A Man of God, a Mission of Love
The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council present the truth about St Junipero Serra. Truly, a Man of God.
“In this documentary, learn about Father Serra’s heroic missionary activity to Indigenous peoples in 18th-century North America.”
Father Junípero Serra O.F.M.
Miguel Jose Serra was born on November 24, 1713 in Petra, Majorca, an island off the coast of Spain. Miguel grew up on a farm near a Franciscan friary and as a boy he would often visit the monastery, attending classes and singing with the priests in the choir.
On September 30, 1730, when Miguel was sixteen, he was received into the Franciscan order in Palma, the capital of Majorca. He chose the name Junípero because Junípero had been a companion of St. Francis, known as “the Jester of God, a man of utter simplicity and celestial mirth”.
Fr. Serra studied and became a philosophy teacher at a Franciscan seminary and eventually earned a doctorate degree in Sacred Theology at Lullian University in Palma, where he also taught. Fr. Serra’s dream was to become a missionary and on January 7, 1750 his dream became a reality. Fr. Serra arrived in Mexico City at the Franciscan College of San Fernando where he lived among the Pama Indians and became the superior in charge of the missions in the area.
Alta California had been claimed for the country of Spain, but there were no settlements along the coast or inland. The only inhabitants were the Native Americans who lived in the valleys. Russian fur traders up north were encroaching on the land and this worried the King of Spain. So, in 1769, at the age of 55, Fr. Serra would be appointed as the director of the expedition northward that would establish the missions, spread Christianity, and secure the land for Spain.
He traveled in an overland party with Gaspar de Portola, the Governor of New Spain, and arrived in San Diego on July 1, 1769. A site on Presidio Hill was selected to establish the mission and on July 16, 1769, Fr. Serra raised a cross and celebrated Mass to dedicate Mission San Diego de Alcalá, California’s first mission. Fr. Serra continued his journey northward and founded a total of 9 missions by the time he died at the age of 71. He walked 4,000 miles on a lame leg and endured many hardships to see his dream accomplished.
Written by Msgr. I.B. Eagen, former Pastor of Mission San Diego de Alcalá