VIII
THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY
Santa Clara. When the Spaniards passed through this valley, they were not slow to recognize in it one of those favored spots on the earth’s surface where climate and soil unite to produce the highest results. So here they founded two missions, one at Santa Clara, and one at San José.
Santa Clara (St. Clara), stands in one of the most fertile valleys in California, which is equivalent to saying in the whole world, and is about forty-six miles south-southeast of San Francisco. The mission was founded by Padres Peña and Murguia, January 12, 1777. The buildings now standing are mainly modern, but a small portion of the original structure being incorporated in them. The ceiling over the sanctuary is original, and a small part of the adobe buildings.
Clara de Asís, the sweet saint for whom this mission was named, was the daughter of a nobleman. Her beauty and wealth brought her many offers of marriage, all of which she refused, preferring to devote herself to a religious life. She became the founder of the order of Franciscan nuns, known as the “Poor Clares,” to which many noble ladies attached themselves. The rules of the order were so strict that St. Clara’s health finally became under-mined, and she died in an ecstatic trance, believing herself called to Heaven by angelic voices. Her special symbol is the lily, peculiarly appropriate for the patroness of the ever-blooming Santa Clara Valley.