In 1921, the Cardinal of Los Angeles entrusted the Italian colony of San Diego to Fr. Sylvester Rabagliati, S.D.B., a Salesian of Don Bosco.

Father Rabagliati spent the first two years collecting funds for the new Church and on August 17, 1923, he started the building. On the following Christmas, he was able to celebrate Mass in the unfinished Church. Fr. Rabagliati entrusted to Fausto Tasca, a Venetian painter, living in Los Angeles, the decoration of the new Church. Tasca, a master of color and perspective, painted beautiful canvases for the ceiling and the walls of the Church, depicting the mysteries of the Rosary, the twelve Apostles, a huge and impressive Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment. The paintings, the statues of Our Lady, St. Anne, and St. Joseph by the famous Californian Sculptor Carlos Romanelli, and the beautiful stained glass windows, make OLR a unique artistic jewel in Southern California.

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