A treasure of Mission Carmel (CA), this statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem dates from 1770 (crown was added in 1798)

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A treasure of Mission Carmel, this statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem dates from 1770 (crown was added in 1798) and came with Father Junipero Serra on his mission-founding trip to California. She is the patron saint of the Diocese of Monterey and watched over Pope John Paul as he prayed at Mission Carmel in 1987. From Wikipedia: "Mission San Carlos Borromeo del río Carmelo, also known as the Carmel Mission or Mission Carmel, is a Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark. The mission was the headquarters of the Alta California missions headed by Saint Junípero Serra from 1770 until his death in 1784. It was also the seat of the second presidente, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. The mission buildings had fallen into disrepair by the mid-19th century, after the Mexican secularization act of 1833, but were restored beginning in 1884. It remains a parish church today. It is the only one of the California Missions to have its original bell tower dome."

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Size: 3774px × 5218px
Location: Carmel Mission, Carmel, California, USA
Photo credit: © Carol Barrington / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bethlehem, blessing, borromeo, california, carlos, carmel, carmelo, catholic, church, de, father, franciscan, history, junipero, lady, mission, monterey, patron, peninsula, religion, religious, saint, san, serra, statue, trail, veneration, worship