Latest news with #FranciscanOrder
Epoch Times
28-04-2025
- General
- Epoch Times
A Historical Hill in San Diego, a Tribute to California's First Presidio
Many people have heard of the Presidio of San Francisco, but they aren't as familiar with the Presidio in San Diego. Yet, high on a hill overlooking the city's Old Town are historically significant grounds and an impressive structure worth exploring. A Spanish word meaning a fort or settlement, 'presidios' were built primarily for the protection of Spanish missions along the West Coast of the United States. The largest, now a National Park Historic Site, is in San Francisco and was established in 1776. Yet, on the opposite end of California, at the southern tip in the state's second-largest city, is the site of a presidio that was founded eight years earlier. The presidio's long outdoor hallways are emblematic of Spanish mission-style architecture. Deena C. Bouknight Old Town in San Diego attracts around three million people annually. But Presidio Park experiences much less traffic because both residents and visitors are unaware of its historic importance, park-like beauty, expansive views, and on-site museum. The presidio that existed here was California's first military fort and mission. Father Junípero Serra, an 18th-century Franciscan Order Spanish priest, raised a cross and blessed the slope overlooking San Diego Bay. Though the mission was founded centuries ago, it's easy to imagine settlers listening to preaching and sharing fellowship in the simple, well-preserved halls of the San Diego Presidio. Deena C. Bouknight A fort and chapel were built, and upwards of 400 people once lived inside the fort. Eventually, these inhabitants and their descendants spread out into Old Town and other areas of the undeveloped coastal landscape and began to construct homes and farms, growing San Diego into a larger community. Views of the Junípero Serra museum are dynamic amidst the bright blue San Diego sky. Deena C. Bouknight By the time San Diego received its official status as a Mexican pueblo in 1834 and held municipal elections, fear of attacks from Native Americans and from Spaniards diminished. The original 18th-century presidio soon fell into disrepair. Restoration It wasn't until the early 1900s that a successful department store owner, George Marston, deemed that the hill's history was important enough to purchase the land and preserve what remained of the original fort. He first had a park built, where the Serra Cross stands, made from fragments of tile and brick from the original presidio. Additionally, the grounds have hosted an archaeological excavation site. Related Stories 4/22/2025 4/16/2025 After the park was designated, architect The Serra Cross is made with tiles from the floor of the original Presidio. Deena C. Bouknight Leading to Presidio Park's museum structure is an arched and log-ceiling arcade; inside is a tower, stucco walls, open beam ceilings, porthole windows, decorative brass hardware, and a mural presenting San Diego's early history. Antique fixtures and brass hardware adorn the 18th-century presidio. Deena C. Bouknight The 1.5-mile Presidio Park Loop offers visitors with some idea of the views afforded to the first settlers housed at the fort—although much imagination is needed to envision the now densely populated cityscape as a rural, unblemished vista. Views of San Diego are visible out of the Presidio's windows and balconies. Deena C. Bouknight To truly understand what California looked like before commercialization, it behooves travelers to the state to take a ferry ride over to one of the uninhabited islands in Channel Islands National Park, roughly 190 miles north of San Diego. There, they can imagine what San Diego looked like prior to its development. A visit to Presidio Park, registered as a What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
Telegraph
25-04-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Sacred Mysteries: Why Pope Francis chose his place of burial
Pope Francis was the first pope to take the name of St Francis of Assisi, 'the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation'. A mosaic of St Francis is prominent in the church where he has chosen to be buried, St Mary Major. The mosaic was put up in the apse inside the church by Pope Nicholas IV, the first member of the Franciscan Order elected pope, dying four years later, two days before Easter 1292. That pope appears as a smaller kneeling figure amid the mosaics of saints against gold, signifying heaven. He is buried in St Mary Major as 'A son of St Francis'. This is not, however, why Pope Francis wanted to be buried in the basilica, which he visited dozens of times as pope, always before and after a foreign trip. He came in first place to pray before the ancient icon of the Virgin Mary and Child, entitled Salus Populi Romani. This title, signifying both the health and the salvation of the Roman people, is a pre-Christian idea. The icon, of Byzantine convention, is reputed to have arrived in Rome early in the reign of Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), who sent St Augustine of Canterbury to convert England. Gregory was said to have invoked God by the virtue of the icon to quell a plague in Rome. Most icons of that period in the East were destroyed in outbreaks of iconoclasm. This icon's style is said to be more that of the 9th century or later, but it has been battered and amended over the ages. Restoration that ended in 2022 gave it a more or less satisfactory form. It has been much loved, not least by Pope Francis, who though bang up to date in matters of climate change and liturgy, embraced ancient devotions. This led to the memorable scene in the rain on Friday March 27 2020 during the Covid pandemic. The Pope stood alone in St Peter's Square, with the icon Salus Populi Romani and a large crucifix from the church of St Marcellus (invoked in the early 16th century against plague). Some complained later that rain had damaged the paint on the crucifix, which in the circumstances sounds like complaining that seawater damaged the paintwork of a lifeboat. In the wet the Pope limped to the icon and said a silent prayer, then to the crucifix, the wounded feet of which he kissed. He blessed the city and the world, Urbi et Orbi, with a monstrance displaying the Blessed Sacrament. His flabby Italo-Argentine face reflected his determination. He insisted on appearing outdoors when all Italy was locked down, not because he didn't believe in Covid, but because he did believe in God. It was an anti-Lear effect: instead of raging like the tragic king with the storm, he stood, an envelope of calm in the tempest of the city and the world. He spoke a short meditation on the passage in the Gospel (Mark 35-41) where Jesus is asleep in the boat in the storm. Of Covid he said: 'Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void.' He quoted the appeal of the frightened Apostles in the boat with Jesus, 'Do you not care if we perish?', and his reply after calming the seas: 'Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?' Pope Francis pointed out we were all in the same boat and had better row together. 'I would like this evening to entrust you all to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, Health of the People and Star of the stormy Sea.' In a niche marked 'Franciscus' near the entrance to the chapel at St Mary Major where the icon is revered, he is to be buried today.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands join Stations of the Cross procession in Jerusalem
Thousands of pilgrims joined the annual Stations of the Cross procession in the old town of Jerusalem as Christians around the world were marking Good Friday. In the years leading up to the current Gaza war, tens of thousands used to attend the pilgrimage that marks significant moments in Jesus Christ's final day up to being placed in the tomb. But following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the number of pilgrims from abroad has declined dramatically. Meanwhile, Israel has significantly curbed crossings from the occupied West Bank. According to a dpa reporter at the scene, turnout at this year's procession was higher than in 2024, including more people from abroad as well as many Arab Christians from Jerusalem. Singing and praying, pilgrims walked along the Via Dolorosa - Latin for "Way of Sorrows." Some were carrying wooden crosses as a reminder that Christ was forced to carry the cross he was later nailed to along this route. The route, which includes a total of 14 stations, leads from the Church of the Flagellation to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ was buried, according to Christian belief. According to Ibrahim Faltas, a Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order and Custodian of the Holy Land, Israel only allowed 6,000 Christians from the occupied West Bank to enter the country to attend Easter celebrations this year. Only some 180,000 people in the Jewish state of 10 million are Christians. East Jerusalem and the West Bank are estimated to be home to some 50,000 Christians, while some 1,000 are said to be living in sealed-off Gaza.
