Mission San Diego de Alcala, California – The first of the twenty-one great California Missions

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, San Diego Mission Road, San Diego, Kalifornija, Združene države Amerike

Website of the Sanctuary

+1 619 281 8449

Every day: from 7.00 am to 8.00 pm

Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of the twenty-one great California Missions, marks the birthplace of Christianity in the west coast of the United States. It is California’s first Mission Church.

Mission San Diego de Alcala

This remarkable and significant historical shrine provides an understanding and appreciation of the beginning of Catholicism in this corner of the world, so remote from the Mother Country of Spain and yet so similar. See more Catholic Shrines and pilgrimages in North America.

See top 15 Catholic shrines around the world

Today the Mission, which was founded in 1769, serves as an active parish church and cultural center for people of all faiths who are welcome to visit and relive the grandeur.

History

In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and the Mexican government did not have the same allegiance to the missions.

The Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California in 1833 and the Decree of Confiscation of 1834 removed the administration of the mission from the Franciscans and gave it to Mexican government administrators.

Mission San Diego de Alcala, California

On April 27, 1840, at the request of the Mexican government, Pope Gregory XVI withdrew Alta and Baja California from the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sonora, appointing Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, a native Mexican Franciscan, as the first Bishop of the Californias, with the see at Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

Subsequent to his consecration on October 4, 1840, at the Franciscan Church of Zacatecas, Mexico, Bishop Diego landed at San Diego on December 11, 1841.

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Owing to the poverty and insignificance of the place, with the assistance of San Diego merchant and cargo ship owner Don Jose Antonio Aguirre on January 11, 1842.

Bishop Diego removed his residence to Mission Santa Barbara. In 1846, Governor Pio Pico sold the lands of Mission San Diego de Alcalá to prominent Californio Santiago Arguello.

In 1848, after the Mexican American War, the United States Army occupied the mission grounds until 1858. The Army made numerous modifications on the mission grounds, including the conversion of the church into a two-story building, and the establishment of a military cemetery.

On May 23, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation returning to the Catholic Church approximately 22 acres of land, formerly utilized by Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Dieguenos.

Following the Army occupation, the mission fell into ruin, and remained abandoned until 1891 when Father Antonio Dominic Ubach and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet moved the Saint Anthony’s Industrial School for Indian children from Old Town San Diego to the mission grounds.

The school at the mission closed in 1907 and was moved to Banning, California. Two dormitories were built for the students of Saint Anthony’s, one of which exists today as the Religious Education Center of Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Driving Directions From Los Angeles:
I-5 south to I-805 south to
I-52 east to I-15 south
Exit Friars Road east
Right at first signal onto Rancho Mission Road
Left at first signal onto San Diego Mission Road
The Mission is one-half block on the left

From Downtown San Diego:
I-8 east to Mission Gorge Road exit
Left at signal. Proceed on Mission Gorge
Left onto Twain Avenue
Twain Avenue becomes San Diego Mission Road
The Mission is on the right

From the East:
I-8 west to Mission Gorge Road exit
Right at signal. Proceed on Mission Gorge
Left onto Twain Avenue
Twain Avenue becomes San Diego Mission Road
The Mission is on the right

San Diego Trolley:
Take the trolley to the Mission San Diego stop
Exit trolley and walk to the left on Rancho Mission Road for one half block
Turn right onto San Diego Mission Road
The Mission is one half block on the left or north side of San Diego Mission Road

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Sundays:

  • Sunday Vigil (Saturday):5:30 p.m. Congregational Singing – Mission Church
  • 7:00 a.m. Mission Church
  • 8:00 a.m. Congregational Singing – Mission Church
  • 9:00 a.m. Folk Music – St. Francis
  • 10:00 a.m. Congregational Singing – Mission Church – (4th Sunday ASL interpreted)
  • 11:00 a.m. Congregational Singing – Mission Church
  • 11:00 a.m. Spanish – St. Francis
  • 12:00 noon Mission Choir – Mission Church
  • 5:30 p.m. Congregational Singing – Mission Church

Weekdays:

  • Monday through Saturday: 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

History

In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and the Mexican government did not have the same allegiance to the missions. The Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California in 1833 and the Decree of Confiscation of 1834 removed the administration of the mission from the Franciscans and gave it to Mexican government administrators. On April 27, 1840, at the request of the Mexican government, Pope Gregory XVI withdrew Alta and Baja California from the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sonora, appointing Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, a native Mexican Franciscan, as the first Bishop of the Californias, with the see at Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Subsequent to his consecration on October 4, 1840, at the Franciscan Church of Zacatecas, Mexico, Bishop Diego landed at San Diego on December 11, 1841. Owing to the poverty and insignificance of the place, with the assistance of San Diego merchant and cargo ship owner Don Jose Antonio Aguirre on January 11, 1842, Bishop Diego removed his residence to Mission Santa Barbara. In 1846, Governor Pio Pico sold the lands of Mission San Diego de Alcalá to prominent Californio Santiago Arguello.

In 1848, after the Mexican American War, the United States Army occupied the mission grounds until 1858. The Army made numerous modifications on the mission grounds, including the conversion of the church into a two-story building, and the establishment of a military cemetery. On May 23, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation returning to the Catholic Church approximately 22 acres of land, formerly utilized by Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Dieguenos. Following the Army occupation, the mission fell into ruin, and remained abandoned until 1891 when Father Antonio Dominic Ubach and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet moved the Saint Anthony’s Industrial School for Indian children from Old Town San Diego to the mission grounds. The school at the mission closed in 1907 and was moved to Banning, California. Two dormitories were built for the students of Saint Anthony’s, one of which exists today as the Religious Education Center of Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

After detailed historical research, in 1931 the Mission was rebuilt to what architects J. E. Loveless and J. Marshall Miller determined was what the 1813 church must have looked. Today it is an active Catholic parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, and every year is visited by thousands of fourth graders from throughout the state studying California history.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Posted in North America and United States