Editing Junípero Serra (section)

== Early life ==
{{stack|[[File:Casa natal de Fra Juníper Serra a Petra (4).jpg|thumb|upright|Serra's birthplace in [[Petra, Mallorca|Petra]] on the island of [[Mallorca]], in the [[Balearic Islands]]]]}}
Serra was born '''Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fray Junípero Serra, apóstol de Sierra Gorda y California |url=https://www.franciscanos.org/santoral/junipero02.html |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=www.franciscanos.org}}</ref> (this name is [[Catalan language|Catalan]], in [[Spanish language|Castilian]] it is Miguel José Serra y Ferrer) in the village of [[Petra, Mallorca|Petra]] on the island of [[Mallorca]] (Majorca) in the [[Balearic Islands]] off the Mediterranean coast of Spain.<ref>"Junipero Serra." A few hours after birth, he was baptized in the village church. ''Dictionary of Hispanic Biography''. Detroit: Gale, 1996. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, January 27, 2018.</ref> His father Antonio Nadal Serra and mother Margarita Rosa Ferrer were married in 1707.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Junipero Serra: California's Founding Father|last=Hackel|first=Steven W.|date=2013|place=New York |publisher=Hill and Wang|isbn=978-0809095315|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eXFSAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16]|language=en}}</ref>

By age seven, Miquel was working the fields with his parents, helping cultivate wheat and beans, and tending the cattle. But he showed a special interest in visiting the local [[Franciscan]] [[priory|friary]] at the church of San Bernardino within a block of the Serra family house. Attending the [[friar]]s' primary school at the church, Miquel learned reading, writing, mathematics, Latin, religion and [[liturgical music|liturgical song]], especially Gregorian chant. Gifted with a good voice, he eagerly took to vocal music. The friars sometimes let him join the community choir and sing at special church feasts. Miquel and his father Antonio often visited the friary for friendly chats with the Franciscans.<ref>Geiger, Maynard (1959). ''The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra, O.F.M.: The Man Who Never Turned Back.'' Academy of American Franciscan History, vol. 1, p. 10.</ref>

At age 16, Miquel's parents enrolled him in a Franciscan school in the capital city, [[Palma, Majorca|Palma de Majorca]], where he studied philosophy. A year later, he became a [[novitiate|novice]] in the Franciscan order.{{sfn|Hackel|2013|pp=27–31}}

=== Joins Franciscan order ===
[[File:Placa en record del bateig de Fra Juníper Serra.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial to Serra's baptism at the [[:ca:Església de Sant Pere de Petra|Church of Sant Pere de Petra]]]]
On September 14, 1730, some two months before his 17th birthday, Serra entered the Franciscan Order at Palma,{{sfn|Hackel|2013|p=31}}<ref>Weber, F. (2003). "Junipero Serra." ''New Catholic Encyclopedia''. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, January 27, 2018.</ref> specifically, the [[Alcantarine]] branch of the Friars Minor, a reform movement in the order. The slight and frail Serra now embarked on his novitiate period, a rigorous year of preparation to become a full member of the Franciscan Order. He was given the [[religious name]] of Junípero in honor of [[Brother Juniper]], who had been among the first Franciscans and a companion of [[Francis of Assisi]].<ref name=SerraClub>{{cite web|url=http://www.serraclubofbethlehem.org/serra-4.htm|title=Blessed Junípero Serra 1713–1784|publisher=Serra Club of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|access-date=May 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017085109/http://www.serraclubofbethlehem.org/serra-4.htm|archive-date=October 17, 2013|url-status=usurped}}</ref> The young Junípero, along with his fellow novices, vowed to scorn property and comfort, and to remain [[celibacy|celibate]]. He still had seven years to go to become an [[Holy Orders|ordained]] [[Catholic priest]]. He immersed himself in rigorous studies of logic, metaphysics, cosmology, and theology.{{sfn|Hackel|2013|p=40}}

The daily routine at the friary followed a rigid schedule: prayers, meditation, choir singing, physical chores, spiritual readings, and instruction. The friars would wake up every midnight for another round of chants. Serra's superiors discouraged letters and visitors.{{sfn|DeNevi|Moholy|1985|p=15}} In his free time, he avidly read stories about Franciscan friars roaming the provinces of Spain and around the world to win new souls for the church, often suffering [[Christian martyrs|martyrdom]] in the process. 
[[File:Mallorca Palma StFrancis' Church asv2023-04 img3.jpg|thumb|upright|Monument to Serra in [[Palma de Mallorca]]]]
In 1737, Serra became a priest, and three years later earned an ecclesiastical license to teach philosophy at the Convento de San Francisco. His philosophy course, including over 60 students, lasted three years. Among his students were fellow future missionaries [[Francisco Palóu]] and [[Juan Crespí]].<ref>Geiger, Maynard (1959). ''The Life and Times of Padre Serra''. Richmond: William Byrd Press. p. 26.</ref> When the course ended in 1743, Serra told his students: "I desire nothing more from you than this, that when the news of my death shall have reached your ears, I ask you to say for the benefit of my soul: 'May he rest in peace.' Nor shall I omit to do the same for you so that all of us will attain the goal for which we have been created."<ref>Maynard Geiger, ''The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra, O.F.M.: The Man Who Never Turned Back''. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 2, p. 375.</ref>

Serra was considered intellectually brilliant by his peers. He received a doctorate in theology from the Lullian College (founded in the 14th century by [[Ramon Lull]] for the training of Franciscan missionaries) in Palma de Majorca, where he also occupied the [[Duns Scotus]] chair of philosophy until he joined the missionary [[College of San Fernando de Mexico]] in 1749.<ref name=Engelhardt>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13730b.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Junipero Serra|work=newadvent.org|access-date=January 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204145010/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13730b.htm|archive-date=February 4, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During Serra's last five years on the island of Majorca, drought and plague afflicted his home village of Petra. Serra sometimes went home from Palma for brief visits to his parents—now separated—and gave them some financial support. On one occasion he was called home to anoint his seriously ill father with the [[last rites]]. In one of his final visits to Petra, Serra found his younger sister Juana María near death.<ref>Maynard Geiger. ''The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra: The Man Who Never Turned Back.'' Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, pp. 28–29.</ref>

In 1748, Serra and Palóu confided to each other their desire to become missionaries. Serra, now 35, was assured a prestigious career as priest and scholar if he stayed in Majorca; but he set his sights firmly on pagan lands. Applying to the colonial bureaucracy in Madrid, Serra requested that both he and Palóu embark on a foreign mission. After weathering some administrative obstacles, they received permission and set sail for [[Cádiz]], the port of departure for Spain's colonies in the Americas.{{sfn|Hackel|2013|p=59}}

While waiting to set sail, Serra wrote a long letter to a colleague back in Majorca, urging him to console Serra's parents—now in their 70s—over their only son's pending departure. "They [my parents] will learn to see how sweet is His yoke," Serra wrote, "and that He will change for them the sorrow they may now experience into great happiness. Now is not the time to muse or fret over the happenings of life but rather to be conformed entirely to the will of God, striving to prepare themselves for that happy death which of all the things of life is our principal concern."<ref>Junípero Serra, letter to Francesch Serra, Cádiz, August 20, 1749. ''Writings of Junípero Serra''. Antonine Tibesar, O.F.M., editor. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1955, vol. 1, p. 5.</ref>  Serra asked his colleague to read this letter to his parents, who had never attended school.<ref>Maynard Geiger. ''The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra: The Man Who Never Turned Back.'' Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 4.</ref>