San Luis Rey Mission

When planning this mission trip, I was worried about putting too much into one day and not being able to remember the different missions.  I think that I was under the impression that the missions would look similar and begin to blur together.  However, I was VERY wrong...each mission had its own appeal and personality.  This can easily be seen in this next mission.

We had already been to San Diego de Acala earlier in the day.  It was Saturday evening and we had the opportunity to stop at our hotel and clean ourselves up from the travels of the day.  Then we made our way to San Luis Rey de Francia Mission to view and then attend Mass.  

When we drove up to the mission, we understood why it was considered the "King of the Missions."  It was much larger than the other missions we had visited.  It was also very beautiful from the outside and inside as well.  We would find out that it was big because it also had the largest population (almost 3000) of all of the missions.  This mission also had a large herd of cattle (as many as 57,000 head in 1832) to maintain.  It continues to be the home of a community of Franciscan Friars even today.  

San Luis Rey was one of the later missions being the 18th in the list and created in 1798 under the guidance of Fr. Lasuen.  It was named after the sainted King of France from the 13th century.  He was known as "the most Christian King."  I think this is fitting knowing the nickname for the mission itself.  The natives of this mission were the Luiseno people.  

We did not have time to tour the museum, but made our way into the mission church.  The mission is in the shape of a cross and the interior has double-dome wooden construction.  While in the church, we were able to look straight up and see into one of these domes that was part of the Moorish design influence of the time.  

When approaching the altar, we were able to see that there are three altars.

The statue atop the center altar is Saint Louis IX, King of France. The statue to the left of Saint Louis is Saint Michael and the statue to the right is Saint Raphael. The main crucifix dates to the 18th century and was brought to the Mission from Mexico. The lower left statue is of Saint Joseph and the lower right statue is of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The side altars are devotion areas. The left side altar is dedicated to Christ and the statue is of Christ before the crucifix. This statue has moveable joints and human hair. To the left is Saint Francis Xavier; to the right is Saint Anthony. 

The right side altar is presently dedicated to Saint Francis. To the left is a statue of the Virgin Mary; to the right a statue of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

This church had several side altars.  Some of them were just as elaborate as the main altar.  Here is an example of the Madonna altar that was so amazing.  I know we all stopped to say a little prayer for our loved ones here.

There were also many works of art on the walls that were breathtaking.  I was inspired by the art and for those who felt such a need to preserve them throughout the years.

By this third mission, Zaira had discovered her favorite part of the missions were the many pictures of Mary...to her all of the various variations of Mary were all her "Wadalupe."  It was such a joy to see her reaction to these paintings and statues.  Her joy in seeing these never wavered as we continued our journeys.

Within the quadrangle gardens is the first pepper tree in California "planted in 1830 by a sailor from Peru."  We were able to peep out and see this tree before continuing on our way.  We also found the bronze rendition of the Fourth Station of the Cross where Jesus meets his Mother.  We also found a set of statues representing the Third Station-Jesus Falls for the First Time in the gardens.  We have tried to determine if this is part of the same series to no avail.  

Although Mass would be in the nearby chapel, we were not disappointed in the evening.  We had time before Mass to have a "visit" with St. Francis, St. Rachel and Jesus walking on water.

   

We would attend Mass during this holy season of Advent and be a part of a Filipino custom (Simbang Gabi) similar to the Hispanic tradition we know as Los Posados.  This tradition went right along with our O Antiphon journey.  I love that we were able to celebrate with another culture on our own journey to Christmas!  To add to this multicultural atmosphere, we also found out that the mission was having a tamale sale (I actually found out this information while researching the mission and could not resist a good tamale!).  We were happy to support the mission and enjoy a tamale dinner in our hotel that night!