Tl,e Dawn of a New Era
The old stone mission church with its massive walls was in a fair state of preservation and needed only minor repairs. Judge John Dunn had assured him that title could be established to a small, revenue- bearing property formerly granted to the Church under Mexican law for the maintenance of a resident priest. He was of the opinion that Congress, furthermore, might be induced to transfer to a Catholic school board in Refugio title to four square leagues of leasable farm and ranch land already granted to the County for educational purposes. _ .r~ctoria. Thirty-five miles northeast of Goliad lay the little town of Victoria with its small, twin-steeple frame church. Approximately two hundred Catholics, most of whom were Irish, and some forty Protestants lived in Victoria and the surrounding country. Under Mexican law the members of the community had been required to con- tribute an assessment of one peso per lot to maintain a resident priest. Such an arrangement was now nonoperative and could not be revived under the new regime. Timon reported that other means would have to be found to provide for the upkeep of a parish priest. He was par- ticularly interested in this district and assured Father Nozo that as soon as possible after his return, he would send missionaries via Matagorda to minister to the Catholics of Victoria. He stressed the need for im- mediate aid to these Faith-starved settlers. San Anto-nio. To this-the oldest civil settlement in Texas, founded in 1718, the same year that New Orleans was established-Timon dedicated a major portion of his report. He could not but deplore the lamentable conditions existing in this old Spanish outpost of Christian civilization. He estimated that there were fifteen hundred Mexican and about fifty American Catholics, bes~des some one hundred Protestants. The vener- able church of San Fernando was almost in ruins. This fine old building Timon estimated was worth $150,000.oo-evidently a slip of the pen for "$15,000.00." The condition of the church but faintly reflected the desolation in the hearts of the faithful. Starved for spiritual ministra- tion and instruction, almost completely deprived of the consolations of religion, the Catholics in San Antonio had persevered in their Faith only through the grace of God. Years later, when looking back over his early experiences, Timon was to declare in his M emoi.r what so many even today find to be true: "The poor Mexicans were willing to die for their religion, yet they hardly knew what their religion was. How could they know? Their faith seemed
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