Mission San Rafael Arcángel

Picture taken 10:55am 29 Aug 2003

Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded 14 December 1817 (20^th in order) by Padre Vicente de Sarria. The mission is named for Saint Raphael the Archangel. The Indian name was Awániwi (Nanaguami). The mission was originally an asistencia (sub-mission) of San Francisco de Asís and used as a place for the sick of that mission to recover. The current buildings are a replica built on the approximate site of the original. There is an active church at the Mission site and the Mission itself is often used for special services (e.g., I had to wait for a funeral to see the inside).

Location

The Mission is approximately 11 miles North of the Golden Gate Bridge off of U.S. 101 in San Rafael. Both Northbound and Southbound 101 take the Central San Rafael exit and proceed to 5^th Avenue. Proceed West (Northbound left turn and Southbound right turn) a third of a mile to A Street. The mission is at 1104 5^th Avenue at A Street (California Landmark 220). There is parking meter parking on the street and just beyond the Mission is a right turn into a steep driveway leading up to a small parking area next to the large Church of Saint Raphael.

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Contact

• Open daily 11am-4pm, Sunday 10am-4pm. [Note: MissionTour tries to keep this information up to date but cannot guarantee its accuracy as this is not the official Mission website. If planning a drive to the Mission please contact them directly to get the latest information in order to avoid disappointment.]
• Mail: 1104 Fifth Avenue San Rafael, CA 94901-2916
• Phone: (415) 454-8141 (voice) or (415) 454-8193 (fax)
• Web: http://www.saintraphael.com/ (Parish Website)
• Mass Schedule (Saint Raphael Church): Daily English 6:30am, 8:30am; Sat English 8:30am, 5:00pm; Sun English 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:30am. Sunday Spanish 12:00pm, 7:00pm. The Mission chapel will sometimes have special services and there is a Sun 9:00am Vietnamese Mass there.