THE YIATORIAN Facet Spera · VOLUME 25
APRIL 1908
NUMBER 7
THE OLD MISSIONS OF THE PADRES G. P. Miu lvaney '07. L AN D wi th out ruins is a land w ithout mem ories an d a . land w itho ut m emories is a lan'd w ithout hist or y." \ Ve are t old that we ar e of but yest erd ay , that we have by magic, as it we re, sprung up in a nig ht an d b econi.e 1. matured n ation. With us ther e h as been n o infan cv. 'Tn..1e it is, w e are so absorbed in tJ1 e present w e forget those w l~o ha ve g-c,n e b efor e : in fact , th ere is little t o r emind us t h er e l1as bc~ n a past. Progr ess in its selfishn ess has no r egard fo r r eminiscence. I n cons eq uen ce, we hav e tod ay ve ry few of th e o ld la11dmarks , the m onum ents of long d eparte 1 ye ars, and t h e few that temam are fast disapp earing . Scatter ed alon g the shor es of t h e Fa6fic and · clo tt ed over th e great A m eri can desert throu o-h Californi a, A rizona and . th e· Mexicos , th er e can be seen to day t he rain s of · g reat t emples that onc e rivaled in sp lend or th e cath edral s of t h e O ld \Vorld. Th e observant traveler and th e inquis itive t ou rist look up on them with awe, and wond er w h ence th ey came. Un like th eir s ui·roun din gs, th er e is no thing m odern about th em and th ey seem so out of place in th e citi es th at have sp·r un g u p ar ound t hem. T h ese M issions of the Padres, w ith their w·h ite ·wails s ilhouetted a ga in st the soft south ern skies, r eminiscent of th e g lories o f th e Cas tilian past , are th e m onum ents th at ma rk t he comi11 g of civilization to th e great Southw est . T hey ar e th e con qu erin g arche s of Chri stia·nity that t ell how th e hostil e sava ges were subdu ed hy th e word o f the g os p el. Th e hi story o f th ei r foundation is familiar t o us . With tb e s uppression of th e J esuit s b y the Spani sh Gove rnment, th e Franciscan s asked to take charge of t h e lVIiss ion s of Lower California. ' A nim at ed with great zeal th ey de i.erm.in ecl t o carry th e w.ork into A lta , California. Thus o n July r6, 1769, th e saintly Padre J unipero Serra raised the cross in v iew of th e b eautiful harbor. of San Diego and took p os ~ s,ession of the cot1ntry in the name ·of the Church and civilization. I-Iere he erected th e . fir st miss ion in California, seven miles from
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