The History of Father Junipero Serra Bl. Junipero Serra: Priest Among the People

Mar 16, 2015

Editor's note: This is part 8 of a series on the life of Bl. Junipero Serra in anticipation of his canonization. To read other articles in the series, click here.

AT Jalpan, Father Serra worked for economic betterment, realizing that the more progressive it was, the more stable and beneficent would be his religious ministrations. The harvests each year under his administration were not only sufficient, but sometimes abundant.

The Indians were given their own parcels of land to produce corn, beans and pumpkins; occasionally they were presented with a yoke of oxen and seeds for planting. Women were taught spinning, knitting and sewing. The Indians were encouraged to sell their wares at places like Zimapan, a mining center.

Before leaving the Sierra Gorda, Serra proposed the notion of constructing a large stone church, ample enough to hold the entire congregation. Work on the edifice was scheduled for those periods of the year when the Indians were not attending to their fields.

The friar worked alongside the laborers. In his torn gray habit, no one would have recognized the ex-professor of theology at the Lullian University among the crew of workers. It took seven years to complete the church, which is still used for divine worship by the descendants of the 18th century Pames. The church at Jalpan is the one remaining piece of Serra's building program during his missionary career - the mission buildings of California built under his years of presidency, with the exception of the adobe chapel at Capistrano, having given way to worthier structures.

During those same years, the missionaries working under Serra's supervision erected stone churches at four other locations. Those monuments remain on the hillsides to attest to the work of Junípero Serra in establishing the faith in the Sierra Gorda.

In 1758, Serra was recalled to Mexico City for re-assignment. He surely left the area with some degree of accomplishment, knowing that economic conditions had been bettered, religion was on a higher plane, splendid churches had been built, the majority of the Indians had become practical Catholics and were absorbing the essentials of a stable civilized life based on the Spanish pattern.

Today the descendants of the Pames are faithful worshippers in the churches built by their forefathers. The faith of the sierra, as well as the churches, is a monument to the zeal of Serra and his confreres.

For a while it looked as if Serra would be sent to the Texas missions where only recently the Indians had unleashed a general massacre, killing one friar and injuring several others. The death of the viceroy, however, changed those plans.

From 1758 to 1767, Fray Junípero Serra was bound up in the internal life of San Fernando, serving the college in various capacities unrelated to Indian missions. It has been estimated that he traveled by foot no less than 5,500 miles giving missions during those years - considerable exercise for a man with foot and leg ulcers!

Serra's life at San Fernando was made more austere by personal choice rather than by the rules of the Institute. Even as a youth, Serra had been serious, a quality he retained all through his life. Austerities added to a natural seriousness made him appear aloof and somewhat unapproachable. Yet he had a kindliness of spirit that became apparent as soon as one talked with him. His many penances and prayers did not destroy in him a sense of humor, and the human pleasantry he possessed is apparent in his many letters.