Junípero Serra

A Franciscan missionary and founder of the Spanish missions of California, Junípero Serra (1713-1784) was one of the most respected and best-known figures in California history.

Junípero Serra whose sobriquets "Apostle of California" and "Father of the Missions" typify the love and esteem with which he is still regarded, was born Miguel José Serra at Petra on the island of Majorca just off the eastern coast of Spain. Educated by the Franciscan fathers at Palma, Serra joined the order in 1730 and took the name Junípero in memory of a companion of St. Francis of Assisi. For several years following his ordination, Serra remained at Palma as both student and teacher. He received a doctorate in theology in 1742 and served as professor of theology at the Franciscan university in Palma from 1744 to 1749.

Then, at the age of 36, Serra joined a group of missionaries setting out for Mexico. In company with his pupil and friend Fray Francisco Palóu, Serra arrived in Mexico City in December 1749. Shortly thereafter he volunteered to go to the mission field of Sierra Gorda in northeastern Mexico, where for 8 years he served as preacher and teacher. He learned the Otomí language of the natives, built several churches which are still in use today, and established a successful and thriving mission system.

In 1758 Serra prepared for a new assignment at Mission San Sabá on the Texas frontier, but before he could go north, hostile Comanches attacked and burned the mission. The Church then ordered Serra to the Franciscan college of San Fernando in Mexico City, and from 1758 to 1767 he served as home missionary, preached throughout Mexico, and served as a commissioner of the Holy Office, or Inquisition.

California Missions

In 1767, when the Spaniards expelled the Jesuit order from New Spain, Serra became president of the former Jesuit missions in Baja California. He arrived at Loreto in April 1768 and immediately set about the task of improving and enlarging the mission establishments. In 1769 he volunteered to go to Alta California to establish the first missions there. During the march north Serra suffered from painful bleeding ulcers on his legs and feet, but he refused to turn back. He arrived at San Diego in late June 1769 and immediately began construction of the first mission plant.

During the next 15 years Serra devoted his time and energy to the Franciscan establishment in California. When others despaired, Serra persevered. By 1782 the indefatigable priest had founded nine missions: San Diego, San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey (Carmel), San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura. Slowly he overcame the fear and hostility of the natives and converted them to the Christian religion. Serra was as concerned with the Native Americans' physical well-being as with their spiritual life. He introduced domestic animals and new agricultural methods and trades to the neophytes at his missions and did everything possible to help the natives adjust to a different way of life. Under his care the California missions became the most successful and prosperous in all of New Spain.

Not only did Serra have responsibility for the missions, but after the founding of the pueblos of San José and Los Angeles he also administered the churches there as well as those at the presidios of San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara. His devotion and constancy were in large part responsible for the growth and development of Spanish California.

Serra died in August 1784 at Mission San Carlos Borromeo and was buried in the mission church (at present-day Carmel), which has become a shrine to his memory. Monuments to Serra dot the map from Majorca to San Francisco, and several societies, including Serra International, have been established in his honor.

Further Reading

Although adulatory, the work by Serra's friend and companion Francisco Palóu, Life of Fray Junípero Serra (1787; trans. 1955), is the best known of the Serra biographies, available in several editions and translations. The best of the modern works is Maynard J. Geiger, The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra (2 vols., 1959). The study by Katherine and Edward Maddin Ainsworth, In the Shade of the Juniper Tree: A Life of Fray Junípero Serra (1970), is thoroughly researched, but the wealth of factual material tends to obscure Serra's personal qualities. Most histories of California devote at least part of a chapter to Serra's career. Particularly recommended is the discussion in Charles E. Chapman, A History of California: The Spanish Period (1928).

Additional Sources

Habig, Marion Alphonse, Junípero Serra, Chicago, Ill.: Franciscan Herald Press, 1987.

Morgado, Martin J., Junípero Serra's legacy, Pacific Grove, Calif.:Mount Carmel, 1987.

Pirus, Betty L., Before I sleep, New York: Vantage Press, 1977.

Sullivan, Marion F., Westward the bells: a biography of Junípero Serra, Boston, MA: St. Paul Books & Media, 1988.

Weber, Francis J., A bicentennial compendium of Maynard J. Geiger's The life and times of Fr. Junípero Serra, S.l.: s.n., 1988, Santa Barbara, CA: Kimberly Press.

Weber, Francis J., Some "fugitive" glimpses at Fray Junípero Serra, S.l.: s.n., 1984. □

Junípero Serra , 1713–84, Spanish Franciscan missionary in North America, b. Majorca. His name was originally Miguel José Serra, and Junípero was his name in religion. For 15 years he taught philosophy in the college at Palma. In 1749 he was sent to America with Francisco Palou, his lifelong friend and biographer, and proceeded to Mexico City, where he taught briefly at the College of San Fernando. For three years he worked successfully among the Native Americans of the Sierra Gorda and then returned to Mexico City for seven more years, working half of each year in the surrounding villages. His passionate preaching and stern asceticism won him a large and respectful following. It was at this time that his self-mortification began and that legends began to grow up about him. In 1769, Serra went with the second expedition to California, which was commanded by Gaspar de Portolá. When the party reached San Diego, Serra remained to found (1769) the mission there, while most of the rest of the party went on in search of the harbor of Monterey. When they returned unsuccessful, Serra was one of those responsible for the sending of another expedition, which he accompanied. When Monterey was reached and the mission San Carlos Barromeo founded (1770), Serra remained there as president of Alta California missions; in 1771 he moved the mission to Carmel-by-the-Sea, which became his headquarters for the rest of his days. Under his presidency were founded the missions San Antonio de Padua (1771), San Gabriel Arcángel (1771), San Luis Obispo (1772), San Juan Capistrano (1776), San Francisco de Asís (1776), Santa Clara de Asís (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782). The source material on Father Serra is chiefly in Francisco Palou's Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Father Junípero Serra (tr. 1958) and The Founding of the First California Missions under the Spiritual Guidance of the Venerable Padre Fray Junípero Serra (tr. 1934).

Bibliography: See biographies by T. Maynard (1954), D. Gordon (1969), and K. Ainsworth and E. M. Ainsworth (1970); study by M. F. Sullivan (1971).

Serra, Junipero (1713–1784), Franciscan missionary, founder of California missions.Born in Majorca, he sailed for America in 1749 and arrived in Mexico City in 1750. Beginning in 1769, he established a system of nine missions between San Diego and San Francisco. They were San Diego De Acala (1769), San Carlos Borromeo De Carmelo (1770), San Antonio De Padua (1771), San Gabriel Arcangel (1771), San Luis Obispo De Tolosa (1772), San Francisco De Asis (1776), San Juan Capistrano (1776), Santa Clara De Asis (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782). These missions played a pivotal role in the West Coast's formative history. Serra also assisted in founding four presidios (military garrisons) and two pueblos.

Indians from at least six linguistic stocks were gathered into the missions. More than 6,000 were baptized and 5,276 confirmed. Junipero Serra professed love for the Indians; understood their customs and manners; and defended their interests on such issues as the rightful payment for labor, proper punishment (if any), and the sharing of supplies. This involved him in conflicts with the Spanish military authorities, one of whom, Don Felipe de Neve, military commander of Alta California, found him “arrogant” and “obstinate.”

All, however, acknowledged his tireless devotion to the cause. “What good is a man's life,” he once asked, “if he doesn't bring miracles to this earth for his brothers?” Junipero Serra was beatified for sainthood by Pope John Paul II in 1984, at his grave in the sanctuary of Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, California.
See also Colonial Era; Indian History and Culture: From 1500 to 1800; Religion; Roman Catholicism; Spanish Settlements in North America.

Bibliography

Maynard Joseph Geiger , trans., Palóu's Life of Fray Junipero Serra [1787], 1955.
Maynard Joseph Geiger , The Life and Times of Fray Junipero Serra, O.F.M., vols. 1–2, 1959.
Jacinto Fernandez , Summarium, Patris Juniperi Serra, 1984.

Don De Nevi