IT BEGAN WITH A procession around the church: hundreds of parishioners following the Knights of Columbus, the three bishops of the Diocese of Orange and other clergy, Vietnamese mothers, altar servers and a statue of the Virgin Mary.
PARISHIONERS CARRIED A STATUE OF THE VIRGIN MARY IN PROCESSION PRIOR TO THE START OF LA PURÍSIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH’S CENTENNIAL MASS. PHOTOS BY THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE
It continued with a tri-lingual Mass in Spanish, English and Vietnamese. About 1,500 congregants filled the chapel and another 400 listened in from outdoor seating.
The event concluded with a feast and entertainment: Vietnamese lion dancers, mariachi music and folklorico dancers provided entertainment, while attendees enjoyed a variety of Latin, Vietnamese, Filipino and American food.
BISHOP KEVIN VANN WAS THE MAIN CELEBRANT OF LA PURÍSIMA’S CENTENNIAL MASS.
The Centennial celebration for La Purísima Catholic Church in Orange on Saturday, Dec. 7, was a fitting encapsulation of the parish’s 100-year history: a joyous, melding of peoples and cultures welcomed in the union of Catholicism.
Although Catholic Missions in California date back to the 1700s, La Purísima is one of the older continuously operating parishes and faith communities in Orange County. Its origins date back to the early 1900s, when Franciscan priests who fled the Mexican Revolution preached to farmers under a pepper tree on Pearl Street.
Through its founding as a mission parish in 1924, and several expansions to its current campus with a 1,250-seat chapel and school, La Purísima has been at the heart of spiritual life in the El Modena area and a center for multicultural faith.
BISHOP THANH THAI NGUYEN AND BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER PROCEED TO THE ALTAR OF LA
PURÍSIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ORANGE. PHOTOS BY THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Throughout it all, the church has been a beacon for often displaced people seeking a spiritual home, from refugees of the Mexican revolution and Cristeros Wars early in the 20th century, to the Vietnamese diaspora following the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s.
Bishop Kevin Vann remembered the parish having a special place in his heart since early in his tenure in Orange County because of its welcoming reputation and diversity.
He recalled one evening while having dinner at the Orange Hill Restaurant perched over the city, he spotted the parish’s lights, unique amid the vast twinkling scape of lights.
“I told my friends, ‘Oh, look at that light there. That’s La Purísima,’ Bishop Vann recalled. “It showed out. I believe in this anniversary all of you do that and are called upon to stand out and show the light of Christ.”
Jeff Rice, a church lay leader at La Purísima, added: “The history of the church has been waves of migrants,” he said. “It’s a very diverse and prayerful community.”
BIRTH OF A CHURCH
In 1924, Remedios Mares and his wife donated a half lot of land on Center St. in the El Modena barrio east of downtown Orange to Fr. Teadro Sanchez. With the help of the Knights of Columbus of Long Beach, a frame building seating 80 was erected and given Parochial Status as La Purísima Mission. That year, five Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception Sisters, who had also fled religious persecution in Mexico, taught Catholic religion classes, beginning a tradition of education that continues today.
By 1927, the congregation outgrew the space, and property was purchased on Center St. The chapel was moved and expanded to seat 200. In 1957, the church was on the move again to its current home, then a four-acre orange grove. A new chapel, today referred to as the “old church,” was constructed in 1964 with the school being added a year later.
Rice, who joined the parish in 1987, remembers the chapel, which seated 450, being overwhelmed. When he first saw La Purísima, Rice recalled saying. “‘This can’t be it; this is too small.’ They said, ‘No, that’s it.’” Rice said Sunday Masses began at 6:30 in the morning and spilled out the doors all day long.
In 2003, under the direction of the then-pastor, Fr. Christopher Heath, ground broke for the current chapel and construction was finished in 2005. However, throughout the growth, Rice said, “the charism (or spiritual gift) of the church has been mission.”
Alondra Larios Jimenez, a staffer who has been with the church since childhood, said throughout the changes, the congregation has remained solid and devoted.
“People have a strong identity with the parish,” she said, even those who have moved away return to their home church on Sundays. “People feel they’re La Purísima.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Fr. Martin Nguyen said the entire congregation worked hard on the Centennial.
“We planned and planned with representatives from all our communities,” he said.
The pastor said the 100th anniversary wasn’t just about the past, “it’s a time of renewal.”
Today, the chapel fills up with eight Sunday services, four in English, three in Spanish and one in Vietnamese.
Throughout the week there are school and countless after-hour community and parish events and clubs.
“We are busy all week,” said Deacon Ricardo Barraza, a congregant since 1998. “We have a lot of work.”
Fr. Nguyen continued: “God has blessed us for the last 100 years and that we’ll have 100 more years of hope, faith, love and service as we continue to grow and thrive.”
Or as Bishop Vann said: “Show that light, so that all who pass by can say, ‘That’s La Purísima.’”