Junípero Serra

By Agnes Repplier | Edited by Jeremy Beer Junípero Serra, “the Apostle of California,” possessed an intrepid, pioneering nature, a missionary spirit, and—as evidenced by his 2015 canonization—a saintly heart. Originally published in 1933, this life of Serra is, in the words of editor Jeremy Beer, “one of the best non-academic biographies of a saint ever to be written in the English language.” Detailing the legacy of the saint’s “troubled and triumphant career,” Repplier charts Serra’s course from professor of philosophy to president of the California missions, providing great insight into the character of the saint, the missionary and native cultures, and the vast tableau of historical figures and events of the period. "Man has only the present in which to live his life, and he must make what use of it he can. Junípero Serra, pioneer and missionary, loaded every rift with ore, witnessed the rich reward of his labor, and left the development—necessarily—to fate." To tell the life of a