Mission Trail

Saturday and Sunday we have explored the area south of downtown San Antonio.  As recommended by Jeffery at our hotel, Wyndham Gardens, we visited the San Jose Mission, the Queen of the Missions, Saturday.  It was very easy to find and the parking was very nice.

We visited the onsite museum, learning a great deal about the four missions along the Mission Trail south of the river walk.  With a wonderful self-guided tour map, we entered the southeast gate of the mission. The walls are all intact with access to small "apartments" designated  for the Native American residents.  Three wells were visible across the complex.  There were stone foundation remains of the workshop areas.

Small "apartments" for the Native Americans were built within the walls around the perimeter of the mission.

I was in awe at the size of the church and what had been the priest's residence and work areas for the lay people. A huge to-scale model in the northwest corner of the complex was very informative of what daily life had been like in this mission.  It was amazing to realize we were walking where people had lived, worked, and prayed nearly 300 years ago.  As mom noted, "It is a very reverent place."

On the south side of the church was the Rosa's window, sculpted in 1775, by a Spanish artist as a tribute to his lost love, Rosa.  Legend claims that the pastor would stand in the window, elevating the Blessed Sacrament, and the Native Americans and Spanish colonists would kneel outside the window in Adoration.  The carvings around the window are beyond beautiful, even though time has worn away some of the finer details.

Rosa's Window

We walked leisurely about the grounds and out the north entrance to the grist mill.  The aquifer was running clear and the gristmill was displayed for all to see how it had worked centuries ago. Mom really enjoyed that and was fascinated by the mechanical workings of the mill.

Grist mill

Next, we wanted to see the interior of the church, and mom was very interested to see if it would be similar to the San Diego Mission she and Dad had visited years ago with Aunt Marggie and Uncle Bill.  The west entrance to the church is a facade of four larger that life statues, earning this mission the title: Queen of the Missions.

Front facade of San Jose Mission Church

When we entered the church, all visitors were so reverent and quiet.  I was thrilled we were allowed to take pictures. The back Altar was a true work of art! Plain wood pews gave the interior an authentic feel as we paused to sit and reflect on where we were.  It was a very moving experience.

Altar of San Jose Mission Church

A thunderstorm began moving in, so we visited the gift shop and decided to call it a day.  Sunday morning, after breakfast and lots of shopping we headed out to visit Mission Concepcion.  I wanted to take the mission trail, the roadway of the early 1700s that connected the four missions south of Mission San Antonio, now called the Alamo, but I missed the turn.  We did connect up with the Mission Trail and easily found the Mission.  However, there was very little parking and that was filled to capacity...Mass was in progress.  Then the rain reappeared.  So I parked, kind of, and hurried across the lawn to take pictures and read the historical markers.  What I found fascinating was that the rock quarry  used to build the church and other structures, was partially visible, on site.  Only the church and adjacent building remained of this mission, but we could still get a feel of how it might have been.  The well was more ornate and the church doors, as at Mission San Jose, were massive wooden structures.

I would have to say, of the three missions we visited this week, San Antonio (Alamo), Concepcion, and San Jose, the most rewarding was San Jose.  It truly challenges the imagination to stand in the center of that enclosure and wonder what life must have been like in the 1720s in the Spanish territory of North America.