Santa Clara Mission

We now officially began our journey north to see the last of the missions.  We were so glad to find the mission as parking and location was very confusing.  This mission is located at Santa Clara University just north of San Jose.  Thankfully the students were all on break and we had the area to ourselves.  

The original mission was the 8th created by Fr. Serra in 1777.  In 1851 the authority of the mission was transferred to the Jesuits.  This mission has moved locations and been rebuilt several times due to flooding, earthquake and fire.  The church we see today was built in 1929 and is quite modern in construction in comparison to the others but still very beautiful.  The renovated building tried to stay close to its roots in presentation.

We entered the mission from the side (the museum was closed due to the university break) and found the garden.  The children were quick to find the Fr. Serra statue.  There was also a very moving statue of the Sacred Heart with the following verse on its base:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Lest we never forget that all of these missions are here to lead us to Christ who can help us through any trial.

And, it was hard to forget our heavenly goal as we entered the church building!  We were immediately greeted by statues of saints and then looking up we had the most beautiful scene of heaven opening up before us.  I think we will dub this mission the "Heavenly Inspired Mission."

Then Zaira found multiple images of her Lady throughout the church.  This time she and Brendan were also drawn to the nativity scene set up on one in the entry.  Then more paintings and statues, especially the crucifix, kept us busy viewing the details.

We left the interior, after quite a visit, through the back door.  We noticed several items of interest.  The original mission cross is in this area surrounded by a protective casing.  We were somehow drawn to this spot not knowing what was there.  I love how things like that happen...and I think it is interesting to have this link to the past.  A good way to remember that we still have the same belief system in place so many years later centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus symbolized in this cross.

Then there were several modern art pieces that we enjoyed looking at from a distance.  Henry ran over to take a few pictures before we left.  The one pictured below reminded me of a Rosary ready to be launched.  I am sure this was not the intent of the artist, but it made me think of Padre Pio.  This saintly man, even when he was bedridden, would holler for his assistants to "bring him his weapon," which meant he wanted to pray the Rosary.  This "Rosary" would be a great way to send out those prayers to fight the devil!

And, so ended our trip to this beautiful mission.  We had one more for the day...just a short 15 miles away.