A Vanished Arcadia: Being Some Account of the Jesuits in Paraguay 1607-1767Cunninghame Graham, R. B. (Robert Bontine)
History
A Vanished Arcadia: Being Some Account of the Jesuits in Paraguay 1607-1767
Cunninghame Graham, R. B. (Robert Bontine)
Jesuits -- Paraguay; Paraguay -- History -- To 1811
So it fell out that everything concurred to strengthen the hatred of
the Bishop to the Jesuits. To the Jesuit college came the Governor and
all the notables, and, having taken Sanchez in procession through the
streets, they placed him on the Bishop’s throne in the Cathedral, and
invested him with all the power that he had held before the coming of
Don Bernardino Cardenas. The proclamation set forth by the Governor
alluded to the informality of the consecration of Don Bernardino, and
to his actions during his time of power.
At last the Bishop saw that he must go. So, after launching a supreme
anathema, and after having expressed his great unwillingness to tarry
longer in a city where half the population had incurred the censure of
the Church, and marked with a cross those churches where he permitted
Mass to be celebrated, he went on board the ship. Before embarking, he
drew a silver bell from underneath his cloak, and to the sound of it he
solemnly proclaimed the town accursed. The bells of the Franciscan
convent and the Bishop’s palace, according to his orders, all tolled
loudly. This caused so much confusion that, in order to appease the
tumult, the authorities ordered the bells of all the churches in the
town to ring.
Entering the vessel, Don Bernardino sat himself upon the poop on a low
stool, with all the clergy who were faithful to him grouped about the
deck. With him he had the sacred wafer in a glass box, and not far off
a group of sailors on the forecastle lounged about smoking and drinking
_maté_ whilst they played at cards. Someone reminded him it was not
fitting that God’s Body should thus be seen so near to sailors, and
therefore the Bishop, according to the custom of the Church in cases of
accident or desecration, consumed the offended wafer, and peace
descended on the ship.
Thus, in 1644, he took his first departure from the place where for the
last two years he had brought certainly rather a sword than peace. His
friends assured the public that, at the moment he stepped on board the
ship, stars were seen to fall from heaven towards the church of St.
Luke, and passed from thence to the episcopal palace and disappeared;
that at the same time a slight shock of earthquake had been
experienced; that stones had danced about, and several hills had
trembled. The sun, quite naturally, had appeared blood-red; trouble and
desolation had entered every heart, and animals had prophesied woe and
destruction, predicting ruin and misfortune to the town till the good
Bishop should return once more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account