Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1890-05-10
THE FRANCISCAN sBPULCHRBs IN THE


THE FRANCISCAN SEPULCHRBS IN THE
CATHEDRAL AT SANTA FE.
On the "a of June, 1850, while prepar-
| ing to remove the altar OF the old cathe-
dral of Santa Fe, preliminary to closing
the rear portion of the present ediicei
Father R0lly >ately deceased) and Father
Gatgnol (now curate at Belen] noticed
in the wall OF the old structure, two an
Gent inscriptions. Upon deciphering
them they proved to indicate the place
where two cysts had been immured, each
OF which inclosed the remains Of Fran
ciscan monk from the 18th century. The
inscriptions we're carefully cleaned from
the adobe which had accumulated over
them, and to-day they can he seen, to-
gether with the chanceI dedicated to the
parish church OF Santa Fe by the gov
ernor, Don Francisco Antonio Marin de
Vale, in 1861, in the vacant room behind
the main altar
A free translation of the two inscrip
tons conveys the following information
No. /. Here lie the remains OF the
| Venerable Father Asencio de Zarate, OF
the order Of Saint Francis, etc, which
were taken out of the ruins Of the ancient
church Of San Lorenzo OF PiCuries, on
the Sth day OF May, 1850, and were trans
ferred to this parish church of the town
of Santa Fe, llJh of August of the said
year. (lhe inscription further states that
the transfer of the remains OF the monk
referred to below took place on the same
day.
No. .. Here rest the remains OF the
Ven. Father Geronimo de Ia Llama, etc,
of the order OF Saint Francis, which were
taken from the ruined mission Of Qdarac
at the Salines, ON the LIST day of April,
1850, by the governor, Don Francisco An
tonic Marin del Va lie, governor and cap
tain general OF the Kingdom, at the ex-
pense of whom this sepulchre was con-
strurted.
We repeat that the above are not strict,
ly TRANSACTIONS of the scriptions, but
merely convey the substance OF their
texts.
So far these two tombs have been the
| only ones from the 18th century identi-
fed in New Mexico. The sepulchre of
Fray Juan de Jesus. the priest whom the
Indians OF Jemez murdered on the 10th
OF August, 1850, may yet be discovered,
but SO lar it has not been attempted.
Concerning the first, one of the two
| Franciscans whose remains are ut the
cathedral documentary information is
slight. The date and place of his birth
are not given in the authors who treat
Of the ancient New Mexican missions,
| bur it is known he stood in high repute
/ for his virtues and as an educator of the
| Picuries, and died there on the 18th OF
December, 1862. That his body had been
inferred in the church OF that pueblo was
well known fact in the 17th century.
Much more definite data exist in regard
to Fray Geronimo de Ia Llama. He was
native of the City of Mexico, the son
OF Juan Ie la Llama and Dona Isabel de
| la Raya. His father was a Spaniard, his
mother Creole lady from Mexico. He
entered the Franciscan order on the Dist
of November, 1929, and soon distln-
guished himself by his learning. When
ne came to New Mexico is not known,
but it must have been previous to 1886,
since We are in possession OF a note writ
ten by him at Santa Fe in that year.
| Netuncurt SAYS of him: Gle became
| the oracle of that custody, and a model
for the people" The last years of his
life we're spent at the pueblo and mission
Of Cuaray or Cuarac, five miles southeast
of the present town OF Manzano, where
lie died (among the Tisua Indians) on
the 18th oi July, 1863. His body was
inferred in the church of Cuaray, the
ruins OF which to-day constitute one OF
the most picturesque objects among New
Mexican antiquities.
As late as l70G there still lived Indians
who remembered Fray Geronimo de la
Llama well, and spoke in glowing words
of his virtues nay of miracles which he
should have performed. Among the
Spanish population his name was but
family remembered. In that same
year, however, u letter was written to
New Mexico by monk who has lately
acquired some celebrity Tin connection
with the notorious governor Of New Mex
leo, Don Diego Donso de Penalosa, the
latter having attributed to that monk
report on supposed expedition OF his to
the northeast. 1t is abundantly proven
that the report in question was written by
Penaosa himself and that the frar had
nothing to do with the document or with
the purported expedition), That friar
was Fray Nicolas de Frey:as "a Portu-
guese) and he certified to the fact that in
1863 he disinterred the body of Fray
Geronimo de la Llama inside of the
church OF Cuarac or Cuaray and removed it
to another place in the same edifce near
the altar, and where it was less exposed
to humidity.
The pueblos around the salt basin
of the Manzano were in the 18th
century at least six, perhaps seven i'll
pn,nLar II 10 NOT .ortn;v hat bax