Fray Junipero Serra

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he responded to the call for Franciscan missionaries to the New World. His dream became a reality. He left his family and friends and sailed off to a "New World."
Nearly 200 years earlier, Spain had established a colony called New Spain, the region known today as Mexico. Successful colonization was the result of collaboration by Spanish imperial staff and the Catholic Church. Acting as partners in efforts of exploration and settlement, both their purposes were achieved: Spain claimed a new territory and the Catholic Church claimed new members.
By the middle of the 18th century, Spanish cultural and religious influence was already evident in New Spain's great cathedral, schools, hospitals, and seaports. This sophisticated civilization was restricted to urban centers such as Mexico City. The outlying areas were unexplored and regarded as missionary territory.
Serra landed in the port city of Vera Cruz when he was thirty-six and then traveled by foot to Mexico City to dedicate ...

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his own direction. He joined the expedition of Don Gaspar de Portola and received orders to explore and occupy new territory. He was commissioned by the King to lead the Franciscans into Alta California (present day California). Father Serra traveled across the border to Alta California on July 1, 1769 and established his first mission, San Diego de Alcala, that same month. Serra's blessing of the side of Mission San Diego marked the beginning of the European settlement of California. It was there where Serra planted the cross and dedicated the first mission. He then began a journey by sea on the San Antonio to what he called present-day Monterey, a "pleasing stretch of land." This ...

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