Mission Santa Barbara

Mission Santa Barbara is a Spanish Franciscan mission near present day Santa Barbara, California. It was founded December 4, 1786, the feast day of of Saint Barbara, to evangelize the local Chumash (Canaliño) tribe. The mission grounds stand on a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Father Presidente Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since the day of its founding.

History

Mission Santa Barbara's name comes from the legend of Saint Barbara, a girl who was supposedly beheaded by her father for following the Christian Faith. During the first few years, there were three different chapels built, each larger than the previous one. It was only after the great Santa Barbara Earthquake on December 21, 1812,^[4] destroyed the existing buildings that the construction on the current Mission was begun. The towers again sustained considerable damage in the June 29, 1925 earthquake,^[5] but were subsequently rebuilt. The appearance of the inside of the church has not been altered since 1820. Many elements of the Mission's extensive water treatment system, all built by Indian labor (including aqueducts, two reservoirs, and a filter house) remain to this day, as does a grain mill; the larger reservoir, which was built in 1806, has been incorporated into the City's water system. The original fountain and lavadero are also intact near the entrance to the Mission. A dam constructed in 1807 is situated in the current Santa Barbara Botanic Garden up "Mission Canyon." The Mission's tanning vats, pottery kiln, and guard house all lay in ruins to this day.

In 1818, two Argentine ships under the command of the French privateer Hipólito Bouchard approached the coast and threatened the nearby town. The padres armed and trained 150 of the neophytes to prepare for attack. With their help, the Presidio soldiers confronted Pirate Buchar, who sailed out of the harbor without attacking. After the Mexican Congress passed An Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California on August 17, 1833 Father Presidente Narciso Durán transferred the missions' headquarters to Santa Barbara, thereby making Mission Santa Barbara the repository of some 3,000 original documents that had been scattered through the California missions. The Mission archive is the oldest library in the State of California that still remains in the hands of its founders, the Franciscans. Beginning with the writings of Hubert Howe Bancroft, the library has served as a center for historical study of the missions for more than a century. The Mission also has the oldest unbroken tradition of choral singing among the California Missions and, indeed, of any California institution. The weekly Catholic liturgy is serviced by two choirs, the California Mission Schola and the Cappella Barbara. The Mission archives contain one of the richest collections of colonial Franciscan music manuscripts known today, which remain closely-guarded (most have not yet been subjected to scholarly analysis).

The original City of Santa Barbara developed between the Mission proper and the harbor, specifically near El Presidio Reál de Santa Bárbara (the "Royal Spanish Presidio"), about a mile southeast of the Mission. As the city grew, it extended throughout the coastal plain; a residential area now surrounds the Mission, although there are public parks and a few public buildings (such as the Natural History Museum) in the area immediately adjacent to the site. Mission Santa Barbara today continues to serve the community as a parish church.

Gallery

Cross erected in memory of Father Junipero Serra

The plaque underneath the cross

The chapel of the Mission

See also

• Spanish missions in California
• USNS Mission Santa Barbara (AO-131) — a Mission Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.

Notes

References

• Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5. 
• Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8. 

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