- As Latour rests in his sickness, the young Bernard comes to shave and bathe him every morning. Latour finds routine especially valuable in times like this. He also sees lot of visitors who are happy to find him back in Santa Fe.
- Whenever he has time, Latour gets Bernard to write down the history of the local missions in New Mexico. He's afraid that if he doesn't get someone to write it down, it'll all be forgotten (along with his life).
- He thinks back on one of the first stories he was told when he arrived in New Mexico as a young man. The story is about a guy named Father Junípero who just showed up in New Mexico one day on foot, with no food or supplies. No one believed that he could have crossed the desert into New Mexico in this condition.
- Junípero tells the group that a poor Mexican family took care of him and his travelling companion along the way.
- Apparently they were a bunch of shepherds living in the wilderness.
- Naturally, Junípero and his buddy said, "That's cool" and settled down for the night. The next morning, they awoke and the family was gone. But there was a full breakfast laid out on the kitchen table.
- When the priests in New Mexico heard this story, they went out to look for the family. But they didn't find any house or any family where Junípero said they'd be. They suddenly realize that the family—the father, mother, and son—were actually Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus.
- This story has always been able to send a nice chill up the archbishop's spine.