San Rafael - Another Day, Another Mission

Last Friday was Furlough time, so time for a road trip.

We decided to work toward our goal of visiting all the California missions by visiting Mission San Rafael, in San Rafael., a city in Marin County, and the former home of Jerry Garcia.

The mission was nestled into a hillside on the edge of the San Rafael's current downtown. Non of the original mission buildings survived and the only surviving relics are a few roof tiles and pottery shards you can see in the combination museum-gift shop.

A large Church Parish has been built on the old mission grounds. They built their church in the early 20th century to reflect memories of the old mission's look.


The Church's front features a statue of the Arcangel Rafael, the church's namesake. I thought the wings were pretty cool. However, I would have ordered a flaming sword if it was up to me.

Look at the abs on that guy!

Once I realized that Mission San Rafael was named after the Arcangel Rafael, I got pretty confused. How can an other-than-human entity become a Saint? If they can, then why isn't there a "Saint God"?

The volunteer Church Ladies in the in the gift shop - museum heard me discussing this deep theological dilemma with K and looked at me like I was a lunatic. I'm sure Luther got the same treatment about 500 years ago.

As long as we're on the Catholic imagery subject, the church had an awesome illuminated Guadeloupe shrine.


A Vietnamese virgin stood in the narthex. Seemed pretty subdued after the Guadeloupe.

Having exhausted the mission's sights, we made a small side trip to the Marin Civic Center. The Civic center, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (although his firm finished the work after his death) caused a ruckus during its construction. Some more conservative folks had envisioned a more traditional County Courthouse building and were shocked by a giant network of flying saucers and tubes.

The entry lobby was as grimy as any Government office, but it had a very cool grill to look at while we waited for the elevator.

SciFi movie fans might recognize the Civic Center as the set for George Lucas's THX1138. Lots of chase scenes in the strange - looking hallways.


Imagine the Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy chasing you down this hallway.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.