The Corner

Sorry About That, St. Francis

From a reader:

Please! It’s “La Ciudad de Nuestra Seňora, Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula,” of course. You forgot the last two words, which really are the key to the history of the name.

Porciuncula was the name of St Francis’s chapel, and the home of the Franciscans. The early Spanish settlers of LA included Father Juan Crespi, a priest of the Franciscan order who named the river the Porciuncula after it. So the original full name of the city, translated is “The City of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula.”

Peter Robinson — Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
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