As a member of the first class to inhabit the seminary's new dormitory, Chavez was allowed to paint murals of Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua on its walls.

Due to his potential as a visual artist, he was given the religious name "Frater Angélico" after the Dominican priest and painter Fra Angelico from Florence.

Elsira Montoya and Dolores Lucero entered religious life in St. Louis, Missouri and spent the remaining 70 and 75 years of their lives as Franciscan nuns.

Chavez was assigned to the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Peña Blanca and its missions in Jémez Pueblo and Los Cerrillos.

Upon his return from the battlefield, Chavez was appointed archivist of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and undertook the cataloging and translation of its Spanish archives.

[citation needed] For example, his view of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, unorthodox in its minimization of the role of Popé and its emphasis on the mestizo element, was based primarily on previously-unconsidered genealogical data.

The statue resides in St. Francis Cathedral to this day and is an important part of the religious history of the Spanish people of Northern New Mexico.

[citation needed] The Museum of New Mexico at the Palace of the Governors named the new history and photographic library in his honor following his death, and a bronze statue of his likeness is displayed at the entrance.

The walls were marked with the words "stolen land" and "1680", an apparent reference to the Pueblo Revolt, an event chronicled by Chavez in what has been criticized as a revisionist interpretation.