Mission San Rafael Arcángel
 The reconstructed capilla (chapel) at Mission San Rafael Arcángel in December 2004.[1]
| |
| HISTORY | |
|---|---|
| Location: | San Rafael, California |
| Name as Founded: | La Misión del Gloriosísimo Príncipe San Rafael, Arcángel [2] |
| English Translation: | The Mission of the Glorious Prince, Archangel Saint Raphael |
| Patron Saint: | The Glorious Prince Saint Raphael, Archangel [3] |
| Nickname(s): | "Mission of Bodily Healing" [4] |
| Founding Date: | December 14, 1817 [5] |
| Founded By: | Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría [6] |
| Founding Order: | Twentieth [3] |
| Military District: | Fourth |
| Native Tribe(s): Spanish Name(s): |
Acjachemen [7] Juaneño [7] |
| Primordial Place Name(s): | 'Anaguani [8] |
| SPIRITUAL RESULTS | |
| Baptisms: | 1,821 [9] |
| Marriages: | 519 [9] |
| Burials: | 652 [9] |
| Neophyte Population: | 300 [9] |
| Neophyte Population in 1832: | 1,361 [9][10] |
| DISPOSITION | |
| Secularized: | 1834 [3] |
| Returned to the Church: | 1855 [3] |
| Caretaker: | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco |
| Current Use: | Chapel / Museum |
| Coordinates: | 37°58′28″N, 117°31′41″W |
| California Historical Landmark: | #220 |
| Web Site: | http://saintraphael.com |
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded on December 14, 1817 as a medical asistencia ("sub-mission") of the Mission San Francisco de Asís as a hospital to treat sick Indians, making it Alta California's first sanitarium.[11] The weather was much better in the North Bay, and helped the ill to get better. It was never intended to be a stand-alone mission, but nevertheless grew and was granted full mission status on October 19, 1822. Likewise, Mission San Francisco Solano was intended to be an adjunct of Mission San Rafael but developed into a full-blown mission in its own right.
History
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was one of the first missions turned over to the Mexican government in 1833. In 1840, there were 150 Indians still at the Mission. By 1844, Mission San Rafael Arcángel had been abandoned; what was left of the empty buildings was sold for $8,000 in 1846. The Mission was used by John C. Fremont as his headquarters during the battles to make California a United States possession.
In 1847, a priest was once again living at the Mission. A new parish church was built near the old chapel ruins in 1861, and, in 1870, the rest of the ruins were removed to make room for the City of San Rafael. All that was left of the Mission was a single pear tree from the old Mission's orchard; it is for this reason that San Rafael is known as the "most obliterated of California's missions." [4] In 1949, Monsignor Thomas Kennedy rebuilt and restored the chapel, in the style of the original, but at a ninety degree (90°) change in orientation.
Today, the Mission San Rafael Arcángel sits next to the Saint Raphael Parish of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, on the site of the original hospital. The City of San Rafael refers to itself as the "Mission City of Marin (County)."
Notes
- ↑ (CC) Photo: Robert A. Estremo
- ↑ Leffingwell, p. 157
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Krell, p. 295
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ruscin, p. 167
- ↑ Yenne, p. 174
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 196
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Yenne, p. 72
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 195
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Krell, p. 316: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "krell316" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "krell316" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Engelhardt 1920, pp. 300-301: The smallest recorded neophyte population (383) was seen in 1783.
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 169