MISSION San Juan Bautista from the Plaza    On June 24, 1797, St John the Baptist’s Day and every day since,  Mass has been said on these grounds for the many members of this very active Catholic Church.   On December 21  of every year since the dedication of the Sanctuary in 1812,  the Winter Solstice sun rises to shine into  the window and through the doors onto the altar where hundreds sit silently awaiting the winter light.  Since 2001, the sun’s rays  first fall into the hands of the statue of St. John the Baptist and from there into the window especially placed there by the long-ago architects.