St. Peregrine Chapel draws many cancer patients[/caption]
Name of Church Serra Chapel
Parish Address 31520 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano CA 92675. The 10-acre Mission site has 3 major components, the Mission Basilica School, the Basilica Church, and the historic grounds (address 26801 Old Mission Road, San Juan Capistrano). Serra chapel is part of the historic grounds and can be accessed for Mass by a gate on the east side of the grounds. There is no charge for Mass, but if you go at other times of the day you will have to enter by the main gate and pay an entry fee.
Phone number 949-234-1360
Website parish and historic site
Mass times Sunday 6:30 am (Latin Tridentine, although it is not advertised on the website). Weekdays, 6:30 am. Additional Masses in the Basilica Church Mass Schedule. The Basilica Church is worth a visit; its most impressive feature is its Grand Retablo, installed in 2007.
Confessions None in Serra Chapel; Saturday, 8 a.m. in the Basilica Church and by appointment.
Names of priests Visiting Norbertines from St. Michael’s Abbey celebrate the Tridentine Mass. The Norbertines are reliably orthodox and give good homilies. Monsignor J. Michael McKiernan is rector/pastor of the Basilica; Father Randy Guillen is parochial vicar.
School Mission Basilica School, pre-K through 8th grade.
Special parish groups Parish groups are connected to the Basilica church:
Fellow parishioners Draws many traditionalist Catholics, as well as visitors to the historic mission.
Parking Street parking is usually available along the mission grounds, especially as the Masses are offered early in the morning before tourists arrive. There is parking across the street in the San Juan Elementary School lot on the weekends.
Additional observations Serra Chapel is California’s oldest church, and one of its oldest buildings that is still in use. It was built by the Spanish padres shortly after Mission San Juan Capistrano’s founding in 1776. Father Junipero Serra himself celebrated Mass there. The church was used for storage in the late 19th century but was returned to its original use in the 1920s. The church art and architecture have undergone an extensive renovation and are beautiful. The Stations of the Cross, older than the mission itself, have been repaired and properly lighted. The retablo, or altarpiece, has also been restored. New chandeliers have been installed. It boasts a side chapel shrine, St. Peregrine’s Chapel, which draws many cancer patients on pilgrimage each year. It is arguably the most beautiful and best maintained of the mission churches. Also on site are the ruins of the Great Stone Church, a stone church built in 1806 that collapsed in an 1812 earthquake. Take a California Missions Foundation tour of the grounds; Serra Chapel begins at 2:22.
I’ve been there! It’s nice when it’s empty. Awful when it’s crowded with tourists. That’s a good size chapel for the TLM crowd.
There is used to be a Lenten mini-pilgrimage from the previous site of St. Michael’s Abbey to the Serra Chapel, but with Covid and the move to the new abbey it was discontinued. It would be nice to revive the tradition next year.
Has anyone been cured of cancer by St. Peregrine?
God has cured some people of cancer through the intercession of Saint Peregrine.
https://saintbrigid.org/pastors-corner/2019-08-04-many-miracles-of-healing-have-been-attributed-to-st-peregrines-prayers/
Saints of God, pray for us.
They should use electric votive candles so they don’t have to have those tacky signs spoiling the chapel’s ambience.
Can anyone confirm that they are still celebrating the Latin Tridentine Mass in the Chapel at 6:30 am on Sunday? When I called the parish, the lady I spoke to was initially confused and then claimed that there was a Latin Mass at 1 pm in the Mission Basilica, not Serra Chapel.
Update: I can confirm that, at least as of this writing, a Low Traditional Latin Mass is offered in the Serra Chapel every Sunday at 7 am.
Best,
Mike
Update: At least as I write this, a traditional Latin Low Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 7 am in the Serra Chapel. There is also confession before Mass, but I do not know if it begins at 6 am or 6:30 am.