missionaries, and unravel if but a few of the tangled skeins of
misrepresentation cast about the older history of the state which is
more wrapt in mystery, with warm gratitude for what the present is and
for what the future will bring, we will return to the traces of the good
fathers whose missions are still the wonders of California, with them we
can still hear the chimes of mission bells.



Chapter VII



Mission Anecdotes and Hymns

Told of Father Vicente Sarria



Father Vicente Sarria, a venerable and saintly missionary in charge of
Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad at the time the first two acts of
Secularization were passed, was one of the keenest sufferers from the
injustices of the times, undergoing untold labors and hardships, which
in no small degree contributed to his death in 1833, which found him at
his post of duty at the mission. Father Sarria's reputation for sanctity
was well known throughout California, particularly in Monterey and
Soledad, and after his death it was no strange thing to hear both from
Caucasian and Indian such an ejaculation as "alma de nuestro Padre
Sarria, ayudanos con tu intercesion" (soul of our Father Sarria help us
by your intercession). Of course this pious demonstration was not public