Junípero Serra - Hymns and Chants

Junípero Serra
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Serra and the second or maternal
family name is Ferrer.
Junípero Serra Ferrer, O.F.M., (/dʒuːnɨˈpɛroʊˈsɛrə/;
The missions were primarily designed to convert the natives. Other aims were to integrate the neophytes into
Spanish society, and to train them to take over ownership
and management of the land. As head of the order in
California, Serra not only dealt with church officials, but
also with Spanish officials in Mexico City and with the
local military officers who commanded the nearby presidios (garrisons).
Fr. Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988. Beatification is the third of four steps in
canonization (sainthood).
1 History
1.1 Early life
Serra was born as Miguel Joseph Serra Ferrer[2] to a
family of humble means, in Petra, Majorca, Spain. On
November 14, 1730, he entered the Alcantarine Franciscans, a reform movement in the Order, and took the name
“Junipero” in honor of Saint Juniper, who had also been
a Franciscan and a companion of Saint Francis.[1]
For his proficiency in studies he was appointed lector of
philosophy before his ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Father Serra was considered intellectually brilliant
by his peers. Prior to his departure to the Americas at
age 27, he was assigned by his superiors to teach philosophy in professorial status to students at the Convento de
San Francisco. Among his students were fellow future
missionaries Francisco Palóu and Juan Crespí.[3] He received a doctorate in theology from the Lullian University
in Palma de Mallorca, where he also occupied the Duns
Scotus chair of philosophy until he joined the missionary
College of San Fernando de Mexico in 1749.[4]
Monument of Junípero Serra (with Juaneño Indian boy) on plaza
de San Francisco de Asis in Havana
Spanish: [xuˈnipeɾo ˈsera]) (November 24, 1713 – August
28, 1784) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who founded a
mission in Baja California and the first nine of 21 Spanish
missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco,
which at the time were in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain. He began in San Diego
on July 16, 1769, and established his headquarters near
Monterey, California, at Mission San Carlos Borromeo
de Carmelo.[1]
1
2
1
HISTORY
1.2 New Spain
That same year he journeyed to Mexico City, where he
taught. While traveling on foot from Vera Cruz to the
capital, he injured his leg in such a way that he suffered from it throughout his life, though he continued to
make his journeys on foot whenever possible.[4] He requested a transfer to the Sierra Gorda Indian Missions
some 90 miles north of Santiago de Querétaro, where he
spent about nine years. During this time, he served as
the mission’s superior, learned the language of the Pame
Indians, and translated the catechism into their language.
Recalled to Mexico City, he became famous as a most
fervent and effective preacher of missions. His zeal frequently led him to employ extraordinary means in order
to move the people to penance: he would pound his breast
with a stone while in the pulpit, scourge himself, or apply
a lit candle to his bare chest.
In 1768, Father Serra was appointed superior of a band
of 15 Franciscans for the Indian Missions of Baja California. The Franciscans took over the administration of the
missions on the Baja California Peninsula from the Jesuits
after King Carlos III ordered them forcibly expelled from
New Spain on February 3, 1768. Serra became the “Father Presidente.” On March 12, 1768, Serra embarked
from the Pacific port of San Blas on his way to the Californias.
1.3 Missions
The next year the Spanish governor decided to explore
and found missions in Alta (upper) California. This was
intended both to Christianize the extensive Indian populations and to serve Spain’s strategic interest by preventing Russian explorations and possible claims to North
America’s Pacific coast.[5] Early in the year 1769, he accompanied Governor Gaspar de Portolà on his expedition
to Alta California (see Timeline of the Portolà expedition). On the way, he established the Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá on May 14 (the only
Franciscan mission in all of Baja California). When the
party reached San Diego on July 1, Father Serra stayed
behind to start the Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the
first of the 21 California missions[4] (including the nearby
Visita de la Presentación, also founded under Serra’s
leadership).
Junipero Serra moved to the area that is now Monterey
in 1770, and founded Mission San Carlos Borroméo de
Statue of Junípero Serra at the Mission San Diego de Alcalá in
San Diego
Carmelo. He remained there as “Father Presidente” of
the Alta California missions. In 1771, Fr. Serra relocated
the mission to Carmel, which became known as “Mission
Carmel” and served as his headquarters. Under his presidency were founded:
• Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, July 16,
1769, present-day San Diego, California.
• Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, June 3,
1770, present-day Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
• Mission San Antonio de Padua, July 14, 1771
• Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, September 8, 1771,
present-day San Gabriel, California.
• Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, September 1,
1772, present-day city of San Luis Obispo, California.
3
• Mission San Juan Capistrano, November 1, 1776, Indian populations were critical to keeping the region
present-day San Juan Capistrano
within Spain’s political orbit. Economically, the missions
produced all of the colony’s cattle and grain, and by the
• Mission San Francisco de Asís, June 29, 1776, 1780s were even producing surpluses sufficient to trade
present-day San Francisco, California chain of mis- with Mexico for luxury goods.[5]
sions.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775–83),
• Mission Santa Clara de Asís, January 12, 1777, Father Serra took up a collection from his mission
parishes throughout California. The total money colpresent-day city of Santa Clara, California, and
lected amounted to roughly $137, but the money was sent
• Mission San Buenaventura, March 31, 1782, to General George Washington. Serra also received the
present-day Ventura, California.
title Founder of Spanish California.
Fr. Serra was also present at the founding of the Presidio
of Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, California) on April 21,
1782, but was prevented from locating the mission there
because of the animosity of Governor Felipe de Neve.
In 1773, difficulties with Pedro Fages, the military commander, compelled Father Serra to travel to Mexico City
to argue before Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y
Ursúa for the removal of Fages as the Governor of California Nueva. At the capital of Mexico, by order of
Viceroy Bucareli, he printed up Representación in 32 articles. Bucareli ruled in Father Serra’s favor on 30 of
the 32 charges brought against Fages, and removed him
from office in 1774, after which time Father Serra returned to California. In 1778, Fr. Serra, although not a
bishop, was given dispensation to administer the sacrament of confirmation for the faithful in California. After
he had exercised his privilege for a year, Governor Felipe
de Neve directed him to suspend administering the sacrament until he could present the papal brief. For nearly
two years Father Serra refrained, and then Viceroy Majorga gave instructions to the effect that Father Serra was
within his rights.
2 Relationship with Native Californians
According to George Tinker, himself an Osage/Cherokee
and professor at Iliff School of Theology in Denver,
Colorado,[7] Serra’s legacy included forced labor of converted Indians in order to support the missions. Overwhelming evidence suggests that “native peoples resisted
the Spanish intrusion from the beginning”.[8] Tinker also
states that Serra’s intentions in evangelizing were honest
and genuine.[9]
Serra’s own views are documented. In 1780, Serra wrote:
“that spiritual fathers should punish their sons, the Indians, with blows appears to be as old as the conquest of the
Americas; so general in fact that the saints do not seem to
be any exception to the rule.”[5] Serra pushed for a system
of laws to protect natives from some abuses by Spanish
soldiers, whose practices were in conflict with his.[1]
Mark A. Noll, a professor at the religious Wheaton College in Illinois has noted that this reflected an attitude,
common at the time, that missionaries could, and should,
treat their wards like children, including the use of corporal punishment.[10] On the other hand, Tinker argues that
it is more appropriate to judge the beatings and whippings
administered by Serra by 18th century Native American
standards (since they were the recipients of the violence)
and notes, for instance, that Native Americans were unaccustomed to punishing their children.[11]
Franciscans saw the Indians as children of God who deserved the opportunity for salvation, and would make
good Christians. Converted Indians were segregated
from Indians who had not yet embraced Christianity, lest
there be a relapse. Discipline was strict, and the converts were not allowed to come and go at will. Serra successfully resisted the efforts of Governor Felipe de Neve
to bring Enlightenment policies to missionary work, because those policies would have subverted the economic Dr. Iris Engstrand, professor and chair of the Department
and religious goals of the Franciscans.[6]
of History at the University of San Diego described him
Serra wielded this kind of influence because his missions as “much nicer to the Indians, really, than even to the govserved economic and political purposes as well as reli- ernors. He didn't get along too well with some of the milgious ends. The number of civilian colonists in Alta Cal- itary people, you know. His attitude was, 'Stay away from
ifornia never exceeded 3,200, and the missions with their the Indians.' I think you really come up with a benevolent,
4
hard-working person who was strict in a lot of his doctrinal leanings and things like that, but not a person who was
enslaving Indians, or beating them, ever....He was a very
caring person and forgiving. Even after the burning of
the mission in San Diego, he did not want those Indians
punished. He wanted to be sure that they were treated
fairly...”[1]
5 LEGACY
confirm all who had been baptized. He suffered intensely
from his crippled leg and from his chest, yet he would use
no remedies. He confirmed 5,309 persons, who, with but
few exceptions, were Indian neophytes converted during
the 14 years from 1770.
On August 28, 1784, at the age of 70, Father Junípero
Serra died at Mission San Carlos Borromeo. He is buried
there under the sanctuary floor.[1] Following Serra’s
death, leadership of the Franciscan missionary effort in
Alta California passed to Fermín Lasuén.
4 Veneration
During Serra’s beatification, questions were raised about
how Indians were treated while Serra was in charge. The
question of Franciscan treatment of Indians first arose
in 1783. The famous historian of missions Herbert Eugene Bolton, gave evidence favorable to the case in 1948,
and the testimony of five other historians was solicited in
1986.[12][13][14]
Junípero Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II on
September 25, 1988, this being the next-to-last step towards canonization, or recognition of sainthood, in the
Catholic Church.[15]
His feast day is July 1.
He is a patron saint of vocations.
The grave of Junípero Serra in Mission San Carlos Borromeo de
Carmelo.
The Mission in Carmel, California containing Serra’s remains has continued as a place of public veneration. The
burial location of Serra is southeast of the altar and is
marked with an inscription in the floor of the sanctuary.
Other relics are remnants of the wood from Serra’s coffin
on display next to the sanctuary, and personal items belonging to Serra on display in the mission museums. A
bronze and marble sarcophagus depicting Serra’s life was
completed in 1924 by Catalan sculptor Joseph A. Mora.
Father Serra’s remains have not been transferred to the
sarcophagus.
5 Legacy
3 Death and Burial
Many of Serra’s letters and other documentation are extant, the principal ones being his “Diario” of the jourDuring the remaining three years of his life he once more ney from Loreto to San Diego, which was published in
visited the missions from San Diego to San Francisco, Out West (March to June 1902) along with Serra’s “Reptraveling more than 600 miles in the process, in order to resentación. extquotedbl'
5.1
Statuary and monuments
The chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, built in 1782,
is thought to be the oldest standing building in California. Known as “Father Serra’s Church,” it has the distinction of being the only remaining church in which Father
Serra is known to have celebrated the rites of the Roman
Catholic Church (he presided over the confirmations of
213 people on October 12 and October 13, 1783).
In 1884, the Legislature of California passed a concurrent
resolution making August 29 of that year, the centennial
of Father Serra’s burial, a legal holiday.
Among the many schools named after Serra are Junípero
Serra High School in the San Diego community of Tierrasanta, Junípero Serra Elementary School in Ventura, J
Serra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Serra
Catholic School (Grades JK-8) in Rancho Santa Margarita, Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, California, and Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo.
Both Spain and the United States have honored Fr. Serra
with postage stamps.
5.1
Statuary and monuments
• A statue of Friar Junípero Serra is one of two statues
representing the state of California in the National
Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol. The statue, sculpted by Ettore Cadorin, depicts
Serra holding a cross and looking skyward.
• A gold statue of heroic size represents him as the
apostolic preacher at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
• Jane Elizabeth Lathrop Stanford, wife of Leland
Stanford, governor and U.S. Senator from California, a non-Catholic herself, had a granite monument
erected to honor Father Serra at Monterey.
• When Interstate 280 was built in stages from Daly
City to San Jose in the 1960s, it was named the
Junipero Serra Freeway. Along the freeway in
Hillsborough, California, is a statue of Serra. It
Fray Junípero Serra. Sculpture in The National Statuary Hall
stands on a hill on the northbound side and has a
large pointing finger facing the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Pacific.
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6
8
5.2 Points of interest
FURTHER READING
[13] James A. Sandos, “Junipero Serra’s Canonization and the
Historical Record,” American Historical Review (1988)
93#5 pp 1253-69 in JSTOR
Many cities in California have streets, trails, and other
features named after Serra. Examples include Santa
[14] Guest, Francis P., “Junipero Serra and His Approach to
Barbara, which contains Alameda Padre Serra (Father
the Indians,” Southern California Quarterly, (1985) 67#3
Serra’s Street), running from Mission Santa Barbara
pp 223-261.
along the base of the Riviera, the hill overlooking the
city; Serra Cross Park in Ventura, site of the cross Serra [15] Steve Chawkins (28 August 2009). “Junipero Serra advocates need just one more miracle”. Los Angeles Times.
erected at Mission San Buenaventura's founding; and San
Retrieved 23 March 2013.
Diego, in which Father Junipero Serra Trail runs through
the Mission Trails Regional Park to Santee.
8 Further reading
6 See also
• Junipero Serra Peak
7 References
[1] “Blessed Junípero Serra 1713 - 1784”. Serra Club of
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
[2] Baptism book
[3] Geiger, Maynard, “The Life and Times of Padre Serra”,
Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1959, p. 26
[4] Engelhardt, Zephyrin. “Junípero Serra.” The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. 27 Aug. 2014
[5] “Junipero Serra”, New Perspectives on the West, PBS
[6] Francis P. Guest, “Junipero Serra and His Approach to
the Indians,” Southern California Quarterly, (1985) 67#3
pp 223-261.
[7] Tinker, George E. , “Missionary Conquest,” Chap. 3,
Fortress Press, 1993, pages 42 and 61
[8] Tinker, p. 59.
[9] Tinker, p. 42.
[10] Noll, Mark A., A History of Christianity in the United
States and Canada, pp. 15–16, Wm. B. Erdmans Publishing, 1992
• Cook, Sherburne Friend (1976-10-28). The conflict
between the California Indian and white civilization.
University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52003142-5.; Cook did not discuss Serra but looked at
the missions as a system
• Deverell, William Francis; William Deverell; David
Igler (2008-10-31). A Companion to California History. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-1-40516183-1.
• Fitch, Abigail Hetzel (1914). Junipero Serra: The
Man and His Work.
• Geiger, Maynard J. The Life and Times of Fray Junipero Serra, OFM (2 vol 1959) 8 leading scholarly
biography
• Geiger, Maynard. “Fray Junípero Serra: Organizer and Administrator of the Upper California
Missions, 1769-1784,” California Historical Society
Quarterly (1963) 42#3 pp 195-220.
• Gleiter, Jan (1991). Junipero Serra.
• Guest, Francis P. “Junipero Serra and His Approach to the Indians,” Southern California Quarterly, (1985) 67#3 pp 223-261; favorable to Serra
• Hackel, Steven W. “The Competing Legacies of
Junípero Serra: Pioneer, saint, villain,” CommonPlace (2005) 5#2
[11] Tinker, p. 58.
• Hackel, Steven W. Junípero Serra: California’s
Founding Father (2013)
[12] James A. Sandos, “Junipero Serra, Canonization, and the
California Indian Controversy,” Journal of Religious History (1989) 15#3 pp 311-329
• Hackel, Steven W. Children of Coyote, Missionaries
of St. Francis: Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial
California, 1769-1850 (2005)
7
• Sandos, James A. (2004). Converting California:
Indians and Franciscans in the Missions. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10100-3.
• Luzbetak, Lewis J. “If Junipero Serra Were
Alive: Missiological-Anthropological Theory Today,” Americas, (1985) 42: 512-19, argues that
Serra’s intense commitment to saving the souls of
the Indians would qualify him as an outstanding missionary by 20th century standards.
8.1
Primary sources
• Serra, Junipero. Writings of Junípero Serra, ed. and
trans. by Antonine Tibesar, 4 vols. (Washington,
D.C,. 1955-66).
9
External links
• The Humanity of Junípero Serra, an article by
Thomas Davis at the Serra International official
website
• Firing Line with William F. Buckley: Saint or
Sinner: Junipero Serra (March 17, 1989) Edward
Castillo and Father Noel Maholy talk with William
F. Buckley after Serra’s beatification.
• Texts on Wikisource:
--- extquotedblJunipero, Miguel José Serra extquotedbl. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1892.
--- extquotedblJunípero Serra extquotedbl.
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. 1913.
--- extquotedblJunipero, Miguel José Serra extquotedbl. Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
• Junípero Serra at Find a Grave
8
10
TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
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