The third mission of the Franciscan chain was named after St. Anthony. He was born to a noble family in Lisbon, in 1195. In 1221, he received a new name, Anthony, and a new identity as a Franciscan Friar, having left the Augustinian Canons Regular. Ill health prevented him from becoming a missionary, but he showed brilliance as a scholar and preacher. His intense devotion to the child Jesus is invariably depicted in the artistic works of his life. Death came to St. Anthony in 1231 and he was canonized in 1232. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. His feast day is June 13.

Saint Anthony of Padua

After Christ and the Virgin Mary, St. Anthony was the most popular devotion for Hispanic California, and was chosen to be the patron of the 3rd mission founded by Serra, July 14, 1771. Upon hanging the church bells on an oak tree near the present mission, Fray Junipero rang them vigorously, calling out “Hear, O Gentiles, come, O come to the holy Church of God! Come, O come and receive the faith in Christ! Let me give vent to my heart’s desires: for I would that these bells were heard all over the world, of at least by all the pagan people who live in this sierra.”