But Time and Chance: The Story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793-1867 [Paperback]

Fray Angelico Chavez (Author), Angelico Chavez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1981

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong . . . but time and chance happenethto them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11With these words, the epitaph Padre Martnez chose for himself, the reader is drawn into a stirring and provocative biography recounted by a master storyteller.Fray Angelico Chavez, articulate and well-versed in New Mexicana, vividly records the life of the controversial Padre of Taos so that the reader gains full measure of his surroundings and o the times.Martnez was continually at the forefront of the public and political forums . . . a master of jurisprudence and canon law . . . a champion of the underdog. With the advent of Bishop Lamy, public attention became focused on these two dynamic personalities. Their philosophic differences ultimately led to Martnez suspension and excommunication.Chavez was a curious and indefatigable researcher and he used these talents well while delving into the facts and legends surrounding Padre Martinez most poignant and colorful life-drama . . . a personality to be reckoned with, whether as hero or villain, or both.Readers will, at once, share with Chavez his absorption in this man and, also wonder . . . how such a phenomenon could have sprouted and bloomed under the most adverse circumstances of time and place.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Sunstone Press; 1st edition (December 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913270954
• ISBN-13: 978-0913270950
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, May 1, 2010

By 

D. Hocking - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: But Time and Chance: The Story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793-1867 (Paperback)

If you're only going to read one book about Padre Martinez, don't make it this one. It is difficult reading, but it is better researched than anything else out there that I've found. Fray Angelico is cautious not to create a hero where one actually exists.

Padre Martinez gained an education when there were still no schools in New Mexico. He attended seminary in Monterey Mexico and excelled as a student. He returned with a dream of being a priest-leader like Hidalgo, protecting his people and instructing them in democracy, loving his understanding of American institutions. He found New Mexico without priests, the government in Mexico having expelled the Franciscans who were mostly native Spanish. Opening a seminary, he was authorized to ordain priests and by 1850 most of those in New Mexico were his former students. He sat in the territorial legislature under the Mexican government and under the American. He owned the first printing press and printed schoolbooks, tracts and catechisms and very briefly New Mexico's first newspaper. He was also the spiritual leader of the Penitentes. He defended the rights of New Mexicans and their traditions resisting the efforts of Bishop Lamy to vastly increase their payments to the church. Continuing to provide the sacraments over the Bishop's order to those who could not pay, he was eventually excommunicated.

Padre Martinez got a very bad rap from Willa Cather in her Death Comes for the Archbishop.