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Our Catlzolic H e1'itage in T e:xas
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World, solicited and obtained from the king of Spain and from His Holiness Pope Innocent XI the right to establish a convent or seminary, of Propaga11da Fide, where Franciscans, who wished to spread the faith among the natives, could prepare and train themselves for this trying work. It was this institution that came to be generally known as the College of La Santa Cruz de Queretaro. While in Spain to attend the general chapter of his Order, which was to be held in Toledo in 1682, Fray Antonio took the opportunity to discuss with Fray Jose Ximenez Samaniego, General of the Order, the advisability of sending a special mission of twelve friars, who like the apostles, should go forth to preach the gospel to the countless thousands of Indians in Mexico who still remained in the dark night of heathenism. For several years Fray Antonio had cherished the hope of organizing just such a mission to enter the unexplored region of Cerro Gordo, beyond Queretaro. The General of the Order, impressed by the sincerity of the zealous missionary, readily promised to permit him to secure the necessary volunteers for the proposed mission. But after thinking the matter over more carefully, he explained to Fray Antonio a few days later that it would be better to secure permission from the king to establish a convent or college of apostolic missionaries, with a group of twenty-four religious of the Order, whose virtue and missionary zeal were known. The new convent or college should be established in a place convenient to the principal field chosen for missionary endeavor. In this manner, the General pointed out, they would have a place in which to live, from where they could undertake the work of conversion of the natives, and where they could recruit and train others who were moved by the same desire and spirit. The General gave him the necessary authority to solicit permission to put the plan in operation and furnished him with a letter for the Council of the Indies endorsing the founding of the projected convent or college. 11 Fray Antonio, who had secretly hoped for such an institution for many years, lost no time in presenting himself before the Council of the Indies. This august body could find no objection to the execution of so laudable a plan for the ultimate conversion of the countless thousands of natives of New Spain. Consequently, on April 18 1 1682, Charles II issued a cedula, at the recommendation of the Council, authorizing Fray Antonio to enlist a mission of twenty-four apostolic missionaries from the Order of Saint Francis, who were to establish a college or seminary in the
17Espinosa, Cllronica, 38-40.
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