The Cavalry of Christ - San Antonio, TX USA - Relief Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The campus of the Oblate School of Theology at 285 Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, TX 78216 is where this large, curved bronze wall honoring the early Oblate missionary priests who ministered throughout south Texas and into Mexico in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The link provided below shows the original photograph of the seven priests on horseback at what was then Cementville, the company town provided by the Alamo Cement Company that hired local people to quarry rocks used in manufacturing Portland cement. The Catholic churches in San Antonio ministered to these workers and their families as well as the people settled in other towns of South Texas and beyond into Mexico.

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate were founded in France in 1816 by Eugene de Mazennod and began their missionary outreach in Texas in 1849 in Brownsville and other border towns along the Rio Grande border with Mexico. From these South Texas centers the Missionary Oblates road 100 mile circuits to reach the ranches and small villages across Texas. By 1884,these Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate settled in San Antonio and found it a favorable place to make it their headquarters. In 1903, the Oblate School of Theology was begun as a ministry outreach to the Catholic population of San Antonio and Texas.

This large relief sculpture shows seven Oblate priest on horseback, with the phrases "Specialists In The Most Difficult Mission. Pope Pius XI" and "Oblates of Mary Immaculate" across the top edge of the bronze wall, centered near the middle of the piece. The phrase on the left is attributed to Pope Pius XI.

Across the bottom edge of the bronze wall are phrases in a mix of both Spanish and English language. The bottom edge reads as follows: "+ Strive To Be Saints + Entre Ustedes La Caridad Y Fuera El Celo Por Las Almas + Leave Nothing Undared + Predicar A Jesu Cristo Crucificado +"

There was no marking for who the sculptor was. There were two small metal plaques to the right side of the large curved wall with the relief scultures that helps explain the purpose for the wall. One plaque was in Spanish, the other in English.

The English plaque reads as follows:

"The Cavalry of Christ
This is the name that was given to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate who preached the Gospel throughout South Texas on horseback beginning in 1846. The map on the other side shows the spread of the Oblate mission to the poor and abandoned throughout the world since their founding in France by Saint Eugene de Mazenrod in 1816. The spiritual and educational ministries on this campus are an expression of the Olbate missionary spirit."

The Spanish plaque reads"

"La Caballeria De Cristo
Asi fueron conocidos los Misioneros Oblatos de Maria Inmaculada que llevaron a caballo el Evangelio a lo largo del sur de Texas desde su llegada en 1849. El mapa, al otro lado, nos recuerda el alcance de la mision del la Congregacion Oblate desde su fundacion en 1816 por San Eugenio de Mazenod en Francia: evangelizar a los pobres y a los mas abandonados del mundo. Los sevicios que se ofrecen en estro terrenos son una expresion del espiritu misionero Oblato."


Link to TSHA website page of the Missionary Oblates of May Immaculate:
(visit link)

Photo used for creating this bas-relief sculpture:
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Link to TSHA website page for the Oblate School of Theology:
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Your impression of the sculpture?: Where is this sculpture?: 285 Oblate Dr. San Antonio, TX USA 78216 Date Sculpture was opened for vewing?: Not listed Website for sculpture?: Not listed Sculptors Name: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/09/2022 WalksfarTX visited it 02/20/2021 WayBetterFinder visited it

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