Founding Texas "Fathers"
During our nation’s establishment in 1776, Texas, along with other southwestern states and Mexico, comprised New Spain, which was a colony of Spain. With San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio) as New Spain’s capital, other Spanish settlements in Texas were sparse, but also included Presidio la Bahía (modern-day Goliad) and Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Bucareli (modern-day Madison County).
To Hispanicize Indians living in New Spain, the Spanish government operated the missionary system between the early 1600s and the late 1700s. The goal of the mission system was to acculturate Indians into future Spaniards by adopting the Spanish language and the Catholic faith. Mission neophytes were then expected to establish permanent settlements that would provide a buffer between hostile tribes and nearby French colonies, strengthening the Spanish colony through population growth. Texas' missions were operated by Franciscans educated in Querétaro’s College of San Fernando de México and the College of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas.
"Patron Saint of Texas"
One missionary who sacrificed and labored to plant the seeds of our faith, Venerable Antonio Margil de Jesús O.F.M. (b. 1657- d. 1726), evangelized throughout New Spain. In 1716, Margil joined an expedition to East Texas, where he established missions throughout present-day Nacogdoches County. Three years later, due to tensions with the nearby French colony in Louisiana, the East Texas missions were abandoned and moved to San Antonio. Although Margil’s missions, built of timber, no longer stand, a spring in Nacogdoches is attributed to Margil’s incessant prayer during a period of drought. In San Antonio, Margil established Mission San José before returning to Zacatecas to educate Franciscan missionaries.
At Margil’s funeral, mourners kissed his famed feet, which remained unblemished despite his lifetime spent walking across several countries. Mourners also took pieces of his habit in anticipation of his future canonization.1 An official canonization cause for Margil was opened in 1769, with recognition by Pope Gregory XVI as a Venerable in 1836. In 1936, Archbishop Francisco Orozco y Jiménez of Guadalajara reopened Margil’s cause. With the assistance of the Texas Knights of Columbus Historical Commission, literature on Margil detailing his evangelization and acculturation efforts was distributed during the Texas Centennial. Reopening Margil’s canonization also spread awareness of Mexico’s anticlerical laws and encouraged the faithful to pray for Margil’s intercession during the country’s religious crisis.2 More on Margil and a prayer for his canonization can be found here: https://antoniomargil.my.canva.site/.
