On Saturday, we visited Mission San Jose the day after they had reopened and dedicated their renovated sanctuary. Today, we visited Mission San Juan, as they prepared to close their sanctuary in order to begin their own renovations. Next week will be the last week they’ll be having mass in the mission for about a year. They’ll be moving mass across the road to the parish center – Slattery Hall. It’s an exciting time for a very old parish.
I’ve included pictures from today, and like San Jose, pictures from an earlier visit. This was done to show some of the things that seem to have been done in preparation for the move. Outside – there was a large bronze statue which was not there today. Also, there is a small statue of an indian woman in front which was given a small garden to sit in, while today, it sat on basically bare ground.
The interior had differences as well. I have to assume that some of the pieces had already been moved in preparation for the renovation – but maybe they just changed the altar/background. The church is sorely in need of renovation to stabilize, if nothing else. The cracks are very prominent inside and out – with one door being propped up to prevent collapse.
Sorry you missed it – but it will be open this time year – look for it. We also went by the sister parrish – St. Ann’s and I’ve included one picture of the wooden sancristy – built in 1925. While we were waiting for mass to conclude, Clem chatted up a group of Mission parrishoners who were sitting out front selling water and raffle tickets. They were a wealth of information and shared with us the difficulties in trying to maintain a vibrant church community at an historic/US National Park site. The Park system bought up a lot of the land around the mission and displaced many of the former parishoners. Of course they mostly dispersed throughout the city leaving behind a smaller community. Their names were Sara, Sandra and Tere. Keep cool ladies – and thanks for the hospitality.
