T/1e Dominican iUartyrs of Texas, 1553-1554
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Lives of tl1e five Domi11ica11s. A word about these five unknown soldiers of Christ, whose sufferings and wanderings in Texas have been described, will be appropriate here. Fray Diego de la Cruz, who died and was buried on the banks of the Rio Grande, came as a layman to the West Indies where he stayed for several years. But finding conditions in the islands unpleasant, he decided to go to New Spain. Disappointed with the world and unfavorably impressed by the cruelty of many of the conquistadors, he decided to join the Dominicans when he was thirty years old. After serving his novitiate, he was professed and duly ordained. In his studies he distinguished himself in arts and theology, but he was particularly devoted to the study of the Holy Scriptures, having attained the reputation of learned in his day. Always zealous in the observance of the rules of the Dominicans and the performance of his duties as a religious, he won the respect and confidence of his Order. A few years after his ordination, he was elected prior of the Monastery of Santo Domingo in Puebla de los Angeles, serving in this capacity so well that in 1550, when the community held its chapter in Mexico City he was made Definidor. 26 Three years later, desirous of returning to Spain to continue his priestly duties there in his declining years, he sought passage in the fleet that sailed in the spring of 1553. The fate of the fleet and his incredible sufferings in Texas have already been described. 27 Fray Hernando Mendez, who piously buried Fray Diego de la Cruz, made his profession in the Monastery of Santiago in Mexico together with his traveling companion. A native of Mexico, he joined the order when he was eighteen years old. After serving his novitiate and com- pleting his studies with distinction, he was duly ordained. "He was a skilled musician," says Davila Padilla, "and had several aptitudes, particular among them being a remarkable memory, a quick understanding, and facility of speech ... He was devout and humble, the fundamental principles [of conduct] taught in the monastery. With unusual clearness, he learned logic and philosophy, and he studied 26 Speaking of this term, Velazques, in his dictionary, says, "In some religious orders, one of the members who composed, under the presidency of the superior, a chapter or assembly to govern the order."-Velasquez de la Cadena, a new pronoun&• ing dictionary of the Spanish and Englisk Languages. 27 This summary of the life of Fray Diego de la Cruz is taken from Davila Padilla, Fundacion, :281-:282.
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