History
Franciscans in Texas
The first missionaries who introduced Christianity to Texas were Franciscans. Their unique religious culture left a deep imprint on Spanish Texas. Franciscans were no simple followers to the Spanish colonization project, they were in some ways its intellectual authors and architects. It is no exaggeration to say that the Franciscan friars, through their unselfish endeavors, planted the seed of civilization in Texas soil.
The first missionary journeys into Texas came from the west, where the Franciscans had begun evangelizing around New Mexico in 1610. Later, most of the Texas missions were directed from two conventos or colegios (colleges) of Franciscans in Mexico: the Apostolic College of Santa Cruz at Querétaro (founded in 1683) and the Apostolic College of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at Zacatecas (founded in 1707). Five Texas missions, among them, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo Mission, flagship in San Antonio, were founded by Father Antonio Margil de Jesús, who was the president and founder of the College of Guadalupe at Zacatecas. He is considered to be The Apostle of Texas.
Throughout almost hundred years of Franciscan presence, the community of Hebbronville, that kindly received the friars looking for shelter, has been blessed. Since 1926, the Franciscan friars, with sacrificial efforts and service, have been dedicated supporting the cultural, educational and spiritual needs of Hebbronville and the surroundings communities that were and are located in Jim Hogg, Webb and Duval Counties.
Franciscan Presence in Hebbronville
The religious persecution by the Mexican government made it impossible for the Franciscan friars to live in peace. Fr. Antonio María Gómez, who was the Commissioner of the Saints Francis and James Franciscan Province, appointed three priests to establish a religious house in South Texas, giving the Franciscans a refuge. The three priests were Fathers Bernardino Madueño, Guadalupe Torres and Pascual Ruiz.
On June 1926, they traveled to Laredo, San Antonio and El Paso to ask the bishops from these dioceses for refuge. None of them offered shelter. On August 4, Fr. Madueño traveled to Corpus Christi and have an interview with its Bishop Emmanuel B. Ledvina, who gladly accepted the Franciscans in his Diocese and offered the parish in Hebbronville. On August 6, 1926 the Franciscans arrived in Hebbronville for the first time.
During the first few months of Franciscan presence, the friars saw the necessity to enlarge the church building, which was originally built in 1899. They also envisioned the construction of a seminary, the Scotus College, to receive the Franciscan seminarians and friars of the Province, while persecution persisted.