The History of Father Junipero Serra Bl. Junipero Serra: Call to California

Mar 19, 2015

Editor's note: This is part 9 of a series on the life of Bl. Junipero Serra in anticipation of his canonization. To read other articles in the series, click here.

ON February 27, 1767, King Charles III abruptly expelled the Society of Jesus from Spain and its colonies. The king's action was distinctly unpopular, but viceroys, governors, soldiers and missionaries had learned to be silent and obedient to their monarch.

Shortly after the announcement that the Society was to leave the uninviting Peninsula of Baja California, a decision was made to entrust the orphaned Jesuit missions there to the Franciscans of the Apostolic College of San Fernando. Though college officials had little enthusiasm for the undertaking, they had no choice in the matter. Fray Junípero Serra was among the friars chosen for the new apostolate and he was also to serve as Presidente of the missions.

In mid July, the small missionary contingency bade farewell to their community. Just before leaving, the superior briefly addressed the group: "Go forth with the blessing of God and Our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis, to evangelize that mystic field of labor in California entrusted to us by our Catholic Sovereign. Go forth with the comforting thought that you have as your superior, Father Lector Junípero, whom by these letters patent I name president of all Your Reverences and of the missions."

On April 2nd, the friars disembarked at Loreto, the unpretentious capital of Baja California. The humble church in which they were to begin their work as successors of the Jesuits was a plain, flat-roofed building with a ceiling formed of nicely worked beams of cedar wood.

Governor Gaspar de Portolá welcomed the friars. On April 3rd, they celebrated Easter with all becoming solemnity. Fifteen priests said their Masses early in the morning and later Fray Junípero Serra offered the Solemn Mass, with the others forming the choir. After Mass, the Alabado was sung.

Having learned the location, distance and needs of each mission, Serra proceeded to assign his subjects to them. Though all were pleased, none knew exactly what his mission in this rough country among the poverty-stricken Indians would be like. Serra outlined a uniform method of administering the missions and then gave his subjects a paternal talk about their future work, urging all of them to labor zealously in their new vineyards.

The Indian population at some of the missions was very small; in all of them there were only 7,149 Indians of all ages. Some had sufficient water from small streams, but droughts were common and the periodic locust plagues were devastating. When the harvest was good, the products included wheat, corn, beans, rice, figs, olives, pomegranates, peaches, watermelons, pumpkins, lemons, oranges, bananas and cotton.

The early months were times of appraisal, adjustment and rudimentary labor, each missionary having to shift for himself. It was incumbent upon them to learn the local dialects, even though Spanish was spoken in sections.

To a great extent, the peninsula of Baja California is a forbidding stretch of land projecting itself in a southwesterly direction deep in the Pacific. Even today, it has little to offer except to those tied to it by circumstance of birth or to outsiders filled with the spirit of adventure.