Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The bell tower of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Montecito, California. The Parish was established on July 16, 1856 by the very Reverend Thaddeus Amat, Bishop of Montecito. 


My good friend Dana lives in Montecito with his beautiful wife and two amazing kids. This parish is just a hop skip and a jump away from their home. Dana pointed it out to me my first long weekend staying with them years ago. They are Christian Scientist and go to services every Sunday. He thought, knowing that I'm Catholic, I might enjoy going to mass here on my own while they were worshiping at their church. He was so right. 


It's even more lovely inside although, this last trip up with my Auntie Syl I could only show her the grounds. Being that it was a Monday about 6:30 in the early evening, the church itself was locked up for the night.


We sat and wondered around for at least a half hour and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the trip. In addition to this old church, we wound up exploring four of the California Missions on our route. So, definitely more religious artifacts and old missions to come! 

Until next time, 

Ani