01'r Catleolic Heritage in Texas
had other property, he visited him on August 6 and asked him to de- liver whatever church property he had. The old cleric turned over to him two chalices, a beautiful monstrance, and about twenty pounds of silver plate. 25 Fate conspired to complete the undoing of Garza. That very day he was arrested in the evening by order of the Government. A lett~r which he had written to General Arista, Commander of Mexican troops in Mexico, had been intercepted. Such correspondence was strictly for- bidden by law to prevent entanglements with the Mexican factions. Garza was taken to Austin where he was tried, found guilty, and given a severe reprimand for meddling in Mexican politics. The discredited cleric, whose few friends had talked of restoring him to his former position, was no longer a menace to the authority of the Vice-Prefect.=' As a recent writer has said, "The stumbling block of scandal had been removed and schism, with its multifarious brood of evils, averted." 28 The enthusiastic envoy now turned his tireless energy to spiritual endeavors. Confessions were heard, sick calls were promptly answered, family visitations were renewed, and the validation of marriages under- taken. Odin was deeply moved by the public demonstration of reverence shown a few days after his assumption of authority on the occasion of taking the Holy Viaticum to a dying parishioner. "And as soon as _the bell announced the ceremony, the people ran in crowds to the church," Odin wrote. "All accompanied our Blessed Savior in the streets, and tears came to the eyes of the aged. For fourteen years they had not seen that consoling act of our religion. Many cried out that they did not fear death since heaven had sent them priests who would assist them at that dreadful moment. Truly heaven blessed our feeble efforts." 29 The effect of the spiritual revival was evident on every side. More than a hundred children attended catechism classes regularly. The young forsook gambling, they gave up the fandango, and participated in promiscuous parties less and less frequently. Anglo-American Protes- tants brought their children for instruction. Mass was said every day at which large crowds attended. On Sunday two Masses were celebrated 26 0din to Blanc, August 24, 1840, c: A. T. 27 0din bad nothing to do with the arrest of Garza, as erroneously alleged. Cf., John Chapman, "Monseigneur Le Berger, Bishop Odin's Labors in Early Texas," T/,e Soutliwest Review, XXI, 69 (October, 1935). See also Odin to Etienne, April II, 1841, C. A. T. 21 Bayard, of cit., 134-135. 29 0dln to Etienne, April 11, 1841 ; Odin to Blanc, August 24, 1840, C. A. T.
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