Our Catliolii; JIeritage in Texas
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Texas were too great when so many demands were being made nearer home. Owing chiefly to the great mortality of the Fathers and Brothers who could not be replaced on account of the want of men, the Benedictines left the Texas missions in 1868 with no less regret than that of the good Bishop Dubuis at seeing them depart. Early in 1874 Bishop Dubuis made an effort to bring the Benedictines back to work in North Texas. Father Isidore Robat, O.S.B., came at his invitation in March, 1874, and he told the Bishop, who had offered him the choice of two other parishes, that he could not choose between Paris, Texas, and Sulphur Springs, because during his recent trip he had not visited either. Father Robat then stipulated that if the Benedictines returned, they would expect the Bishop to allow them "the free exercise of the privileges we enjoy in France,'' as had been granted them by the Bishop of Natchitoches. He added that the Benedictines would expect the Ordinary to help them obtain aid from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and assistance in the acquisition of the necessary land for a monastery. 3 z Although nothing came of this new proposal, the efforts were renewed in 1893 by the Bishop of Dallas, at which time the New Subiaco Abbey (Arkansas) agreed to send men for the parishes in Muenster, Lindsay, Windthorst, and Rhineland in North Texas, and for Nazareth in the Texas Panhandle. Subsequently an attempt was made in 1900 to establish a priory in Muenster, to be known as the Sacred Heart Priory, but the plans were again abandoned within a year. 33 The Benedictine Fathers returned to Texas shortly afterwards and were assigned parishes in Fort Worth, Lindsay, Munester, Rhineland, Windthorst and Bryan. Franciscan Fathers O.F.M., 1860. In 1860 two Italian Franciscans were appointed to the old St. Vincent de Paul Church in Houston. They were Fathers Augustine d'Asti, and Felix de Connobio, who was later appointed Military Chaplain of the Confederate States of America and served in this capacity in the troop commanded by Captain Dick Dowling of Sabine Pass fame. The flags used in this famous battle were blessed by Father Felix in the old St. Vincent's Church, not to be confused with the new St. Vincent de Paul Church established in 1940. 34 Father Augus- tine d'Asti was moved to St. Joseph's Church in Brazoria, where he served with Father Pacificus Maria, O.F.M. 32 Isidore Robat, O.S.B., to Bishop Dubuis, March 1, 1874, C. A. T. "Albert M. Schreiber, O.S.B., When The Bi.rho,; Blesses, 17. 14 Diocese of Galveston, Centennial, 1847-1947, p. 76. The present Annunciation Parish is successor to old St. Vincent's.
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