Acknowledgment of Gratitude In producing this book I wish to thank my Mother, who wrote for me in modern notation the music of the hymns of the Mission Fathers which are contained in this work, and gave me much welcome information; also Rev. Raymond M. Mestres, my zealous parish Priest, successor and compatriot of Junipero Serra and the Mission Padres, for valuable data, and for allowing me access to the early archives of San Carlos Mission and of the Mission Church of Monterey. Maria Antonia Fi

In presenting this modest volume to the public, I wish to call the attention of my readers to the following facts. Firstly, my humble work is a work of love—love simple and unalloyed for the venerable Spanish Missionaries of California and for the noble sons and daughters of Spain who gave such a glorious beginning and impetus to our state. Being a direct descendant of pioneer Spaniards of Monterey, I take a particular interest in California's early history and development and as my family were

1. San Diego.—A Spanish form of Saint James, who is the Patron Saint of Spain. 2. San Carlos.—Saint Charles. Mission San Carlos and the Royal Chapel of Monterey were so named in honor of Saint Charles the Patron Saint of King Carlos III under whose reign the mission was founded. 3. San Antonio De Padua.—St. Anthony of Padua. 4. San Gabriel.—St. Gabriel (the Angel of the Annunciation.). 5. San Luis Obispo.—Saint Louis, Bishop. 6. Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores.—Our Lady of Sorrows. 7. San Juan Cap

By Maria Antonia Field. Read at the Crowning of the Serra Statue, Monterey, Nov. 23, 1913....

Junipero Serra, whose name and labors may be termed a compendium of Christian virtues, was born on November 24, 1713, in Petra, a village of the picturesque Island of Majorca, on the northeastern coast of Spain, and a part of the Province of fair Catalonia, one of the most valuable and beautiful portions of Spain. This child, around whom our story clusters was baptized on the day following his birth, and received the names of Miguel José. His parents were poor people from a material standpoint,

Father Junipero Serra and Don Gaspar de Portolá decided on the following plan; that Junipero Serra with Fathers Francisco Paloú and Francisco de Lasuén would remain in San Diego, where Serra was to establish his first mission while Portolá with Fathers Crespí and Gomez, Captain Rivera y Moncada, Lieutenant Fages and some of the Spanish dragoons and muleteers started overland to explore the country, and in quest of the Harbor of Monterey, carrying with them the map of Sebastian Vizcaino. This exp

As we have seen in the preceding chapter, Monterey was the capital of the Spanish Possessions in California, consequently San Carlos Mission was the headquarters of Junipero Serra. And what was not San Carlos Mission of Carmelo in the days of her glory! We are in a maze of thought as to how to begin to tell her story. Of the beauty of the spot where this mission was built we have already spoken, as well as of how the golden valley of Carmelo came to be named. And here we may well exclaim with th

With the landing of Serra and Portolá at San Diego in 1769, began the Spanish period of California. The chief events of this period are in a pith, the following: The establishment of the missions, the christianizing of the Indians and the exploration and colonization of California. It is from the Spanish period that the history and standing of California date. The ten Spanish Governors of California as well as the officers of the Army and Navy were men of honor and ability, and the record left b

Amidst the beauty and glory of Spain's dominion in California, while the gold emblazoned banners of Castile and Leon floated proudly under azure skies, while the Spanish governors, officers and colonists were doing honor and credit to their ancient race, and the saintly missionaries were working marvels for the souls and bodies of the aborigines of the land, while Spain was thus lending "her beauty and her chivalry" to California; Mexico, forgetting her old debt to Spain, when she explored her t

The year 1846 found the Mexican government in California struggling with a poor exchequer and some of its leaders in an unfriendly mood towards one another on account of petty differences, while France, England and United States waited eagerly for an opportunity to seize California, nor may their desire be termed dishonest since a change of government each day seemed more inevitable. Americans had often been treated with hostility and not given their lawful rights under the existing form of gove

Told of Father Vicente Sarría Father Vicente Sarría, a venerable and saintly missionary in charge of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad at the time the first two acts of Secularization were passed, was one of the keenest sufferers from the injustices of the times, undergoing untold labors and hardships, which in no small degree contributed to his death in 1833, which found him at his post of duty at the mission. Father Sarría's reputation for sanctity was well known throughout California, part

We have followed the venerable band of missionaries from their homes in Spain, where fired with zeal for the conversion of the savage heathen of the New World they set out for the comparatively newly discovered land of Mexico, where Spain had already a few establishments and churches, an archbishopric in the city of Mexico, and the Franciscan Fathers a well equipped monastery and mission at San Fernando in the northern part of the country. We have seen the Spanish Franciscans' zeal in the land o

Beautiful among beautiful historical dramas is the mission play "Fray Junipero" written by Reverend Raymond Mestres, pastor of San Carlos Church (Capilla Real de San Carlos) of Monterey. Many men and women have undertaken to write about mission times, but we may safely assert that this good priest so unassuming in what he does, is above all qualified to handle this subject, being first of all a religious, a native of Barcelona, the Metropolis of the Province of Catalonia, which can claim Juniper

Letter of Junipero Serra 7 . "Long live Jesus, Mary and Joseph! "R. P. Fr. Miguel de Petra. "My dearest nephew, brother and Sir. "It was not for want of love that I did not answer some of your letters. For it was not merely bodily that I left my beloved country. I could have been communicating with many persons by letters and friends, both in and outside our order, but, if our minds were constantly intent upon what we once left, what would be the use of leaving it? "I wrote a long letter to your