I was going to skip the Missions on our little Religions Of LA tour. I figure Briar’s going to get more than her fill of all that in elementary school. (I was nine in Illinois and did a lot of time with “Lincoln Lived Here”/”Lincoln Worked Here”/”Lincoln Pissed Here.”) But after all the neat and odd temples in Los Angeles and beyond I’ve dragged little Briar to recently, it seemed like she was due for some old fashioned Imperialistic Catholicism.
And Mission San Gabriel Arcángel filled the ticket nicely.
The full name is La Mission del Santo Principe El Arcangel, San Gabriel de Los Temblores. An earthquake destroyed the first mission, and another took out the bell-tower on the existing building. Fortunately, the altar is intact and quite beautiful.
It was 101 degrees on the day we visited, so this was a super short trip. I’m counting on Briar to fill me in on the details in about six or seven years, depending on her test scores.
----------Tim Kirk---------- 