MONSIGNOR HOLQUIN SPOTS SWALLOWS AT MISSION

Happy anniversary Monsignor Arthur Holquin.

Monday, July 1 marks the 10-year anniversary of Msgr. Holquin being named Rector and Pastor of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano, and last week he received a special gift of sorts.

Mission San Juan Capistrano became well-known for the cliff swallows that nested there for decades, even centuries, but urbanization gave the swallows more options to nest and fewer and fewer swallows made the Mission their home.

But they may now be coming back.

“Father Michael Pontarelli told me, ‘I think there are swallows building a nest inside the Mission, near the back door of the rectory,'” Msgr. Holquin said. “So I high-tailed it over there and looked up. At first I couldn’t see it, but on the other side of a beam, you could see the very distinctive mud nest. About 60 seconds later, I saw a swallow fly out of it.”

Swallows migrate from Argentina to the San Juan Capistrano Valley every spring to nest, so at first glance, one might not consider the significance of such a sighting. Not so fast, says Msgr. Holquin.

“We always say the Mission is a place of living history,” he said. “I’ve always liked that motto. Living history is not just what’s happened in the past, but it continues in the present and into the future.

“When we did the preservation work to the Great Stone Church, a lot of the swallows were displaced. We knew they were in the San Juan Valley, but when we realized they were not building nests within the Mission grounds, that was unsettling. It’s part of our history.”

So it wasn’t lost of Msgr. Holquin that the sighting came so close to his milestone anniversary.

“Quite frankly, this is the first nest I’ve seen in the 10 years I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s a wonderful reflection of a place where history lives on. We knew they were getting close. We’ve had experts trying to lure them in with IPod calls. They said they were a block away. But now that they are here within the Mission grounds is very exciting.”

Swallows Story
The miracle of the “Swallows” of Capistrano takes place each year at Mission San Juan Capistrano, on March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day.

As the faithful little birds wing their way back to the most famous mission in California, the village of San Juan Capistrano takes on a fiesta air and the visitors from all parts of the world, and all walks of life, gather in great numbers to witness the “miracle” of the return of the swallows.

At dawn on St. Joseph’s Day, the little birds arrive and begin rebuilding their mud nests, which are clinging to the ruins of the Great Stone Church of San Juan Capistrano. The arches of the two story, vaulted Great Stone Church were left bare and exposed, as the roof collapsed during the earthquake of 1812.

The Great Stone Church, said to be the largest and most ornate in any of the missions, now has a more humble destiny — that of housing the birds that St. Francis loved so well.

After the summer spent within the sheltered walls of the Old Mission in San Juan Capistrano, the swallows take flight again, and on the Day of San Juan, October 23rd, they leave after circling the Mission bidding farewell to the “Jewel of the Missions.”