""St. Raphael Church traces its origins and location to the twentieth of California's twenty-one missions. Our parish, therefore, shares in something of the colorful and often turbulent early history of our state.
Under Spanish rule, the missions, presidios and pueblos were part of a religious and civil program to bring Christianity and European civilization to native peoples, while also bolstering Spain's hold on California. Lacking our modern insights into the nature and value of primitive cultures, the Spanish colonizers were responsible for accomplishments both admirable and ignoble: while bringing to native populations the consolations of faith and the blessings of old world agriculture, technology, and craftsmanship, they were also guilty of the cultural insensitivity, exploitation, and occasional violence that so often mark colonial enterprises.
Mission San Rafael was part of the mixed and fascinating history. Founded in 1817 by Padre Vincent Sarria as an 'asistencia' or adjunct to Mission Dolores, San Rafael was originally designated a sanitarium for native converts suffering from San Francisco's generally damper climate. Here, under sunnier skies and the medical care of Padre Luis Gil, many of the 'neophytes' were restored to good health. With the addition of local converts, the asistencia soon grew from a few hundred to over 1000 inhabitants. Under the impressive tutelage of Padre Juan Amoros, native women were taught a range of domestic skills while the men were trained as farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, cowboys, and boat-builders. So successful were they in making this asistencia a thriving, self-sufficient community, that in 1822, San Rafael was raised to full mission status.
Following Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, the mission continued to thrive. In the short seventeen years of its history, the padres and their nearly 2000 Native American converts raised over 2,200 cattle, some 4,000 sheep and 450 horses, while producing abundant crops and fruit. The mission pear was particularly acclaimed.
In 1834, however, the Mexican government, far less committed to the missions than was Spain, decided to secularize them. Though mission lands were first offered to their native inhabitants, they either could not afford or were not trained to manage them; the mission estates, consequently, were divided into land grant ranchos and sold to citizens who had helped in the war of independence. Among the first to be turned over to the government was Mission San Rafael, its equipment, agricultural resources, and even its native residents transferred by General Vallejo to his estates north of the Bay.
Following secularization, the Church maintained some presence in San Rafael, but the mission's subsequent history is one of abandonment and gradual decline. At times, its facilities were used by civic and other groups. In 1846, General John Fremont used the mission as headquarters in his battles to establish the Bear Flag Republic. The mission buildings were ultimately destroyed to make room for the growing pueblo of San Rafael. The Church, nevertheless, maintained its presence here. In 1847, a priest was once again living at the mission; in 1861, a small chapel was built near the ruins of the original one.
In one of the more significant moments of mission history, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, signed an act declaring that the twenty-one missions were to become the property of the Catholic Church. A short eight years later, San Rafael Catholics, now American citizens and members of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, witnessed the erection of a large gothic church and parish hall on the former mission grounds. Mass was celebrated here weekly by a visiting priest from nearby St. Vincent's.
Then, in 1884, introducing what might be considered the modern period of our parish; Father Hugh Lagan was appointed the first resident pastor of St. Raphael's.
In 1889, the grammar school was founded and staffed by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. Following the great earthquake of 1906, many San Franciscans came to San Rafael to be married, as their own parish churches had been demolished. The school continues to strive with strong faith practices, technology and academic success. It educates pre-school age through eighth grade students.
In 1917, the parish church was destroyed by fire, and two years later, our present edifice, was built on the same site. In 1949, a replica of the original mission chapel was built near the church, together with an adjoining gift shop and museum. In 1962 the expansion of the Church was completed with a new seating capacity of 800 plus.
As parishioners, we find it moving and instructive to be a part of this colorful history with all its glories. Named after Archangel Raphael, the patron saint of healing, St. Raphael parish continues, like its mission predecessor, to bring the healing word of God and the consolations of our faith to all who seek them." (
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