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New statue of Saint Junipero Serra receives blessing and dedication at JSerra High

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  • Father Robert Capone speaks to students during mass at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A retablo, or devotional painting, of Saint Junipero Serra hangs in the gym as alter boys lead Father Robert Capone at the start of mass at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  • A student takes communion during mass at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Tim Busch speaks during the dedication of a statue of Saint Junipero Serra at the entrance to JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Tim and his wife Steph are founding members of the school and commissioned the statue. The unveiling of the statue coincides with the school’s celebration of Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Students hold hands during mass at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Father Robert Capone speaks to students during mass at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Inscribed bricks were laid at the foot of a statue to Saint Junipero Serra to mark the service of teachers and staff at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The school was celebrating Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the dedication of a statue recognizing the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Father Robert Capone blesses a statue of Saint Junipero Serra during a ceremony at the entrance to JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The unveiling of the statue coincides with the school’s celebration of Patron’s Day, the founding of the school, as well as the canonization of Saint Serra in 2015. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Students at JSerra Catholic High School have a new statue of the campus’ namesake watching over them, after a likeness of Saint Junipero Serra was dedicated on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

The blessing of the statue coincided with Patron’s Day, the celebration of the founding of the San Juan Capistrano school, and the third anniversary of the 2015 canonization of Serra.

Tim and Steph Busch, founding members of JSerra, commissioned the statue in 2015. An identical statue resides in the Hall of Saints at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., next to where Pope Francis canonized Serra.

Serra was a Roman Catholic Spanish priest who founded nine of California’s 21 missions between San Diego and San Francisco in the mid-1700s.