Saint of the day August 28: Saint Junípero Serra. Catholic Saints

Every August 28, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Junípero Serra, a Franciscan friar of the 18th century who led many of the most important evangelizing missions that were carried out in North America, when it was not yet established as we know it today. For this reason, San Junípero is part of the illustrious list of the continent’s great explorers. He was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.

The missions

In the 18th century, ‘missions’ were the towns founded and organized by various religious orders from Europe that arrived in the New World animated by a desire to evangelize.

Given the general conditions in which the Native Americans lived, the evangelizers understood that the announcement of Christ had to be accompanied by the transmission of elements of civilization. Thus, the Christian message contributed to raising the quality of life of the native populations of America. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the missions that San Junípero founded were transformed over time into small cities and, later, into some of the large cities on the east coast of the United States.

America

Miguel José Serra Ferrer was born on November 24, 1713 in Petra, Mallorca (Spain). At the age of 16 he became a Franciscan friar and changed his name to ‘Junípero’.

In 1749 he left together with twenty Franciscan missionaries for the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico). There he began supporting evangelization work from the Missionary College of San Fernando, and six months after his arrival he received approval from the Viceroy to found a ‘mission’ in Sierra Gorda, a mountainous territory where other Franciscans had already failed. Fray Junípero would remain in that place for the next nine years.

Expulsion of the Jesuits

Since in 1767, the king of Spain, Charles III, decreed the expulsion of all members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from the dominions of the crown – a measure that included the Viceroyalty of New Spain – the Jesuit missions were abandoned.

Until that moment, it had been the Jesuits who spiritually cared for the indigenous and European population that inhabited the so-called “Californias” (north and south). Given their expulsion, the Jesuits were replaced by missionaries from the Franciscan order, sixteen in total, headed by Fray Junípero.

The group of Franciscans left Mexico City on July 14, 1767, to later embark in the port of San Blas heading to the Baja California peninsula. After a short journey, they arrived in Loreto – headquarters of the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto, considered the mother of the missions of Alta and Baja California.

Presence of the brothers of Saint Francis in the New World

Once the missionaries arrived on the peninsula, they decided to continue exploring Alta California, moved by the desire to announce Christ to the indigenous population of the region. On July 3, 1771, the ‘Mission of San Carlos Borromeo’ was erected. In the same month, the ‘Mission of San Antonio de Padua’ was established, and in August that of ‘San Gabriel’, located in the current metropolitan area of ​​Los Angeles, California. On September 1, 1772, one more mission was founded, that of San Luis, Bishop of Tolosa. The Mission of San Francisco de Asís – a Franciscan foundation – gave rise to the current city of San Francisco.

The missionaries catechized the indigenous people, and also taught them notions of agriculture, livestock and masonry; They provided them with seeds and animals; and they advised them in working the land.

Junípero Serra died at the San Carlos Borromeo Mission (Monterrey, California) on August 28, 1784. His remains are found in the basilica there.

Traces of faith in US history

Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Fray Junípero in 1988; Decades later, Pope Francis would proclaim him a saint, on September 23, 2015. The canonization ceremony took place in the United States and therefore great expectations were generated. It was the first time that a ceremony of this type was held in North American territory – the anecdote was that it was the first time that Pope Francis visited the country.

In the homily of the main mass, the Holy Father recalled that Fray Junípero Serra “had a motto that inspired his steps and that he embodied in his life. He knew how to say, but especially he knew how to live by saying: ‘Always move forward.’”

Saint Junípero Serra is the only Spaniard who has a statue in the National Statuary Hall of the Capitol in Washington DC, seat of the legislative branch of the United States, and where the most illustrious figures in the history of that great nation are represented.

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If you want to know more about Saint Junípero Serra, we recommend reading this article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Junípero_Serra.