Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá celebrates the 257th anniversary of its founding with its annual Festival of the Bells on July 19 and Blessing of Animals July 18. Mission San Diego was founded July 16, 1769, by Saint Junipero Serra. The Mission has become known as the Mother of the Missions and was first established on Presidio Hill. The mission is named after a 15th-century Franciscan brother who became a saint, Didacus of Alcalá, also known as San Diego.
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The mission was moved to its current location at 10818 San Diego Mission Road in 1774 to be closer to the Kumeyaay villages, and a dependable source of water, along with good land for farming, according to the mission’s online history page. It was the first and furthest south of 21 Missions founded along the coast of California up to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma.
Festivities will include the Ringing of Bells before the noon Mass July 19. After the blessing of the parish and its bells, all five of the mission bells will ring, which is rare because the mission usually rings only one bell. But for the Mission’s anniversary, all bells will ring. After Mass at about 1:15 p.m., there will be a reception in the mission’s “La Sala” room.
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The mission’s public celebration for the community includes its annual blessing of animals ranging from dogs and cats to turtles and rabbits at 10 a.m. July 18 on the mission’s portico. Each pet will be blessed with holy water by one of the priests and the owner will receive a commemorative medal. A light reception will be held in the mission’s rose garden
The present mission church was named a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in the bicentennial year of 1976. Today, it serves as a parish for the Catholic community and as a “cultural center for people of all faiths, who are welcome to visit the mission.”
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