How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Once again among his own people, as he still called them, Father Joseph opened his campaign, and the poor Mexicans began taking dollars out of their shirts and boots […] to pay for windows in the Denver church. (8.3.26)
The miners and prospectors in Colorado have plenty of money, but none of them is willing to pay a penny for the building of a church. Meanwhile, the Mexicans in New Mexico are totally poor, but more than willing to spend every extra cent they have to help build a church in a far-off place. This is Cather's not-so-subtle way of saying that Mexicans have a much stronger sense of religious duty than greedy white Americans.
Quote #5
[The] Bishop used to remind them that no man could know what triumphs of faith had happened there, where one white man met torture and death alone among so many infidels, or what visions and revelations God may have granted to soften that brutal end. (9.4.5)
Father Latour knows that he has taken a difficult job by becoming the Bishop of New Mexico. But he knows he's not nearly as devoted or brave as the very first white priests who came to this area and who were tortured and killed for trying to spread the Catholic faith.
Quote #6
"What shall I do, Jean? Help me! […] I cannot break my father's heart, and I cannot break the vow I have made to Heaven. I had rather die than do either." (9.5.6)
As a young man, Father Vaillant has an extremely difficult time choosing between his duty to his father and his duty to the church. In the end, he chooses the church and seems to be happy with his decision. But right up until the moment he dies, Father Latour wonders whether Vaillant ever regretted his decision.