5 /5 TC Freebird: Absolutely beautiful and well restored and managed. When you walk into the church and find yourself surrounded by walls and artwork that hold so much history, you can feel a depth of awe that goes beyond measure. I am good with words and the only way I can describe it that makes any sense, is you are in the presence of God and His serenity. There is history in the art decor, the high ceiling wooden beams, every wooden pew, and even the candles being lit by visitors. Once you enter, you just have to sit and take it in. With patience and no rush to leave. Take it in and when you do leave, you leave with His hand on your shoulder. You can feel it. God is there. He is with you.
Walking along the cobble bricks to the gift shop was a bit bumpy as I pushed mom in her wheelchair, but we felt the age of the place with a respect and understanding that so many came before us clear back centuries old. It wasn’t just a new experience, it was a privilege to be able and do so. This was made possible by the padres who kept this place alive for longer than any of us have been alive.
You have to visit the gift shop! So much to see and choose from. There is a gift there for everyone on your Christmas list. Please don’t fret at the prices in a selection of items. Most are handmade which takes time and care. Overall, the sale of every item helps kept this place in alive for repairs and upgrades without taking away from the beauty of the historic truth of the holy ground you walk on. You can even buy a special bottle of holy water to take home, which we did.
There is a garden, museum, cafe, cemetery, and meditation center. In the back west side of the property near the meditation center is a couple of statues that took my breath away. I pushed the wheelchair closer so mom could see it up close. A Roman soldier with whip in hand and frozen action as he was striking our Lord and Savior, as Jesus struggles with the burden of carrying His own cross to the place of his agonizing, torturous death. His pain was so severe in fact, they needed a new word to describe it. They put the word crucify and the action of death together to create the words we know as “excruciating pain” into the language of all dialects. We will never know His pain, but we can visit a mission in the hills that has not swayed away from sharing what we do know of it. Visit this mission and support their work with donations, buy something, visit. We are the hands, feet, and voices that carry the message that “through Christ all things are possible”, like helping keep this mission open for another few centuries. Amen.
