Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Facebook   Twitter   Facebook    Pinterest   LinkedIn   Vimeo   RSS      

Safe Environment  |  Employment  |  Texas Catholic  |  Giving  |  Financial Reports  |  En Español


Recalling he history of the Catholic Church in Texas

Texas History is Catholic History

Catholicism is woven into the history of Texas so completely that it is virtually impossible to separate the two. Spanish explorers, who “happened” on Texas in 1519, while looking for a short cut to the Orient, were agents of the Catholic King and Queen of Spain and were charged with the dual mission of exploring and Christianizing by spreading the Gospel. Spanish conquistadors, whose task was to plant the flag of Spain in the new land, marched side-by-side with missionaries whose charge was to plant the Catholic cross. Their Catholic culture is reflected in the names they gave to the land: Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ; rivers named for the Most Holy Trinity, the “Trinity”; and the Arms of God, the “Brazos”. Often times the missionaries were the advance guard, their missions the first outposts in the wilderness.

Resources for Teachers 
Important Internet Links

  Much useful material for enhancing history classes is available on the internet. Several of them are the Handbook of Texas Online, Portal to Texas History and Texas Day by Day. Each of these sites is a gateway to a treasure of resources. Be sure to visit each of them and explore what they offe
Diocesan Resource Links

Three eBooks are available online. Prologue to the Future, the 125th anniversary history of the Diocese of Dallas, is online at www.cathdal.org/prologue. Prairie Gothic, a photo essay on early churches in the diocese that, although simple in structure invariably featured a cross and a gothic door or window that set them apart as churches. Available online at www.cathdal.org/prairie. They Came to Serve, a chronology of women religious in the Diocese of Dallas, found  online at
www.cathdal.org/womenreligious. All three eBooks may be downloaded as Pdf files.

 

This is an online version of the first edition of Catholic Texans: Our Family Album, Teachers Edition. It is richly illustrated and has teacher notes for each lesson. Most of the illustrations are available for downloading. The book may be downloaded online in Pdf format at CatholicTexans. The associated art work may be downloaded online at Artwork.

 

An online copy of the booklet that was printed for the dedication of Sacred Heart Cathedral (now Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe) on October 26, 1902. It is filled with interesting images from that time and contains a history of the cathedral, a list of cathedral parishioners and many other interesting historical facts about the cathedral and its construction. Available online at dedicationbook.

 

This is a list of significant dates in the history of the
Diocese of Dallas from the first recorded Mass in the home of Max Guillot in 1859 up to the present time. The list does not include the dates that parishes were established except for those of special historical significance. Available online at diocesandates

 

Every diocese has a coat-of-arms or crest that is unique. The Diocese of Dallas coat-of-arms contains a number of symbols that tell the history of the diocese. Discover why the crest contains a wavy line with fluers-de-lis and crossed swords and a star. Available online at coatofarms.

 

Here is a page of artwork from the Catholic Texans book than you may download for use in your class. Available online at artworkbycosta

 

 

 

.