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117-626: Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer O.F.M. ( / h uː ˈ n iː p ər oʊ ˈ s ɛr ə / ; Spanish: [xuˈnipeɾo ˈsera] ; November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra , was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order . He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . He founded

234-460: A "sinner" and a "most unworthy priest." In one of his sermons in Mexico City, while exhorting his listeners to repent their sins, Serra took out his chain, bared his shoulders and started whipping himself. Many parishioners, roused by the spectacle, began sobbing. Finally, a man climbed to the pulpit, took the chain from Serra's hand and began whipping him self, declaring: "I am the sinner who

351-463: A Christian Indian interpreter, Serra told the Indians that de la Campa would stay at the mission to serve them. According to Stephen Hyslop, "[Serra's] goal and that of his fellow friars was not to confirm Indians in their seeming innocence, like 'Adam in the garden, before sin', but to make them aware of their sins and move them to repent." The motive behind gifts of food, tobacco, and the like was, "in

468-506: A Spanish military victory over the Pames in 1743, Spanish authorities had sent not only Franciscan missionaries, but also Spanish/Mexican soldiers and their families into the Sierra Gorda. The soldiers had the job of pursuing runaway mission Indians and securing the region for the Spanish crown. But the soldiers' land claims clashed with mission lands that Christian Pames were working. Some of

585-686: A basis for reunion, and they were actually accepted by a general chapter at Assisi in 1430; but the majority of the Conventual houses refused to agree to them, and they remained without effect. Equally unsuccessful were the attempts of the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV , who bestowed a vast number of privileges on both original mendicant orders, but by this very fact lost the favor of the Observants and failed in his plans for reunion. Julius II succeeded in doing away with some of

702-875: A body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. These are: The Order of Friars Minor, known as the "Observants", most commonly simply called Franciscan friars , official name: "Friars Minor" (OFM). According to the 2013 Annuario Pontificio , the OFM has 2,212 communities; 14,123 members; 9,735 priests The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin or simply Capuchins , official name: "Friars Minor Capuchin" (OFM Cap). it has 1,633 communities; 10,786 members; 7,057 priests The Conventual Franciscans or Minorites , official name: "Friars Minor Conventual" (OFM Conv). It has 667 communities; 4,289 members; 2,921 priests A sermon on Mt 10:9 which Francis heard in 1209 made such an impression on him that he decided to fully devote himself to

819-833: A brutal colonial subjugation, Pope Francis canonized Serra on 23 September 2015 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. , during his first visit to the United States . Serra's missionary efforts earned him the title of "Apostle of California". Both before and after his canonization, Serra's reputation and missionary work during the Spanish occupation have been condemned by critics, who cite alleged mandatory conversions to Catholicism, followed by abuse of

936-608: A certain Melchora de los Reyes Acosta, a married mulattress, an inhabitant of the said mission..... In these last days a certain Cayetana, a very clever Mexican woman of said mission, married to one Pérez, a mulatto, has confessed—she, being observed and accused of similar crimes, having been held under arrest by us for some days past—that in the mission there is a large congregation of [Christian non-Indians], although some Indians also join them, and that these persons, ... flying through

1053-727: 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. 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

1170-553: A fact he has knowledge about from personal observation. It is in this sense that the term first appears in the Book of Acts , in reference to the Apostles as "witnesses" of all that they had observed in the public life of Christ . In Acts 1:22 , Peter , in his address to the Apostles and disciples regarding the election of a successor to Judas , employs the term with this meaning: "Wherefore, of these men who have accompanied with us all

1287-555: A feeble mule. On April 28, 1769, Serra arrived at mission San Borja , where he received a warm welcome from friar Fermín Lasuén . Founded just seven years before by the Jesuit Wenceslaus Linck , mission San Borja sat in an unusually arid region of Baja California. Continuing north, Serra stopped on May 5 to celebrate a Mass for the feast of the Ascension in the deserted church at Calamajué , scarcely more than

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1404-464: 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. At age 16, Miquel's parents enrolled him in a Franciscan school in the capital city, Palma de Majorca , where he studied philosophy. A year later, he became a novice in

1521-623: A journey or complete withdrawal from life". Also along these lines are the terms "wet martyr" (a person who has shed blood or been executed for the faith) and "dry martyr" (a person who "had suffered every indignity and cruelty" but not shed blood, nor suffered execution). The Center for the Study of Global Christianity of Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary, an evangelical seminary based in Hamilton, Massachusetts, previously estimated that 100,000 Christians die annually for their faith, although

1638-447: A journey than a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese. For I was there [at mission Loreto] a whole year, in economic matters, as a mere guest to receive the crumbs of the royal soldier commissioner, whose liberality at my departure did not extend beyond the aforementioned articles." Two servants—one named José María Vergerano, a 20-year-old from Magdalena , the other a soldier guard—accompanied Serra on his journey from Loreto, as he rode on

1755-513: A life of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance. The mendicant orders had long been exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop, and enjoyed (as distinguished from the secular clergy) unrestricted freedom to preach and hear confessions in the churches connected with their monasteries. This had led to endless friction and open quarrels between

1872-645: A mission in Baja California and established eight of the 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco , in what was then Spanish-occupied Alta California in the Province of Las Californias of New Spain . Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 25 September 1988 in Vatican City . Amid denunciations from Native American tribes who accused Serra of presiding over

1989-477: A non-legal context, may also signify a proclamation that the speaker believes to be truthful. The term was used by Aristotle for observations, but also for ethical judgments and expressions of moral conviction that can not be empirically observed. There are several examples where Plato uses the term to signify "witness to truth", including in Laws . The Greek word martyr signifies a " witness " who testifies to

2106-508: A period of growth and expansion Christians sought to gain control of the imperial office. The cult of the saints was significant to the process of Christianization , but during the first centuries of the Church the celebrations venerating the saints took place in hiding. Michael Gaddis writes that "[t]he Christian experience of violence during the pagan persecutions shaped the ideologies and practices that drove further religious conflicts over

2223-540: A request from the college of San Fernando to the local headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition . He asked that an inquisitor be appointed to preside over the Sierra Gorda. The next day, Inquisition officials appointed Serra himself as inquisitor for the whole region—adding that he could exercise his powers anywhere he did missionary work in New Spain, as long as there was no regular Inquisition official in

2340-609: A ruined hut. The next morning he arrived at Santa María , where he met up with Portolá , friar Miguel de la Campa and several members of their party. In this arid region, whose alkaline land resisted cultivation, lived the "poorest of all" the Indians Serra had encountered in Mexico. On Sunday May 7, Serra celebrated high Mass and preached a sermon at the mission church on the frontier of Spanish Catholicism. After leaving Mission Santa María , Serra urged Portolá to move ahead of

2457-495: A short time Baja California will come to an end." Epidemics, especially syphilis introduced by Spanish troops, were wasting the Indians. But Palóu attributed the ravages of syphilis to God's retribution for the Indians' murder of the two Jesuit priests over 30 years earlier. In 1768 José de Gálvez , inspector general of New Spain, decided to send explorers and locate missions in Alta (upper) California. Gálvez aimed both to Christianize

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2574-557: A significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam. Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would sell them as slaves to Muslim households where they were forced to convert to Islam . Many Christian martyrs were executed under

2691-528: A thousand, were attending neither confession nor Mass . The two missionaries set about learning the Pame language from a Mexican who had lived among the Pames. But the statement by Palóu that Serra translated the catechism into the Pame language is questionable, as Serra himself later admitted he had great difficulties learning indigenous languages. Serra involved Pames parishioners in the ritual reenactment of Jesus' forced death march. Erecting 14 stations, Serra led

2808-462: A year or more. Now this inflammation has reached halfway up my leg." Portolá again tried to persuade Serra to withdraw from the expedition, offering to "have you carried back to the first mission where you can recuperate, and we will continue our journey." Serra countered that "God ... has given me the strength to come so far. ... Even though I should die on the way, I shall not turn back. They can bury me wherever they wish and I shall gladly be left among

2925-463: 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." Serra asked his colleague to read this letter to his parents, who had never attended school. In 1749, Serra and

3042-479: Is a mendicant religious order of men that traces its origin to Francis of Assisi. Their official Latin name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum Which is the name Francis gave his brotherhood. Having been born among the minorum (serfs, second class citizens), before his conversion, he aspired to move up the social ladder to the maiorum (nobles, first class citizens). After a life of conversion,

3159-584: Is a report regarding the martyrdom of James son of Zebedee in Acts 12:1–2, and knowledge that both John and James, son of Zebedee, ended up martyred, appears to be reflected in Mark 10:39. Judith Perkins has written that many ancient Christians believed that "to be a Christian was to suffer," partly inspired by the example of Jesus. The lives of the martyrs became a source of inspiration for some Christians, and their relics were honored. Numerous crypts and chapels in

3276-534: Is also alluded to in 2 Timothy 4:6–7. While not specifying his Christianity as involved in the cause of death, the Jewish historian Josephus reports that James, whom he referred to as a brother of Jesus, was stoned by Jewish authorities under the charge of law breaking, which is similar to the Christian perception of Stephen's martyrdom as being a result of stoning for the penalty of law breaking. Furthermore, there

3393-579: Is ungrateful to God who ought to do penance for my many sins, and not the padre [Serra], who is a saint." The man kept whipping himself until he collapsed. After receiving the last sacraments, he later died from the ordeal. During other sermons on the theme of repentance, Serra would hoist a large stone in one hand and, while clutching a crucifix in the other, smash the stone against his chest. Many of his listeners feared that he would strike himself dead. Later, Serra suffered chest pains and shortness of breath; Palóu suggests that Serra's self-inflicted bruises were

3510-464: The Apostles . Once Christians started to undergo persecution , the term came to be applied to those who suffered hardships for their faith. Finally, it was restricted to those who had been killed for their faith. The early Christian period before Constantine I was the "Age of Martyrs". "Early Christians venerated martyrs as powerful intercessors , and their utterances were treasured as inspired by

3627-669: The Civil War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the report did not take into consideration the political or ethnic differences which are accepted as the primary motive behind these killings. Todd Johnson, director of the CSGC, says his centre has abandoned this statistic. The Vatican reporter and author of The Global War on Christians John L. Allen Jr. said: "I think it would be good to have reliable figures on this issue, but I don't think it ultimately matters in terms of

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3744-566: The Donatist and Novatianist schisms . "Martyrdom for the faith ... became a central feature in the Christian experience." "Notions of persecution by the 'world', ... run deep in the Christian tradition. For evangelicals who read the New Testament as an inerrant history of the primitive church, the understanding that to be a Christian is to be persecuted is obvious, if not inescapable." The "eschatological ideology" of martyrdom

3861-662: The Early Middle Ages , the Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries AD suffered religious discrimination , religious persecution , religious violence , and martyrdom multiple times at the hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. As People of the Book , Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to dhimmi status (along with Jews , Samaritans , Gnostics , Mandeans , and Zoroastrians ), which

3978-545: The First Commandment : "Why are there no martyrs these days, as there used to be?" Pauper responds that the English were creating many new martyrs sparing "neither their own king nor their own bishops, no dignity, no rank, no status, no degree". Pauper's statement is based on historical events, including the murder of King Richard II and the executions of Richard Scrope , Archbishop of York . Dana Piroyansky uses

4095-515: The Holy Spirit ." In western Christian art , martyrs are often shown holding a palm frond as an attribute , representing the victory of spirit over flesh, and it was widely believed that a picture of a palm on a tomb meant that a martyr was buried there. The use of the word μάρτυς ( mártys ) in non-biblical Greek was primarily in a legal context. It was used for a person who speaks from personal observation. The martyr , when used in

4212-723: The Observant branch (postnominal abbreviation OFM Obs.), is one of the three Franciscan First Orders within the Catholic Church , the others being the Capuchins (postnominal abbreviation OFM Cap.) and Conventuals (postnominal abbreviation OFM Conv). The Order of Friars Minor, in its current form, is the result of an amalgamation of several smaller Franciscan orders (e.g. Alcantarines , Recollects , Reformanti , etc.), completed in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII . The Capuchin and Conventual remain distinct religious institutes within

4329-494: The Pame people and a scattering of Spanish colonists. The Pames—who centuries earlier had built a civilization with temples, idols and priests—lived mainly by gathering and hunting, but also pursued agriculture. Many groups among them, adopting mobile guerrilla tactics, had eluded conquest by the Spanish military. Serra and Palóu, arriving at the village of Jalpan , found the mission in disarray: The parishioners, numbering fewer than

4446-569: The Passion of Christ . He wore a sackcloth spiked with bristles, or a coat interwoven with broken pieces of wire, under his gray friar's outer garment. In his austere cell, Serra kept a chain of sharp pointed iron links hanging on the wall beside his bed, to whip himself at night when sinful thoughts ran through his mind. His nightly self-flagellations at the college of San Fernando caught the ears of some of his fellow friars. In his letters to his Franciscan companions, Serra often referred to himself as

4563-463: The Seventh Crusade , when Louis IX asked who the particularly zealous monks pursuing Saracens were, and was told they were "de cordes liés" . Upon the crusaders return to France, the name became part of the language. Arranged according to date of celebration which is marked in brackets. Books Articles Christian martyrs In Christianity , a martyr is a person who

4680-473: The hagiographical tradition of saints and martyrs. This experience, and the associated martyrs and apologists , would have significant historical and theological consequences for the developing faith. Among other things, persecution sparked the devotion of the saints , facilitated the rapid growth and spread of Christianity, prompted defenses and explanations of Christianity (the "apologies" ) and, in its aftermath, raised fundamental questions about

4797-683: The "cults of political saints" may have been a way of "showing resistance to the king" that would have been difficult to control or punish. Some Roman Catholic writers (such as Thomas Cahill ) continue to use a system of degrees of martyrdom that was developed in early Christianity. Some of these degrees bestow the title of martyr on those who sacrifice large elements of their lives alongside those who sacrifice life itself. These degrees were mentioned by Pope Gregory I in Homilia in Evangelia ; in it he wrote of "three modes of martyrdom, designated by

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4914-601: The 20 Franciscan friars to ride up the Camino Real. All accepted the offer, except for Serra and one companion, a friar from Andalusia . Strictly following the rule of his patron saint Francis of Assisi that friars "must not ride on horseback unless compelled by manifest necessity or infirmity," Serra insisted on walking to Mexico City. He and his fellow friar set out on the Camino Real with no money or guide, carrying only their breviaries . They trusted in Providence and

5031-699: The CSGC has now disavowed this estimate. Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, later referred to this number in a radio address to the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council . The methodology used in arriving at the estimate of 100,000 has been widely criticized. The majority of the one million people the Center counted as Christians who died as martyrs between 2000 and 2010 died during

5148-532: The Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases. Franciscans are sometimes referred to as minorites or greyfriars because of their habit . In Poland and Lithuania they are known as Bernardines , after Bernardino of Siena , although the term elsewhere refers rather to Cistercians . The "Order of Friars Minor" are commonly called simply the " Franciscans ". This Order

5265-423: The Christian concept of martyrdom can only be understood as springing from Jewish roots. Frend characterizes Judaism as "a religion of martyrdom" and that it was this "Jewish psychology of martyrdom" that inspired Christian martyrdom. Frend writes, "In the first two centuries AD. there was a living pagan tradition of self-sacrifice for a cause, a preparedness if necessary to defy an unjust ruler, that existed alongside

5382-412: The Christian faith to save their lives: were they to be allowed back into the Church? Some felt they should not, while others said they could. In the end, it was agreed to allow them in after a period of penance . The re-admittance of the "lapsed" became a defining moment in the Church because it allowed the sacrament of repentance and readmission to the Church despite issues of sin . This issue caused

5499-583: The Franciscan missionary team landed in Veracruz , on the Gulf coast of New Spain (now Mexico). To get from Veracruz to Mexico City, Serra and his Franciscan companions took the Camino Real (English: royal path ), a rough road stretching from sea level through tropical forests, dry plains, high plateaus and volcanic sierra mountains to an altitude of 7,400 feet (2,300 meters). Royal officials provided horses for

5616-653: The Franciscan order. On September 14, 1730, some two months before his 17th birthday, Serra entered the Franciscan Order at Palma, 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

5733-749: The Inquisition following his 1752 appointment: his preaching in Oaxaca in 1764, and his partial handling of the case of a Sierra Gorda mulatto accused of sorcery in 1766. In 1758, Serra returned to the College of San Fernando. Over the next nine years he worked in the college's administrative offices, and as a missionary and inquisitor in the dioceses of Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, Valladolid, and Guadalajara. Emulating an earlier Franciscan missionary and saint, Francisco Solano , Serra practiced various habits of penance, to purify his spirit and cultivate communion with

5850-514: The Inquisition is the only letter of his that has survived from eight years of mission work in the Sierra Gorda. Serra's first biographer, Francisco Palóu , wrote that Serra, in his role of inquisitor, had to work in many parts of Mexico and travel long distances. Yet the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City, with over a thousand volumes of indexed documents on the Inquisition, apparently contains only two references to Serra's work for

5967-469: The Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of the Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity , and blasphemy toward Muslim beliefs . In Dives and Pauper , a 15th-century Middle English moral treatise on the Ten Commandments , the figure Dives poses this question about

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6084-631: The Jesuits, Portolá treated them kindly even as he removed them under the king's orders. Into the vacuum created by the Jesuits' expulsion from Mexico , stepped Franciscan missionaries. In July 1767, the guardian of the college of San Fernando appointed Serra president of the missions of Baja California , heading a group of 15 Franciscan friars; Francisco Palóu served as his second in command. Jesuit priests had developed 13 missions on that long and arid peninsula over seven decades. Two Jesuits had died at

6201-496: The Jews and Samaritans, also refused to worship other gods, but were not generally persecuted. Smith points out that the early Christians (in the 100's to the 200's) were accused of practicing magic and other crimes associated with magic, and that magic has been commonly neglected in discussions of the persecutions. Jacob Burkhardt writes that the reason for the persecution of Christians under Diocletian around 300 may have been that after

6318-649: The Native American converts. Serra was born Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer (this name is Catalan , in Castilian it is Miguel José Serra y Ferrer) in the village of Petra on the island of Mallorca (Majorca) in the Balearic Islands off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. His father Antonio Nadal Serra and mother Margarita Rosa Ferrer were married in 1707. By age seven, Miquel was working

6435-473: The Pames' traditional belief system. On his 1752 visit from the Sierra Gorda mission to the college of San Fernando in Mexico City, Serra joyfully carried a goddess statue presented to him by Christian Pames. The statue, showing the face of Cachum, mother of the sun, had been erected on a hilltop shrine where some Pame chiefs lay buried. Back in the Sierra Gorda, Serra faced a conflict between Spanish soldiers, settlers, and mission natives or "Indians". Following

6552-708: The Roman catacombs bear witness to the early veneration for those champions of freedom of conscience. Special commemoration services, at which the holy Sacrifice were offered over their tombs gave rise to the time honoured custom of consecrating altars by enclosing in them the relics of martyrs. In its first three centuries , the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities. Christians were persecuted by local authorities on an intermittent and ad hoc basis. In addition, there were several periods of empire-wide persecution which were directed from

6669-475: The air at night, are in the habit of meeting in a cave on a hill near a ranch called El Saucillo, in the center of said missions, where they worship and make sacrifice to the demons who appear visibly there in the guise of young goats and various other things of that nature. ... If such evil is not attacked, the horrible corruption will spread among these poor [Indian] neophytes who are in our charge." According to modern Franciscan historians, this report by Serra to

6786-609: The authority of the Minister General of the Order, a member of the Observant branch, but were allowed their distinct practices. They included: A difference of opinion developed in the community concerning the interpretation of the rule regarding property. The Observants held to a strict interpretation that the friars may not hold any property either individually nor communally. The literal and unconditional observance of this

6903-448: The cause. While preaching of hell and damnation, Serra would sear his flesh with a four-pronged candle flame—emulating a famed Franciscan preacher, John of Capistrano . Palóu described this as "quite violent, painful, and dangerous towards wounding his chest." Serra did not stand alone among Catholic missionaries in displaying self-punishment at the pulpit. The more zealous Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries did likewise. But few took it to

7020-408: The cities gave further opportunities for the display of the martyr's faith. Boyarin points out that, despite their apparent opposition to each other, both of these arguments are based on the assumption that Judaism and Christianity were already two separate and distinct religions. He challenges that assumption and argues that "making of martyrdom was at least in part, part and parcel of the process of

7137-661: The college of San Fernando, he had cattle, goats, sheep, and farming tools brought to the Sierra Gorda mission. Palóu supervised the farm labor of men of the mission; the women learned spinning, sewing and knitting. Their products were collected and rationed to the mission residents, according to personal needs. Christian Pames sold their surplus products in nearby trading centers, under the friars' supervision to protect them from cheaters. Pames who adapted successfully to mission life received their own parcels of land to raise corn, beans and pumpkins, and sometimes received oxen and seeds as well. Within two years, Serra had made inroads against

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7254-492: 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. 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

7371-458: The colors, red, blue (or green), and white". A believer was bestowed the title of red martyr due to either torture or violent death by religious persecution. The term "white martyrdom" was used by the Church Father Jerome , "for those such as desert hermits who aspired to the condition of martyrdom through strict asceticism". Blue (or green) martyrdom "involves the denial of desires, as through fasting and penitent labors without necessarily implying

7488-417: The conflict between King Antiochus Epiphanes IV and the Jewish people. 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees recount numerous martyrdoms suffered by Jews resisting the Hellenizing of their Seleucid overlords, being executed for such crimes as observing the Sabbath, circumcising their children, or refusing to eat pork or meat sacrificed to foreign gods. With few exceptions, this assumption has lasted from

7605-406: The construction of a splendid church in Jalpan . Gathering masons, carpenters, and other skilled craftsmen from Mexico City, Serra employed Christian Pames in seasonal construction work over the course of seven years to complete the church. Serra pitched in himself, carrying wooden beams and applying mortar between the stones forming the church walls. During his 1752 visit to Mexico City, Serra sent

7722-409: 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." Serra was considered intellectually brilliant by his peers. He received

7839-416: The course of the fourth and fifth centuries". Martyrdom was a formative experience and influenced how Christians justified or condemned the use of violence in later generations. Thus, the collective memory of religious suffering found in early Christian works on the historical experience of persecution, religious suffering and martyrdom shaped Christian culture and identity. Historians recognize that during

7956-410: The developing Christian concept of martyrdom inherited from Judaism." In contrast to Frend's hypothesis, Boyarin describes G. W. Bowersock's view of Christian martyrology as being completely unrelated to the Jewish practice, being instead "a practice that grew up in an entirely Roman cultural environment and then was borrowed by Jews". Bowersock argues that the Christian tradition of martyrdom came from

8073-430: The early Christian period to this day, accepted both by Jews and Christians. According to Daniel Boyarin, there are "two major theses with regard to the origins of Christian martyrology, which [can be referred to] as the Frend thesis and the Bowersock thesis". Boyarin characterizes W. H. C. Frend's view of martyrdom as having originated in Judaism and Christian martyrdom as a continuation of that practice. Frend argues that

8190-416: The end of the first century, employs the word with this meaning. A distinction between martyrs and confessors is traceable to the latter part of the second century: those only were martyrs who had suffered the extreme penalty, whereas the title of confessor was given to Christians who had shown their willingness to die for their belief, by bravely enduring imprisonment or torture, but were not put to death. Yet

8307-522: The expedition, and wrote to Gálvez about Serra's condition. Serra's fellow friar and former student Francisco Palóu also became concerned, gently suggesting to Serra that he stay in Baja California and let the younger and stronger Palóu make the journey to San Diego in his place. Serra rebuffed both Portolá's and Palóu's doubts. He chided Palóu for his suggestion: "Let us not speak of that. I have placed all my confidence in God, of whose goodness I hope that He will grant me to reach not only San Diego to raise

8424-586: The extensive Indian populations and serve Spain's strategic interest by preventing Russian explorations and possible claims to North America's Pacific coast. Gálvez chose Serra to head the missionary team in the California expedition. Serra, now 55, eagerly seized the chance to harvest thousands of pagan souls in lands previously untouched by the church. But as the expedition gathered in Loreto , Serra's foot and leg infection had become almost crippling. The commander, Gaspar de Portolá , tried to dissuade him from joining

8541-457: The extremes that Serra did. The regulations of the college of San Fernando said that self-punishment should never be carried to the point of permanently incapacitating oneself. On June 24, 1767, the Viceroy of New Spain, Carlos Francisco de Croix , read a Spanish royal decree to Mexico's archbishop and assembled church officials: "Repair with an armed force to the houses of the Jesuits. Seize

8658-522: The fall. ... We treated with them for a long time; and although they saw all of us clothed, they nevertheless showed not the least trace of shame in their manner of nudity." Serra placed both hands upon their heads as a token of paternal affection. He then handed them figs, which they ate immediately. One of the Indian men gave Serra roasted agave stalks and four fishes. In return, Portolá and his soldiers offered tobacco leaves and various food items. Through

8775-469: 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 friary at the church of San Bernardino within a block of the Serra family house. Attending the friars ' primary school at the church, Miquel learned reading, writing, mathematics, Latin, religion and liturgical song , especially Gregorian chant. Gifted with

8892-682: The first Franciscans and a companion of Francis of Assisi . The young Junípero, along with his fellow novices, vowed to scorn property and comfort, and to remain celibate . He still had seven years to go to become an ordained Catholic priest . He immersed himself in rigorous studies of logic, metaphysics, cosmology, and theology. 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. In his free time, he avidly read stories about Franciscan friars roaming

9009-571: The groups that followed the Franciscan Rule literally were united to the Observants, and the right to elect the Minister General of the Order , together with the seal of the order, was given to the group united under the Observants. This grouping, since it adhered more closely to the rule of the founder, was allowed to claim a certain superiority over the Conventuals. The Observant general (elected now for six years, not for life) inherited

9126-486: The hands of Indians in the revolt of 1734–36. In March 1768, Serra and his missionary team boarded a Spanish sloop at San Blas , on Mexico's Pacific coast. Sailing over 200 miles up the Gulf of California , they landed at Loreto two weeks later. Gaspar de Portolá , governor of Las Californias, welcomed them at the Loreto mission , founded by Jesuits in 1697. While he gave control of the church to Serra, Portolá controlled

9243-416: The hospitality of local people along the way. During the trek Serra's left foot swelled up, and a burning itch tormented him. Arriving at a farm at day's end, he could hardly stand. He attributed the swelling to a mosquito bite. His discomfort caused him to stay over at the farm another night, during which he scratched his foot and leg to excess, desperately trying to relieve the itch. The next morning his leg

9360-470: The intrusive colony. But the townspeople protested and stayed put. The government set up commissions and looked into alternative sites for the colony. It ordered the settlers to keep their cattle out of the Pames' fields, and to pay the Pames fairly for their labor (with the friars supervising payment). After a protracted legal struggle, the settlers moved out, and in 1755 the Pames and friars reclaimed their land. Crowning his Sierra Gorda mission, Serra oversaw

9477-413: The lifetime of the Apostles, the term martyrs came to be used in the sense of a witness who at any time might be called upon to deny what he testified to, under penalty of death. From this stage the transition was easy to the ordinary meaning of the term, as used ever since in Christian literature : a martyr, or witness of Christ, is a person who suffers death rather than deny his faith . Saint John , at

9594-457: The living quarters and rationed out food to the friars, charging their costs to the mission. Serra and Palóu found—to their unpleasant surprise—that they ruled only on spiritual matters: everyday management of the mission remained in the hands of the military, who had occupied the Baja missions since evicting the Jesuits. In August 1768, New Spain's inspector general José de Gálvez , displeased with

9711-483: The making of Judaism and Christianity as distinct entities". The Apostle Paul taught that Jesus was "obedient unto death," a 1st century Jewish phrasing for self-sacrifice in Jewish law . Because of this, some scholars believe Jesus' death was Jewish martyrdom. Jesus himself said he had come to fulfill the Torah . The Catholic Church calls Jesus the "King of Martyrs" because, as a man, he refused to commit sin unto

9828-426: The name of his brotherhood (Order of Second-Class Brothers) indicates his coming to an appreciation of his social condition on behalf of those who have no class or citizenship in society. The modern organization of the Friars Minor comprises several separate families or groups, each considered a religious order in its own right under its own Minister General and particular type of governance. They all live according to

9945-685: The nature of the Church . Stephen is the first martyr reported in the New Testament, accused of blasphemy and stoned by the Sanhedrin under the Levitical law . Toward the end of the 1st century, the martyrdom of both Peter and Paul is reported by Clement of Rome in 1 Clement . The martyrdom of Peter is also alluded to in various writings written between 70 and 130 AD, including in John 21:19; 1 Peter 5:1; and 2 Peter 1:12–15. The martyrdom of Paul

10062-487: The order to beg for food while preaching. The austerity was meant to emulate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ . Franciscans traveled and preached in the streets, while boarding in church properties. The extreme poverty required of members was relaxed in the final revision of the Rule in 1223. The degree of observance required of members remained a major source of conflict within the order, resulting in numerous secessions. The Order of Friars Minor, previously known as

10179-429: The pagans, if it be God's will." Portolá had a stretcher prepared, so that Christian Indians traveling with the expedition could carry Serra along the trail. Order of Friars Minor Francis began preaching around 1207 and traveled to Rome to seek approval of his order from Pope Innocent III in 1209. The original Rule of Saint Francis approved by the pope disallowed ownership of property, requiring members of

10296-491: The penalty of death." Spain's king Carlos III had plotted the expulsion of Jesuits throughout his empire five months earlier. On the Baja California peninsula , newly appointed governor Gaspar de Portolá had to notify and remove the Jesuits from the chain of missions they had developed in forbidding territory over 70 years. By February 1768, Portolá gathered the 16 Baja Jesuit missionaries in Loreto , from where they sailed to mainland Mexico for deportation. Sympathetic to

10413-417: The persons of all of them and, within 24 hours, transport them as prisoners to the port of Veracruz. Cause to be sealed the records of said houses and records of such persons without allowing them to remove anything but their breviaries and such garments as are absolutely necessary for their journey. If after the embarkation there should be found one Jesuit in that district, even if ill or dying, you shall suffer

10530-404: The point of shedding blood. Tertullian , one of the 2nd-century ecclesiastical writers wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church ", implying that a martyr's willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others . The Age of Martyrs also forced the church to confront theological issues such as the proper response to those Christians who "lapsed" and renounced

10647-429: The procession himself, carrying an extremely heavy cross. At each station, the procession paused for a prayer, and at the end Serra sermonized on the sufferings and death of Jesus. On Holy Thursday , 12 Pames elders reenacted the roles of the apostles . Serra, in the role of Jesus, washed their feet and then, after the service, dined with them. Serra also tackled the practical side of mission administration. Working with

10764-484: The provinces of Spain and around the world to win new souls for the church, often suffering martyrdom in the process. 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 . When

10881-452: The reformed congregations and annexed them to the Observants; it then declared the Observants an independent order, and separated them completely from the Conventuals. The less strict principles of the Conventuals, permitting the possession of real estate and the enjoyment of fixed revenues, were recognized as tolerable, while the Observants, in contrast to this usus moderatus , were held strictly to their own usus arctus or pauper . All of

10998-430: The region. In September 1752, Serra filed a report to the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico City from Jalpan , on "evidences of witchcraft in the Sierra Gorda missions." He denounced several Christian non-Indians who lived in and around the mission for "the most detestable and horrible crimes of sorcery, witchcraft and devil worship. ... If it is necessary to specify one of the persons guilty of such crimes, I accuse by name

11115-764: The sacraments for the Fernando Rivera expedition, the overland party that had preceded the Portolá party. The founding celebration took place "with all the neatness of holy poverty," in Serra's words. Smoke from the soldiers' guns, fired in repeated volleys, served as incense. The new mission lacked Indians to convert. A few days later, friar Miguel de la Campa notified Serra that a few natives had arrived. Serra joyously rushed out to welcome twelve Indian, men and boys. "Then I saw what I could hardly begin to believe when I read about it," wrote Serra. "... namely, that they go about entirely naked like Adam in paradise before

11232-632: The seat of government in Rome. Christians were the targets of persecution because they refused to worship the Roman gods or to pay homage to the emperor as divine . In the Roman Empire , refusing to sacrifice to the Emperor or the empire's gods was tantamount to refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to one's country. However, some scholars, such as Morton Smith, point out that other sects, such as

11349-502: The sloppy military administration of the Baja missions, ordered them turned over fully to the Franciscan friars. The Franciscans found that the Indian population in the Baja California mission territories had dwindled to about 7,150. By the time the Franciscans had moved north and turned the missions over to Dominican friars in 1772, the Indian population had decreased to about 5,000. "If it goes on at this rate," wrote Palóu, "in

11466-464: The slow pack train, so they could reach Velicatá in time for Pentecost the next day. Portolá agreed, so the small group traveled all day May 13 to reach Velicatá by late evening. The advanced guard of the party greeted them there. On Pentecost day, May 14, 1769, Serra founded his first mission, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá , in a mud hut that had served as a makeshift church when friar Fermín Lasuén had traveled up on Easter to conduct

11583-501: The smaller branches, but left the division of the two great parties untouched. This division was finally legalized by Leo X , after a general chapter held in Rome in 1517, in connection with the reform movement of the Fifth Lateran Council , had once more declared the impossibility of reunion. Leo X summoned on 11 July 1516 a general chapter to meet at Rome on the feast of Pentecost 31 May 1517. This chapter suppressed all

11700-630: The soldiers' families tried to establish a town, and the officer in charge of their deployment approved their plan. The Pames objected, threatening to defend their lands by force if necessary. Soldiers and settlers let their cattle graze on Christian Pames' farmlands and bullied Pames into working for them. Serra and the College of San Fernando sided with the Pames—citing the Laws of the Indies , which banned colonial settlements in mission territories. The viceroy , Spain's highest official in Mexico, suspended

11817-589: The standard of the Holy Cross in that port, but also Monterey." Serra suggested that the Portolá party set off without him; he would follow and meet up with them on the way to Alta California. He then assigned friar Miguel de la Campa as chaplain to the Portolá expedition , which set out from Loreto on March 9, 1769. Spending holy week at mission Loreto , Serra set out on March 28. "From my mission of Loreto," wrote Serra, "I took along no more provisions for so long

11934-534: The strict observance of the rule. Pope Martin V , in the Brief Ad statum of 23 August 1430, allowed the Conventuals to hold property like all other orders. Projects for a union between the two main branches of the order were put forth not only by the Council of Constance but by several popes, without any positive result. By direction of Pope Martin V , John of Capistrano drew up statutes which were to serve as

12051-574: The term "political martyrs" for men of "high estate", including kings and bishops, who were killed during the Late Middle Ages during the course of the rebellions, civil wars, regime changes, and other political upheavals of the 14th and 15th centuries. Piroyansky notes that although these men were never formally canonized as saints , they were venerated as miracle-working martyrs and their tombs were turned into shrines following their violent and untimely deaths. J. C. Russell has written that

12168-448: The term martyr was still sometimes applied during the third century to persons still living, as, for instance, by Cyprian who gave the title of martyrs to a number of bishops, priests, and laymen condemned to penal servitude in the mines. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the more significant contributions of Second Temple Judaism to western civilization. It is believed that the concept of voluntary death for God developed out of

12285-460: The time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection". The Apostles , according to tradition, faced grave dangers until eventually almost all suffered death for their convictions. The Bible reports the martyrdom of two of the apostles. Thus, within

12402-815: The title of "Minister-General of the Whole Order of St. Francis" and was granted the right to confirm the choice of a head for the Conventuals, who was known as "Master-General of the Friars Minor Conventual"—although this privilege never became practically operative. In 1875, the Kulturkampf expelled the majority of the German Franciscans, most of whom settled in North America. The habit has been gradually changed in colour and certain other details. Its colour, which

12519-513: The two divisions of the clergy. This question was definitively settled by the Council of Trent . Amid numerous dissensions in the 14th century, a number of separate observances sprang up, almost like sects (to say nothing of the heretical parties of the Beghards and Fraticelli ), some of which developed within the order on both hermit and cenobitic principles. They all operated generally under

12636-663: The urban culture of the Roman Empire, especially in Asia Minor: Martyrdom was ... solidly anchored in the civic life of the Graeco-Roman world of the Roman empire. It ran its course in the great urban spaces of the agora and the amphitheater, the principal settings for public discourse and for public spectacle. It depended upon the urban rituals of the imperial cult and the interrogation protocols of local and provincial magistrates. The prisons and brothels of

12753-433: The words of Serra's colleague and biographer, Father Francisco Palóu, spiritual conquest meant enticing Indians with food and clothing, by which means they could be indoctrinated as Christians and 'gradually acquire a knowledge of what is spiritually good and evil' ". Back on the road, Serra found it very difficult to stay on his feet because "my left foot had become very inflamed, a painful condition which I have suffered for

12870-592: Was at first grey or a medium brown, is now a dark brown. The dress, which consists of a loose-sleeved gown, is confined by a white cord, from which is hung, since the fifteenth century, the Seraphic Rosary with its seven decades. Sandals are substituted for shoes. Around the neck and over the shoulders hangs the cowl. The habit of referring to the Francisans as Cordeliers in France is said to date back to

12987-567: Was based on an irony found in the Pauline epistles : "to live outside of Christ is to die, and to die in Christ is to live." In Ad Martyras , Tertullian writes that some Christians "eagerly desired it" ( et ultro appetita ) [i.e. martyrdom]. The martyr homilies were written in ancient Greek by authors such as Basil of Caesarea , Gregory of Nyssa , Asterius of Amasea , John Chrysostom , and Hesychius of Jerusalem . These homilies were part of

13104-459: 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. 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

13221-432: Was declined, Serra insisted on living as a novice at San Fernando: "This learned university professor ... would often eat more sparingly in order to replace the student whose turn it was to read to the community. Or he would humbly carry trays and wait on tables with the lay brothers." The Sierra Gorda Indian missions , some 90 miles north of Santiago de Querétaro , were nestled in a vast region of jagged mountains, home of

13338-784: Was inferior to the status of Muslims. Christians and other religious minorities thus faced religious discrimination and religious persecution , in that they were banned from proselytising (for Christians, it was forbidden to evangelize or spread Christianity ) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death; they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs. Under sharia , non-Muslims were obligated to pay jizya and kharaj taxes, together with periodic heavy ransom levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed

13455-506: Was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church , stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing , stoning , crucifixion , burning at the stake , or other forms of torture and capital punishment . The word martyr comes from the Koine word μάρτυς, mártys , which means "witness" or "testimony". At first, the term applied to

13572-487: Was raw and bleeding. This wound plagued Serra for the rest of his life. Hobbling into Mexico City, Serra joined up with his fellow friars at the College of San Fernando de Mexico , a specialized training center and regional headquarters for Franciscan missionaries. Serra requested that he do his novitiate year again—despite his academic prestige, and the fact that the college's novices were far younger men. Though his request

13689-472: Was rendered impracticable by the great expansion of the order, its pursuit of learning, and the accumulated property of the large cloisters in the towns. Regulations were drafted by which all alms donated were held by custodians appointed by the Holy See, who would make distributions upon request. It was John XXII who had introduced Conventualism in the sense of community of goods, income, and property as in other religious orders, in contradiction to Observantism or

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