When
gold was discovered in California in 1849, a fortune-hungry horde poured
into Yerba Buena, which recently had been renamed San Francisco. Practically
overnight, the bayside settlement with a scant 450 inhabitants burgeoned
to thousands. Many of the newcomers were Catholics, yet there was no church
for them other than the Franciscan mission, three and a half miles from the
docks.
Although Blessed Junípero
Serra and his Franciscan brothers established the mission church of San Francisco
de Asís, commonly known as Mission Dolores, in order to evangelize
the Native Californian population, by the time of the California Gold Rush,
it served primarily the local residents of Mexican and Iberian origin. Though
mass was celebrated in Latin, the universal language of Roman Catholic liturgy,
pastoral ministry and preaching were only in Spanish. Nor were services held
on a regular schedule.
U.S. Military spokesmen from the
Army and the Navy appealed to the bishops in Hawai‘i and Oregon, and
to the Archbishop of Baltimore. The bishop of Portland in Oregon sent two
priests from the Pacific Northwest, and U.S. troops stationed at the Presidio
built a small shanty to serve as a church.
While the City of San Francisco
did not formally incorporate until 18 April 1850 and California did not become
the thirty-first state of the Union until 9 September 1850, the twelfth of
June 1849 witnessed the formal establishment of Saint Francis Parish. Five
days later, on June 17th, Catholics gathered for the first parochial mass
celebrated in California. As an official juridical entity, therefore, Saint
Francis of Assisi Church antedates both the City of San Francisco and the
State of California.
Within
a short time, an adobe church replaced the wooden shack that U.S. Army personnel
had built. The newly appointed Bishop of Monterey, Dominican friar Joseph
Alemany, consecrated the new structure for Saint Francis Parish in 1851.
Bishop Alemany used the church as his cathedral for three years.
In 1852, Bishop Alemany ordained
Fr. John Quinn to the priesthood in the church of Saint Francis: the first
presbyteral ordination in California.
With pastoral ministry and preaching
being conducted in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, it soon became
clear that the small church could not accommodate its rapidly growing
congregation.
Parish leaders laid the cornerstone of a new church on October 2, 1859. In
order to avoid interrupting the continuity of liturgical services, workers
built the new church right over the old structure.
The present Norman Gothic church,
with its elegant twin campanile, was dedicated on 17 March 1860.
On
18 April 1906 at 5:13 AM, the earth trembled violently; the water mains of
San Francisco crumbled.
Shortly after the earthquake, devastating fires broke out all over the city
consuming even the interior of Saint Francis Church. The mighty brick walls
of the Church, however, together with its badly scorched towers, remained
entirely intact.
After much consideration and careful
study the diocese decided to rebuild a new church within the original walls.
Engineers drew up the plans to support the floor and roof with steel girders.
On 2 March 1919, the Catholic community of San Francisco rededicated the
newly restored church.
Located
in the heart of San Francisco’s historic North Beach district, Saint
Francis of Assisi Church today continues to build upon its historical mission.
No longer a parish, the church has become the NATIONAL
SHRINE OF SAINT FRANCIS OF
ASSISI and as such bears witness to Christ within the beautiful
city named for the poor troubador of God.
 The
contemporary ministry of the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi invites
pilgrims, visitors, and all people of faith to encounter God’s love
in its sanctuary of quiet and prayer. Moreover, the Shrine offers a rich
experience of the sacramental life of the Church for the Catholic faithful
who come seeking spirituality, faith, and grace.
The Shrine Church, a place of sanctity,
beauty, and quiet, rejoices in its beautiful
architecture, colorful
murals and stained-glass
windows, and holy
relics of the Franciscan
saints Francis and Clare of Assisi and Anthony of Padua.
 The church itself is
open from 11:00 AM through 5:00 PM every day,
during which time the Franciscan friars are present to welcome pilgrims and
visitors.
Along the aisles the prayerful pilgrim
will find the individual
alcoves of the Blessed
Virgin, the Pietà, Saint Anne, Saint Joseph, Saint Clare, and Saint
Thérèse of Lisieux.
At the front of the church, and
surrounding the altar of repose, exquisite
murals executed by the Italian fin-de-siècle
painter and illustrator Luigi Brusatori vividly portray the life of Saint
Francis of Assisi. Throughout the length of the church radiant stained-glass
windows depict Gospel events.
 The church also rejoices
in its acclaimed pipe
organ, installed in 1926 by the Schoenstein Organ
Company of San Francisco. This magnificent instrument was recently enlarged
in 1993 and is a regular voice in all of the National Shrine’s
liturgical celebrations; it is often featured
in the
Sunday Concerts as well.
On 1 October 1972, the California
Historical Society dedicated the church as an historical landmark.
Throughout its history as a parish, nineteen priests served as pastors of
Saint Francis of Assisi Church.
In the aftermath of the 1989 Loma
Prieta Earthquake, the Archdiocese of San Francisco briefly closed the church
and suppressed the parish. Nonetheless, on 22 February 1998, Archbishop William
J. Levada re-opened Saint Francis of Assisi Church as the City Shrine
Church.
Through the Archbishop of San
Francisco’s continued interest and intervention, the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops granted to this church the title of the
NATIONAL SHRINE OF
SAINT FRANCIS OF
ASSISI in September of 1999.
The Conventual Franciscan Friars
of Saint Joseph of Cupertino Province have assumed the apostolic and sacramental
ministry of the National Shrine.
Your prayers
and generous
support are invited so that the
NATIONAL SHRINE OF SAINT
FRANCIS OF ASSISI may prosper as a spiritual
destination for the many visitors and faithful who come to pray for themselves,
for others, for the city of San Francisco and for all our world. |
