Antonio Margil, OFM (18 August 1657 – 6 August 1726) was a Spanish

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

missionary in North and Central America.

Life

Margil entered the Franciscan Order in his Native city of Valencia, Spain 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, Querétaro, but was generally engaged in reaching missions in Yucatan, Costa Rica,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, 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 unmercifully. He slept very little but passed in prayer the greater part of the night, as well as the time allotted for the ''

siesta A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. Th ...

''. On 25 June 1706, Margil was appointed the first guardian of the newly erected missionary college of

Guadalupe, Zacatecas Guadalupe is the third-largest city in the state of Zacatecas in Mexico. It lies adjacent to the east side of the city of Zacatecas and is a component of the Zacatecas-Guadalupe metropolitan area. The town had a 2018 census population of 215,000 ...

. In 1716 he led a band of three fathers and two lay-brothers into

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and founded the missions of Guadalupe among the

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...

, Dolores among the Ays, and San Miguel among the Adays. These sites are in modern-day East Texas and northern Louisiana. On a 1716 letter to the viceroy of New Spain, Margil was the first to refer to these territories as the province of

New Philippines The New Philippines ( es, Nuevas Filipinas or ) was the abbreviated name of a territory in New Spain. Its full and official name was . The territory was named in honor of its sovereign, King Philip V of Spain. The ultimate demise of the New Phi ...

. When the French destroyed these missions, Father Margil withdrew to the Rio San Antonio (

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

). He remained near the present city of

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

for more than a year. There he established

Mission San José (Texas) Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo is an historic Catholic mission in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The mission was named in part for the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, José de Azlor y Virto de Vera. Many buildings on the campus o ...

to serve the

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter-gatherers. First encountered by Europ ...

Indians. He then returned with his priests to the scene of his former activity, restored the missions, and gave his attention to the French settlers in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. 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 in the Convento Grande de San Francisco.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **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). {{DEFAULTSORT:Margil, Antonio 1657 births 1726 deaths Spanish Franciscans Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Guatemala 17th-century Spanish people 18th-century Spanish people Franciscan missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain Spanish explorers of North America

Life

See also

References