Address: 1275 B Street, Davis, CA 95616

Website: https://stjamesdavis.org/

Overview
The third church for this 150-year-old Catholic community reflects a post-Vatican-II design imbued with the holiness of several sacred features.

The first Catholic church in Davis (then called Davisville) was built in 1875 and dedicated on June 10, 1881 by Archbishop Joseph Alemany of the Archdiocese of San Francisco (before the creation of the Diocese of Sacramento in 1886). Fire destroyed the original church in July 1934 and the parish was relocated to a new brick church at the corner of 5th and C streets. The $12,000 structure served the parish until 1964 when it became the home of the U.C. Davis student Newman Center. The church functioned in a transitional structure until the present 580-seat church was dedicated on February 15, 1976 by Bishop Alden Bell. The vibrant parish is home to both multi-generational families and UC-Davis students. The St. James School was opened on September 7, 1965 and continues to be an important educational feature for Davis Catholic students from kindergarten through 8th grade.

Special things to see in the Church
• The sanctuary was redesigned in 1975-76 to include a hardwood altar and an overhead skylight. The spectacular back-lighted stained glass reredos was designed by Hogan Studios and brilliantly reflects the image of the Ascension figure of Jesus which is the centerpiece of the church.

• On each side of the entrance doors are kaleidoscopes of pieced-together colored glass; and large floral motif windows in the east and west transepts allow prismed-light to flow into the worship space. These windows were designed by Robert Pinart of the famed Cummings Studios in 1976.

• Three images of Our Lady of Guadalupe are present for veneration. At the back of the nave is a replica image of Our Lady as imprinted on St. Juan Diego’s tilma in 1531. Inside the enclosed “cry room” is a beautiful stylized image of the Virgin enhanced with gold. In 2022, the outdoor shrine was updated from the original traditional mosaic image installed in 1989 (designed by Jose Granada). The new image of Our Lady is cast in painted bronze and reflects all the traditional iconography of this important patroness of The America’s and the Diocese of Sacramento.

• The church pays homage to the foster-father of Jesus, with a dark-wood statue of St. Joseph holding the Christ Child and lilies of purity. Alongside is St. Peter, the first Pope and holding the key(s) to heaven. The hand-carved, non-traditional statues reflect the varied images of these “guardians of the Church” used throughout the Roman Catholic Church and the diversity of the parish.

Interesting Facts About the Church
St. James the Less (unknown – 63 AD), the patron of the parish was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, was the first bishop of Jerusalem and is credited with authorship for the Bible book, The Letter of James. The important saint is depicted outside the church as a statue and inside in a round stained glass window. There are speculations about why St. James is called “the Less” to distinguish him from another of the Apostles called St. James the Greater, but they have nothing to do with importance. The reasons include: James the Less was the younger of the two; James the Less was invited to Christ’s discipleship after James the Greater; and James the Less was physically smaller. St. James the Less is also called “the brother of the Lord” because according to The Golden Legend compiled by Blessed Jacobus de Voragine in the 1260’s, he looked so much like Jesus, it was hard to distinguish who was who. The story goes that this is the reason that the Jews asked Judas to identify Jesus with a kiss when they went to capture him the night before the Crucifixion.

St. James the Less is usually shown in religious iconography with a “fullers” club, the instrument of his martyrdom. A fullers club is a tool used to clean impurities out of sheep wool and thicken it, by pounding it while wet. He is also shown with a scroll representing The Letter of James. The feast day of St. James the Less in the current Roman Calendar is on May 3 (shared with the apostle St. Philip).