¡Siempre Adelante!
The newsletter for the Cause of
Blessed Junípero Serra’s Canonization
Miguel José Serra was born 24th November 1713 to peasant farmers on Mallorca, the largest of Spain’s Balearic isles. As a youth Serra joined the Franciscan community in his hometown of Petra de Mallorca. In 1730 he began his novitiate at Palma de Mallorca. In 1731 he took his vows as a Franciscan friar and adopted the name of Junípero.
Serra was ordained a priest in 1737 and earned his Doctorate of Sacred Theology from the Lullian University at Palma in 1742. From 1739 to 1743, Dr. Serra taught philosophy at his alma mater and went on to earn a reputation as a popular lector in Palma and in various other Mallorcan towns.
A calling led Serra to missionary work in the Indies. In 1749, he sailed to Mexico where he worked among the Indians in the Sierra Gorda region and at Loreto on the Baja peninsula. The year 1769 marked the advent of Serra’s most illustrious work, as presidente and founder of the first of Upper California’s Franciscan-Indian missions. Here, carrying the cross instead of a sword, he exemplified his motto, siempre adelante, nunca atrás (“always forward, never back”).
Saintly
At an advanced age, with an ulcerated leg and later a respiratory ailment, Serra founded the first nine of California’s missions, laying the groundwork and propelling the vision that led to the founding of 12 more. Serra helped forge El Camino Real, “The Royal Highway,” linking the missions—a route followed today by major California highways. Moreover, he walked round-trip from Upper California to Mexico City to appeal to the Viceroy for a “Bill of Rights” for the California Indians.
Serra’s Indian disciples nicknamed him “Padre Viejo.” He has been referred to by others as “The Gray Ox,” “The Golden State’s Religious Pioneer,” “California’s First Citizen,” “The Great Walker” and “Man of Greatness.”
Junípero Serra succumbed to his illnesses and went home to God on 28th August 1784. His bodily remains rest beneath the sanctuary of his home mission at Carmel.
During and since his missionary career, many have lauded Serra’s piety, faith and dedication deeming his virtuous life worthy of hopeful sainthood. Yet it was not until the 1930s that the wheels were put into motion toward his possible beatification.
Formalities
The first vice postulator for the Cause of Serra’s canonization, Fr. Augustine Hobrecht, OFM, appointed in 1934 was succeeded by Fr. Eric O’Brien, OFM, in 1941. Fr. Noel Moholy, OFM, succeeded O’Brien in 1958. When Moholy died in 1998, Fr. John Vaughn, OFM, followed as vice postulator.
Others have promoted, in their own way, the sainthood of Junípero Serra. Besides the vice postulators, notable devotees have included Fr. Maynard Geiger, OFM; Charles F. Lummis; Kay Hardy (who later became Sister Francisca, OCD); Dr. Bartomeu Font Obrador; Monsignor Francis J. Weber; Brother Timothy Arthur, OFM; and Martin J. Morgado.
The cure of Franciscan Sister Mary Boniface Dyrda in 1960 was authenticated as a miracle in 1986. The authentication led to Serra’s beatification.
Historians have referred to Serra as a pioneer of the American West and countless writers and poets have penned tributes to the labors of the amazing friar from Mallorca. Representing the State of California, Serra’s life-sized likeness in bronze stands in Statuary Hall at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Other memorials to Serra in metal or stone grace public parks and historic mission properties along the coast of modern-day California. Serra International, a service group dedicated to fostering priesthood, takes its name from the Apostle of California.
Pope John Paul II beatified Junípero Serra on September 25, 1988. Supporters of Serra’s Cause eagerly await his canonization.
A Newsletter for the Cause
In the early 1940s Fr. Eric O’Brien launched and edited a newsletter to promote the Cause for Serra’s canonization. Since O’Brien’s tenure, others have carried the editorial baton. They include Fr. Bill Haney, OFM, and since 2002 Terry Ruscin has edited and produced the newsletter. Each of the latter issues, listed below, is available to you online. Simply click on the issue/s of your choosing.
