Saint Junípero Serra

Miguel José Serra was born on November 24, 1713, in Petra, on the island of Majorca. He joined the Franciscans, taking the name Junípero, and became a respected professor of philosophy and theology. In 1749 he gave up his chair and sailed for New Spain, where he served among the Pame people of the Sierra Gorda in Mexico for nearly a decade.

In 1769, already in his fifties and suffering from a painfully swollen leg, he founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first of nine California missions he established, including San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, San Gabriel and San Juan Capistrano. He baptized thousands and tirelessly defended the converts in his care. He died at Carmel on August 28, 1784. Pope Francis canonized him in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 2015, the first canonization celebrated on United States soil.

California's old missions, from San Diego to Carmel, mark his feast with Masses, bell ringing and processions along the historic Camino Real. In Petra, Majorca, his birthplace and family home welcome pilgrims, and Hispanic parishes across the American West honor him as a spiritual father of their communities.