THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Mission San Antonio de Padua is associated with reports of ghostly monks, Native American apparitions, unexplained footsteps, and mysterious voices around its historic buildings and grounds. Visitors have also described unusual lights and other phenomena attributed to those who lived and died at the remote mission.
Mission San Antonio De Padua was built in 1771 and is believed to be haunted by many ghosts. One is a monk whose apparition holds a candle and walks in the courtyard; another is a 7-year-old girl with cancer who got permission to be buried under the Mission’s arch (her grave is said to mysteriously grow violets). A third ghostly legend here explains the apparition of a headless Native American woman: She was beheaded by her prospector husband for being unfaithful. And once, a ghostly cloud was seen floating throughout the Mission. It is believed to have been the spirit of Father John Baptist, as had just died the night before.