Saint Junipero Serra
St. Junipero was born on November 24, 1713, in Petra, within the humble home of modest farmers. His parents were illiterate, but they provided education for their son, sending him to the school of the Franciscan convent of San Bernardino. When he felt the call to the religious vocation, he entered the Franciscan convent, outside the city walls. On September 15, 1731 he casts his religious vows. In 1743 he held the chair of Theology at the University of Mallorca. In his preaching for Lent in Petra, his hometown, he received permission to move to the College of Missionaries of San Fernando, in the capital of Mexico, and says goodbye to his elderly parents. After a journey of 99 days, he arrived in Veracruz. He walked to the Capital of Mexico, to the College of Missionaries of San Fernando. On the way a leg sore formed that would cause pain and discomfort, until his death.
Once Junipero arrived to the Sierra, where he spent 8 years teaching the natives to cultivate, setting up farms and workshops. When the missions of Baja California were abandoned, the Government of the Viceroyalty commissioned them to the Franciscans, placing Junipero at the head of an expedition of 16 religious. The wound of his ulcerated leg prevented him from walking without pain.
On July 1, 1769, he arrived in San Diego, but provisions were in short supply that he was ordered to withdraw back to Monterrey. In his next missions he loaded with abundant food, cloth and utensils, which he was delivering. At the end of his walk he had founded the missions of San Diego, San Carlos, San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, San Juan de Capistrano, Santa Clara and San Buenaventura. On September 25, 1988, John Paul II beatified him in Rome, and on September 23, 2015 he was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington D.C.
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