91¿ì»îÁÖ

The students, faculty, staff, and alumni of 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College celebrate His Holiness Pope Francis™s canonization of California™s beloved patron, St. Junipero Serra! Tonight, the men of Blessed Junipero Serra Hall (soon to be renamed Saint Junipero Serra) will sing at a Mass held in their namesake™s honor. Tomorrow, the entire community will gather for a community-wide Mass at 11:15 a.m., followed by a procession to his statue.

Meanwhile, alumna Suzie (Zeiter ™87) Andres has written a about the holy death of the Church™s newest saint on Catholic Exchange, in which she also recounts a fascinating anecdote about the history of the College and the Franciscan who founded the first nine of California™s missions:

Campus statue of St. Junipero SerraViltis Jatulis, faithful Lithuanian librarian of St. Bernardine Library at 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College, once received a donation of books that had belonged to a great Catholic lady (she and her husband, and then their son and his wife, all generous benefactors). Upon perusal, Viltis found that one of the books was an old diary. A really old diary. A really old diary of Father Junipero Serra. Viltis, a less grasping and a holier hunter-of-relics than I, contacted the donor and arranged for the diary to go where it belonged ” to one of Father Serra™s beloved missions and home of [Monsignor Francis J. Weber, archivist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles], the San Fernando Mission.

For those of us who wish we had a relic of Father, let us not forget that we have the largest relics of all ” the California missions. And for those who live too far to visit, a yet more valuable gift is available upon request ” his friendship. Thanks to God™s mercy, this day Junipero Serra is enrolled in the canon of the Saints; there is no distance between Heaven and earth, only a thin veil, and today that veil is lifted. Behold Father Serra in Heaven, but he is looking down kindly, desiring more than ever to show God™s great love to us.

St. Junipero Serra, pray for us!