MSI Press Blog

  Sula was the parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista. She died two years ago this past Thursday, after having served parishioners at Old Mission for more than 15 years, never missing a Mass until Covid or after Covid. She died with her boots on -- on her way while being transported to the Mission to say goodbye, as she gave in to her sixth and last bout of cancer. There was a private burial for Sula soon after she died and a public funeral mass for her, during Francistide, officiated by a priest and a monk, the latter of which blessed the dozens of animals that had been brought to the mass by their owners.  Sula is buried on the Mission grounds and is featured in all tours; the docents all knew her and her story and loved her. She also has a pew with her name on it in the church. Parishioners regularly visit her gravesite, bringing flowers and rosaries.  Read about Sula and her books HERE . Sula's books are still great sellers at the Mission gift shop, St. Francis Retreat Cen

  Excerpt from Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story (Sula)   Greetings, World! My name is Sula. I am told that I am a very attractive cat. A bit rotund, I am a domestic shorthair with a very luxuriant and fanciful white coat, accented by greyish-black bangs and a greyish black tail. I am almost ten years old, a big girl now. I live by choice at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, the latest in a long line of mission cats, and I am a cancer survivor. Supposedly, I am a Turkish Van cat by breed, but I doubt that I came here from Turkey. On the other hand, I don’t know where I came from. I don’t think it really matters. I am here, and I like being here. Moreover, I have a mission and a Mission. What more could any cat want? As a cancer-surviving Mission cat, my chore is to heal people who, like me, must overcome burdens in their lives. (I am so very glad that I do not have the same mission that previous Mission cats had: ridding the Mission of mice and rats. I think they must