Our Catleolic Heritage in Te:xas
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Captain Rabago. Is it likely that the officer purposely kept the communica- tion from Fray Mariano until this time to prevent the padre from in- forming the authorities in Mexico regarding the true state of affairs? Be that as it may. On the same day the saddened and disillusioned mis- sionary, who had labored so long and so faithfully for the success of the enterprise, wrote a long and touching letter to His Excellency. Fate, alas, had done what the viceroy had requested. Of the six missionaries in San Xavier, one had died, another had been treacherously martyred together with the unfortunate refugee, who had sought solace in the peace of the missions, and of the remaining four, three had fled from the scene of death for fear of their lives. Only Fray Anda had remained steadfastly at his post to minister to the few Indians who faithfully clung to their Mission of San Francisco Xavier in spite of the calamities that showered upon them. In an impartial account he related the tribulations of the missionaries from the moment of Rabago's arrival. For the first time he recounted the improper relations between the Captain and Ceballos' wife, the violation of sanctuary on Christmas Eve, the widening breach between Fray Pinilla and the commander of the presidio, the tense situation created by the excommunication, the flight of the Cocos, and the circumstance of the murders of May 11. But he was still hopeful for the future of the missions. The Indians of San Ildefonso were not far away. They had recently been visited and they had expressed their will- ingness to return. The Cocos from Candelaria had also been visited and they too were willing to return if guaranteed immunity for their alleged misdeeds. But the captain and the soldiers refused to cooperate with the missionaries. 64 Shortly after the murders, when the panic subsided, Fathers Fray Joseph Lopez, Fray Sebastian Flores, and Fray Francisco Aparicio had returned to San Xavier and were endeavoring to encourage the Indians of San Ildefonso and Candelaria to return to their former mission life. Inspection of Bachiller Francisco Manuel Polanco. The Curate of San Antonio, Bachiller Francisco Manuel Polanco, who was the ecclesiastical judge in the Province of Texas, made an inspection of San· Xavier in accord with the instructions of April 12. But like Fray Mariano he did not receive the letter of the viceroy until the first week in June. His report throws some interesting side lights on the incidents of the excommunica- 64Fray Mariano to the viceroy, June 13, 1752. In Testimonio de los Autos fhos. A.G. /., Audiencia de Mexico, 91-3-2. (Dunn tr. 1750-1751) pp. 197-205. Copy also in Ardiivo del Colegio de la Santa Cruz, 1750-1767.
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