01-11-2024, 08:19 AM
Discovering Our Lady of Bethlehem, California's Oldest Marian Statue
Created for the History of the Catholic Faith in the Americas Conference, this full-length presentation by Church scholar and historian Dr. Marian T. Horvat explores the adventure and role of the life-size dressed statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem that accompanied Fr. Junípero Serra’s historic Sacred and “Impossible” Expedition of 1769, which sought to conquer for Spain the 500-mile-stretch of Alta California by establishing its first two Missions in San Diego and Monterey. Viewers will also learn of the statue’s continued presence in Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Our Lady of Bethlehem’s fate when the missions were dissolved and the friars dismissed by the Act of Secularization imposed by the Mexican government in 1833. Finally, viewers will also learn of Our Lady of Bethlehem’s return to the Carmel Mission in the restoration project of the 20th century.
Created for the History of the Catholic Faith in the Americas Conference, this full-length presentation by Church scholar and historian Dr. Marian T. Horvat explores the adventure and role of the life-size dressed statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem that accompanied Fr. Junípero Serra’s historic Sacred and “Impossible” Expedition of 1769, which sought to conquer for Spain the 500-mile-stretch of Alta California by establishing its first two Missions in San Diego and Monterey. Viewers will also learn of the statue’s continued presence in Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Our Lady of Bethlehem’s fate when the missions were dissolved and the friars dismissed by the Act of Secularization imposed by the Mexican government in 1833. Finally, viewers will also learn of Our Lady of Bethlehem’s return to the Carmel Mission in the restoration project of the 20th century.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre