Bishop Buddy Scrapbook 1937 (3)

To his right are ten bllve trees, still producing fruit, remnants of the oHve orchard planted irt 1775. There is frequertt refet-ertce in the Bible to the Olive tree, how it grew abundaritly in the l:tktl of Cart:1.art. Later t!1e olive spray w:l.s placed on the brow of the O!ytnpk victor at ovations. The olive crown bedecked rhe Roman coriqueror, Even among the Greeks it was valued as an impottartt attitle of diet as well as for its exterrtal use. Ambng both Greeks and Rotn:!hs it typi- fied giHs of p~~ce. Little wonder then tH.at thf! gbod Padres took such care and trouble to bring tlie~e olive trees to Califorhia. thdr mis- sion to the Indians was symbolized by the olive as a tti!ssioh bf peace, and her~ they stand tdday as sigrtals of peace to all who visit San Diego de Alcala, and as witnesses to the satrifites of men of God, after these 171 years. · Besides a symbul of peate, tHese olive trees, oti. teacl-ilrlg theit · trtattlrlty, setv d fot food :ittd oil. dLb ADOBE HotJsE As orle sbitids in frtJHt of the Old Missibrl, he wili noHl:~ a very delapidal:ed bulldittg. This ls called the Oitl Adobe Hbuse, w.lUtli was . the headquarters for officials of the missions and visiting Pt!esU is well as OfftWs of the Mex!cart Governtneht. It ls a twb-Story Build- itig, the ttlp stbty w:ts used as sleeping qt.tatters, ,tl:ict the lbwet was Hie reception rbom. There is nb ttace bf a stairway in this oltl adobe. Hence we infer that they ascended tb the upper flobr by tneafis of i ladder, which they possible drew up after rhem. Originally there were twelve of these :tdobe buildings, extending sotne 350 feet hi an almost straight iine. these houses were !:on• sttilcted of Htnbets ha

THE MASSACRE Man has ever enjoyed rea1ing the thrilling events of history. Whether this tendency arises from curiosity or a desire for knowledge, or a longing to excite the imaginative sense, or from a mental attitude of thankfulness to God for his own preservation from such dire hap• penings, is not easy to determine. Let me digress to inttoduce two expisodes from history that the reader, by comparison, may tnore fully grasp the awfulness of the burning of the Old Mission of San Diego de Alcala. and the inhuman and merciless massacre of three of its inmates. Doubtless some of my readers are familiar with the story of Phips' search for silver near the Bahamas. His crew rose in mutiny. Visualize Phips standing on the quarter-deck of his ship, empty-handed, and the disgruntled crew rushing upon him with drawn cutlasses. Roused to fury, Phips met their attack with bare hands and the deck wa9 strewn with fallen bodies. The mutiny was quelled. It is a story of a fearless and brave man, dauntlessly and resolutely meeting m unparalleled situation. The story is full of thrills. Let us turn to a more recent episode. It v1as near midnight. Fifty young clerics were spending their summer ;.racation on an isolated spot, washed by the waters of a well-known river. It was a bleak place. Suddenly a storm arose. Aroused f rnm their deep sleep by the loud peals of thunder and the sharp flashes of lightning, shroud- ed in darkness, they knew not whither to turn, when a shaft of light- ning burning through the roof and darting swiftly around the dormi- tory, laid low unto death three of the young derics and left its burn- ing scars on four others. It was a night of horror. Thrilling and lamentable as these episodes ju'lt related, they are wanting in pathos and tragedy, in comparison with the dastardly at- -7-