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ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPUCHIN ORDER IN INDIA 235 wa1trng to know the results of the visitation. Since sometime he had had a sinister foreboding that hard times were lying ahead and feared that an eventual closure of the Novitiate would lead to the collapse of all the Capuchin Missions in India 119 • He resigned himself to ac– cepting whatever decision the General Definitory would take 120 • Fr Da– masus resigned as Regular Superior and the whole of the Agra Mission was placed under Fr General Commissary Mark 121 • The General Superiors put out feelers to gauge the line of thinking of different people on the Novitiate. Mgr Mouard, the Bishop of Laho– re, was asked the question: Should the Novitiate of Mussoorie be closed or not? The Bishop was not for closing the Novitiate "completely and officially", but for suspending it after the two novices who were still there had the chance to complete their year of Novitiate. According to him, when Agra would be entrusted to a Province, the reopened Novitiate too would function efficiently under the auspices of the same Province 122 • Fr Mark too advanced the same solution 123 • His letter of 20 January 1890 says in a very matter-of-fact way that complying with 119 Cf. APCapTusc, Missione Indostan, Incarto I, Mgr Jacopi to Fr Louis, Mussoo– rie 3 April 1888. 12 ° Cf. APCapTusc, Missione Indostan, Incarto I, Mgr Jacopi to Fr Louis, Mussoo– rie 16 April 1889. 121 The wide-spread resentment among the friars against some of Fr Damasus' po– licies had as its finale his resignation as Regular Superior and the placing of the whole Mission of Agra under the General Commissary. Cf. AGCap AH 10, Acta Congregation. pro missionibus, 15: Since Fr General was away from Rome on 21 June 1889 no decision was taken on Fr Mark's report. AGCap H 59, III: Mark's letter of 21 July 1889 from Mussoorie: "In spite of the unworthiness of my miserable person, Fr General has been pleased to appoint me Commissary General for the Archdiocese of Agra". This note and the text of the Obedience was communicated by "Fr Damasus Mary, Ex Regular Superior" in his circular of 24 July 1889. APCapTusc, Missione Indostan, Incarto I, Fr Benedict to Fr Louis, Mussoorie 1 August 1989.: "A Monsignore brucia un poco un Commissario G.[enerale] perche a ragione lo reputa uno smacco per Jui e la sua Diocesi, ma bisogna che si rassegni ed inghiottisca la pillola". 122 Cf. AGCap H 59, III, Mgr Symphorian Mouard of Sombernon (Prov. Lyons) to Fr General, Lahore 31 August 1889. 123 AGCap H 59, III, Fr Mark to Fr General, Lahore 24 September 1889: "II n'y a qu'un Novice au Noviciat et p~s de demande consequemment le noviciat sera ferme au mois de janvier prochain. C'est peut-etre mieux qu'il en soit ainsi, et la fermetu– re se £era sans eclat, ce qui est beaucoup mieux".