The land now known as Orange was part of a giant land grant from the Spanish government to a retired Spanish soldier in 1801. Two of his descendants Jose Antonio Yorba, and grandson, Juan Pablo Peralta ultimately ended up with the land, known as the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Both Yorba and Peralta had several children and grandchildren, who moved to various parts of the rancho. They would add new land even as far as what is now Riverside County. The Yorba and Peralta families were still living here in 1848, when California became a state.
When a land dispute arose, two Los Angeles lawyers were called in, named Alfred Beck Chapman and Andrew Glassell, who took some of their fees in land. They had already started buying other sections of the rancho as early as 1864, and owned over 5,000 acres by 1870 in what is now downtown Orange. It seemed like a good location for a town with the nearby Santa Ana River providing water, and the rich soil for farming, plus a stage road ran nearby.
In 1872 two brothers from New York state, Stephen and Robert McPherson, purchased eighty acres of Chapman land on the east side of the Santiago Creek. Chapman Avenue was not cleared beyond the creek until the McPherson's extended it along the south side of their property and opened a new road, later Prospect Avenue, along their eastern property line.
Two other land developers - Oge and Bond - acquired a large area of level land between the foothills and a lower mesa area on the west. They were able to extend Chapman Avenue eastward, up a steep grade, then parceled out land and sold it for farming. (The land that is now La Purisima Parish is within the Oge and Bond tract.)
The town of Orange soon became a thriving farming community. After several failed crops, and a blight in 1886 that killed thousands of grape vines in Orange, McPherson, and Modena, the farmers began planting orange groves. In 1887, to connect the three communities a railroad was constructed on a track from the Plaza in downtown Orange, to a livery stable in Modena, located at the corner of Center St. and Alameda (now known as Hewes). The railroad was opened in January 1888 with a big celebration. The fare between the towns was five cents.
When men began to be called into active duty, there were few people to work in the orange groves. Mexico was asked to help, and families from Mexico began to move north into this land (once owned by them). El Modena was the gathering point, and when the War was over, most of these migrants stayed as permanent residents, adapting their culture to their new environment. It is known, however, that there were Mexican families living in the El Modena area as early as 1895. Between the late 1890's and 1910 the Catholic people in this area would travel to St. Boniface in Anaheim, or St. Joseph in Santa Ana, to attend Mass.
In 1924 Mr. Remedios Mares donated property on Center Street and a frame building was erected. This was the beginning of La Purisima Mission. The seating capacity was about 80. In 1927 additional property on Center Street was purchased for a new church. The original building was moved onto this property and an addition was made to seat about 200. Fr. Jose Origel, who was a priest with Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Ana, would take over the spiritual care of the people in El Modena, coming to celebrate mass each Sunday. Church Baptism records show his presence here from 1927 to 1957.
In October 1957, the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity arrived on the scene as the new spiritual caretakers of La Purisima. Many residents still living here recall fond memories of the first "Fiestas" beginning in 1958. The "Trinitarians" brought about a wonderful sense of community, and with the ever-growing aerospace industry, bringing in new residents in the community, the parish flourished as a bi-lingual community. The early Trinitarian priests began such groups and organizations as the Holy Name Society, Altar Society, Chi Rho, Lumen Christi, and many other spiritual-based groups, bringing the community together. They invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to come and teach religious education classes here.
In 1962 the present church was built on the property now on Hewes St. (then Alameda). The Archdiocese of Los Angeles gave La Purisima a Parish status on May 8, 1964. On June 18, 1976, His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, established the Diocese of Orange. During the 7 years, between 1976 and 1983, the Missionary Servants would continue to serve the people of La Purisima. This time period also saw the massive immigration of the Vietnamese people, who have established themselves as a vital part of our La Purisima community. In 1983, when the Trinitarian community felt that the need for their priests would be better served in other mission areas, we sadly said good-bye to the Trinitarians, after 25 years of faithful service.
With the departure of the Trinitarian priests, and the arrival of The Claretian Missionaries, who accepted the invitation from the Diocese to care for the people of La Purisima, we experienced a large population growth of Mexican people coming in to California. Many found places to live and work in Orange County, and settled in La Purisima Parish. Housing development in the foothills east of the parish brought in more parishioners.
At all times, the people of La Purisima worked together, with perhaps the very first "Tri-lingual" liturgy in the Diocese. Here the Vietnamese, Hispanic and Anglo choirs combined their voices, singing hymns and proclaiming the Word of God in all three languages. Because of the popularity of these tri-lingual liturgies, which were sometimes held outside, the parishioners saw a great need for enlarging the current church.
In late 1999 permission was granted by the Diocese of Orange to begin a capital campaign for the construction of a larger church. Original plans were to remodel or enlarge our current church, which seats 450 people. A second plan was offered for a new church, seating 900. Bishop Tod Brown wisely concluded that any new church construction in the Diocese should have adequate seating for at least 1,200 people.
Our 3-year capital campaign began in the "Jubilee" year 2000, thus receiving it's name, "The Jubilee Project." In the next two years the generosity of La Purisima parishioners promised to raise $3.0 million, and another $1.0 million in fund-raising revenue.
July 1, 2002 brought yet another new "chapter" in the story of La Purisima Parish. After almost twenty years of service to the people of this parish, the Claretians were reassigned to other mission work within their order, turning over the pastoral care of this parish to the priests of the Diocese.
Fr. Christopher Heath was named the new pastor of La Purisima, along with Fr. Anh Nguyen and Fr. Ismael Silva as parochial vicars. Our new Diocesan priests faced many challenges, the biggest of which is to continue leading the construction of a new church, 3 times the size of the current one.
We are very thankful for the Trinitarians and the Claretian Missionaries. Through their inspiration and encouragement, La Purisima parishioners have become true stewards of their parish. As we step into the future under new leadership and a new church for the community, we can be proud of our rich history.
