Born Miguel Serra in Majorca, Spain in 1713, Miguel joined the Franciscans as a young man and took the name JunÃpero after St. Francis’s favorite companion (the 13th century St. Juniper). Very intelligent and highly educated, JunÃpero earned a doctorate in theology before traveling to Mexico (New Spain) to teach and perform missionary work at the age of 27. Having made quite an impression, Junipero was appointed superior of a group of Franciscans sent to Baja California to replace the Jesuits who had started the conversion process among Native Indians. The Jesuits were expelled and deported back to Spain amidst rumors they were amassing a fortune in the process. Eventually JunÃpero Serra moved northward into “Alta California†where he established the first of his 21 missions, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. During his tenure as “Father Presidente” of the Alta California missions and Founder of Spanish California, Serra continued to found missions, spread Christianity and play politics in the new region as Spain continued to take hold of California. Serra is also notable for taking up collections at his parishes; money that was later sent in good spirit to General George Washington to help aide in the American Revolutionary War (a whopping $137, but it’s the thought that counts, right?). JunÃpero Serra tirelessly performed his works in the name of God and personally confirmed over 5,000 Native Americans. He walked everywhere throughout the vast landscape, refusing horseback or mule rides, despite his lame leg (the result of a snake bite). He died at Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo (the second of the 21 missions he founded) and is buried there under the sanctuary floor. Many Catholics pilgrimage to his resting place to this day. The seventh mission founded among the 21 is Mission San Juan Capistrano (1782), believed to be the oldest standing structure in California. Not surprisingly, scores of highways, streets, trails, schools and other landmarks in California are named after JunÃpero Serra. Although Serra’s missionary work was earnest and well-intentioned, treatment of the resistant Native American Indians remains controversial. After all, it was their land to begin with, so can you really blame them?
