June 14, 2015

Keywords: Texas history, Spanish missions, Franciscan Missions, Fray Margil, Apostle of Texas, San Antonio, colonial history, Fray Junipero Serra.

A reminder by 
Xuan Quen Santos:

A SAINT FOR TEXAS

FRAY MARGIL

This coming September, His Holiness Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Junipero Serra, OFM, in recognition to his merits as a man of heroic virtue and holiness who had only one burning ambition – to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the peoples of the New World.  His life’s works in the western borderlands of New Spain in the mid XVIII century led to the expansion of the faith in what is now California. 

We rejoice in this recognition which scaffolds the fragile identity of millions of Hispanic Americans by bringing to light their Catholic roots.  It also makes us wonder if this is the time to recognize a greater and earlier figure, important in the history of the eastern borderland and Texas in particular, but of a truly continental dimension: Venerable Friar Antonio Margil de Jesus, OFM.

Fray Margil's first biography, written by a
fellow missionary shortly after his death

Decades ago, he used to be referred to as “The Apostle of Texas”. In Mexico, he was referred to as “The Apostle of The Americas”. 

Further south, he was called in his lifetime the “Apostle of the Kingdom of Goathemala” (All of Central America).  

He is now a mostly forgotten historical figure.  There is not a single chapel/place of worship dedicated to his veneration as a heroic figure of the Christian faith in Texas.

Map of Fray Margil's main travels

His biography and effigy are displayed in a dark corner at the Museum of the San Jacinto Battlefield.  A full figure sculpture is at the entrance of the National Park museum of Mission San Jose, in San Antonio.  Recently the Museum of Art of San Antonio had a full exhibit dedicated to him and his times.  Fray Margil, due to our negligence, has become a footnote of secular history.

Ven. Antonio Margil de Jesus labored among the
Indians of Mexico, Central American and Texas

San Antonio would not be the great city that it is had it not been for Fray Margil’s dream to turn the arid and narrow watershed of the Yanaguana river into a garden in the middle of the desert. His irrigation scheme no doubt inspired by his beloved “Huerta de Valencia”, his childhood home. Nacogdoches was raised on the ruins of his little mission in the forest near the Hasinai town of Nevantin. 

Mission San Jose, the Queen of Missions
economic foundation for the City of San Antonio, Texas
XIX century watercolor

Louisiana remembers that its first church, still in use, is not the Cathedral of Saint Louis, but the little church of the mission in what is now Robeline, near the “Lake of the Spaniards”. He was one of the founding priests of the College for Missionaries of Queretaro, Mexico.  As his later President, he directed the missions of Texas among more than 100 others established in the arid northern frontiers. He also founded two other missionary colleges, in Zacatecas and Guatemala, from where the good news of Jesus Christ spread all the way to the jungles of Panama and Costa Rica for the next century. He was responsible for overseeing the many Franciscan missions in the borderlands to the south and the north of central Mexico, but he always returned to his preferred activity as a missionary to a new group of Indians.

Mission San Jose National Park

Fray Margil left his missionary imprint from Louisiana to Panama.  He deserves a place among the founders of America, and of the United States as a diverse nation, on equal standing with other pioneers, like Father Eusebio Kino SJ, Apostle of Arizona, and Margil’s follower/disciple from the college of missionaries, now Saint Junipero Serra, Apostle of California.  But more than that.  He should also be recognized within our faith in Texas, particularly among Hispanics, whether with ancient colonial or Native American roots, or whether emigrated from any of Fray Margil’s missionary lands in the south.

The Missionary College of Guadalupe, in Zacatecas
One of several established by Fr. Margil

Learn More:

THE MISSIONS OF SAN ANTONIO

THE SPANISH MISSIONS OF TEXAS

FRAY ANTONIO MARGIL

THE APOSTLE OF TEXAS

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Espinosa, Fray Isidro Felix de. El Peregrino Septemtrional Atlante, delineado en la ejemplarísima Vida de el Venerable Padre Fr. Antonio Margil de Jesus, Mexico, 1737.

--  Nuevas Empresas del Peregrino Americano Septentrional Atlante, descubiertas en lo que hizo cuando vivía, y aun después de su muerte ha manifestado el V. P. F. Antonio Margil de Jesus, Mexico, 1747.

(Father Espinosa’s biography is the first biography of Fr. Margil. Written shortly after his death, it began the process of documenting his life and works to promote his elevation to sainthood. Espinosa was one of his disciples, fellow missionaries and also became President of the College of Missionaries in Queretaro. He was born in Queretaro and was ordained by Margil during his presidency. The second book collects testimonies about Fr. Margil from the farthest missions to the south delaying it for a long time to gather the facts. Both are considered the primary source on his life.)

Sanchez Garcia, P. Daniel.  Un Gran Apostol de las Americas, Guatemala, 1917.

(Also a Franciscan, Fr. Sanchez had access to the Franciscan and curial archives of the colonial province of Guatemala, which included all of Central America. He had access to many of Fr. Margil’s manuscripts.)  

Rios, Eduardo Enrique. Fray Margil de Jesus, Apostol de America, Mexico, 1941.

--   Life of Fray Antonio Margil, O. F. M., translated and revised by B. Leutenegger, O. F. M., Washington, D. C., 1959.

(Rio’s book is an attempt to concentrate on the historical dimension of Fr. Margil, not in the religious traditions or institutions.)

Oberste, William H., P. A. Msr. The Restless Friar, Austin, Texas, 1970.

(Monsignor Oberste had access to the Franciscan archives of the missionary college of Zacatecas founded by Fr. Margil. He also travelled to the sites of many of his missions in the south.)

Bannon, John Francis. The Spanish Borderlands Frontier: 1513-1821. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1974.

(Bannon’s book provides a good overview of the concept of borderland in the Spanish institutions, and how it shaped the work of the missionaries. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 refer directly to Texas and Margil’s missions beyond the Rio Grande.)

Bennoist, H. and Flores, E. (Eds.). Documents Relating to the Old Spanish Missions of Texas. Instructions for the Missionary of Mission Concepcion in San Antonio. San Antonio, Texas, 1994.

(The documents of several colonial archives are reproductions kept by the Old Spanish Missions Historical Research Library, at Our Lady of The Lake University, in San Antonio, Texas. This center also curates the manuscripts and research documents of Fr. Leutenneger and Msr. Oberste. Vol. I provides a rich source for understanding the complexities and daily activities of mission life.)

Chipman, Donald E. Spanish Texas: 1519-1821. Austin, 1992.

Chipman, D. E. and Joseph, H. D. Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas. Austin,1999. 

--     Explorers and Settlers of Spanish Texas. Austin, Texas, 2001.

(These are two versions of mostly the same material. The second one is aimed at younger audiences and has removed the academic formalities for easier reading.  Thiey have a chapter with a short biography of Fr. Margil, and other chapters include other contemporaneous historic figures and events.)

Sheridan, Cecilia. IAnonimos y Desterrados, la contienda por el sitio que llaman Quauyla, Siglos XVI-XVIII. Mexico, 2000.

(The province of Coahuila during colonial times included Texas. This study covers in detail the institutional preparations and gradual expasion of the Franciscan missions throughout the north-eastern borderlands. Chapters III and IV are dedicated to the times and missions of Fr. Margil and his missionaries.)

Fernandez Guardia, Fernando. Cronicas Coloniales de Costa Rica, Costa Rica, 2006.

(Originally published in 1967, it was republished in 2006 as part of his collected Works.  One chapter is devoted to Fray Margil’s preachings in Cartago and the jungles of Talamanca).