SAINT JUNIPERO SERRA

Feast Day: July 1

Lived (November 24, 1713 - August 8, 1784)

Patron Saint of Vocations

Miguel Jose Serra was born on the island of Majorca. He took the name of Junipero when he joined the Franciscans in 1730. Ordained in 1737. He taught philosophy and theology at the University of Padua for twelve years.

On January 1, 1750, he went to Mexico and spent his entire life working for the conversion of the people.

In 1768, Father Serra continued the mission of the Jesuits, who were wrongly expelled by the government from the Mexican province of the modern day California. An indefatigable worker, Serra was in large part responsible for the foundation and spread of the Church on the West Coast of the United States when it was still mission territory.

He founded twenty-one missions and converted thousands of Indians. The converts were taught sound methods of agriculture, cattle raising, and arts and crafts.

Junipero was a dedicated religious and missionary. He was imbued with a penitential spirit and practiced austerity in sleep, eating, and other activities. On August 28, 1784, worn out by his apostolic labors, Father Serra was called to his eternal rest.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988 and was canonized on September 23, 2015, by Pope Francis at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.