Texan Oblate epoch

Outskirts of San Antonio, Texas

The beginning of the Oblate Mission in US could be at least classified as confusing. In 1849 Bishop Odin who was in charge of Texas (now the area has got 11 dioceses) simply didn’t have clergy to make the Catholic Church present here. That’s why he went all the way from Texas to Montreal in Canada to look for missionaries. There he met the Oblates who were so moved by his plight that they chose 4 missionaries who undertook 2,500 miles voyage to establish a new mission in Texas. They were so eager that they even didn’t have any arrangements for housing and maintenance. They simply went to Texas to preach Christ. The Texan Bishop was thrilled but Eugene de Mazenod didn’t share his excitement when he realized that his Oblates opened a new mission without his permission. So when he learned that four Oblates instead working in Canada were travelling the desert of Texas he simply told them to get out of there and go back to Canada. So they obediently travelled the same 2,500 miles this time northwards. Obviously Eugene was concerned about the shortage of his personnel and didn’t want to stretch the commitment of the Oblate Congregation to the point of braking. However the return of the four fathers to Montreal wasn’t the end of the Oblate Mission in Texas. The Bishop of Texas set out this time for a longer journey that took him to Marseille in France. There he met with St Eugene de Mazenod and presented to him the situation of his diocese. Whatever he said it must have had worked because Eugene was brought to tears and after consulting his Oblates it was decided that sic priests and an brother would go to Texas. So again a group of the Oblates went 2,500 miles from Montreal in Canada to Texas (I bet they knew they knew the way well by then). It was 1852. Upon their second arrival the Oblates established headquarters in the new town of Brownsville. As more Oblates arrived some other centers were founded including St Mary’s church in San Antonio.

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        From those centers the Oblates in black soutane with the Oblate cross hung from the neck, fanned out on horseback to serve hundreds of scattered ranches. Their six-week circuits took them 100 miles or more into the interior. Their outstanding commitment to Christ and the people of God won them the title of the “Cavalry of Christ”. Even today after so many decades the memory of the Oblates is still alive. It means that they not only travelled long distances in the scorching heat of the Texan Sun but those Oblates managed to travel the most challenging trip – to people’s hearts. As an acknowledgment of the Oblate hard work here there are streets named after the Oblates. One of the busiest streets in San Antonio is Oblate Rd.

        Father Jean-Marie Jaffrès OMI wrote in 1867: “Let me tell you of our Texas campaign equipment. Picture to yourself first of all a horse, and essential part and as we say modestly, the better half of the missionary. If you wish to keep in good humour, choose a good horse; it will cost you no more. Give him a strong harness. Then, with respect, I will place on the pommel of the saddle the bag with Holy Oils and all the necessaries for the administration of the sacraments. On the opposite side I will hang a gourd to hold my provision of water which I renew at every opportunity. A kind of knapsack containing the altar stone, the chalice, the altar-bread and wine, and whatever else is required for the celebration of the holy Sacrifice, with a few articles for the personal use of the missionary, is fastened to the rear. A tightly rolled blanket completes the equipment”.

        Throughout the Cavalry of Christ epoch, the vast majority of the population was poor and Mexican-American.

Cavalry of Christ

The monument erected in honour of those Oblates who were known as Cavalry of Christ

Father Kéralum OMI is the most famous member of the Cavalry of Christ. He had been an architect in France before joining the Oblates. Sent by the Founder to Texas in 1852, he designed the neo-gothic Immaculate Conception church (now a cathedral) in Brownsville in 1856, and some other early churches. But he is principally remembered in the Rio Grande Valley as the Lost Missionary. While doing a seventy-mile trail with failing eyesight, he disappeared in the brush in 1872. Stories abounded about his disappearance until his body was found by some cowboys ten years later reposed beneath a mesquite tree, his saddle hanging from a branch, and nothing stolen. His Oblate Crucifix and the chalice he used for Mass were there as well. The mysterious death, probably from starvation became part of the Valley folklore. Unfortunately it wasn’t the only death. The new mission saw seven young Oblates die during those first years. It made St Eugene exclaim: “Oh, cruel mission of Texas, how you wound my poor soul. Here’s the fifth victim that you have swallowed. Who will be the next one?” However the Oblates persevered in Texas. One hope that sustained St Eugene and the Texas Oblate amidst the hardships was the plan to go to Mexico. It must have been one of those irresistible supernatural instincts that the Oblates of the region love to recall. St Eugene approve the mission in Mexico before it was even possible to think about that during the difficult political situation in the country. That’s why he kept his Oblates in the border so that they could cross it as soon as Mexico would allow foreign priest to come. At that time St Eugene received an official invitation from the Bishop of Philadelphia in US to run the seminary for the diocese. The Bishop was so impressed with the Oblates that he wanted his future priest to get their zeal. It was a very prestige offer that could give the Oblate powerful influence in the US but St Eugene declined. He was already thinking about the poor people in Mexico. He didn’t live to see the mission but 40 years after his death the Oblates officially crossed the border to begin another page of the missionary story this time in Mexico.