His efforts laid the foundation for several important missions in Texas and Louisiana, significantly contributing to the spread of Catholicism in Central and North America. His legacy continues to inspire devotion and efforts towards his canonization.

Ven. Antonio Margil of Jesus devoted his life to missionary work, focusing on converting and educating Native Americans. His efforts were marked by a strict adherence to obedience and holy humility. Despite facing numerous challenges, including harsh conditions and opposition, he remained steadfast in his dedication to spreading the Catholic faith. His work in Central America and Texas laid the foundation for many significant missions, and his legacy of faith and perseverance continues to inspire.

Extract from The Book about the Holiness and Innocence of his Childhood: Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Eucharistic Adoration

Though excelling in every virtue, he was most remarkable for his love of prayer and passed most of his time in church, especially where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. During vacation, such was his assiduity in this holy practice that he would have remained in church the whole night, had not the sexton obliged him to leave. When admonished by his mother for this, he replied: “Dear mother, I have spent the greatest part of this day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and it seemed to me but a moment.” Fervent prayer and the practice of all Christian virtues preserved his baptismal innocence and obtained for him the grace of never offending God, so that, in making his last confession, he could fearlessly say to his confessor that he had nothing to apprehend concerning his early youth.