St. Junipero - Apostle of California


 

Today in the U.S. we celebrate one of the great "adopted" American saints, the Spaniard Fr. Junipero Serra.  

Canonized by Pope Francis, he was a great 18th century missionary to much of what is now Mexico and California, walking thousands of miles and establishing many missions to bring the faith to the indigenous American peoples and help them learn the ways of agriculture. 

You can still visit some of the missions he founded. 

St. Junipero has recently been in the news, when some of the angry, divisive, violent and anti-Christian secularists who seem to be on the rise in our nation began attacking his reputation and destroying his statues.  That is a sign not only of our very troubled times, but also that the saints are not always esteemed in the eyes of the world during their lifetimes or afterwards.  No matter, enjoying the unimaginable happiness of the beatific vision of the Holy Trinity is its own reward.  

St. Junipero, pray for us! 

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