California missions spotlight: At Mission San Luis Rey, you can glimpse the church’s past and future
San Luis Rey de Francía, San Luis Rey
18th mission
1798
Explore all of California’s 21 famed missions >>
One of California’s first pepper trees, apparently planted in the 1830s, is still growing in the mission quadrangle. Besides the history, you might glimpse some of the Catholic Church’s future; the Franciscans moved their School of Theology (seminary) here in September 2013.
Nearby: Mission San Antonio de Pala (3015 Pala Mission Road, Pala; www.missionsanantonio.org; also known as the Pala Asistencia) isn’t one of the system’s 21 marquee missions. It was founded in 1816 and served as a crucial subsidiary of Mission San Luis Rey. Its smallish museum includes rare statues made by Native Americans in the mission’s early years, including a wood-framed St. Anthony with clay face, hands and feet. The church’s Native American connection is stronger than most because it’s surrounded by the 12,000-acre Pala Reservation. In a twist Father Junípero Serra never would have imagined, the Pala Asistencia receives frequent guests from the reservation’s greatest source of income — the Pala Resort & Casino, half a mile away.
Info: 4050 Mission Ave., San Luis Rey; (760) 757-3651, www.sanluisrey.org. Driving distance from Los Angeles City Hall: 91 miles southeast.
From the archives:
In 1893, The Times covered a rededication of Mission San Luis Rey where a Franciscan seminary had just been reestablished.
In 1990, The Times covered a building and preservation project at San Luis Rey.
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