Mission Santa Clara – Travel story from Polly Kolstad
For many, the
nine o’clock evening hour on Sunday harkens to end the weekend and get a good
night sleep.
At Santa Clara
University in Santa Clara, California, the late hour welcomes hundreds of
students to the celebration of Mass at the old Mission Santa Clara.
With a reverence
reserved for the faithful, the lights dim with the opening prayer, and the old
church comes alive as it has for over two hundred years.
Surrounded by
colonnades of blooming rose trees, the beautifully restored edifice, resurrects
spiritual pages as well as significant historical notes from the settling of
California.
It may
be a little known fact that Santa Clara University is the only college in
California to be the successor of a Spanish mission.
Equally
interesting is the fact that Santa Clara University, the oldest college in
California, was founded in 1850, and born amid the gold rush.
The 1777 Spanish mission has survived more
than a quadrant of disasters eventually finding its way to the present location
on El Camino Real.
Early Spanish
expeditions in the 1770s selected sites for future colonies in California. The frontier colonies had three
institutions: the pueblo, the presidio, and the mission. Pueblos were the peopled settlements;
presidios provided military protection; missions were responsible for the
native population.
The Spanish were
intent on civilizing the Native Americans who had lived in the hills and valleys
for thousands of years. The missions provided a place for the natives to live,
work, and worship.
The first Mission
Santa Clara de Asis, built along the banks of the Guadalupe River near the
present San Jose airport, was destroyed when the river overflowed its
banks. A temporary church was built on
higher ground. The mission moved to a
third site close to irrigation canals and was blessed on November, 19, 1781. The mission church survived a long period of
calm until it suffered severe damage in the 1818 earthquake. A temporary adobe church was then constructed
on the present site of Kenna Hall on the university campus. That building eventually became a dance hall
during the Mexican secularization period. Mission Santa Clara fell into
decrepit disrepair. A Jesuit priest,
John Nobili, was appointed pastor in 1851, and took over the task of
reparations and the beginning of instructing students. The
fifth and permanent site of the mission stood with various modifications, until
1926, when it was destroyed by fire, believed to have been started by a mouse
who ate through the wiring in the belfry. Restoration of the destroyed church
began almost immediately recapturing the appearance of the 1825 church.
Throughout the
history of the mission, the Franciscan fathers assisted the Spanish in
administering their government’s policy.
The Franciscans were orderly, dedicated missionaries driven by their
desire to bring salvation, life skills, and trades to the Native
Americans. They kept written family
records which are invaluable today.
“They taught
fifty-three trades, had cattle, tanneries, made clothing, and glassware,”
explained Betty Ross, a local, well-informed docent.
Today’s
impressive façade of the restored church is one of the first sites to greet
visitors to the Santa Clara University.
Beautiful
bronze reproductions of the original pear wood statues of St. John the Baptist,
St. Clare, and St. Francis, adorn the front of the building. Bells in the bell
tower include three that date from the Mission period, and one donated by King Alfonso
XIII of Spain. The bells are still rung
at 8:30 each evening.
Directly across
from the building stands a large wooden cross.
This is the original mission cross from 1777 and moved from site to site
since then. Historically, these large
crosses were set up to signify each mission, and direct the horseback
traveler. Usually, the missions were
about thirty miles apart, a day’s journey.
One’s eye is immediately drawn to the brown
metal bell to the left of the façade. In
the early days, the large mounted bells served many purposes. According to historical accounts, the Native
Americans had not seen anyone until 1767, and had only what was growing in
California. They had no metal, and were
fascinated by the bell. The colonizers
used the bell to call the Indians.
Entering the
mission church through the wooden doors, the large nave (main floor) is flanked
by seven side altars and the sanctuary which houses the main altar and the
pulpit. Several pear wood statues of
saints adorn the area. The high altar
ceiling is an exact replica of the 1825 church frescoed with Native American
designs. It also includes an interesting
depiction of the Holy Trinity, as three men and an unusual circular painting of
cherubs and seraphim above two of the large chandeliers. Every third angel has its eyes closed. These representations were taken from the
original church and used to teach the Native Americans. Most symbolic is a crucifix sculpture on a
side altar where Father Catala, an early mission priest prayed. Native American oral history claims that when
this holy man prayed, the arms of Christ moved. The chapel also houses the
console and pipes of a large organ. Seating on the floor harkens to the past.
Hundreds of wooden chairs are set up reverently row upon row.
For the Sunday
evening Mass, students reset all the chairs in a circular pattern. The old walls swell from the tenor of the ecclesiastical
music.
“I am blown away
by all my friends who choose to come here,” said Father Jack Treacy, Director
of Campus Ministry.
“There is a
powerful strong meaning here. It is a
spiritual home.”
Mission Santa
Clara is a signet to history and a holy dwelling place that continues to thrive
after more than two centuries.
The Mission Church serves as the university
chapel and is used by the university community for Masses, weddings, and
concerts. It is open to the public
daily, and welcomes visitors.
If you go: Docents
are available for guided tours. Call
the Mission Church office: 408-554-4023.
For more information on the web: www.scu.edu/mission.
Mission Santa Clara
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
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