Miquel Joseph Serra was born and baptized on November 24, 1713 in Petra, a farming village on the island of Mallorca, Spain. As a child he attended a Franciscan elementary school. At the age of fifteen, Serra left home to enter the Franciscan University in Palma to study philosophy. When Serra was sixteen, he decided to join the Franciscan Order. After years of preparation and careful consideration of his vocation, Serra received his Franciscan habit in 1730 and took the name Junipero which meant Jester of God. He chose the religious name Junipero, after a companion of Saint Francis of Assisi who was simple, sincere, and good-natured man. When the original Junipero was c