Storia do Mogor 338.8
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 338.8
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338.8.1
At the same time the Reverend Father Dom Guilhermo della Valle received a letter from his Excellency by the hand of the same negro, Lazaro. This man was known in Madras as infamous according to the civil laws, and anathematized by Holy Mother Church, by reason of an office which he had held here and exercised publicly. If I do not name it on this paper, it is that I may not deprave my style; neither does modesty allow it to be spoken of. Nor would this reference to it be introduced, except that it is appropriate to call attention to the instruments made use of by the Lord Nuncio to send notices to ecclesiastics and convey to them his orders. Nevertheless, in the case of the reverend fathers of the Society of Jesus he did it in a better and more decent style.
338.8.2
Thus, it was notified to the Very Reverend Father Provincial of Madura that he must appear at Pondicherry before his Excellency. But the notification was in forma juris, and worded with the urbanity customary between ordained persons. The Provincial did not comply, nor to this moment is it known with certainty what reasons he alleged about his not going. Only it is talked of that the said Reverend Father Provincial replied in writing to the notification, saying that he had orders from the Lord Primate [i.e., of Goa] not to obey his Excellency until the powers he brought from his Holiness as Visitor-General of India were made patent and public; and it had been proved that they were registered in the Chancery of His Majesty the King of Portugal, in accordance with the privileges conceded by different Supreme Pontiffs to that crown. Be that as it may, it is certain that the said Reverend Father Provincial, though able to go, failed to appear. Yet the Lord Patriarch did not proceed against him as he did against the unhappy Capuchins of Madras. The latter, detained by the gentlemen of the government there, were unable to execute the order they received to present themselves in person at Pondicherry; but in their case he chastised the fault in a way for which there is no comparison to be found, nor has anything similar ever been seen.
338.8.3
He loaded them with interdicts, disregarding the harm that would ensue therefrom to the whole of the population, exceeding nine thousand souls, that they tended, or to their Church — a procedure of which the evil results are to-day visible. But, leaving this with God, who alone can remedy it, since there is no one here below to sympathize, let us turn to the above-named letter received by the Reverend Father Dom Guilhermo della Valle, in which he was enjoined to show to the Lord Governor of Madras his patent as parish priest. He did as ordered without delay, presenting it on June 29 [1704], the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, which of a truth was not ill chosen. But, still, it did not turn out well for him: the governor would not agree. Here it has to be pointed out, and should be noted for the future, that the Capuchins are the legitimate parish priests of Madras. For the Reverend Father Ephraim (whom God have in His keeping), when he came to the coast of Choromandal, did not mean to stop there, but was going on to Pegu, conformably to the requirements of his patent. While he was staying in Madras the Christians there entreated him to remain.
338.8.4
But before they obtained his consent they wrote to San Thome, praying for a padre to be sent to take charge of them. At San Thome they declined to concede this request, but, on the contrary, answered with much scorn, saying: 'What thing is this Madras that we should send a priest there?' After this rebuff they decided on a petition to the Madras Council for their consent to Father Ephraim's appointment. At the instance of these Christians, and to aid them in the necessity he saw them to be in, he decided to remain, with the consent of the government. The latter always held him in high esteem, treating him in the way that is well known. Whence it cannot fail to be seen what a monstrous injustice it is to take from the Capuchins this charge and place it in the hands of others! For they had to serve their church four priests working in the parish, and appointed under different orders — namely, two friars and two secular priests — without reckoning the other claimants, who only awaited the moment when the Capuchins should fail to make good their own pretensions. As to the reply that the lord governor gave to the Reverend Father Dom Guilhermo when he produced his patent of appointment, I say nothing here. I leave it to the judgment of the reader, who will, no doubt, decide wisely, as I trust he will do also in the following case, not merely rare, but actually unheard of. There chanced to come a Frenchman of Pondicherry to be married at Madras, and he was in fact married there.
338.8.5
The ceremony took place in the Capuchins' church on June 25 of the current year [1704]. It was the Reverend Father Friar Euzebio who officiated at the wedding. A few days after the marriage they went back to Pondicherry, arriving there on July 4. The next day the Lord Patriarch sent for the husband, and ordered him to live apart from his wife, saying he was not properly married, and it was necessary to issue fresh banns and be married over again. The Frenchman was astonished at such a novel ruling, and went off in great haste, not to say at the run, to the convent of the Capuchins there, and finding the Reverend Father Thomas of Poictiers, related to him what had occurred. The father declined to believe an absurdity of that sort, but the Frenchman assured him it was so. The astonished father defended the case vigorously and the validity of the marriage, proving it from many authors of weight, whose names he gave in writing to the Frenchman. He told him to carry the paper to his Excellency. As soon as he looked at the paper the Patriarch became angry with him, and at once gave an order to fetch Father Friar Thomas. On his appearing he was asked in a great passion whether it was he who defended such a marriage as valid, and in such a way.
338.8.6
The father replied in the affirmative, and at once pointed out (in a folio he had taken with him for this purpose) that by the Council of Trent, and by six other councils, as proved by innumerable authors, a marriage was valid at which the parish priest was present, although he might be a non-tolerated, excommunicated person. On hearing this the Lord Nuncio sent at once for a father of the Society of Jesus to examine into the case. The result was in accordance with the Capuchin's assertions. The marriage was valid, although the Reverend Father Friar Euzebio might be excommunicated. How much more so when he was not ? as was also abundantly proved. Notwithstanding this report, his Excellency resolved to pursue his own course, closing eyes and ears to everything. I hardly know if my pen dare to write here what I saw elsewhere written — namely, that great men's errors are proportionate : ' The greater the man, so much the greater the error.' It is not I who say it. On the same day he gave an order to the Reverend Father Friar Laurent to proceed at night to the Frenchman's house with two witnesses, and januis clausis (with closed doors) remarry them both, the husband and the wife. The Reverend Father Friar Laurent knew very well in his conscience that he could not so act, it being obvious to him that by the Council of Trent and the other councils, as previously set forth, the marriage was already duly performed and therefore valid.
338.8.7
However, out of fear of an interdict, which without fail would fall on him in case of disobedience, he obeyed. Demanding an order from his Excellency, as he was bound to do in a case as rare as it was peculiar, the priest went about eight o'clock at night to the house of the married couple. With him went two witnesses, one a Tonquinese, the other an Armenian, men expressly selected by his Excellency. Having closed the doors, he robed himself in a surplice and a black stole, then married them over again. At this point the reader may agree to weigh in silence and ponder over the mysterious surroundings of this second marriage. Although to me it seems this would be discreet and wise, yet there cannot fail to be those (including all the common people) who will ask: 'Why marry persons that were already married, and well married? Why at night and not in the day? Why clandestinely and not in the face of the congregation? Why in a house instead of in a consecrated edifice? Why Armenians and Tonquinese, who do not know the language of the contracting parties, instead of French or Portuguese, understanding it? Why, finally, in a black stole and not a white one?' Mysterium vobis dico ['Behold, I show you a mystery' (1 Cor. xv. 51)].