Jul 1, 2005

Apostle of California

Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784)



Today is the feast day of Blessed Junipero Serra, the Franciscan priest from Mallorca who at the age of 55, with a limp in his gait and afflicted with asthma, walked up and down what is now the State of California evangelizing the indigenous people, teaching them European methods of farming and defending them against those who would have taken advantage of them. He is associated with the establishment of the California Missions, many of which still function as parishes today. The earthly remains of Father Serra are interred in the Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, California.

At the time of his death, Blessed Serra had baptized 6,000 Indians, a number which comprises approximately 10 per cent of the native population of California at the time. The Serra International website states:

Between the years of 1796 and 1784, Father Serra made six voyages by sea totaling 5,400 miles. He traveled by land the distance between Monterey and San Francisco eight times, Monterey and San Antonio 11 times, His longest journey by land was from Monterey to Mexico City. In total, he traveled well over 5,500 miles by land.
His motto was, "Siempre adelante, nunca retredecer," which in English means, "Always to go forward, never to turn back."

Blessed Junipero Serra, Apostle of California, pray for us!

The parishes in L.A. name after Blessed Junipero Serra are in Camarillo and Lancaster.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

May God raise up other such saints to re-evangelize California!

How we need such souls!

5:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mahony's Cathedral is often the venue for honoring politicians and personalities, living and deceased, some of them outright notorious characters.

On this feast of Blessed Junipero Serra, what big event was planned to honor the Apostle of California? A strange, mostly pagan prayer ritual marking the ascent to a significant civic office of man who is a bad Catholic, who's okay with abortion and militant homsexuals and says he's for the little guy, except the littlest guy in the womb. What a sacrilege! What a travesty.

8:33 PM  
Blogger CS said...

Horrible how the current regime in LA (political and religious) spit on the work of the holy Padre Serra. He'd be canonized by now if it wasn't for political correctness.

12:40 PM  

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