Every year for the past few years, I have gone with a group on pilgrimage to Mission San Juan Bautista. This year was no exception. There were 8 of us who loaded up two cars at 3:30 AM at St. Joseph's in Modesto. We were a very diverse group. There was:
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The reason for heading as a group to Mission San Juan Bautista that early in the morning is simple: the mission church is aligned to the first rays of sunlight, so that they shined through the window, through the long church, and light up the tabernacle! It is an amazing site if you make it on a clear day and there aren't obstacles making it difficult to appreciate the beauty. The bad part is being a 2-hour car ride away from the mission. That means that you have to get up and leave by 3:30 AM in order to make it before the first rays of light. Typically, the doors to the church open at 6 AM.
We met in the parking lot of St. Joseph's, not entirely awake but ready to go on pilgrimage. We began by thanking the Lord and asking for His help during the long day by visiting the adoration chapel and praying for a few minutes. I'm sure that we frightened the one adorer who was there already, as I assume that she does not see too many faces during her hour from 3-4 AM on Wednesday mornings.
We met in the parking lot of St. Joseph's, not entirely awake but ready to go on pilgrimage. We began by thanking the Lord and asking for His help during the long day by visiting the adoration chapel and praying for a few minutes. I'm sure that we frightened the one adorer who was there already, as I assume that she does not see too many faces during her hour from 3-4 AM on Wednesday mornings.
We arrived, still in darkness, to the mission, being the first to arrive at 542 AM (at least that was the time stamp on the photos we took). We walked around in the dark looking at some of the things while we waited for others to arrive and the doors to open. Little by little other groups joined us, but the doors remained closed. Not even the anthropologist from CSU Monterey Bay was there. (He helped discover the illumination and usually is there to describe it and the historical ties to thousands of others churches around the world that have similar alignments to the sun rays at different times during the year.) The crowd was a really good size, but still the doors didn't open.
Eventually, someone greeted the entire crowd with, "Good morning, pagans!" Normally, there is a group of indigenous people that are there "celebrating the solstice," but they are low-key and do not take over the "show." This year, with no one else speaking, they assumed center stage and proceeded to speak about how the speaker had discovered the illumination since the 21st is her birthday, how all peoples are pagan, how true religions have women in power positions, and how we should all gather to "pray and sing to the sun and moon gods." We were all a little bothered by the greeting, by the lack of respect for the Catholic Church on whose grounds we were, by the degrigration we felt about the political comment, and by how we were being asked to pray in a manner not in line with our beliefs. We did not join the semi-circle of pagan worship, but instead made a circle and prayed the rosary. Little by little, other Catholics in the crowd joined us (one emphatically thanking us at the end). I guess the pagans noticed our feelings, since when they walked around the crowd with burning sage spreading it over individuals, they walked right by our prayerful group.
Eventually, I went in search of way to get into the side chapel, since I knew that there would be a mass there at 8 AM, and it was getting close. If the church wasn't opening, at least we could go somewhere and pray. Unfortunately, there was nothing open, so we walked around the mission back to the church. By that time, the doors had been opened! The parish priest had thought that the groups were coming on the 22nd and not the 21st, so had overslept! We walked up the front of the church, where the pagan woman was again talking (not sure if maybe the anthropology professor also was planning on being there on the 22nd).
First the pagans began sing and swaying, but at least they were not within the sanctuary, but then the priest appeared at the ambo. At first, we couldn't tell what was going on, but there was a whistling-type of sound. It looked to me as if the priest was trying to block the microphone from reverberation. Unfortunately, it turned out to be something worse! The priest was "playing" a golden prayer bowl! When he stopped, he explained that we could all step into the light and receive the light of Christ, while he continued to play on the other side of the altar. We all started to look at each other and wonder (silently or out loud) what was going on. There are no prayer bowls in Catholic liturgy and even less within the sanctuary of a church. We don't worship the sun, so don't need to "receive the light of Christ" in that manner by the altar, especially with the tabernacle immediately behind all of those who rushed to stand in front of the altar to face the rays of sunlight! We were perplexed to say the least. At least the mass later was wonderful and as it should be. (Unfortunately, when I asked the priest after mass if he was concerned about doing pagan practices within the sanctuary of a Catholic Church, his response was, "It is OK, as we are all worshipping the one God." I worship the one God, but He is not the sun!)
On a side note, we learned from a new video produced by the preservation team at the mission that Vertigo, the movie by Alfred Hitchcock was filmed at Mission San Juan Bautista. I will have to rewatch it, and I recommend you do the same!
Below are some other photos from around the mission and the church and from our breakfast after mass. The mission is a wonderful place to visit, but please be careful if you visit around the solstice and only pagans are around talking. Below the photos you will find links to other parts of our long pilgrimage throughout the day, as we also visited Our Lady of Peace, Mission Santa Clara, the Cathedral of San Jose, and St. Basil Byzantine Rite Catholic Church.
Eventually, someone greeted the entire crowd with, "Good morning, pagans!" Normally, there is a group of indigenous people that are there "celebrating the solstice," but they are low-key and do not take over the "show." This year, with no one else speaking, they assumed center stage and proceeded to speak about how the speaker had discovered the illumination since the 21st is her birthday, how all peoples are pagan, how true religions have women in power positions, and how we should all gather to "pray and sing to the sun and moon gods." We were all a little bothered by the greeting, by the lack of respect for the Catholic Church on whose grounds we were, by the degrigration we felt about the political comment, and by how we were being asked to pray in a manner not in line with our beliefs. We did not join the semi-circle of pagan worship, but instead made a circle and prayed the rosary. Little by little, other Catholics in the crowd joined us (one emphatically thanking us at the end). I guess the pagans noticed our feelings, since when they walked around the crowd with burning sage spreading it over individuals, they walked right by our prayerful group.
Eventually, I went in search of way to get into the side chapel, since I knew that there would be a mass there at 8 AM, and it was getting close. If the church wasn't opening, at least we could go somewhere and pray. Unfortunately, there was nothing open, so we walked around the mission back to the church. By that time, the doors had been opened! The parish priest had thought that the groups were coming on the 22nd and not the 21st, so had overslept! We walked up the front of the church, where the pagan woman was again talking (not sure if maybe the anthropology professor also was planning on being there on the 22nd).
First the pagans began sing and swaying, but at least they were not within the sanctuary, but then the priest appeared at the ambo. At first, we couldn't tell what was going on, but there was a whistling-type of sound. It looked to me as if the priest was trying to block the microphone from reverberation. Unfortunately, it turned out to be something worse! The priest was "playing" a golden prayer bowl! When he stopped, he explained that we could all step into the light and receive the light of Christ, while he continued to play on the other side of the altar. We all started to look at each other and wonder (silently or out loud) what was going on. There are no prayer bowls in Catholic liturgy and even less within the sanctuary of a church. We don't worship the sun, so don't need to "receive the light of Christ" in that manner by the altar, especially with the tabernacle immediately behind all of those who rushed to stand in front of the altar to face the rays of sunlight! We were perplexed to say the least. At least the mass later was wonderful and as it should be. (Unfortunately, when I asked the priest after mass if he was concerned about doing pagan practices within the sanctuary of a Catholic Church, his response was, "It is OK, as we are all worshipping the one God." I worship the one God, but He is not the sun!)
On a side note, we learned from a new video produced by the preservation team at the mission that Vertigo, the movie by Alfred Hitchcock was filmed at Mission San Juan Bautista. I will have to rewatch it, and I recommend you do the same!
Below are some other photos from around the mission and the church and from our breakfast after mass. The mission is a wonderful place to visit, but please be careful if you visit around the solstice and only pagans are around talking. Below the photos you will find links to other parts of our long pilgrimage throughout the day, as we also visited Our Lady of Peace, Mission Santa Clara, the Cathedral of San Jose, and St. Basil Byzantine Rite Catholic Church.
Our Lady of Peace
Our next stop, was the short drive away in Santa Clara.
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Mission Santa Clara
After that, we drove to another mission.
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St. Basil, Byzantine Rite Catholic Church
We ended the evening with Byzantine Vespers at the parish in Los Gatos
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