Mission Santa Clara de Asís began as a Christian religious center that was established in the 1700’s by Spanish Roman Catholic priests in California. Today, the mission is part of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.
The Franciscan missionary Saint Junípero Serra founded the mission on Jan. 12, 1777, and named it for Saint Clare of Assisi. Clare had been a friend and religious co-worker of Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church, in the 1200’s.
The Franciscan missionaries at the Mission Santa Clara de Asís taught the local Costanoan Indians about Christianity. They also established farms and ranches. The community had to move and rebuild several times. Its first location along the Guadalupe River flooded in 1779. A mission church completed in 1784 suffered severe earthquake damage in 1818. The mission rebuilt the church at its final location between 1822 and 1825.
In 1836, the Mexican government secularized the mission, distributing most of the lands to nonchurch administrators and to the Indian members of the community. The Indians soon lost most of their lands to settlers, often as a result of fraud.
In 1851, the bishop of California turned over the remaining mission buildings to the Jesuit priest John Nobili so he could establish a school. Santa Clara College, the first college in California, opened in May of that year. The college became a university in 1912. On Oct. 24, 1926, a fire destroyed the old mission church. In 1928, the university dedicated a new church, based on the mission church’s 1825 design. The building serves as the university chapel and is open to visitors.
