July 24, 2005
-
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Begun in 1797, the church took nine years to build. On the Feast of Immaculate Conception in 1812, a massive earthquake struck. The walls crumbled and the domes caved in, killing 42 Indian worshipers. The church was never rebuilt. The majestic ruins became known as the American Acropolis.
In the human heart there is a perpetual generation of passions; so that the ruin of one is almost always the foundation of another. François de la Rochefoucauld
Comments (15)
and yet it’s still so beautiful.
Beautiful, indeed.
Are you going on the cruise with C & E?
:love: Mom
Well, I believe that strongest structure in which we can go to is to our heart. So, nevermind if that was not rebuilt. The Indian worshipers most definitely were, though. Their souls, I believe, have been born into truth*
Hey, how’s your new camera working out??
It honors those who built it out of love and respect for God.
Fabulous quote. Positive spin on my morning, since I am forever in the habit of believing that one is not given an infinte number of passions and that at random they are simply chosen out of the cosmos and drop into our being at birth. We can lose these skills or develop them, but the thought that we cn always attain more is sojmething I have never quite considered.
oh yes! sailing away into new beginnings! there is nothing better!
thanks, april
Antigua, Guatemala is speckled with ruins like the one of which you took a photo. Earthquake there too. People still go to church.
We have a church somewhat like that here. Not as old, of course. The church here burned and all that was left standing were the stone walls. There has been a drive on for years to rebuild or at least stabilize the walls. I’ll have to dig out the pictures. I love your photos as always.
a beautiful photo, and that quote is very meaningful :heartbeat:
Maybe check into this. It’s a 4 gig CF card for around 250. I ended up having to buy one because I just kept switching out the 1 gig and it was driving me crazy. One of the better buys I made
Dell has coupons floating around here and there, so sometimes the price is a bit better too.
I love ruins. They make me think back at those times. The Human ambition, human achievement that made it possible for structures and buildings to exist. It’s a pity that lately those two words have become synonymous with human degradation.
I don’t know if I’ve said this before.. but I look forward to your posts. Your photographs are beautiful.
I did not know that about the mission. I love that picture, but then I love most ruins of buildings . . . the older the better. I think I really should do a vacation all around the old castles and cathedrals of England and Ireland. I think that would be neat.
When I was little, and still living in So. Cal. we would make a summer drive down to San Juan Capistrano to see the birds fly back… I remember the mission and the grounds – it was a quiet place to be… you capture it well in photos.
C