July 1st is the Feast Day of Blessed Junipero Serra

Blessed Junipero Serra

For those of you living in California or those who have visited the state or dreamed of it, July 1 is a significant day. Every year on this day, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Junipero Serra, a famous Franciscan friar who set up missions in what is today the state of California.

A native of Spain (He was born in 1713.), Friar Junipero spent many years as a missionary in Mexico.

Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego, California

In 1769 Spain’s King Charles III decided to explore and settle land north of the Baja California Peninsula fearing that the Russian Empire could get to it first; his settlement plan involved the creation of religious missions of which the Franciscans would be the founders. Friar Junipero Serra acted as a driving force in the movement northward into California and the creation of these missions. The Franciscans’ first California mission was the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Founded in 1769, it eventually developed into the city of San Diego.

Friar Junipero Serra and his brothers continued northward with the rest of the Spanish contingent founding missions along the way. The northernmost Franciscan mission – built in 1823, 39 years after Friar Junipero died – is the Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma, California.

Scenic views around Carmel-By-The-Sea

Friar Junipero lies buried at the Mission San Carlo Borromeo, which he also founded. The mission is located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a lovely town on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, just over 2 hours south of San Francisco. It has splendid vistas of the cypress-dotted coastline and over the decades has attracted a variety of famous artists.

Mission San Carlo Borromeo in Carmel-By-The-Sea

During the Spanish drive into California, relations with the aboriginal people living on those lands were often difficult. Friar Junipero however believed in aboriginal people’s right and actually traveled from California to Mexico City to stand up for them. Today’s Franciscans also try to embody that sort of spirit.

(Sources of all related images on webpage and homepage: www.wikipedia.org and www.serraus.org.)