18th
century Vera Cruz
Arriving
in the New World, Father Serra was 36 years old. He was described as
swarthy, of medium height [5' 2” was considered medium in the 18th
Century], with sparkling black eyes and black hair formed in a
tonsure – a ring about the head with a bald pate. His youthful ill
health must have disappeared because Father Serra engaged with deep
fervor in the self-inflicted physical penances that were common among
the friars in those days. In that part of the Mass when the priest
exclaimed, “My guilt! My guilt! My most grievous guilt!” and
struck themselves on the breast with their fist, Father Serra went
even further, holding a stone in his hand which he used to strike his
breast. He was also know to place a burning torch to his bare chest,
and purging himself with a whip until the blood ran – all as an
example to the congregation. He kept long vigils with little sleep.
He never complained about things that came his way and seemed to
invite suffering. He lived on herbs, fish, fruit, and tortillas,
disliking meat for very fond of drinking chocolate – which in those
days was a very tart quaff.
In
1749, the government had the responsibility for transporting newly
arrived priests from the port of Veracruz the 270 miles over rough
terrain to Mexico City. This was one of the very few times when the
friars were allowed to ride horses or mules. They were otherwise
expected to walk, although mules or donkeys could carry the religious
articles needed to conduct the various rites. This was because the
fathers were weak from their voyage.
The
route from Vera Cruz to Mexico City
However,
Father Serra begged to be allowed to walk, accompanied by Father
Palóu. It was not the normal rainy season but they encountered
constant downpours. It was during this long walk that Father Serra's
feet began to swell with fatigue and uncounted insect bites. He
received the leg affliction that would remain with him until his
death. Sadly, the cure for this affliction was simple – rest.
At
last, they reached the Apostolic College [Seminary] of San Fernando
where Father Serra was assigned to the directorship of Novice Master.
He asked, but was denied, the right to be considered a novice and to
live in a small cell. He eagerly sought the thing most dear to his
heart, being a missionary and serving a congregation of natives. So,
after five years, he and his four companions were allowed to depart
for the missions in the Sierra Gorda, several hundred miles away. He
and his companions walked the long route to Jalpan [or Xalpan]
despite his leg giving him a great deal of pain.
The
Sierra Gorda Mountains
Father
Serra was, at last, content. He learned the language of the Pames so
he could preach to them in their tongue. In order to make their
understanding of the new religion clearer, he also taught them
religious dramas. He is known to have compiled a dictionary of the
Otomí language. He and the other friars helped improve their
agriculture and stock husbandry. He toiled with them to build several
churches which are still in use more than two centuries later. One
small item Father Palóu wrote of was that due to his small stature,
Father Serra often tucked the mantle of his habit over his shoulder
to make it taller when he helped the Indians carry massive beams for
the construction projects. It was during the period that Father Serra
was made president guardian of the missions.
A
side note here: It took a bit of research but I was able to learn
that senior members of the Franciscan orders carry the title of
Guardian. The priest presiding over The Franciscan Order Minor of
Friars is called The Guardian General. The priest presiding over the
College of San Fernando was called Guardian. Finding out who those
guardians were has been something my research has not revealed. That
is, except for Father Palóu who, after Father Serra's death, left
California to travel to the College of San Fernando where he was
appointed guardian.
Father
Serra and his companions were then recalled to San Fernando and chose
to go to the mission on the San Abra River in Texas. Before he could
go, Comanches attacked and burned the mission. He still wished to go
but, before he could depart, was informed that no more missionaries
would be sent there until the region had been pacified. He was to
serve the next 9 years of the San Fernando Seminary as a home
missionary where he preached throughout Mexico. He also served as a
commissioner of the Holy Office, or Inquisition. Again, I can find
nothing about his time there.
There
are two events of note during this period in Father Serra's life. An
episode was described by Father Palóu.
"During
one of his sermons, in imitation of Saint Francis Solanus, to whom he
was
devoted, he took out a chain and after lowering his habit so as to
uncover his
back,
having exhorted his hearers to penance, he began to scourge himself
so
violently
that the entire congregation broke into tears. Thereupon, a man from
the
congregation
arose and hurriedly went to the pulpit, took the chain from the
penitential
father, descended from the pulpit and went to stand in the highest
part
of the sanctuary. Imitating the venerable preacher, he uncovered
himself to
the
waist and began to perform public penance ... so violent and
merciless the strokes that, before the whole congregation, he fell to
the floor, they judging
him
dead. Afterwards, he received the last Sacraments where he fell ...
and died."
It
was customary when the natives resisted the friars' appeals, that the
missionaries scourgeed themselves in an effort to break hard hearts,
though they were cautioned to be extremely prudent to avoid too
dramatic methods, and warned that the
temperament
and psychology of the people, the conditions of the moment,
environment and time, all had to be kept in mind in the choice of the
means used to bring about repentance.
What
the friars used to "discipline" themselves.
Fr.
Serra's missionary activity during these years was mostly in south
and central Mexico, in what is modem Oaxaca, Morelia, Puebla, and
Guadalajara; the region east of Sierra Gorda; and in the province of
Mesquital, part of Mazatlan [eastern Mexico]. The work was very
exhausting and the only rest he had was during the time required to
go from one town to another or the return to the college after a
mission. He was poisoned one time, someone putting rattlesnake venom
in the chalice. He refused an antidote, but recovered just the same.
There
are many stories about Father Serra but here are just a few.
Suffering
from want of water on the voyage to Mexico he said to complainers,
“the best way to prevent thirst is to eat little and talk less so
as not to waste the saliva.”
In
a mutiny and a storm threatening death to all, he was perfectly calm,
and the storm ceased instantly when a saint chosen by lot had been
addressed in prayer.
On
the way from Vera Cruz to Mexico, several miracles were wrought in
his favor. Coming to a swollen stream by a town in a dark night,
there was a man on the other bank to show the ford and guide him to a
lodging. A man, perhaps the same, met Junipero and his companion next
day and gave them a pomegranate which had a refreshing effect and
still later a man gave them a bit of corn-bread of excellent savor.
Sixty
persons who neglected to attend his meetings were killed by an
epidemic which did not cease until religious duties were generally
attended to.
On
his way back from Huasteca, he was well lodged and entertained in a
cottage by the way; but later learned that there was no such cottage
on the road; and of course concluded that his entertainers were
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in fact he had noticed an extra ordinary air
of neatness about the place.
Poisoned
once in taking the communion he refused the antidote and was cured by
a simple dose of oil, perhaps miraculously as he thought.
This
is but the second of four parts about Father Serra. The next will
take us through his extraordinary assignment as president guardian of
the California missions.
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