The Organization of Mission Life, 1722-1728
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made the sale. The missionary took part merely as an umpire to protect the interests of the Indians and to see that they obtained a fair price for their products. The proceeds were turned over to him and used to purchase cloth and other things needed for the natives. The amounts received and spent were set down in a book and all the goods purchased· were equally distributed among those who needed them. Not a cent was used for the missionary or the mission. The entire sum obtained from such sale was used for the benefit of the neophytes. But when the crops were not abundant and there was a shortage, it was customary for the missionary to use part of his own allowance provided by the king for sustenance, to secure the things most needed by his wards. Not infre- quently, particularly in the case of the mission at La Bahia, the neophytes were supported almost entirely by the meager allowance sent to the mis- sionary in charge. As a result of the solicitude of the enthusiastic and industrious Padres, by 1730 most of the mission Indians in Texas were well dressed, had a surplus of grain in their barns, owned their cattle and stock, and were enjoying a modicum of comfort which the civil settlers had not been able to attain. Let us next turn to the spiritual labors. Father Espinosa says: "In all the missions, both on the Rio Grande and on the San Antonio River, it is an inviolable custom for all the Indians to attend church in the morning and in the afternoon to say their prayers and receive instructions in the doctrina. The method used is for them to repeat the words after the Padre and in his absence the Fiscal, who is an Indian who has been well trained in the doctrina." The exercises were generally conducted in Spanish, Father Espinosa tells us, and the number of the neophytes who could understand and speak this language was truly surprising, he states, particularly among those who had come to the missions while they were still young. As the number of Indians was not stable and there were frequent new arrivals, the unconverted and unbaptized were allowed to attend church with the rest in order that they might begin to learn the catechism and prepare themselves to be admitted to the Sacrament of Baptism. In the morning, and again in the afternoon, the mission bell rang out its call. The Fiscal and his assistant, usually two Indians appointed by the Padre, out of those who had been in the mission the longest and knew the doctrina best, went from house to house, asking both young and old to go to the mission chapel. No one was excused from attendance unless he was sick in bed. When they had all gathered in the church, just before the missionary began his daily instruction to the neophytes, the
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