Mission San Buenaventura "The Mission by the Sea" The ninth of the missions, and the last mission founded by Junipero Serra.
San Buenaventura was built practically on the beach at present day Ventura.After the 1812 earthquake one of the priests commented that the sea "disappeared" leaving fish and marine life flopping on the mud. Very quickly, the sea returned with a fury and almost swept the church itself away. He was undoubtedly witnessing a Tsunami, but of course they were not so named, or probably even recognized as a consequence of the earthquake at that time.
The statue of St. Bonaventure above the tabernacle is much older than the church itself. It is believed it originally came from the Philippines, and is probably at least 400 years old. Bonaventure was actually given the name John at his baptism. Legend has it that as an infant he was cured from a serious illness by St. Francis himself who on seeing the child cured cried "O Buono Ventura" (Roughly oh what good luck) Since Bonaventure was born in 1221, and Francis died in 1226 it is indeed possible that this actually happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment