when he finally arrives, the priests already there refuse to recognize his authority. Once he is established, he still has his hands full as he must deal with priests who place greed above goodwill, serving themselves above others and refusing to follow the tenets of the faith. And he must bridge the gap between cultures as this new territory holds Mexicans, white settlers, and different Native American tribes. Luckily, he has brought along Vaillant as his vicar, and Vaillant is like a mirror image of Latour - they both have good hearts and a love for serving God, but they bring different gifts to the table. Vaillant is outgoing and easy to know where Latour is is quieter and more reserved. Together they make a formidable team.Cather's writing spoke to me. She made the landscape a living, breathing entity, and made quiet observations that held truth. I liked how she gave us something to think about when reflecting on the fact that the Native Americans became a part of their landscape, working tirelessly not to mark it or change it in any permanent way, while the settlers from other cultures worked to make the landscape a part of them, purposefully setting out to change or adapt it and to leave a permanent mark of themselves upon it. As I was reading I kept thinking what a good job Cather was doing, how true to life her story felt - there is a reason for that. Cather based her story on the real life of French missionary Jean-Baptiste Lamy. And the cathedral that Latour built? Yep. It's real - it's the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

[mickyfine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A series of vignettes about the life of the Bishop Latour as he comes to the recently annexed territory of New Mexico and works to re-establish the Catholic church in the region.I have always been hesitant to pick up Willa Cather because I lived with the impression that she wrote boring prairie novels. However, Death Comes for the Archbishop does not fall into that category. While the core narrative itself is quiet and episodic, the beauty of the prose is what makes the read worthwhile. Cather paints a brilliant landscape of the wilds of New Mexico and brings to life a narrative voice that, while occasionally imperialist and condescending, reflects the strangeness of coming to an entirely different country. A decent read that proves that Willa Cather didn't write only boring prairie novels.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While my diary entries while I was reading this book all concern the elections in 1946, I remember that I felt this book was a most worthwhile book. It is the first Willa Cather book I read and the only one I read while she was still alive.

[rdyornot · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had to increase my rating, I had forgotten how good this was.

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beginning in the 1850's, Father Latour and his friend Father Vaillant serve as missionaries in the unspoiled but unforgiving Southwest. This is a beautifully-written book, short on plot and action (as another reviewer said, it is really a series of episodes or vignettes, rather than a novel) but long on descriptions of places and people.

[lgaikwad_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you are looking for a plot-driven dramatic book, this will not be that. Yet, it is lovely, historically-informative, and many have said it is powerful. It has made several lists as on an important piece of literature. I would suggest entering it like a painting. I liked discovering the story of Our Lady of Guadalaupe beginning on page 46. Over a few pages, Cather tells this story simply...and in a few sentences, indicates its deep meaning to the poor of this area.This book was deeply satisfying. The friendship between the priests that was precious yet could not be forever in the same place, the priests as immigrants far from home, the New Mexico land and the changing times, thoughts as he died...relationships and place and death, as the result of living.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A pair of French priests, one having been in Ohio and the other in Michigan, are assigned to work in New Mexico in the early 1850s. Father Latour becomes the bishop; Father Vaillant is his right-hand man as they attempt to reestablish proper church practices in a land which had been allowed to lapse under Mexican clergy. Latour eventually becomes the Archbishop. This is a well-written historical novel that has held up well over the years since it was first written. The reader is drawn into the setting by the vivid descriptions. One is also able to see the changes that took place over time as roads and railroads came into place. The reader appreciates the dedication to God that Latour and Vaillant demonstrated in their lives. This is truly a masterpiece that I wish I had read years ago.

[jenj5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Death Comes for the Archbishop doesn't have the traditional story arc, but instead is a collection of vignettes. Cather, with her quiet style, paints stunning pictures of the southwestern landscape and way of life in the 19th century. Not a page turner, but well worth the effort.

May 2007 COTC Book Club selection.

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I do not see you as you really are, Joseph; I see you through my affection for you.This is not a novel of plot - which one finds out along the dusty way - it's more a chronicle of various events of two french catholic missionaries - which Willa Cather have based on two real life characters.The story covers several decades beginning in 1851 when Father Latour reaches Santa Fe to become Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico. The task is daunting - trying to recover and rebuild their french version of the Catholic Church in the midst of superstitious Indians, pioneer Americans and worldly Spaniards. There's several setbacks and incredible long travels on mule in their "jurisdiction" - one has to admire their devotion and sacrifice (still while maintaining the french love for good food and wine, music and art)I found it historically very interesting - the conflict of cultures and religions - I loved the sense of place, Cather's dreamlike poetic prose, the descriptions of the barren, desolate landscape - so, ok it's a western of sorts - and really at it's center a story about a long-lasting beautiful friendship (although they are quite different), about loneliness being far from home - but finding a new home and a new sense of belonging. Specially the last part of the book is a very simple, yet emotional conclusion of two lives - lived well and faithfully for the God they loved. The old man smiled. "I shall not die of a cold, my son. I shall die of having lived".