The eighth Franciscan mission in Alta California was named after St. Clare, who was born at Assisi in 1193 and ran away from home at the age of eighteen to join St. Francis. At San Damiano she founded, with St. Francis, the famous order of nuns called the Poor Clares. She is the first woman to compose a Rule approved by the Church. St. Clare was canonized in 1255. Her feast day is August 11.

Saint Clare of Assisi

Viceroy Bucareli called for 2 missions to be established in the San Francisco Bay region. The one at the mouth of the harbor was named for St. Francis and the companion mission at the southern end was to be named for St. Clare, Francis’ close spiritual friend. Established along the banks of the Guadalupe River on January 12, 1777, Mission Santa Clara became the 8th mission in the chain. A wooden cross, which stands today in front of the existing church, and a make-shift altar were set up and Fray Tomas de la Pena said the first Mass. The mission was offered to the Jesuits in 1851 to fill a need for religious educational institutions and Santa Clara College was established within the primitive buildings. The present church, dedicated in 1928, attempts to capture the appearance of the 1825 church. Father Magin Catala, known as “The Holy Man of Santa Clara” is buried in the church.