Antonio Margil
| Venerable Antonio de Jesus OFM | |
|---|---|
Antonio Margil's statue in Queretaro, Mexico
| |
| Priest and Missionary | |
| Born | Antonio Margil Ros 18 August 1657 Valencia, Spain |
| Died | 6 August 1726 (aged 68) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | August 8 |
Antonio Margil, OFM (18 August 1657 – 6 August 1726) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary in North and Central America. Based at the College of Santa Cruz in Santiago de Querétaro, after 1715, he worked largely in Texas and Louisiana. Father Margil was declared "Venerable" in 1836.
Life
Antonio Margil was born in Valencia, Spain, on August 18, 1657.[1] Margil entered the Franciscan Order in his native city on 22 April 1673. After his ordination to the priesthood, he volunteered for the Native American missions and arrived at Vera Cruz on 6 June 1683. He was stationed at the missionary College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, but was generally engaged in reaching missions in Yucatan, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and especially in Guatemala.
He always walked barefooted, without sandals, fasted every day in the year, never used meat or fish, and applied the discipline and other instruments of penance to himself. He slept very little but passed in prayer the greater part of the night, as well as the time allotted for the siesta. On 25 June 1706, Margil was appointed the first guardian of the College of Guadalupe de Zacatecas.
East Texas
In 1716 he accompanied Domingo Ramón's expedition to East Texas. The expedition began from San Juan Bautista (present-day Guerrero, Coahuila) on April 12, 1716, and was made up of seventy-five members (among them twelve friars, including Isidro de Espinosa, president of the missionaries from the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro.[2][3] and more than twenty civilians). Margil founded the mission of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe to serve the Nacogdoche.[4] In a 1716 letter to the viceroy of New Spain, Margil was the first to refer to these territories as the province of New Philippines.[5]
Margil returned with Ramon in 1717 and founded Nuestra Señora de los Dolores among the Eyeish.
Louisiana
From the Eyeish, Margil heard of the Adai people, and in March, 1717, located them near Spanish Lake. He founded the mission of San Miguel de Linares,[3] and built there probably the first church in Louisiana. This was just 20 miles (32 km) west of the French fort at Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Leaving Father Gusman in charge, Margil journeyed on foot to Natchitoches to minister to the French Catholics there, and then went back to Texas. He remained near the present city of San Antonio, Texas for more than a year. There he established Mission San José (Texas) to serve the Coahuiltecan.
In 1718, during the brief war with Spain, the French Commandant at Natchitoches, invaded the Adai mission, plundered it, and carried away the church vestments. Margil heard of it, and in 1721 came back, found the Adai who had taken refuge in the forests for fear of the French, and rebuilt their church, which he dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the expedition. For many years afterwards the Adai mission was attended from San Antonio by the Franciscans, who attended also the missions of Nacogdoches and St. Augustin, Texas.
In 1722 he was elected guardian of his college; at the close of his office term, he resumed missionary work in Mexico. He died in Mexico City at the Convento Grande de San Francisco.
Veneration
Margil's cause was formally opened on July 19, 1769, and he was given the title Servant of God. His spiritual writings were approved by theologians on May 4, 1796. In 1836 Pope Gregory XVI declared Father Antonio Margil's virtues heroic, and he is now titled Venerable.[6]
See also
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Born at Valencia, Spain, 18 August, 1657; died at Mexico, 6 Aug., 1726. He entered the Franciscan Order in his native city on 22 April, 1673. After his ordination to the priesthood he volunteered for the Indian missions in America, and arrived at Vera Cruz on 6 June, 1683. He was stationed at the famous missionary college of Santa Cruz, Querétaro, but was generally engaged in reaching missions all over the country, in Yucatan, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and especially in Guatemala, where he merited the name of Apostle of Guatemala. He always walked barefooted, without sandals, fasted every day in the year, never used meat or fish, and applied the discipline as well as other instruments of penance to himself unmercifully. He slept very little, but passed in prayer the greater part of the night, as well as the time allotted for the siesta. The result was that his efforts for the salvation of Indians and colonists were crowned with extraordinary success. On 25 June, 1706, he was appointed first guardian of the newly-erected missionary college of Guadalupe, Zacatecas. In 1716 he led a band of three fathers and two lay-brothers into Texas, and founded the missions of Guadalupe among the Nacogdoches, Dolores among the Ays, and San Miguel among the Adays. When the French destroyed these missions, Father Margil withdrew to the Rio San Antonio, and remained near the present city of San Antonio for more than a year. He then returned with his friars to the scene of his former activity, restored the missions, and even gave his attention to the French settlers in Louisiana. In 1722 he was elected guardian of his college and compelled to leave his beloved Indians. At the close of his term of office he resumed missionary work in Mexico. He died at the capital in the famous Convento Grande de San Francisco, in the odour of sanctity. Gregory XVI in 1836 declared Father Antonio Margil’s virtues heroic.
ESPINOSA, Crónica Apóstolica y Seràfica (Mexico, 1746); VILAPLANA, Vida del V.P. Fr. Antonio Margil (Madrid, 1775); ARRICIVITA, Crónica Seràfica y Apóstolica (Mexico, 1792); SOTO-MAYOR, Historia del Apóstolico Colegio de Guadalupe (Zacatecas, 1874); SHEA, Catholic Church in Colonial Days (New York, 1886).
References
- Back to citation Murray, Paul V. (1951). "Venerable Antonio Margil de Jestls, O.F.M.: Friar of the Winged Feet, 1657–1726". The Americas. 7 (3): 267–280. doi:10.2307/977754. ISSN 0003-1615.
- Back to citation Cunningham, Debbie S., "The Domingo Ramón Diary of the 1716 Expedition into the Province of the Tejas Indians: An Annotated Translation", Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. CX, No. 1, July 2006
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Chipman, Donald E. "Isidro de Espinoza". Handbook of Texas Online.
- Back to citation Maxwell, Margaret Muenker. Let's Visit Texas Missions (1997) Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, p. 18 ISBN 1-57168-197-3
- Back to citation Anri Ichimura (14 June 2020). "Lost Footnotes in History: Why Texas Was Once Called New Philippines". Esquire. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- Back to citation Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 24.
Bibliography
- Attribution