* NOTE: ORIGINAL WRITTEN IN DECEMBER 1999 FOR PUBLICATION IN EL LATINO NEWSPAPER

A TEMPLE
With Much History Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe
By Clementina Garcia Landgrave ________________________________________________________________________ El Latino, 5-11 December 2001* The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located on the corner of Broadway and Mason in San Francisco, California, going up the hill. This temple was built in 1875 because of the faith and the faithful contributions of Mexicans, Spanish and Portuguese. Among them were many Basques. In 1849 they used to attend the church of St. Francis of Assisi in the streets of Vallejo and Columbus of this city. But then fostered their desire to open another church in which they could listen to sermons and services in Spanish. However, important events preceded these plans and then, from the years 49/50 of the last century, other events occurring simultaneously, impacted the fate of North America.

1. On the one hand, Mexicos cession of part of its territory to the United States of the North American Union by signing the Treaty of Guadalupe, The Mexicans who remained in San Francisco and elsewhere in California were stripped of their property. 2. During the time that the North American Government took possession of the territory acquired, it was discovered that there was gold in California, sparking the famous gold rush, the same that attracted thousands and thousands of immigrants from much of Europe and South America. 3. In Ireland, meanwhile, the potato harvest, which served as food for the sustenance of the majority in this country, was not possible due to heavy infestation. Hundreds of thousands and then millions of Irish immigrated to this country, bringing their traditions and a very deep-rooted Catholicism. 4. In 1850 came the declaration of California as a Free State of the Union It was not seen as propitious, as it was being intended, to exercise slavery because the climate was not suitable, being different from the plantations that were in the State of Virginia. 5. It was on December 7, 1850 when Bishop Joseph Sadoc arrived to California, he was sent by the Holy See to meet the spiritual needs of Catholics who were already on American soil and the new immigrants. It was this prelate, who upon finding few priests, set out to get them, assisted by the Rev. Hugh Gallagher, who traveled to Europe,

bringing vocations. So, together, they created and organized what is now known as the Archdiocese of San Francisco. 6. Mexicans and Iberians continued going to mass at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. But a tremendous wave of immigrants of various nationalities did not allow for Spanish to be the predominant language. For that motive, the thought was to have their own church where you could hear Spanish. At this time, Father Andres Garriga gathered his parishioners for an extraordinary collection in order to cover the down payment for the ground in the numbers 908/910 of Broadway street, where the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe would later be housed, and which is still there. In the collection of that Sunday, the Rev. Garriga raised $ 8,000 (dollars). Just a parishioner gave a donation of $ 5,000. A major contributor and a lover of the cause was Don Pedro I. Aguirre. This was a Basque immigrant who had become rich not by gold mining, but by selling water. So, paying in installments for the construction of the church, a wonderful temple dedicated under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe was raised. A high magnitude earthquake. The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe was flourishing by the end of last century and the beginning of the present. In April 1906, a high magnitude earthquake struck the city of San Francisco. The fire consumed the temple walls. A couple, seeing the flames, removed the frame with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe from the main altar, and digging a trench, buried it there, thus saving it. The Reverend Father Antonio Santandreu (1889-1944), who was the parish priest, received the news by telegraph, as he was in Spain. It is said that he knew wealthy people in the Motherland, so immediately, from there, began to raise funds for the rebuilding of the Temple of Guadalupe. He promptly returned to San Francisco to be here and get down to work. In 1912, the new church was completed, the same was inaugurated on April 14 with a gala celebration. Services were presided by the illustrious Bishop of Sonora, Mexico, Dr Ignacio Valdespino, since the Archbishop, the Most Reverend Jose S. Alemany, was in poor health. Even since its founding, the area around the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe had been populated with homes and shops of Mexican, Spanish and Portuguese. More the heart and what gave life to the place, was the temple. There was cinema, bakeries, tortilla shops, boutiques, etc.. Among the establishments were La Moderna Poesia, La Morena, Casa Sanchez, Taqueria Xochimilco, El Sinaloa, etc. The popularity of the Mexican neighborhood that stretched along Broadway, Mason and further beyond Powell, got to such point, that together with the Italian neighborhood that had spread around the Church of San Francis of Assisi before they built the Golden Gate Bridge, were the highest attractions of California. Chinatown at that time occupied only a few of the streets on Grant.

Between 1912/14 till the beginning of the1950 decade, came an age of splendor for the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and also for the Mexican neighborhood. An organ for the church was acquired at a cost of $ 250.000. It was one of only two in the country, it operated on the basis of windpipes. With its wonderful sounds, concerts that attracted large audiences were produced, including Protestant and people in the Jewish society. To this joy were added the contributions of Professor Don Santiago Arrillaga, who in his Conservatory of Music, was preparing pianists, organists, violinists, etc. and, above all, sopranos, counter-altos, tenors, basses and other elements of the operatic cast of his College, then the most prestigious of the Coast. Many of his students were members of the Choir of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which he directed. The Maestro Arrillaga was also the organist. Together, they gave prominence to the officios and functions of the Church. On those times, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe attracted national attention because the organists in the States of the Union held their conventions there. Don Elias and Maria Silva In 1923, a young immigrant couple from Colima, Mexico arrived by boat to the beaches of San Francisco, they were Don Elias and Doa Maria Silva. The lady came already expecting and soon after her arrival gave birth to a girl, whom they named Ramona. The little girl became seriously ill a few months after birth. Don Elias, who was working near the Church of Guadalupe, consternated, promised the Virgin that if she was saved, he would come to bring her a serenade. Ramoncita healed. By the following December 12, Don Elijah stood before the Templo Guadalupano at the edge of 4:30, am with a group of mariachis. The Musicians began to play greeting their Queen and Patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe, with Las Maanitas, neighbors not accustomed to noise at such an early hour, reported them to the police. This one came and they all were jailed The next day, when the priest of the church found out what happened, went to the police station to explain that the serenade in the wee hours of the night was a Mexican tradition. This served to rescue the mariachis, it was then settled that in the future, they could continue bringing serenade to Our Lady at the same time each December 12, without being detained. And so this was how Don Elijah, and then his descendants, which includes four generations of the Silva family, who together with his brothers Ignacio and Juan, continued the practice of Maanitas On December 12 every year for nearly seven

decades. A Ceremony, which has always counted with Latinos of all Hispanic-America, who come to pay homage to the Patroness of the Americas. It is worth mentioning that when the girl Ramona was about ten years old, she, accompanied by Don Elias, her father, went with the aim to gather for the crown of the Virgin. It was the epoch of the depression, there was high unemployment and therefore the money and food were scarce. However, many Mexican ladies let go of their jewelry and even wedding rings to donate. With the accumulated, Don Elias ordered the gold melted and out came a beautiful crown studded with a variety of gemstones, which was used to crown the Virgin in Her Temple, the feast of December 12th. Dark proposal It is very well said that there is no complete bliss. At the beginning of the 50s of this century, there was an ominous proposal to build the tunnel of Broadway, which traversed precisely the very front of the church. For this work there was demolition of homes and destruction of business and, as Professor Isaura Michel de Rodrguez was telling then, there were merchants who when ruined, came to suicide. The Archdiocese did nothing to stop this atrocity and in addition sold the school and the convent which was just half a block from the temple of Guadalupe and which occupied an extensive portion of land between Clay and Mason. The Latinos did not intervene either, perhaps they did not know they could protest. The Traders who overcame the disaster moved their business to the Mission District. Closing Order In 1992 Archbishop John R. Quin ordered the closure of the Church of Guadalupe, according to him due to lack of priests and the poor attendance of parishioners. The reality was that Father Martin Avila had been appointed parson, but his services were not continuous and complete, due to his absence of the biggest part in the week. On May 31, 1992, Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla announced, to the amazement of the parishioners, that the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe was about to close. In June, a farewell Solemn Mass was held there, with a march to the Cathedral at the end to protest the closing. The church was officially closed on July 2, 1992. Parishioners and friends of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe were shocked when they learned that this was for sale and could be demolished. This forced them to submit to the Office of Historical Monuments an application for declaring the structure as a historic monument and then to the judgment of the Office of City Planning. Indifference and silence The English press reacted with indifference and silence. Therefore, many residents of San Francisco did not know they were about to lose an architectural gem of great historical and cultural significance. But thanks to the messages conveyed by word of mouth, about

5,000 signatures were collected, which led to the saving of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a historical monument, it took attending five hearings in the course of one year and two months for this. In the end, all members of the Board of Supervisors of the City unanimously voted to give it such designation, October 4, 1993. Later, the Archdiocese of San Francisco ordered to close eight more Catholic churches. In that same year ordered the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe be occupied by the St. Marys Chinese Schools, which took place in December 1, 1994. Latinos at the moment did not oppose it in consideration to that the children attending these schools had to vacate their building of Stockton and Clay streets, to prevent a tragedy, given that this structure was not conditioned to withstand a seismic movement. Promise The archdiocese promised that the Chinese schools occupation would be only temporary and that after 5 years and if possible, sooner, that Church would be returned to the community. Inside the Church of Guadalupe, a frame the size of a building with walls that divide the classrooms of the schools was built. Until the present these continue being sheltered there. For our consolation, the three altars at the front, with the picture of the Virgin intact, the leaded windows and the ceiling lined with beautiful paintings were saved, leaving a small chapel in the background, in the center. At least with the presence of a priest as Director of the School, we feel that there is still Gods presence there. But with everything that has happened in the past, can we still trust that the Archdiocese of San Francisco will return the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe for worship and religious service of the community? Time will tell ... Despite the closure, the Parishioners and Friends of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe (F.A.N.S de Guadalupe) will meet, as they have done year after year, to bring to the Virgin the traditional Las Maanitas that originated in this country, in that Church. The next December 12th they will be there, with the mariachis, the choir members who will sing during Mass at 7:15 AM , which has now been held only once a year. Despite the hardships, the party will attract the faithful lovers of the Virgin until her church is returned to us and we meet there again to be separated no more/