Tag Archives: St. Mary Magdalen Church

InSPIREd Sunday

A simple offering this week during this very busy extended weekend. This church is in Camarillo, California where Dear and I lived for a short 4 year stint while he worked in Thousand Oaks. St. Mary Magdalen Church was kiddy corner to a restaurant that we enjoyed frequenting. In the future I will show you the stained glass windows that have a wonderful story behind them.

For those of you in the good ole U.S.A. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was fabulous and then we started our Christmas decorating. While in the thick of that I managed to break one of my little toes on my left foot and I’ve been moving very slowly around this old house. I’ve been able to keep doing a little here and there between keeping my foot elevated and rested. We got our first dusting of snow on Saturday!! This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. After church we are going to go purchase our Christmas mystery tree.

Enough of me…you can visit InSPIREd Sunday hosted by Beth and Sally and join in some sacred viewings around the world.

ABC Wednesday ~ Q is for Quiet

Quiet Places That I Enjoy…

 

Quiet Places in my world are important for me to experience. It gives me a sense of awe and helps me to worship the God of the universe who made everything that’s good for us to enjoy. Hope you find some Quiet this week.

For more ABC Posts visit the ABC Blog.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Blue Monday ~

 

Welcome to Blue Monday. The birds and birdhouse photos were taken on a walk with my bloggy friend Willow. The blue stained glass window is in St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, California. I love the beautiful blue and green in this window.

For more Blue Monday Posts or to join in the fun visit Smiling Sally.

Photobucket is holding all my photos hostage from 2007-2015 seeking a huge ransom to give them back to me. I’m slowly cleaning up all my posts and it is very frustrating.

Round Robin Challenge ~ Your Hometown

Our Round Robin Challenge is to

 Photograph Your Hometown!

Grab your camera and show off the sights, sounds and flavors of your locale. One photo or a whole spread. Lets see your town and your favorite spots.

 ~Welcome to The City of Camarillo, California

Located in Ventura County California, the City of Camarillo (pronounced cam-a-ree-oh) straddles the 101 freeway about 50 miles Northwest of Los Angeles and 40 miles South of Santa Barbara in a coastal valley 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu. In a semi-rural setting, the surrounding farmland is some of the most productive to be found anywhere, yielding up to three crops per year.

The Camarillo Ranch was originally a 10,000 acre Spanish land grant created in 1837, patented to Gabriel Ruiz in 1866, then purchased by Juan Camarillo in 1875. His son Adolfo built the Queen Anne Victorian home in 1892. Later the barn and stables were added to support the agricultural work and house the renowned Camarillo White Horses. Today the ranch is owned by the City of Camarillo and operated by the non profit Camarillo Ranch Foundation.

The historic land upon which the Camarillo Ranch now sits was a part of the original Rancho Calleguas, one of the last Mexican land grants (9,998.29 acres). It was given by Governor Alvarado to Jose Pedro Ruiz in 1847. Juan Camarillo (1812-1880) obtained the rancho from the Ruiz family in 1875. Juan was a member of the Hijar-Padres Expedition to California in 1834. He settled in Ventura in 1857. Following Juan’s death in 1880, Adolfo Camarillo, his oldest son, took over the ranch operations. He was 16 at the time. During next 68 years, Adolfo operated the Camarillo Ranch, changing the operations from mostly cattle to crops. He was a leading innovator bringing in lima beans, plus barley, corn, alfalfa, walnuts, and citrus.

Adolfo (1864-1958) married Isabel Menchaca (1861-1936) in 1888 and they moved into an adobe home on the Ranch, which was later destroyed by fire. They had seven children. In 1890, with the help of two Chumash Indian boys, he planted two rows of eucalyptus trees. The trees arched across Highway 101 in Camarillo for many years. Some of the trees still line the north side of the freeway. Adolfo also employed a number of Chumash Indians on the Ranch. [the first collage at the top of the page shows Adolfo Camarillo on one of his famous White Horses. You can read about these famous horses here]

The Camarillo House was built in 1892 by Adolfo and others using the services of Architects Franklin Ward and Herman Anlauf This three-story, 14-room home was built in the Victorian Queen Anne style.

Adolfo’s younger brother, Juan (1867-1935) later donated land for St. Mary Magdalen Chapel (completed in 1914) and St. John’s Seminary (completed in 1939), both prominent in Camarillo history. Juan chose not to stay at the Ranch and lived and worked in Ventura and Buenos Aires

We have only lived in our condo in Camarillo for two years. We have our established home in the state of Washington. Although we weren’t overjoyed about returning to Southern California, we feel blessed to be able to live in Camarillo in the interim. Camarillo is a lovely area with close proximity to the Santa Monica Mountain Recreational Area and Pt. Mugu State Park and Recreational Area.

Camarillo has wonderful access to fresh farm produce and we have a farmers market year round on Saturday mornings. We have several good restaurants in town and one of our local favorites is El Tecolote. We enjoy Mexican food and we have many options for that in Southern California. Our Friends of the Library bookstore is one of the best I’ve ever been in.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of my hometown. To see more Hometowns click here.

ABC Wednesday ~ Mary Magdalen Church, Camarillo

M is for St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, California

 

In my Sky Watch #10 Post I mentioned that I was trying to get inside St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo to see their historic stained glass windows. A few Sundays ago we went to the church grounds to buy some home made Mexican food at a fiesta they were putting on as a fund raiser. While there I was thrilled to see the church doors open and I went inside and was able to finally see and take pictures of these amazing works of art.

Here is an excerpt written in a historical site about the windows.

“The most notable chapel fixtures were its magnificent 13 stained glass windows.  These azure, crimson, green, and gold windows tell a double story — one of the life of Christ, the other of a world at war.

While on a trip to Europe, Juan Camarillo selected the windows in Munich, Germany. The year was 1913 and the early rumbles of the continent gathering its strength for conflict were growing with each passing day. Somewhere between the studios of glass-blower F. X. Zettler of Munich and the church on a hilltop in faraway Camarillo, the stained glass windows were lost. Zettler’s name can be seen at the bottom of the windows depicting the Holy Family (east side) and Christ with the children (west side). Despite the best efforts of the Camarillo family through consuls and ambassadors, the windows appeared lost forever. Mrs. Carmen Camarillo Jones recalled that her uncle Juan feared they were at the bottom of the sea. One day a letter arrived from a German official. This official in Munich had been noticing several large crates staked outside a building with Juan’s name on them. He had written Juan several letters and finally one got through at the end of Word War 1. Much to the joy and relief of everyone, the lost windows had been found. However, it was a painfully slow and long trek to Los Angeles, and then on to Camarillo, before they were finally installed in the thick brick and plastered chapel walls in 1919.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I had been in the church for about 5 minutes the caretaker came in and closed the doors behind me I figured my time inside was over.

To see more of the outside of this historical church click here.

For more ABC posts on the letter M visit the ABC Blog.

Photobucket is holding my photos hostage from 2007-2015 and replacing them with an ugly black and grey squares demanding money to release them, so frustrating.

Sky Watch #10

Sky Watch #10 ~ St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, California

 

I headed over to this historical church this week hoping to get inside to see their stained glass windows. I looked up and saw these wispy clouds above the church bell tower and decided this would be my Sky Watch photo this week. I found out that to see the windows up close I’ll have to return for a 6:30 AM mass because that’s the only time during the day that the church is open. Here is a little of the history behind the windows. I find it fascinating.

“The most notable chapel fixtures were its magnificent 13 stained glass windows.  These azure, crimson, green, and gold windows tell a double story — one of the life of Christ, the other of a world at war.

While on a trip to Europe, Juan Camarillo selected the windows in Munich, Germany. The year was 1913 and the early rumbles of the continent gathering its strength for conflict were growing with each passing day. Somewhere between the studios of glass-blower F. X. Zettler of Munich and the church on a hilltop in faraway Camarillo, the stained glass windows were lost. Zettler’s name can be seen at the bottom of the windows depicting the Holy Family (east side) and Christ with the children (west side). Despite the best efforts of the Camarillo family through consuls and ambassadors, the windows appeared lost forever. Mrs. Carmen Camarillo Jones recalled that her uncle Juan feared they were at the bottom of the sea. One day a letter arrived from a German official. This official in Munich had been noticing several large crates staked outside a building with Juan’s name on them. He had written Juan several letters and finally one got through at the end of Word War 1. Much to the joy and relief of everyone, the lost windows had been found. However, it was a painfully slow and long trek to Los Angeles, and then on to Camarillo, before they were finally installed in the thick brick and plastered chapel walls in 1919.”

 

I’m not catholic but I’ll be happy to attend mass early in the morning and have my heart directed to God and then enjoy viewing the stained glass windows. I hope they’ll let me take pictures…

For more Sky watch click here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!