Blessed
Junipero Serra
V
Timeline towards canonization

LIFE OF JUNIPERO SERRA

Nov. 13, 1713 Miguel Joseph Serra born and baptized in Petra, on the island of Mallorca, Spain.
Sept. 14, 1730 Invested with the Franciscan habit; chose the name Junipero (which means "Jester of God".)
Mar. 17, 1736 Serra ordained a (transitional) deacon.
Dec. 1737 Serra ordained a priest in the Franciscan Order.
August 1749 Desiring missionary work, Serra set off to the New World on the ship Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (also known as the Villasota)
Dec. 1749 Serra arrives at the port of Vera Cruz and travels by foot to Mexico City.  During the journey, Serra is bitten on the leg by a mosquito or chigger (harvest mite).  This injury would hinder Serra for the rest of his life.
1751 After missionary preparation at San Fernando College in Mexico City and work in the Sierra Gorda mountains, Serra is named Presidente of the Sierra Gorda mountain missions.  He would go on to strengthen the faith of the Natives, help to build many stone churches, and improve their overall way of life (from extreme poverty to self-reliance).  Many historians estimate he walked over 5,500 miles on his injured leg during his presidency.
1758 Serra is recalled to work as a philosophy instructor at San Fernando College in Mexico City. 
Feb. 27, 1767 After the Jesuits are expelled by Spanish King Charles III, Serra is appointed presidente of the Baja California Missions.
1769 Serra is named Presidente of the Alta California missionary expedition. Serra and the Viceroy, Jose de Galvez, plan the method of founding the missions in Alta California.
July 1, 1769 Serra crosses into the Alta California region.
July 16, 1769 Serra raises his first cross in Alta California. This is the foundation of his first mission, San Diego de Alcala. (The original site is Presidio Hill in San Diego.)
June 3, 1770 Serra founds his second mission, Mission San Carlos Borromeo in the capital city of Monterey.  Because of a lack of resources and close proximity to the soldiers at the presidio, Serra moved the mission to a nearby location. He founded the new site along the Carmel River on August 24, 1771, a location closer to the Native tribes.  This mission became the headquarters of all the missions in California
July 14, 1771 Mission San Antonio de Padua founded.
Aug. 24, 1771 Mission San Carlos relocation (see above)
Sept. 8, 1771 Mission San Gabriel Arcangel founded.
Sept. 1, 1772 Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa founded.
Feb 6, 1773 Frustrated with the abuse and corruption of the soldiers and the poor leadership of the arrogant governor, Pedro Fages, Serra arrives in Mexico City to lay out a "Bill of Rights" for the Native Americans. The Viceroy, Antonio Bucareli, was very receptive to Serra and granted his requests. 
Nov. 4, 1775 Serra is saddened by the murder of San Diego missionary Fr. Luis Jayme.  The 35 year old friar was noted for learning the local language and writing a catechism in their native tongue.  He was killed by the natives after false rumors spread and tribe leaders incited the natives to attack and loot  the San Diego Mission.
June 29, 1776  San Francisco de Asis founded. (Five days later, the U.S. gains its independence.)
Nov. 1, 1776 Mission San Juan Capistrano founded.
Jan. 21, 1777 Mission Santa Clara de Asis founded.
June 1778 Serra receives the authority to perform the Sacrament of Confirmation in Alta California from Pope Clement XIV.
March 31,1782  Mission San Buenaventura founded.
August 28, 1784 Fray Junipero Serra dies of tuberculosis in his room at Mission San Carlos at the age of 71.  After 10,000 miles of traveling as Presidente of the Alta California Missions (5,000 by land, 5,000 by sea) and the conversion of thousands of Native Americans, Junipero Serra is laid to rest under the foot of the San Carlos Mission.  Fr. Fremin Lasuen would become the next Presidente of the Mission chain.


ROAD TOWARDS SAINTHOOD
Nov. 24, 1913 California Governor Hiram Johnson declares the 200th anniversary of Serra's birth a legal holiday.
March 1, 1931 Selected to represent California in Statuary Hall, Washington D.C.
August 28, 1934 150 years after his death, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints initiates the process of canonization.
Dec 17, 1943 A historical commission was established to compile an exhaustive search for information related to Junipero Serra by the Monterey-Fresno diocese. They would complete their work by July 7, 1949
Dec. 12, 1949 7,500 pages of documents along with interviews with descendants are carefully examined by the historical commission and presented to the Vatican's Promoter of the Faith (the Devil's Advocate).  Fr. Serra was eventually found to be a person of impeccable virtue, a status referred to as fama sanctitatis.
1967 Interstate 280 (Daly City to San Jose) is named the "Junipero Serra Freeway". 
(Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140, Chapter 208) 
1981 Postio Super Vita et Virtutibis, a 650 page biography on the life and works of Junipero Serra is published.  (This was also known as the Summarium)
Feb. 17, 1982 A request for the Veneration of Fr. Serra is submitted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. 
Aug. 28, 1984 The bicentennial of Serra's death; declared a National day of recognition by the U.S. Congress and California Legislature.
May 9, 1985 Serra was deemed venerable for sainthood by Pope John Paul II in light of the apostolic zeal and virtuous disposition of Serra.  This is the first in three stages towards sainthood.
July 8, 1987 Congregation' Medical subcommittee finds the cure of Sister Mary Boniface Dyrda from lupis erthematosus scientifically unexplainable.
Sept. 17, 1987 Pope John Paul II visits and offers a prayer at the grave of the Venerable Serra at the Carmel Mission Basilica.
Dec. 1, 1987 The Congregation finds that the miraculous cure of Sr. Dyrda was attributed to the intercession of Fr. Serra 
Dec. 11, 1987 Pope John Paul II officially declares Junipero Serra "Blessed" (Beatification).  This is the second of three stages towards canonization.
Sept. 25, 1988 Official Beatification ceremony honoring Fr. Serra at St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City).
Aug. 28, 1989 First official Mass honoring Blessed Junipero Serra offered at the Carmel Mission Basilica.
Dec. 9, 1989 The optional memorial of Blessed Junipero Serra is transferred from August 28th (his date of death and St. Augustine's feast day) to July 1 (the date Serra entered Alta California). 
July 1, 1990 First official feast day Mass held in many of Serra's missions, including the Carmel Mission Basilica.
??? Serra is declared a saint.