More than years later, Serra officially became a saint through canonization by Pope Francis on Sept. Photos by Michael Durand. He was declared Venerable in The claim of nun Mary Boniface Dyrda that her lupus was miraculously cured after praying to Serra was accepted by the Vatican in , leading Serra to be declared Blessed in Normally an additional miracle is necessary for the Blessed to reach sainthood, but Pope Francis waived this requirement when he made Serra a saint in Serra was born in on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.
He was a good student in the local convent. At 16, he moved to a larger convent to study to become a priest. During his studies, Serra would have heard of other missionaries who had preached in the Americas.
Serra was one of the new administrators brought in to oversee missions in Baja California of present-day Mexico in It was there that Serra also founded his first mission in Worried about possible Russian expansion from Alaska southward, Spanish authorities authorized land and sea expeditions to establish missions in Alta California present-day California. Each new mission was not necessarily the northernmost one at the time; a mission was founded in near the newly established regional capital of Monterey before some future missions to the south, like San Luis Obispo or San Gabriel were built.
Eager to find potential converts while on expeditions with soldiers and other clergy, Serra would reach a Native American First Nation settlement and find it either abandoned or inhabited by people who took an interest in the items that the Spanish were carrying possibly more out of a desire to trade than to convert to Christianity.
The earliest baptized Indians at any given newly established Alta California mission in the s tended to be children. Later on, missionaries would teach Christianity to adults who would be baptized. First Nation adults were also expected to farm like Europeans on fixed plots of land, instead of moving between seasonal food sources as First Nation inhabitants had done before.
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Notify me of new posts via email. Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here He would spend the rest of his life in Alta California.
He had asthma and a chronic sore on his leg that troubled him for the rest of his life. Serra himself established nine missions, with a total of twenty-one missions eventually being established along the El Camino Real, from San Diego to Sonoma, a distance of miles. On August 28, , at the age of 70 and after traveling 24, miles, Father Junipero Serra died at Mission San Carlos Borromeo and is buried there under the sanctuary floor.
To read a translation of a letter written by Father Serra, about his trials, hopes and observations of California and its native peoples, please click here. When Father Serra died in he had established nine California missions and baptized 6, anf confirmed 5, Indians, about 10 percent of the California Native American population.
Those nine missions grew to They were thinking about this when they saw near the road a house, whither they went and solicited lodging. They found a venerable man, with his wife and child, who received them with much kindness and attention, and gave them supper.
In the morning, the Fathers thanked their hosts, and taking leave, pursued their way. After having gone a little distance they met some muleteers, who asked them where they had passed the night. When the place was described, the muleteers declared that there was no such house or ranche near the road, or within many leagues.
The missionaries attributed to Divine Providence the favor of that hospitality, and believed without doubt that these hosts were Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, reflecting not only about the order and cleanness of the house though poor , and the affectionate kindness with which they had been received, but also about the extraordinary internal consolation which their hearts had felt there. He was even- tempered, temperate, obedient, zealous, kindly in speech, humble and quiet.
His cowl covered neither greed, guile, hypocrisy, nor pride. He sought to be a monk, and he was one in sincerity. Probably few have approached nearer to the ideal perfection of a monkish life than he.
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