CHAPTER I
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA
For victorious Texans the elation over San Jacinto soon passed. They found themselves faced with the inescapable problems of grim reality; independence had brought "grave responsibilities. As the situation was still precarious, there was no time for relaxation. Within a short distance from San Jacinto a Mexican army, greatly outnumbering the victors, was still encamped; thousands of Texan families, unaware of the sudden and unexpected triumph, were still abandoning their homes and hurrying to safety beyond the Red River; the new State was pen- niless; the Provisional Government needed to be replaced by regularly elected officials; and the Constitution had to be ratified by the people. The future still lay in the hands of Providence. More desperate still was the condition of the Church. The storm of political passions in Mexico had long since disposed of her leaders. The gentle, chilling snow of indifference had buried deep the mission field in Texas, and the drifts had piled high upon the scattered Catholics of the new colonies. Texas lay like a vast field in winter, without a sign of Catholic activity, without the least promise of an early spring. "At its close the outlook was gloomy indeed ... the majestic missions in crumbling ruin, spoke eloquently of past glory and ... the blood of martyrs, but there was no intimation of a re-awakening. There were church buildings at Refugio, Victoria and Nacogdoches, but the silence of their walls was never broken now by the solemnity of divine service. In San Antonio the once beautiful church of San Fernando told a sad story of neglect." 1 Nonetheless the Faith had taken deep root in the soil of Texas. Like the mellow song of the lark that heralds the approach of day, the murmur of prayer awakened at dawn a Victoria settler camped on the prairie some fifty miles from the Rio Grande in South Texas. Voices, young and old, were joined in praising God, singing an ancient hymn of thanksgiving. His curiosity aroused, the settler investigated and found not far away an old shepherd, his wife, and their three children reciting their morning prayers. "Here then," wrote this old pioneer in his diary, "were some of the fruits that had germinated from the sacred seed 1 Mary Angela Fitzmorris, C.D.P., Four D4cad4s of Catliolici.sm ;,. T4:ras, 1820-1860, 40-41. [1]
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