National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi - San Francisco, California

(CNS photo/Dan Morris-Young,

Catholic San Francisco)

Destination: The National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi was the first parish established in San Francisco, in 1849. The church, which was closed for a time after the 1989 earthquake, was declared a national shrine in 1999.
Masses at the shrine are held daily at 12:15 p.m. Monday through Saturday, there  is an 11 a.m. rosary, noon Angelus, and 3 p.m. Chaplet of Divine Mercy. There is also Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass on Friday, and Benediction at 3:15 p.m.
Why to go: The shine, which is “located in San Francisco’s historic North Beach district, bears witness to Christ at the heart of the beautiful city named for the Poverello of Assisi,” according to its Web site.
Although Father Junipero Serra had already established a mission at the spot that would become San Francisco, by the time of the California Gold Rush, it was serving mostly Spanish-speaking Catholics from Mexico and Spain. U.S. Army and Navy officials “appealed to the bishops in Hawaii and Oregon, and to the Archbishop of Baltimore. The bishop of Portland in Oregon sent two priests from the Pacific Northwest, and U.S. troops stationed at the Presidio built a small shanty to serve as a church,” the Web site explains. The first Mass was held June 17, 1849.
Most recently, the church has opened a 78-percent scale, rock-for-rock, stone-for-stone, fresco-for-fresco replica of St. Francis of Assisi’s tiny Porziuncola church near Assisi, Italy. A rare rock from Assisi, Italy (see photo on page 1), which was used more than 800 years ago when St. Francis and his followers built the church where the Franciscan order was born, was installed on the altar of the replica.
Ammenities: The Franciscan Centre Gift Shop is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.– 5 p.m.
Access: Visitors will find that busses stop within a block of the church, and there are several city parking lots within  a six-block radius of the church. It is San Francisco, so parking is at a premium. And the church is near the financial district, so walking in the area is safe.
(Grand) Kid friendly: If yours is a family trip, children should behave as they would in any church. 
Info: Address: 610 Vallejo St., San Francisco, CA 94133 Phone: 415/983-0405. Web: www.shrinesf.org

- Compiled by Sharon Boehlefeld 

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