Father St. John O'Sullivan began the work of restoration at San Juan Capistrano as therapy. It became his legacy and part of our heritage. He was ordained at age thirty in 1904 and shortly after diagnosed with tuberculosis. Seeking a healthier climate, O'Sullivan traveled through Texas and Arizona before stepping off the train at San Juan Capistrano. On July 5, 1910, he was officially put in charge of the mission.
In 1918, Father O'Sullivan and the mission were granted parochial status. The physical work of restoration aided O'Sullivan's recovery and by 1922 his dream of restoring the Serra chapel at the mission was accomplished, complete with a period reredo from Spain installed behind the altar,
This photograph, from a family album, is from that same time period, c. 1917, and depicts Mary O'Sullivan, Father O'Sullivan's neice, in a boat ashore at Dana Point.
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