Santa Cruz Mission 4th Grade Project by Sean Heaney

What remains today of La Mision de la Exaltacion de Santa Cruz, commonly known as Mission Santa Cruz, is not much.  The Mission, whose name translates to holy cross, is the 12th mission along the El Camino Real founded by Father Fermin De Lasuen August 28, 1791.  It was named after a feast day in the Church calendar which occurs on September 14:  The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrating the Christian symbol of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.  Father Lasuen founded 9 missions including Mission Santa Cruz and was the successor of Spanish Fransiscan Father Junipero Serra.