Catholic Exchange, Patrick M. Laurence: Today the remnants of twenty-one missions, six pueblos, and four presidios bear witness to the former presence of Spain’s missionaries, soldiers, and settlers in California. Whether it be its numerous place names of Spanish origin or its ubiquitous mission revival architecture, California’s Hispanic heritage is visible everywhere throughout the state. Even its fields, said novelist Jack Kerouac, are filled with “Spanish mysteries.” Less well-known, however, is that California’s famous missions would not exist today but for truly mysterious events which happened 250 years ago—events which contemporaries attributed to the miraculous intercession of St. Joseph. The story is here.
