The San Luis Obispo Mission-

Four Visits in Twelve Years-An Indelible Impression

The San Luis Obispo Mission. Photo: Steve Newvine

At the time of this column posting, most of Merced County (and the world for that matter) is closed due to COVID restrictions.

As a result, there is nothing Merced County related in my story pipeline. So I’m going to my reserve for some reflections from the visits made at San Luis Obispo Mission over the past dozen years.

I traveled to the city of San Luis Obispo many times on business.

On at least four occasions, I visited the mission founded by Father Junipero Serra.

The Mission was founded in 1772. It was named after Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, France.

The mission website (MissionSanLuisObispo.org) contains a lot of history. From that site, I learned that the San Luis County region was known as the Valley of the Bears by people back in the late 1700s.

There is a story about how people near the neighboring San Carlos Borremeo mission in Monterey were starving.

A hunting party was dispatched to the region now known as San Luis Obsipo County and returned with twenty-five loads of dried bear meat and seed.

The bounty kept the missionaries, soldiers, and baptized Natives (also known as neophytes) alive. It also informed a decision to build a mission in the Valley of the Bears.

Father Serra decided to build, and then left for the mission in San Diego. Father Jose Cavaller, five solders, and two neophytes began building what was then called Mission San Luis.

Over the years, buildings were added, land was acquired, and crops were grown to sustain the mission.

A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the courtyard of the San Luis Obispo Mission. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Mexican War for Independence began in 1810, and at the Mission, mill wheels and a grain store house (granary) were built. After Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, all California Missions were secularized by the Mexican Government.

The San Luis Obispo Mission was sold for just $510 in 1845. Later in that century, the Catholic Church asked the government to return some of the Mission lands back to the Church.

A major restoration took place in the 1930s and an annex was built next to the sanctuary in 1948.

There is a lot more detail on the history of the San Luis Obispo mission and the other California missions on that website.

It’s a story that continues to feed our curiosity about the development of our state.

Inside the chapel at the San Luis Obispo Mission. Black and white photo by Steve Newvine

My four visits over the past twelve years were always on the fly as I shuttled between work meetings. On two occasions, I attended early morning Mass in the chapel.

The caretakers have been mindful to preserve the actual experience of attending Mass in the original facility.

There are no padded kneelers and no cushions on the seats. The lighting is not brilliant. All of that is fine with me. I also enjoyed walking in the courtyard outside.

There is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that stands atop a bright blue and white marble base. The central feature in the courtyard is a display called “The Mission Bells”.

An information plaque explains the parish tradition and history behind the three bells. They are known as the Joy Bell, the Gloria Bell, and the Sorrow Bell.

This plaque describes the meaning behind the three bells at the San Luis Obispo Mission. Photo: Steve Newvine

The mission grounds are at the south end of the City’s main downtown thoroughfare. Walking in the solitude of the mission helped me relax and sort of slowed down my fast paced lifestyle if only for the short time I visited.

The din of traffic is in the background serving as a reminder that we can be as close as a city block away from the congestion of urban life, yet still be a restful environment.

When the COVID-19 restrictions are eventually lifted, I recommend the three-hour drive from Merced County to spend some time at the Mission.

There’s also the San Juan Bautista Mission in San Benito County that is about forty-five minutes from Los Banos.

That mission was the subject of an Our Community Story column back in 2018.

Both will reopen when the crisis is over.

There are a lot of things we all want to do when the coronavirus is no longer a threat.

Visiting the missions of California might be among those things.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book Course Corrections is available at Lulu.com