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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028920820 
 
Padre Junipero ^r^ /^' 
 
 THE MISSION CHURCH OF 
 
 San Carlos del Carmelo. 
 
 COPYKIGHT, 1884. 
 
 R. E. WHITE. 
 
 ALL BIGHTS BESEEVED. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO : 
 
 P. E. Dougherty & Co., Steam Pkintees, 412 Commbbcsa*l (Street. 
 
 1884. 
 

 Compiler's Note. 
 
 On the 28th of August, ISSi, California celebrates the centennial 
 anniversary of the death of Padre Junipero Serra, a Franciscan Mis- 
 sionary, and one of the Pioneers of our State. This little book is 
 compiled for the purpose of giving a short account of his life and death, 
 the finding of his body after it had been buried nearly a century, and 
 an outline of the history, and a description of the beautiful church that 
 stands above his grave. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Padre Junipero Serra , 4 
 
 The Pounding, Progress and Decay of the Mission Sau Carlos de 
 
 Oarmelo 10 
 
 Father Casanova 18 
 
 Locating the Grave of Padre Junipero Serra 20 
 
 Restoration of the Mission Church of San Carlos de Carmelo 24 
 
Padre Junipero Serra, 
 
 Miguel Jose Serra was born at the village of Petra, in 
 the Island of Mallorca, November 24th, 1713. As a boy 
 he delighted in religious studies and determined to 
 devote himself to missionary work in the great field 
 beyond the seas. 
 
 Accordingly, at the age of fifteen he took the Francis- 
 can habit at La Palma, chief town of the island of his 
 birth, on the Mth of September, 1730, and professed a 
 year and a day afterwards. On this occasion he took the 
 name of Junipero, in memory of Juniperus, of whom 
 St. Francis of Asise, his constant companion, was wont 
 to say: "Would I had a forest of such junipers!" He 
 was quick to learn and diligent in study, so that during 
 the year before his ordination as priest he had taught 
 philosophy at his convent, and when that event took 
 place, received from the Lullian University the degree of 
 doctor of sacred theology. At the same time he was 
 appointed 'to the John Scotus chair of philosophy, a 
 position which he held with honor and success until he 
 left Spain. His doctrinal learning was great, and his 
 preaching was of the kind we term "sensational." While 
 in the pulpit he was wont to remove the frock from his 
 shoulders that while exhorting sinners to repentence, he 
 might beat himself with a stone or an iron chain and 
 extinguish lighted candles on his naked flesh. Early in 
 
1749, he obtained permission to join the College of San 
 Fernando, which the Franciscans had established in the 
 City of Mexico soon after the conquest. Serra, accom- 
 panied by Palon, left his convent in April of that year, 
 sailed from Cadiz towards the close of August, and 
 arrived at San Fernando on the 1st of January, 1750. 
 He was soon assigned to the Sierra Gordo Missions, 
 serving there for nine years, a part of the time as Presi- 
 dent. In 1760 he was appointed to the Missions on the 
 San Saba river, in Texas, but the appointment was re- 
 voked, and he spent seven years in effective preaching at 
 Mexico and in the neighboring towns. In July 1767, he 
 was made President of the Missions of Lower California, 
 from which the Jesuits had been expelled. He arrived 
 at Loreto in April, 1768, and immediately began visiting 
 the existing missions and founding new ones. Longing 
 for more extended spiritual conquest, two years later the 
 President set out on foot, his invariable way when travel- 
 ing on land, for the north. He arrived at San Diego on 
 the 1st of July, 1769, and founded that mission on the 
 16th of the same month. In April, 1770, he sailed for 
 Monterey, and founded San Carlos Mission June 3d. In 
 July, 1771, he founded San Antonio. On his way south- 
 ward, by land, he founded San Luis Obispo, on the 1st 
 of September, 1772. He sailed from San Diego for 
 Mexico in October of that year, and returned in March, 
 1774. On his return he went by land to San Carlos. In 
 June, 1776, he went to San Diego by water, returning 
 thence by land. On the 1st of September, 1777, he 
 founded the Mission San Juan Capistrano. At the close 
 of the following year he again came southward, confirm- 
 ing at all the missions on his way back, for in this he 
 had episcopal powers and confii'med many thousands of 
 neophytes. In March, 1782, he came to San Gabriel, un- 
 doubtedly visiting the site of Los Angeles, so soon to be 
 founded. He founded San Buenaventura March 31st, 
 1782, and was present at the founding of the Presidio of 
 
6 
 
 Santa Barbara in April of the same year. In August 
 1783, this indefatigable man again sailed for San Diego, 
 returning by land to San Carlos after visiting all the 
 establishments. He arrived at San Carlos for the last 
 time in January, 1784. Serra had been a sickly youth, 
 though with manhood he seemed to gain strength, but 
 for several years before his death he had suffered from 
 an affection of the chest, possibly caused by excessive 
 beating his breast with stone and iron, and from ulcers 
 on the legs, which however, had not prevented his limp- 
 ing over many a weary mile in Mexico and in California. 
 The deaths of so many of his comrades, especially of Crespi 
 and Murguia, which occured so shortly before his own, 
 and the discouraging news he was constantly receiving 
 from Mexico, weighed heavily upon him. He had 
 attained to the psalmist's limitation of life, and when 
 he left Monterey on his last journey to the south he 
 was so ill, that all thought it doubtful if he would 
 return. He prayed that he might die at his favorite 
 Mission of San Carlos, by the side of his best beloved 
 Juan Crespi, and his prayer was granted. Feeling that 
 his end was drawing near, in August, 1784, he sent a 
 touching letter of farewell to all his brethren, while from 
 the nearer missions the friars were summoned. Padre 
 Palon, who was the only one with him when the end 
 came, tells us in the Records of the Dead of the San 
 Carlos Mission of the closing scene, the following, the 
 concluding portion of the narrative is translated by the 
 very Eev. J. Adam, of Los Angeles, and is included in 
 his excellent edition of ' Palou's Life of Junipera Serra.' 
 "He prepared himself for death by making a general 
 confession, as he had already done several times. 
 Finding that the complaint in his chest was get- 
 ting worse, and that he had some fever, on the 
 27th of the month he went on foot to the church. 
 He there received the last sacred rites on his knees, to 
 the edification of the people, and in their presence re- 
 
ceived the Holy Viaticum, as ordained in the Roman 
 Seraphic Ritual. When the ceremony commenced, the 
 Father was on his knees, chanting with his sonorous 
 voice, and to our astonishment, the 'Tantum Ergo.' In 
 the same posture he gave thanks to our Lord; after which 
 he returned to his room. At night he asked for the holy 
 oils, and repeated with us the Penitential Psalms and the 
 Litanies. The remainder of the same night he passed 
 giving thanks to God, sometimes on his knees, and some- 
 times sitting on the floor. He did not take to his bed, 
 but was always dressed in his habit and cloak. At the 
 break of day he asked me to give him the Plenary Indul- 
 gence, which he received kneeling. On the morning of 
 the 28th he was visited by the captain of the bark, Don 
 Jos^ Canizares, and chaplain. He received them sitting, 
 expressing gratitude for their visit. He embraced the 
 chaplain, giving thanks to God that, after traveling so 
 much, they had arrived at last to throw a little earth on 
 his remains. A few minutes after making this remark 
 he said that he felt some fear, and asked me to read aloud 
 the recommendations for the soul, which I did. He then 
 responded as if in good health, and exclaimed with de- 
 light : ' Thank God ! I am now without fear, and have 
 nothing to dread. I feel better; let us go out.' He then 
 arose, and afterwards sat down at the table and took a 
 little broth. He then wished to rest, taking nothing off 
 but his cloak. He laid tranquilly for a time, and then 
 rested in the Lord. Without making any further sign he 
 delivered his spirit unto the Creator, a little after two 
 o'clock in the afternoon of the 28th, the feast of San Au- 
 gustine, Doctor of the Church. When the bells began to 
 toll, the little town was in a state of commotion; the 
 Indians cried, lamenting the death of their good Father, 
 as likewise all the people, whether on shore or on board 
 the ship. All asked for a remnant of the habit he had 
 worn. They even went so far as to cut within the church 
 pieces from the habit in which Fr. Junipero died. Before 
 
death, he ordered (without letting any of those present 
 know of it) the carpenter of the presidio to make his coffin. 
 We promised, if the multitude would hold their peace, to 
 devote a tunic of the deceased Father to scapulars for 
 their benefit. Notwithstanding this, those who guarded 
 the body in the church appropriated locks of his hair as 
 keepsakes. This they were induced to do because of their 
 regard for the departed. His funeral was attended by 
 every one, whether on shore or aboard ship, each one 
 doing what he could in honor of the deceased Father. 
 The captain of the bark utilized his artillery in conferring 
 upon the deceased all the honors of a General, and the 
 Eoyal Presidio of Monterey responded to the salute. The 
 same marks of respect were repeated on the 4th day of 
 September, with vigil and high mass, at which the same 
 people attended. Upon this occasion another clergyman 
 officiated, namely, Eev. Fr. Antonio Paterna, minister of 
 the Mission of San Luis Obispo, who could not arrive in 
 time for the funeral. And that everything said may 
 appear of record, I sign this in said mission, on the 6th 
 day of September, 1784. 
 
 FE. FEANCISOO PALOU." 
 
 In the College of San Fernando, in the City of Mexico, 
 is a portrait of Padre Juniper o^erra, which is supposed 
 to have been painted the evening before he died. Mrs. 
 Helen Jackson says of this: 
 
 "Therface is one, once seen, never to be forgotten; full 
 of spirituality, tenderness and unutterable pathos; the 
 mouth and chin so delicately sensitive that one marvels 
 how such a soul could have been capable of heroic en- 
 durance of hardship; the forehead and eyes strong, 
 radiant with quenchless purpose, but filled with that 
 solemn, yearning, almost superhuman sadness, which has 
 been in all time the sign and seal on the faces of men 
 born to die for their fellows." He wears a stole, holds 
 
the communion cloth in his hands, while issuing from his 
 mouth as if he were singing are the words "Tantum 
 ergo." The painting represents him alone, but the 
 records help us to picture the rest of the scene. He is 
 receiving the Holy Viaticum, and Padre Palou, who is 
 administering it, overcome with emotion, has burst into 
 tears, the whole congregation are sobbing and wailing, 
 while, "high and strong as ever," the good old priest, the 
 only one unmoved in the church, sings with his dying 
 breath the sacred hymn. 
 
THE FOUNDING, PEOGEESS AND DECAY OF THE 
 MISSION OF SAN CAELOS DEL CAEMELO. 
 
 The Eev. Fi-. Francisco Palou, in his "Noticios de la 
 Nueva California," thus records the founding of the 
 Carmelo Mission: 
 
 "The Mission of San 'Carlos was founded near the 
 Eoyal Presidio, and at the same time, yiz., the 3d of June, 
 1770. The mission was kept in the same place up to the 
 end of the year 1771, when, by order of his Excellency, 
 the Marquis de Croix, it was transferred to the borders 
 of the river Carmelo, a little more than a league distant 
 from the Eoyal Presidio, the place being better situated, 
 and having better conveniences for a mission than the 
 port of Monterey. The mission is here established, where 
 it has a church 30 varas long, built of wood — pines and 
 cypress— with a roof of earth, as also a house for the 
 Padres and for the soldiers of the garrison (consisting of 
 five soldiers), and all these made of wood, with the roof 
 of tule, as the roof of earth as on the church does not 
 stand the heavy rains, until we can get intelligent, me- 
 chanics to build the church and houses of stone as the 
 place requires." 
 
 From this it will be seen that the original church was 
 not of stone, and there is no record of the date when the 
 present building was erected. Just before his death. 
 Padre Serra requested to be buried in the church near 
 Crespi, and added: "When they build the church of 
 
11 
 
 stone, let them throw me where they like." The stone 
 church was not, therefore, built when Padre Serra died; 
 and yet the entries in Vol. I of the Book of Deaths, of the 
 death of Friar John Crespi, on the 22d of January, 1782, 
 and of Padre Serra, 28th of August, 1784, clearly show 
 that at these dates the tombs were exactly as Fr. 
 Casanova found them in 1882. A very feasible solution 
 of this difficulty is furnished by Fr. Adam, who says : 
 
 "It is the general opinion of the old residents of 
 Monterey that the new stone church, alluded to by Father 
 Junipero, was built on the same spot where the old edifice 
 stood, and according to this supposition the graves of the 
 two first missionaries remained undisturbed and enclosed 
 within the sanctuary of the new church, on the gospel 
 side, as they were in the temporary building." 
 
 Two years after the death of Padre Serra, La Pdrouse 
 visited the Carmelo Mission. The visit is thus recorded 
 in Bancroft's History of California : _ 
 
 " The first intercourse of the Calif ornians with subjects 
 of a foreign power was with the French under Jean 
 Francois Galaup de La P^rouse, in the autumn of 1786. 
 This distinguished navigator had sailed from Brest, in 
 August, 1785, on the frigate 'Boussole,' with the 'As- 
 trolabe,' under M. de Langle, on a scientific exploring 
 expedition round the world, fitted out and dispatched by 
 the French Government. 
 
 ' ' ' The Padres of San Carlos Mission, two leagues from 
 Monterey, soon came to the presidio; as kind to us as the 
 officers of the fort and frigates, they insisted on our going 
 to dine with them, and promised to acquaint us in detail 
 with the management of their mission, the Indian manner 
 of living, their arts and customs — in fact, all that might 
 interest travelers. . . . After having crossed a little 
 plain, covered with herds of cattle, ... we ascended 
 the hills, and heard the sound of bells, announcing our 
 coming. We were received like lords of a parish, visiting 
 
12 
 
 their estates for the first time. The President of the 
 missions, clad in cope, his holy water sprinkler in hand, 
 received us at the door of the church, illuminated as on 
 the grandest festivals; led us to the foot of the altar, and 
 chanted a Te Deum of thanksgiving for the happy issue 
 of our voyage. Before entering the church, we had 
 crossed a plaza where Indians of both sexes were ranged 
 in line; their faces showed no surprise, and left room to 
 doubt if we should be the subject of their conversation 
 for the rest of the day.' " 
 
 The history of the Oarmelo Mission, from the death of 
 Padre Serra to the present time, may be told in a few 
 words: First, some thirty years of unexampled pros- 
 perity, then a period of stagnation, then decay and ruin. 
 
 Padre Francisco Lasuen succeeded Padre Serra as 
 President of the Missions, and so great was their success, 
 spiritually and materially, under his guidance, that the 
 belief was common, that Padre Serra had fulfilled the 
 promise made with his dying breath, and that he had 
 interceded for California when he went into the presence 
 of the Trinity. In 1783, the Spanish Cortes passed an 
 act decreeing the secularization of the missions. This, 
 although it remained a dead letter, was a warning to the 
 Fathers that their tenure of office was uncertain. Twenty 
 years elapsed, however, before the missions received their 
 death-blow; then the Governor of California, in compli- 
 ance with instructions received from Mexico, issued an 
 edict for their secularizing. 
 
 "These laws," Dwinelle says, "whose ostensible pur- 
 pose was to convert the missionary establishments into 
 Indian pueblos, their churches into parish churches, and 
 to elevate the christianized Indians to the rank of citizens, 
 were, after all, executed in such a manner that the so- 
 called secularization of the missions resulted in their 
 plunder and complete ruin, and in the demoralization and 
 dispersion of the christianized Indians. " 
 
13 
 
 In 1845, Bishop Garcia Diego, a Mexican, was ap- 
 pointed by Eome as first Bishop of California, and 
 attempted to land at Monterey, but was prevented by the 
 Mexican authorities; he therefore retired to Santa Bar- 
 bara, where he died the following year. 
 
 The San Carlos Mission was never, properly speaking, 
 abandoned, although squatters took possession, and at 
 the point of their shot-guns drove Father D'Ambris from 
 the church. From 1849 to 1853, Archbishop Alemany, 
 then Bishop of Monterey, held service there once a month 
 for the benefit of the Indians; and even now, when there 
 is scarcely an Indian living in the Carmelo Valley, the 
 present pastor of Monterey every year continues to cele- 
 brate the feast of San Carlos. The late Bishop Amat 
 succeeded in evicting the squatters, and securing a gov- 
 ernment patent, at a cost to himself of $24,000. Land 
 had also to be exchanged in order to have a road to the 
 mission, and the right of entrance to the main door of the 
 church had also to be bought. 
 
 Miss Mira Burnett thus describes the San Carlos church 
 at Carmelo while it was not yet in so ruinous a condition 
 as it has become of late years : 
 
 ' ' It stands in a small valley, a little above the placid 
 bay of Carmelo, and within a short distance of the little 
 fishing village or settlement of Carmelo, which consists 
 of a few squalid hovels, formed for the most part of the 
 remains of the out-houses of the old mission. Grim and 
 gaunt, the weather-beaten walls of the old church rear 
 themselves in proud solitude. Scattered around them are 
 the blackened ruins of the dwellings of the Fathers and 
 their spiritual children, and a few stunted oaks struggle 
 towards the adjoining foot-hills, while occasional clumps 
 of low brush grow here and there. The church looks 
 towards the north, and as the traveler approaches he sees 
 before him the arched front of the building, on one side 
 of which rises a heavy square tower, surmounted by a 
 
14 
 
 large dome, and on the other a lower and smaller tower, 
 of the same shape. In the former, two narrow windows 
 look towards the north, and in the latter, one. Above the 
 low, broad doorway is a star-shaped window, the glass of 
 which has long since disappeared. Entering, the visitor 
 experiences a sensation of the deepest melancholy, as he 
 gazes on the desolation and decay around. Above, good 
 nature supplies a roof, save where a small portion of that 
 made by human skill still remains over the door. On 
 the left, as you enter the church, is the baptistery, a room 
 with concrete ceiling, and nicely carved arches; near the 
 door are the remains of a large baptismal font, five feet 
 in diameter, carved out of one solid piece of sand-stone. 
 At the right of the doorway is a narrow staircase, winding 
 up through the small tower. All is dark until the top is 
 reached, and here at right-angles are the window looking 
 to the north and an archway which must have led into the 
 choir. Of this choir, which from all indications was 
 above the door, there is nothing left. Descending the 
 stairs, and going towards the centre of the church, the 
 traveler finds a door on the left, and this opens into a 
 large square room, oS the main portion of the building; 
 this is the chapel of the crucifixion. From this room a 
 door leads outside of the building, and in front of it a 
 ruined stairway runs up to the belfry. The baptistery 
 and this belfry are the best preserved portions of the 
 mission. Ascending the stairs, a doorway at the top 
 opens into the belfry. The walls, floor and windows are 
 in a perfect state of preservation, but those bells which 
 once so sweetly rang out the Angelus as the sun set peace- 
 fully over the broad ocean, have been taken away, and not 
 a trace of them remains. The dome surmounting the 
 tower is still in good repair. Going back into the bap- 
 tistery, and thence passing into the church, the traveler 
 crosses the floor, and enters almost diagonally opposite 
 to the former. This opens into a well-preserved but rather 
 dark room, which was probably used in times gone by as 
 
15 
 
 a vestry. A rough wooden altar has been erected here 
 within the past few years, and on it mass is said every 
 San Carlos day. On top of a wooden chest at the right 
 of the altar is an old plaster statue of the Blessed Virgin, 
 about a foot in height. Its general appearance is that of 
 a triangle, with a rocker-shaped base, formed of the dress 
 of Our Lady. So dingy and faded is this work of art that 
 the color of the face is not distinguishable from that of the 
 dress. On the walls are two or three oil paintings of our 
 Lord and some saints, and these are all that are left of the 
 ornaments of the old church. Coming out of this apart- 
 ment, the visitor stands in the most sacred spot, the 
 sanctuary; unseparated from the body of the building, 
 there is nothing to mark its limits. The altar has disap- 
 peared, and a large recess in the south wall of the church, 
 in which a picture seems to have been, is all that points to 
 its situation. On this very spot, where the Holy Sacrifice 
 has been so often offered up by the good missionaries, are 
 strewn the fragments of adobe from the crumbling edifice, 
 and decay reigns here supreme. With sad reflections the 
 traveler turns from this sacred, place, and seeks once more 
 the bustle of the great world, to forget, perhaps, too soon, 
 the grand lesson which it teaches — the lesson of the 
 vanity of human things, of the imperfections of our exist- 
 ence, and the decay of our greatest works." 
 
 Miss Agnes Manning eloquently pictures the Carmelo 
 Mission as it first appeared to her: 
 
 ' ' The old voyageurs give us interesting pictures of the 
 pastoral life and Arcadian simplicity of the missions. 
 How often, far away, when I read of them, did I long to 
 visit their sites! And here I am at San Carlos, and what 
 do I see ? A picturesque mass of ruins, with wild birds 
 flitting in and out through its arches, a heap of rubbish 
 under my feet, which truly are standing on holy ground. 
 It seems to me but yesterday, yet I know it is years and 
 years ago, since the night I first read of Carmelo. As I 
 
1'6 
 
 look around on the ruined belfry and tottering roof, I see 
 beyond them the ruddy blaze of a home fire, the quaint 
 volume with its old leather binding and obsolete print; 
 I hear the melancholy winds of the prairies go wailing 
 past, and the roar of a stormy lake that was like a sea, 
 lashing in fuiy the wintry shores; without a world of 
 stormy desolation, within, a world of peace. I pictured 
 to myself, then, this old church thronged with Indians, 
 the tall candlesticks alight on the altar, the dark faced 
 acolytes kneeling about, the priest in his rich vestments, 
 reading the gospel, the choir pealing out its soft Indian 
 hymn of praise. And to-day, in a sunny landscape, with 
 all nature in a mood of serenity, the storm of time and 
 change has left its havoc on the Mission. The church is 
 a tottering ruin that the least care might have preserved ; 
 the altar is leveled; the priest lies quiet for ever in his 
 narrow bed below the pavement; and the Indians —where 
 are they ? 
 
 "Peacefully lies San Carlos, as we wander over its 
 ruins. The long grass has matted itself on the old graves, 
 and the gray, dilapidated walls have fallen in all directions. 
 There is not a cloud on the wide blue sky, and the bare, 
 brown hills glow in the warm summer sun. The busy bees 
 go singing past; the lazy butterflies float on the still, 
 warm air; the swift lizards dart over the broken head- 
 stones; an owl sits in an empty window, contemplating 
 the decay about him. Beyond lies Carmelo Bay, swathed 
 in a blue dream of beauty, its little waves murmuring on 
 the white sands their low, sleepy song of peace. 
 
 "O, Friars of Order Gray! who toiled so hard for a 
 work that seems so incomplete — were your labors then 
 all lost ? Were your self-sacrifice, your exile, your suffer- 
 ings, your teachings all in vain ? Which of us who calls 
 himself a Californian of to-day will Answer that they 
 were ? Which of us shall ignore the lofty examples that 
 our history writes for us from your lessons of broad 
 
17 
 
 human love, and the duty that man owes to his fellow- 
 man? O, Friars of Order Gra.y! well will it be for us, if, 
 when we come to lie in our narrow beds, we shall take 
 with us there the conviction, that while we were here we 
 had not hindered, but helped, in human growth." 
 
FATHEE CASANOVA. 
 
 As the rest of our brief narrative treats of Father 
 CasanoYa and his work of restoration a few words about 
 him will not be out of place. The Ver. Eev. Angelo D. 
 Casanova, Y. F. a native of the Canton Ticino in Switzer- 
 land, educated at the College of Propaganda Fide in 
 Genoa, came to California in 1860. He was first stationed 
 in Los Angeles, then was removed to Santa Cruz, and 
 thence in 1868 to Monterey, where he still remains. 
 When he arrived at Monterey the Mission Church of Car- 
 melo was not in such a ruined state as of late years, but 
 time and vanded visitors had nearly destroyed what was 
 left of the building, when in 1883, he walled up the en- 
 trances and put an iron gate in front. Visitors were 
 accustomed in their great love of archseology to break ofl' 
 cornices and mouldings to decorate their dwellings with 
 relics of this old building, they took the red tiles from 
 the roof, they took the handsome stone slabs of the tessel- 
 lated pavement on the floor, they took the very inscrip- 
 tions off the walls, part of the pedistal of the baptismal 
 font adorns a garden in Watsonville, while another part 
 has been carried off to Santa Cruz. If any trace of 
 beauty remains in the building, it remains from the fact 
 that it could not be stolen. Father Casanova has been 
 enthusiastic on the subject of restoring this mission for 
 
19 
 
 many years, but lie met with very little practical sympa- 
 thy. Nothing daunted, however, he continued silently 
 preparing for the great work before him . The first step 
 he took was to clear away the debris that had accumulated 
 within the church, and then to locate the grave of Padre 
 Junipero Serra. 
 
 ^"w^^ 
 
LOCATING THE GEAVE OF PADEE JUNIPEEO 
 
 SEEEA. 
 
 In the old ruined Church of San Carlos at Carmelo, on 
 the 3d of July, 1882, the Eev. Angelo D. Casanova, V. 
 F., pastor of Monterey, in the presence of a number of 
 the people of Monterey and many invited guests, formally 
 located the grave of Padre Junipero Serra. A full 
 account of that day's proceedings and the events that led 
 to it has not yet been written. Father Casanova has been 
 urged to write such an account, and doubtless he will do 
 so when he has completed the restoration of the Carmelo 
 Mission. Meanwhile, the following narrative, principally 
 in his own words, will supply a brief abstract of the event : 
 
 In January, 1882, some workmen were engaged at the 
 ruined Carmelo Mission Church in clearing away the rub- 
 bish which was from two to three feet deep on the floor, 
 in order that a strict search could be made for the graves 
 of the priests and governors buried tliere, and particu- 
 larly for the grave of Junipero Serra. Believing that the 
 grave of Serra was situated in the sanctuary, the work- 
 men were instructed to commence operations as near as 
 it Was possible to tell right over his grave. After dig- 
 ging down about three feet through accumulated dirt and 
 rubbish, the pick in the hands of a workman struck a 
 board, and immediately surmising that this was what he 
 
21 
 
 Sought, he went to work carefully and uncovered several 
 redwood boards set in evenly, and below these were 
 stones which evidently covered a grave. The coffin had 
 been placed in a narrow tomb which was covered with 
 stone slabs, and over the slabs were the boards struck by 
 the workmen while digging. One of the stone slabs at 
 the foot of the grave was broken, and the weight of the 
 dirt and rubbish above had forced the board covering the 
 coffin to give away, filling the foot of the coffin with earth. 
 
 In a letter to Hon. Philip A. Eoach, dated February 6, 
 1882, Father Casanova writes : 
 
 "In regard to the old registers or records of the 
 .church, all are in good order at my library, just as you 
 saw them in 1855, in a leather-bound volume with quaint 
 old strings or clasps. According to these records and 
 the minute description of time and place of their burial, 
 I had some men, last month, dig up the rubbish from all 
 over the sanctuary, in some places it being three or four 
 feet high. After the men went to work on the spot where 
 the records say the remains of the reverend friar, Juni- 
 pero Serra, were buried — that is (here are the words of 
 the record) : ' In the sanctuary, on tljeiGospel side, front- 
 ing the altar of Our Lady of SevenH^olors. Just in the 
 space of a yard square the man felt with his pick a hollow 
 place and pounded two or three times, an old rotten 
 board broke, and down went pick and dirt into a nice 
 stone-made grave, all around plastered, with a coffin in a 
 very good state of preservation, except that the cover 
 was broken in by the fall of some pieces of sandstone 
 slabs. After carefully taking up the debris, the broken 
 cover was removed, and those who were present saw the 
 remains. The tibiss were calcined, the ribs were arched, 
 yet not fallen in, the skull was unbroken and intact, and 
 pieces of the stole (violet color) and fringes of it were 
 taken up, and I have preserved them. After this discov- 
 ery last week, the man I have there to take care of the 
 
22 
 
 place reported two more graves discovered precisely as 
 the records say of the two other friars there buried, both 
 in the sanctuary and on the Gospel side." 
 
 Father Casanova then quotes in Spanish from Volume I 
 of Burials at the Mission of San Carlos at Carmelo, the 
 four following entries : 
 
 " Eev. F. Juan Crespi, born in Spain; died January 1, 
 A. D. 1782, 61 years old; buried near the main altar, 
 gospel side." 
 
 "Eev. F. Junipero Serra, D. D., President of all the 
 Missions; born in Mallorca, Spain; died on the 28th of 
 August, A. D. 1784, at the age of 71 years; buried in the 
 sanctuary, fronting the altar of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, 
 on the gospel side." 
 
 "Eev. F. Julian Lopez, born in Spain; died here, on 
 the 15th of July, A. D. 1797, aged 35 years; buried in the 
 sanctuary, on the gospel side, in the tomb near the wall 
 on the left." 
 
 "Rev. F. Francisco Lasuen, vie. for second President 
 of the Missions; born in Spain; died here, and is buried 
 in the sanctuary, on the gospel side, in a stone tomb near 
 the main altar, June 28, 1803." 
 
 In a letter to the compiler of this little book, dated 
 March 19, 1884, Father Casanova says : 
 
 "In regard to the locating done in 1882, on the 3d of 
 July, of the remains of the padres buried in the sanctuary 
 of San Carlos church in Carmelo Valley — it was done to 
 satisfy the wishes of many, and to convince others of their 
 error in thinking that Father Junipero Serra was not 
 buried there. After giving notice in the papers of San 
 Francisco, over 400 people from the city, and from the 
 Hotel del Monte, at the hour appointed, went to Carmelo. 
 I, with the Records Defunctorum kept in the archives of the 
 parish, in my hands, read aloud in Spanish and in English 
 
23 
 
 the certificate of christian burial of each of the four Bt. 
 Bev. missionaries, describing the place, the side and the 
 order of each one buried, saying on such a day in the 
 sanctuary (or within the communion rail) on the gospel 
 side, I buried so and so. The heavy stone slab having 
 been removed before the ceremony, the coffin of each 
 stone tomb or grave was left visible. A man then went 
 down and raised the lid of each coffin. The coffins were 
 simple redwood, unplaned, and in a good state of preser- 
 vation. The people all looked at the remains, first of 
 Father John Crespi, the first that died, then on the 
 remains of Father Junipero Serra. The skeletons were in 
 a good state, the ribs standing out in. proper arch, part of 
 the vestment in good order, also the heavy silk stole which 
 is put only on priests, in good order and in one piece, two 
 yards and a half long, with the silk fringes to it as good 
 as new. We did not raise the coffins, but only viewed 
 them and their contents to the satisfaction of all present. 
 We did the same to the four corpses; anything more 
 would have been improper, especially as the coffin of the ■ 
 last buried, the Bev. Father Lasuen, was going to pieces. 
 Then the tombs were covered as before with stone slabs. 
 The tomb of Father Junipero Serra, for better security, 
 was filled with earth, so as to make it more difficult for 
 any vandal to disturb his rest, and over that was placed 
 the stone slab broken in four pieces." 
 
EESTOEATION OF THE MISSION CHUECH OF 
 SAN CAELOS DEL CAEMELO. 
 
 In April, 1884, Father Casanova started in on his work 
 of restoration, and attention was drawn to the subject by 
 an article in one of the San Francisco papers, from which 
 the following excerpts are taken: 
 
 " On the 28th of August, in the present year, will occur 
 the centennial of the death of Padre Junipero Serra. It 
 is fitting the event should be celebrated in a manner 
 worthy of the memory of the good pioneer priest, and also 
 worthy of the State of California. At such a time atten- 
 tion is naturally attracted to the old Mission Church of 
 San Carlos, where Padre Serra spent the closing years 
 of his life, and where his body now lies. 
 
 "From engravings, paintings and photographs, poetic 
 and prose descriptions, the ruins of San Carlos Mission 
 Church are familiar not alone to the people of California, 
 but to the educated people of the world. It is, therefore, 
 not necessary to give any description of it in an article 
 like the present, the object of which is to remind Califor- 
 nians of the duty they owe their State, that this shrine, 
 of which they are the guardians, should not be neglected. 
 
25 
 
 but should be bequeathed to posterity in a conditiou 
 showing they were worthy of the trust reposed in them. 
 
 " The writer of the present notice many years ago paid 
 a visit to Sutter's Port, and as he compared the magnifi- 
 cent capitol to what was then a wretched and dilapidated 
 pig-pen, he could not but think that the people of Cali- 
 fornia were careless in thus neglecting a landmark that 
 figured so prominently in their history. Interesting as 
 are the recollections associated with that building, they 
 are poor, indeed, to those that cluster around the old 
 Mission Church of San Carlos; if the trading post should 
 be saved from ruin, should not in a much greater degree 
 the shrine containing the sacred dead be preserved ? On 
 the 28th of August next, if everything goes well with 
 those who have the enterprise at heart, the people of Cali- 
 fornia, who will gather at the Carmelo Mission to cele- 
 brate with civic and religious ceremonies the centennial 
 of the death of Padre Junipero Serra, will see the old 
 church restored and beautiful as it was in its halcyon 
 days. To the Very Eev. Father Angelo D. Casanova, 
 V. F., pastor of Monterey, will be due the credit of this 
 restoration. Through years of apathy and neglect he has 
 been quietly laboring to save this old church from ruin. 
 The people of California now seem anxious to do their 
 part, and it is intended to at once form a central com- 
 mittee in San Francisco to aid Father Casanova, and it is 
 to be hoped that the people will respond with the liber- 
 ality that usually distinguishes them. It is estimated that 
 the work to be done will cost $15,000, and there will 
 surely'be no difficulty in raising such an amount. Imme- 
 diately after Easter, Father Casanova will begin the resto- 
 ration, and if he be aided in the manner he expects to be, 
 the work will be completed by the 28th of August, 1884." 
 
 Oji the 22d of June, the matter was brought more 
 prominently before the public by the following appeal to 
 the people of California : 
 
26 
 
 Centennial of Padke Jtjnipeko Sebea— Bestokation of 
 
 THE San Carlos del Caemelo Mission Chuech. 
 
 On the 28th of August next, California will commemo- 
 rate the one hundredth anniversary of the death of her 
 first pioneer, the Founder of the Indian Missions, Padre 
 Junipero Serra. 
 
 After a long life of sufferings, sacrifices and hard labor, 
 in the service of his beloved Indian flocks, this venerable 
 priest yielded up his spirit to God, and his body was laid 
 at rest under the stone flags of the old church of San 
 Carlos, in Carmelo Valley, the scene of his labors and 
 death. 
 
 The Mission of San Carlos, first established at Mon- 
 terey on the 3d of June, 1770, and removed to Carmelo 
 in December of the same year, was the second mission 
 founded in Upper California by Father Serra, President 
 of the Franciscan Missions. 
 
 Of the twenty-one missions established in California a 
 few are well preserved, others are in ruins, and of some 
 not a vestige is left to mark the spot where they once 
 stood. The most picturesque and poetic of these historic 
 landmarks of our State, and the noblest work of Padre 
 Serra, is the old stone Church of San Carlos, at Carmelo, 
 and it is a sad spectacle and a reproach to California to see 
 this venerable pile through neglect and apathy slowly 
 crumbling into dust. 
 
 Inexorable time had laid his finger on this relic of re- 
 ligion and civilization, and was levelling it to earth, until, 
 quite recently, the Eev. Angelo D. Casanova, the pastor 
 of Monterey, undertook to stop the work of destruction, 
 and preserve to California this monument of the life and 
 labors of the venerable Padre Serra and his last resting- 
 place, and also that of some of his co-laborers in the 
 missions and of a few of the early Governors of Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
27 
 
 The restoration of the old church is going on. Already 
 over 14000 have been expended on it, and the total cost 
 is estimated at about $15,000. 
 
 It is hoped that the work vsrill be completed by the 28th 
 of August next, and that the centennial anniversary of 
 the death of the energetic pioneer will see his work as it 
 stood when his body was laid away under the flags. 
 
 We now make an appeal to the people of California, 
 irrespective of creed, to pay a tribute of respect to the 
 memory of this venerable man, by assisting with their 
 means in the restoratio]i of the old stone pile, that it may 
 stand, through coming ages, a monument over the grave 
 of one whom we revere, respect and love. 
 
 " Sach graves as his are pilgrim slirines, 
 Shrines to no code or creed confined, 
 Tiie Delphian vales, the Palestines, 
 The Meccas of the mind." 
 
 We ask Californians to help this undertaking by form- 
 ing committees in every town, and forward their collec- 
 tions to Father Casanova, at Monterey, that this 
 building, one of the first fruits of civilization in our 
 beloved State, may be restored, and the centennial anni- 
 versary of Junipero Serra's death commemorated in a 
 manner worthy of the good pioneer priest. 
 
 This address was signed by his Excellency George 
 Stoneman, Governor of California, Hon. Washington 
 Bartlett, Mayor of San Francisco ; Ex-Governors Perkins, 
 Burnett, Irwin and Downey, and some fifty leading- 
 citizens of California, irrespective of creed. 
 
 At the time this address was issued a much larger sum 
 than is mentioned in it had been expended in the restora- 
 tion, which up to the present time is supposed to have 
 
28 
 
 cost from $12,000 to $15 000; the amount required should 
 have been stated as at least $20,000. 
 
 The work of restoration was thoroughly endorsed by 
 the hierarchy of the Catholic church in California, as is 
 evidenced by the following letter written about the time 
 of the foregoing address : 
 
 Very Eev. Father: — With pleasure and gratitude I 
 see that you persevere in your zealous effort of restoring 
 the ruined old Church of San Carlos Mission, wherein 
 rest the mortal remains of the venerable pioneer. Very 
 Eev. Junipero Serra. 
 
 I need not repeat that I heartily approve your good 
 wo7-k and hope that the friends of religion and of the 
 glories of our State will assist you substantially. 
 
 Tours truly, 
 
 * FEANCI8 MOEA, 
 Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles. 
 
 San Juan, June 24, 1884. 
 
 We cheerfully concur with the above. 
 
 •h J. S. ALBMANY, 
 Archbishop of San Francisco. 
 
 >^ p. W. EIOEDAN, 
 Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco. 
 
 Ve«y Eev. A. D. CASANOYA, V., F., 
 
 Eector of Monterey. 
 
 One who visited Carmelo while the present restoration 
 was in progress, thus writes : 
 
29 
 
 SAN CAKLOS DEL OAEMELO. 
 
 Some five miles from Monterey, in the Oarmelo Valley, 
 is the old Mission church of San Carlos. The writer 
 had never seen the church in its ruined condition and 
 hesitated a little to visit it now while its restoration was 
 progressing. But when he first caught sight of the old 
 church with its rich cream-colored walls standing in soli- 
 tary grandeur by the clear waters of the Oarmelo Bay, in 
 a valley of surpassing loveliness, surrounded by delicately 
 pencilled hills that recalled the dreamy hues of Killarney, 
 he felt that he had never beheld a picture more beautiful. 
 It is not just the best time to visit such a building 
 when carpenters and masons are busy restoring it; still, 
 at any time, this shrine, to one who has read its touching 
 history, will have a wonderful fascination. The church 
 is quite large,' the^dimensions of the interior, not count- 
 ing baptistry, chapel of crucifixion, pulpit room and 
 sacristy, being 165 feet long from entrance to wall at back 
 of main altar, 29 feet broad — that is, at the base of the 
 walls, as the walls form part of a curved arch springing 
 from the floor — i2 feet from floor to ceiling and 62 feet 
 from floor to top of roof. Below the floor of the church 
 the arching walls are supposed to meet, forming with the 
 stone arches that span the walls, a perfect oval. The 
 church is built of stone of a rich creamy tint and origi- 
 . nally had a red tiled roof. Above the handsomely carved 
 front entrance is an irregular star window, emblematic^'of 
 the star of Bethlehem, and on each side of the front are 
 the towers, one, the belfry tower, much higher and larger 
 than the other which held the stairway leading to the 
 choir, one with two windows to the front, the other with 
 only one. 
 
 Mrs. Oriana Day has painted, from plans and drawings 
 in the possession of General M. G. Vallejo, a picture of 
 the Mission as it was 100 years ago. To the right of the 
 
30 
 
 church is the Campo Santo, and to the right of this again, 
 separated from it by a road, is a square court, surrounded 
 by buildings having no visible -windows or doors; evi- 
 dently being what was called the convent, where the 
 women and girls lived. To the left of the church, and 
 built up against the belfry tower, is the home of the 
 priests, which forms part of another quadrangle, broken, 
 however, by the church, a portion of which forms a part 
 of it. The houses in this quadrangle have windows and 
 doors looking into a court-yard, and also into the road in 
 front. All the houses seem built of adobe, with red tiled 
 roofs. In the foreground is a procession, headed by 
 Father Serra and another priest, on white horses, accom- 
 panied by an escort of soldiers, on horseback and on foot, 
 with some ox-teams, al'lstarting on a journey to found a 
 new mission. 
 
 Father Casanova explained and pointed out to his vis- 
 itors the many objects of interest in the church. Of 
 course, the first thing every one wishes to see is the grave 
 of Padre Junipero Serra. One of the most notable inci- 
 dents in the history of modern California — an incident 
 that links us of the present day to the past — was that 
 which occurred on that memorable 3d of July, 1882, when 
 Father Casanova stood in the sanctuary of the old ruined 
 church, with the Eecords Defunctorum in his hands, and 
 read aloud, in Spanish and in English, the certificate of 
 burial. Then the heavy stone slab having been previ- ■ 
 ously removed, a man went down into the vault and raised 
 the lid of the coffin, and they who were gathered there 
 beheld all that was mortal of the great and good Padre. 
 The graves of the other priests were pointed out to us, 
 then the graves of the two governors, then the Campo 
 Santo where, sleep upwards of 2,700 Indians. In the 
 chapel of the crucifixion, painted in beautiful letters on 
 the wall, is the following prayer, which few visitors to 
 Carmelo neglect to enter in their note-books : 
 
31 
 
 0, Oorazon de Jesns, siempre ardes y resplandeoes enciende e ilumina 
 el mio de tu amor divino. 
 
 Angeles y Santos 
 
 Alabemos al 
 
 Corazon de 
 
 Jesus. 
 
 [0, Heart of Jesus, thou that art always glowing and radiant, inspire 
 and enlighten my heart with Thy divine love. 
 
 Angels and saints, let us praise the Heart of Jesus.] 
 
 Father Casanova, in his restoration, has adhered as 
 much as possible to the original design of the church. 
 Any slight departure he has made has been from compul- 
 sion — in some cases owing to a lack of the necessary 
 funds, and in others from the fact that the workmen of 
 to-day cannot readily duplicate the rude and bold work 
 of the Indians of a hundred years ago. 
 
 The approaching completion of the restoration must be 
 a source of great gratification to Father Casanova, after 
 his years of unceasing efforts, first, to arouse the interest 
 of the people of California in the undertaking, and then 
 to urge them to lend a helping hand. When we all who 
 "have toiled fair or meanly in our place" shall have 
 passed away, it requires no prophet's gift to foretell that 
 those who will succeed us will think kindly of Father 
 Casanova and the work he has done. It speaks well for 
 our State that men of all creeds have aided him in his 
 noble work, which, when completed, will be a monument 
 raised by citizens of Calif ornia over the grave of a pioneer. 
 
 In the evening, after our return from Carmelo, we vis- 
 ited Father Casanova at his home, and he read from the 
 
32 
 
 Records of the Dead that narrative so familiar to all Cali- 
 fornians, wherein Padre Palou tells in touching language 
 of the last illness of Padre Junipero Serra, and how he 
 delivered his spirit unto his Creator a little after 4 o'clock 
 in the afternoon of the 28th of August, 1784. 
 
 
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