OUR ROMAN LETTER

New Zealand Tablet, 24 July 1919, Page 34

OUR ROMAN LETTER

(By ‘‘ScOTTUS.”)

A week or two ago there took place in the Carmelite Church in this city a series of functions in thanksgiving for a recent decree, raising to the honors of. the altar the Blessed Nuno Alvares, the national hero of Portugal, who in his day, under the title of High Constable, led his troops to victory after victory, asserted' the independence of his country, became one of the magnates of the land, lent his blood to found the royal house of Braganza, and when the work had been accomplished cast aside wealth and power and dignity to become a humble lay Brother in the noble convent he had erected on the hill that looks down on the city of Lisbon.

Portugal had been an independent and prosperous kingdom for twice a hundred years, when in 1367 Ferdinand became king— one who had learned not the lesson that “kings must remember their duties and not think only of their pleasures.” Ambitious projects soon embroiled him in conflict with his neighbor, Henry 11. of Castile: and an unfortunate marriage brought him a queen whose evil influence, cruel tyranny, and immoral life led him into a course of conduct that brought the country to the brink of destruction.

The clouds that hung over the land burst with a crash the moment the King died and she.became Regent (1385). By a treaty with John I. of Castile, Ferdinand’s only daughter, Beatrice, became engaged to that sovereign, and along with her hand the crown of Portugal was to be united to that of Castile. Silently but swiftly a plot was prepared under the leadership of the Grand Master of the Knights of Aviz, who, suddenly entering the royal palace at Lisbon, slew the Queen Regent’s lover and evil genius, Andeiro, took possession of the sword of State, and was unanimously proclaimed Defender of Portugal. The Queen Regent fled and besought King John of Castile to come to hexhelp. Right willingly be obeyed her behests, and at the head of a noble array of 30,000 Spaniards marched on Portugal, which he hoped to find weak, almost defenceless, an easy prey, a royal prize to add to his own crown. The independence of Portugal was at stake; the defenders were but ill-matched; the Portuguese army was dispirited, and ruin stax-ed the country in the face, when the occasion brought forth the man in the person of Nuno Alvares, a young Portuguese nobleman, then in the 23rd year of his age, a knight without fear and without reproach, the trusted friend and colleague of the Grand Master of Portugal. Born on June 24, 1360, he grew up with a passionate love for historical lore, and particularly foxall that concerned chivalry, “an institution which in those days fused into one the love of arms and of religion, and which with its marvellous tales of enterprises fox* God, or Lady, or King, elevated youthful minds and inspired them to deeds of bravery in the lists or in the sterner fields of battle.” Of all these tales, the one that made the deepest impression on the youthful mind of Nuno Alvares was that of Galahad, and, like Galahad, Nuno Alvares desired to be strong and pure, without fear and without reproach, God’s and Our Lady’s Knight, ready to fight for his country against the Castilians, whose hated name and still more hated deeds he learned from the lips of the soldier-monks who thronged his father’s halls. When old enough, his father had placed him in the royal Court then at Saixtarem, as page to Eleonora, and there, early in 1373, while still in his 13th year, he received the honor of knighthood at the hands of the Queen. Three years the youth had spent at Court immersed in the -study and practice of chivalry, when his father, feeling death near at hand, appeared at Court and told the young knight, now in his 16th year, that it was time for him to marry, and that a suitable match was ready for him in the pex-soxx of Lady Eleonora of Alim. Though the youth had other ideals be-

fore his mind, and though, he offered some - resistance, he eventually gave his consent and the marriage took place on August 5, 1376. ' V'.’ ' • -

The young couple set out . for , the paternal home at Minho, where they abode in unalloyed bliss for three year’s, till the call to arms summoned Nuno Alvares from the peaceful scenes of his quiet countryside to defend his native land against the encroachments of the Castilians, then sorely besetting Portugal. It was the year 1379, the 19th of his age. Never was call more promptly obeyed never, did the banished visions of chivalry more rapidly revive. The Castilians were already besieging Lisbon. Confident of an easy victory, they were carelessly lying about, when Alvares took them by surprise at night, put them- to an ignominious flight, at once joined the King, who was then at Elvas, and a few days later peace was made between Portugal and Castile. Hardly had this been done when Queen Eleonora took the steps already referred to. In appearance it pretended to be no more than the union of the two crowns of Portugal and Castile ; but in reality it amounted to the absorption of the former by the latter, and the extinction of the Portuguese State after a glorious period of two centuries of national independence. One of the first to show his horror of the Queen Regent’s life and conduct was Nuno Alvares, who, having given public and emphatic expression to his resentment, quitted the Court and retired to his castle at Minho, determined to bury himself alive in the quiet of his rural retreat till better days should have dawned.

In October, 1383, as already mentioned, King Ferdinand died in the royal palace at Lisbon and in a few weeks the Castilians set about taking possession of the kingdom of Portugal. The Grand Master of Aviz secretly sent to sound the feelings of Alvares. He had not long to wait for an answer. A plot was at once arranged between them for the purpose of banishing the Queen Regent, and thus leading the way to an effective resistance to the Spaniards. The plot was crowned with the most complete success. . The methods resorted to were not such as would meet with the universal approval of those who are inclined to decry all plotting at the present day; but Nuno and his confederates, remembering that the safety of one’s country was the supreme law, did not hesitate at removing the Queen’s lover, Andeiro, whose life and evil influence stood between the country and the country’s good. Hitherto Nuno had played but a secondary part on his country’s stage. He was now to stand forth as its most prominent figure ; and from the day he joined the Grand Master he practically stood at the head of that glorious period in Portuguese history which was to last from 1383 to 1580. It was other brains that guided the country at that eventful crisis, but it was his right arm that kept for them a country to be guided. At that fated hour, the Grand Master was only 25 years of age; his friend and colleague was still younger by two years. At this stage his biographer thus refers to Alvares in comparison with the Grand Master: “That which raised Nuno Alvares not merely above the leaders of the national movement, but above all others, friends as well as.enemies, and surrounded him with a halo of veneration, was his profound religious sentiment that manifested itself in acts of piety, regardless of human respect, with his perfect honesty and his angelic virtue, which impressed all with whom he came in contact. His patriotism, his military activity, were nourished on his faith in God to Whose glory he made all things subservient- —a saint in warrior’s uniform.”

Such was the man now called on to act the part of his country’s Liberator. In a, popular assembly called together immediately after the flight of the Queen Regent, the Grand Master was proclaimed Regent and Defender of the Kingdom, with a council of 24 patriots to advise and assist him. The Grand Master, knowing that while councils and councillors were all very well, a brave general was still more necessary to face the overwhelming odds, which were almost 10. to one, at once entrusted to his young friend the leader-

ship of his troops. No selection was ever more momentous, The Spanish army was far superior in numbers and possessed corresponding advantages of every sort. But “the people had confidence in Alvares and Alvares had confidence in himself.” Nor was he much moved by the doctrine that would make the morality of a cause depend on the probabilities of success. It was enough for him that his country was in danger and that he was called upon to defend it. Accordingly he unhesitatingly accepted the position of High Constable, and without delay proceeded to show how well placed was the confidence the people had in him, no less than that he had in himself. This is not the place to describe the series of brilliant victories that almost miraculously crowned his efforts —Assumar, . Aljubarrota, Yalverde, Ceuta—names that still live on in Portuguese song and story. “Whoever is afraid of the King of Castile or of any other King,” he said to one of the council "who expressed fear of failure, “is out of place in the council. The business of the council is to serve king and country, not to lessen the courage of others by vain fears and idle words.”

Before such a man, the idol of his soldiers, the proud Castilian struggled in vain ; and ere the century had closed the plenipotentiaries of both countries met at Segovia in June, 1400, to sign a truce, which, though only temporary in words, meant in reality the end of the war and the consecration of the independence of Portugal, which was eventually recognised once for all in 1431. Meanwhile, his wife had passed away his beloved daughter Beatrix had married into a family that was later on to form the royal house of Braganza ; and he had all that the heart of man could desire wealth, honor, —when another and a gentler call began to whisper in his ear the words, “vanity of vanities,” summoning him to lay aside the High Constable’s sword, his wealth and his power, and take up instead the humble cowl of a poor lay Brother of Our" Lady of Mount Carmel. The day after the victory of Valverde he had made a vow to erect a magnificent church alongside the great convent of Mount Carmel at Lisbon. His vow was carried out without loss of time, and soon the hill above Lisbon was decorated with the most beautiful temple in all Portugal, dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. To take charge of this noble edifice he called in the Carmelite Friars, who entered into possession of church and convent in May, 1397. Here, on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1423, the anniversary of his victories at Aljubarrota and Ceuta, Nuno Alvares, Count of Ourem, of Arrayolos and of Barcellos, master of three of the provinces of the kingdom, lord and baron of an infinity of cities and castles, High Constable of Portugal, cast himself at the feet of a statue of Our Lady, and laying aside all his greatness, put on the habit and took the vows of a poor Carmelite lay Brotherthe invincible in battle surrendering to the love of God, and taking his place among the community as Brother Nuno of Our Lady. He was then in his 63rd year.

It would take too long to tell of the life he led within the sacred walls which his own piety had raised to heaven. But all immersed as he was in the practices of devotion, obedience, and poverty, the spark of patriotism burned on undimmed in his breast. One day the Castilian Ambassador, desirous of seeing the man who had carved out the independence of Portugal with his strong right hand, and who was now a lowly lay Brother, called on him and was conducted to the poor cell, where the former High Constable received him in his simple habit. At the end of their conversation, the Ambassador asked him if he would ever throw aside that lowly vesture. “Yes,” was the reply, “I shall throw it aside the moment the King of Castile declares war on Portugal, and in that event I shall be serving at once the Order I have embraced and the land that gave me birth.” Eight years from the date of his religious profession, October 30, 1431, saw the signing of the definite treaty of peace with Castile, the crowning act of Portuguese independence. The King of Portugal carried the tidings, to Nuno Alvares, only to find him on his bed

of death, ready to sing his Nunc dimittis now that all to which he had dedicated his brain and his arm had been right worthily accomplished. The news was told him just as the bells rang out in honor of All Saints' Day and just as the same bells began to toll their mournful dirge that evening in commemoration of the faithful departed, the most faithful of the sons of Adam passed to his reward. “Laid out on the bier, clad in his poor habit of lay Brother, with the crucifix clasped in his lifeless hands, the old warrior lay in the rigidity of death like on© in a placid sleep, his white face wearing the calm expression of —the one thing missing being the light of those eagle eyes. Poor as was that bier, it was none the less a throne. Never was Nuno Alvares so close to the hearts and thoughts of the people of Portugal as when he passed lifeless through their midst, carried on the shoulders of the highest in the land and followed by the King, the Infanta, a stately cortege of Hidalgos, by all that was noble and illustrious in Lisbon. It was the fatherland rendering the brightest honors to the liberator who was also a —for in Nuno they recognised two personalities fused into one, the saint and the national hero.” From the day his body was laid to rest in the stately church he had erected on the heights above Lisbon, his memory was revered, his deeds sung, his sanctity venerated, by the people of Portugal, who uninterruptedly continued to frequent his tomb and honor his relics and invoke his intercession as that of a saint, down to the day in 1755 when the memorable earthquake that devastated all Lisbon buried also in ruins his Church of Our Lady of Victories. The greatness of Portugal, built up chiefly by Nuno Alvares, met the fate of all things mortal, and slowly passed under the control of Spain ; and Spain regarded with ill-concealed jealousy the veneration paid to the memory of him whose example might easily encourage others to do as he had done. The public veneration of Nuno Alvares declined with the fortunes of the country of his love; and this decline was accelerated by the storms that swept over the land in recent centuries. Great and enthusiastic as was the veneration paid to the memory and bones of Nuno Alvares, it had never been officially recognised, chiefly owing to the opposition of Spain. In 1870, however, steps began to be taken with a view to obtaining such recognition. These steps were renewed and intensified in 1895, 1907, and 1909. The evidence taken at various intervals was eventually transmitted to Rome, and examined by the Congregation of Rites, with the result that on January 23 of last year a decree was read and confirmed by the present Pope, formally sanctioning the veneration of Nuno Alvares, and numbering him among those whom the Church has inscribed on the golden book of the blessed.