Soy de Duval

TOPICS:  Catholic Church San Diego Catholic Church St. Francis De Paula POSTED BY:  CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM   FEBRUARY 6, 2016 St. Francis de Paula School ,  Photo by Kevin Smithwick. In a Facebook post in support of National Catholic Schools Week this week I wrote that I learned to write at St. Francis de Paula Catholic School in San Diego. Indeed, many of my contemporaries and older natives of San Diego probably went to the school. But that brought up a question that I’ve had on and off for years; just who was St. Francis de Paula? Generations have been dutifully meeting their Sunday Mass obligations at that beautiful church in San Diego, but are they familiar with the parish’s patron saint? I’m not. So let’s remedy that now. St. Frans de Paula Before reviewing his early life, it is important to take a look at why he was chosen as the patron saint of the church in San Diego. The first pastor at San Diego was Claude Jaillet, a Frenchman. Although St. Francis...

TOPICS: Brush Country St. Francis De Paula POSTED BY:  CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM   APRIL 10, 2017 This year is the sesquicentennial of St. Francis de Paula parish in San Diego. Sesquicentennial is another way to say, the 150th anniversary. I first heard the term when Texas celebrated its sesquicentennial and thought it sounded pretentious. Still do. But I digress. I thought it would be a great time to publish a book on the history of the parish. Still do, but am not sure I could do it in the remaining nine months. Still, I was discussing the project with a friend and mentioned that I already had a title: “St. Francis de Paula, Mother Church of the Brush Country.” She suggested I check this out, because there may be older churches in the Brush Country. That got me to thinking. What is the Brush Country anyway? What counties would make up this area? I have always thought of the Brush Country as Duval, Jim Hogg, Brooks, and Jim Wells Counties. If I am correct, there is no doubt that ...