St. Mary's Altar

The shrine shown here can be found at the former site of the St. Anthony's Seminary, an institution in Santa Barbara from 1900 to 1987. One of the reasons it shut down was that the Seminary became notorious for being the site of child abuse. There were 34 well-documented cases between 1960 and 1987. Today the building is home to the Santa Barbara Middle School, where some of the top journalists in town are enrolled. As we have reported on Edhat before, the 7th and 8th graders at this school were the only local press members in town to interview Angelina Jolie during her recent visit here. Recently, they landed an exclusive interview with Nippers.

The shrine in the picture is still visited by sisters from St. Mary's Retreat House. This is a different organization than St. Mary's Seminary, featured in an August 2007 WWII.

Recently, some of the buildings on the St. Anthony's grounds were declared unsound, and a major construction project is scheduled (and permitted) to begin shortly. The Middle School will use portable classrooms during the construction, but if things go as planned, the shrine will stay put.

The bronze plaque on the side of the altar, pictured here, has been engraved with:

Reginae Immaculatae Minorum
In Devoti Animi Testimonium
P Theophilo Richardt Duce
Erexerunt
Missionis S Barbarae
Fratres
AD 1911

According to the Edhat In-House Latin Expert (IHLE) this translates to:
"This was erected as a small testimony of spiritual devotion to the Immaculate Queen by the Brothers of Santa Barbara Mission, led by P(adre?) Theophilus Richardt, AD 1911".

* See what the Edness contestants guessed for this picture.

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