Friday, November 13, 2009
Today we drove up into the hills
northeast of San Diego to visit Mission
San Antonio de Pala. This tiny mission was an Asistencia or “Helper” mission for the much larger mission of San
Luis Rey in Oceanside, where we were to go next. The mission, located on an Indian reservation
is filled with primitive art and painted wall decorations, a simple and
peaceful place. The altar area has a
wooden rail, but access to the altar is unrestricted. The mission has a small museum and gift shop
and a lovely small courtyard garden with native California plants and one
fountain in the center.
The small 2-bell campanaria is not attached to the mission buildings, but stands as
a separate structure nearby. The stairway
to the top of the tower is gated but not locked. A local public charter school is located in
the buildings behind the mission; school was in session when we visited. All in all, a happy place where everyone
seemed content.
Day 8 Pictures - San Antonio de Pala Mission Asistencia (Mission San Antonio de Pala)
We drove next to Oceanside, CA to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, named
for King Louis IX of France, the Crusader King.
This is listed as the largest of all the mission churches, seating over
1000 people. Cruciform in shape, it has
a blue domed bell tower on the front right of the building and is a combination
of Spanish, Mexican and Moorish architecture.
It is built of adobe, painted white with dark red tiles for
decoration. The church interior has many
vaults and arches, lovely painted wall decorations and extensive statuary and
religious paintings.
A monastery for Franciscan friars is
attached to the mission; we were told by the docent that the monastery had 3
current residents. We met one of them,
just coming back from a bicycle ride complete with aerodynamic helmet, biking
shoes and spandex outfit. It was a
little disconcerting for Judy, as she had expected the friars to be pacing in
the garden in long brown robes with ropes for belts, reading their breviaries,
Gregorian chant in the background. Oh
well, times have changed.
There is an adjacent parish church and
school nearby. The quadrangle garden
(Sacred Garden), was not open to walk through because of the resident
friars. We could look into the garden;
there were many roses, cacti, palms, bougainvilla vines and America’s oldest
pepper tree, brought from Peru in 1830.
Day 8 Pictures - San Luis Rey Mission (Mission San Luis Rey de Francia)
We then drove to the last mission of
the day, Mission San Diego de Alcala,
in San Diego, CA, which was a short distance from Admiral Baker campground
where we were staying. This mission was
founded in 1769 by Fr. Serra and moved to its present site in 1774 to be nearer
the Indians, a reliable water source and good farming land. The mission was attacked and burned by the
Indians in 1775; Fr. Luis Jayme was killed in the attack, becoming the first
Christian martyr in the new world. This
was the only mission in the California system to be attacked by Indians.
The mission was rebuilt in 1776 in an inner
courtyard style with surrounding walls using adobe bricks and tiles. The church is lovely, medium-sized with
primitive decorations, paintings and statuary.
There is a simple but beautiful reredos
behind the altar. The garden has
many cacti, bougainvilla, bromeliads, etc growing in ordered, raised
flowerbeds. The campanaria has 5 bells and is attached to the front of the
mission. The church is a working
Catholic parish – a beautiful place.
When we came out of the mission, there was another lime green VW bug
parked next to the Green Machine in the lot – quite a coincidence.
Day 8 Pictures - San Diego Mission (Mission San Diego de Alcala)
We drove back to Admiral Baker campground and
got ready to welcome company the next day.
