California Mission
Pilgrimage (2)
Day Two: Holy Saturday
Mission San Gabriel
We hit the road for real on this day
and began with Mission San Gabriel, in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, the drive was not bad and we
found the large, fortress-like Mission shortly before it opened. The uncharacteristic peace and quiet in Los
Angeles gave the day a prayerful start. San
Gabriel was the first Mission we visited with a significant amount of artifacts
(remembering we missed San Juan Capistrano).
So the kids really enjoyed it. In
fact, San Gabriel’s unique design and the presence of the artifacts made it one
of my sons’ favorite Missions.
Mission San Gabriel is a parish
community run by the Claretians, and we got to see the newer parish church as
well.
The Father Serra statue present at all the Missions
Mission San Fernando Rey
After San Gabriel, it was a short
drive to get to Mission San Fernando.
The beauty of the Mission grounds is very impressive, considering it is
located in urban Los Angeles. There was
more greenery and water on the grounds than we found at San Gabriel. Also an active parish today, the church is quite
beautiful. You can also visit the graves
of Bob Hope and his wife, buried on the Mission grounds. The old entertainment memorabilia surrounding
Mr. Hope’s life and career is fun to see.
The Mission also boasts a nice collection of religious artifacts as
well.
The graves of Bob Hope and his wife
Mission San Buenaventura
Buenaventura, the ninth Mission, was
the last founded by Father Serra himself.
This Mission is located downtown on a main street, and is still used as
a parish church. Past the gift shop is a
modest museum, which contains one of the wooden bells. Buenaventura was the only Mission to use
wooden bells. Beyond the museum is a
beautiful courtyard, leading to the church.
We spent less time at this Mission than the previous two we visited this
day, but it was still a very nice and spiritual part of our pilgrimage.
One of the wooden bells of Mission San Buenaventura
Mission Santa Barbara
We continued up the coast to Santa
Barbara. One nice thing is that the
drive gets very beautiful at this point.
We had intended on being finished with visiting Missions for the day,
but we were planning on spending two nights with my brother, who lives in Santa
Barbara. He and my mom would both be
there, so we would be able to spend Easter together. Our plan was to go to Easter Mass at Mission
Santa Barbara and then tour the grounds.
My wife and I thought it might be wise to make sure we knew how to get
to the Mission, in order to be sure we wouldn’t be late for Mass. It then occurred to us that, being Easter,
the Mission grounds might be closed the next day. Sure enough, when we arrived, we found that
the grounds would be closed for Easter, but that we still had enough time that
day to visit the Mission.
Mission Santa Barbara sits atop a hill
and it is a beautiful sight once it comes into view. It is easy to see how it got its nickname,
“The Queen of the Missions.” The grounds
are lovely. We found many of the
cemeteries to be very interesting, as the headstones were testaments to
history, and not just general history, but real individuals who contributed to
the local area, and with whom we could be connected through our prayer. The cemetery at Mission Santa Barbara is of
particular interest for fans of “The Island of the Blue Dolphins,” as the main
character of the novel is buried there.
Mission Santa Barbara has beautiful grounds
Day Three: Easter
Mass on Easter was quite a treat. First, it is beautiful to see people lined up
by the hundreds to get into church. The
Mission church contains beautiful art and the traditional choir beautifully
lifts minds and hearts to God. It was a
wonderful opportunity to worship Him and celebrate the Resurrection of the
Lord.
