Miguel Jose Serra was born on the island of Majorca on November 24, 1713, and at the age of 17 entered the Franciscan Order taking the name Junipero. Jose was ordained in 1737. He studied in Parma, the capital of Majorca and taught philosophy and theology at the Lullian University there until 1749. In 1749 at the age of 37 Jose was sent to the New World to the missionary territories of the west.
In 1768, Father Serra took over the missions that the Jesuits were forced to leave in the Mexican provinces of Lower California and Upper California. A tireless worker, Serra was in large part responsible for the foundation and spread of the Church on the West Coast of the United States. He founded nine missions and converted thousands of Native Americans. The converts were taught sound methods of agriculture, cattle raising, and arts and crafts.
Junipero was a dedicated religious and missionary. He was filled with a penitential spirit and practiced austerity in sleep, eating, and other activities. On August 28, 1784, Father Serra died and was buried in he died at his headquarters, which was the Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, California. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988.