Missions and Churches

I have always had an abiding interest in missions and churches. I would have to say it's the sanctuary they provide their congregation, as well as their poignancy and aesthetic appeal. They will be arranged west to east, or L to R, as it were.

MISSION SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara, California Mission Santa Barbara -- also known as Santa Barbara Mission -- is a Spanish Franciscan mission near present-day Santa Barbara, California. It was founded on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, as the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the indigenous local Chumash -- the Barbareño tribe of Native American people. The Mission grounds occupy a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of the chain's founder, Father Presidénte Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since the day of its founding.
MISSION SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara, California I took this shot to do away with the parking lot and all the cars. It gives it a timeless feel, although you don't see much of the mission.
PENITENTE MORADA Abiquiu, New Mexico Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (in Spanish: "The Brothers of the Pious Fraternity of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene", also known as Los Penitentes, Los Hermanos, and the Penitente Brotherhood) is a lay confraternity of Roman Catholic men very active in Northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The men in these communities come together in the absence of a priest for the purpose of prayer, and to offer spiritual and social aid to the community. They gather in meeting houses known as moradas. Los Penitentes are perhaps best known for their songs of worship, called alabados, and for their ascetic practices, which include self-flagellation in private ceremonies during Lent, and processions during Holy Week which end with the re-enactment of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday. They're very protective of their religious beliefs and practices. My friends and I were ushered off the property at shotgun point.
ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE CHURCH Abiquiu, New Mexico