I. Since last year's letters regarding this college were very full,
we shall deal with it now very briefly; we will begin with two brethren
who have finished their course of life: Luis à Figueroa and Didacus de
Zarcuela. Luis was of noble birth, but of nobler nature. When he had
studied the humanities, he could not be persuaded that he might be
admitted to sacred orders; and when the fathers hesitated to admit
him into the Society because of a lack of strength in his feet,
"Receive me," he said, "I beg you, as a servant, to set fire to the
wood others have cut; and, when the work is done, to cover the fire
with ashes or put it out." Being admitted in so humble a frame of
mind, he took care for the most part of the wardrobe, being best
satisfied with the lot of Martha, which he praised wherever he had
the opportunity. So powerful and effective was he in persuasion and
dissuasion that one of his associates declared that he went to his work
more readily on account of Luis's words in conversation than through
the formal speech of any orator whatsoever. He exhibited the virtue
of charity in the highest degree; and although unable to tolerate the
slightest deficiency in himself, he strove with love and prudence to
effect the same perfection in others. Receiving from Rome at the end
of his illness letters by which he was formally enrolled among the
lay brethren, he was so penetrated with joy that he had strength to
offer his vows in the church--after which, his illness increasing
again, he soon died. Didacus also attained the same vows, having
been two and twenty years a servant of the Society; of this number
he devoted not a few to the seminary of St. Joseph. He was a man who
set a good example, and was of extraordinary diligence. So desirous
was he of the salvation of the Indian races that he said: "If Spain
were only two leguas away, I should not care to go thither. Nothing
would induce me to exchange my lot with any brother in Europe"--which
saying he repeated oftener as death approached. He died of a fever,
contrary to the expectation of the physicians, but not to his own;
for he declared that he should die when his illness attacked him,
and so he passed away. Some persons who took refuge from external
danger, under the protection of the Blessed, our fathers Ignatius
and Xavier, were preserved alive. To three women Ignatius granted
easy childbirth; and one Basque they relieved of toothache, when he
prayed to them. Xavier came to the aid of a Spanish commander of a
battalion of soldiers, who was near to death; and prolonged his life
in return for two wax candles promised him.
II. As for the rest. Among those of all ages, Christianity
advances daily throughout the population of Manila, so that the
devotion of youths cannot be affected by entreaties or overcome
by reward--especially among those who glory in the name of members
of sodalities; while women do not at all fall behind men in fervor
and piety. Although on account of their sex they cannot join men's
associations, they think that they have the right to perform the same
acts which would be praised in the members of sodalities. There are
some of the Spanish women who fast three times a week; they sleep
on the ground; in their private chambers, among their intimate
friends, they scourge themselves until they draw blood. One woman
who was delivered by the Virgin from a grievous illness vowed that
everything she and her women could make with the needle should be
wrought to adorn our church. She has already finished many articles;
and, because she seemed to have vowed beyond her strength, she was
directed to cease. Her answer was that she had taken her vow to do
this, so that if Ours refused the work she would bestow it on some
other church. Other decorations have been added to this church, so that
it is almost unique in the islands; and, as a result, the religious
services which are wont to be held on the three days of the Carnival
[12] have been attended by much larger congregations. For, before,
bare tiles scarcely covered it; and the dripping water penetrating
when it rained, the church was defiled by a multitude of bats. By the
contributions of very many pious men a new ceiling has been added to
the roof, adorned and wrought with various decorations, so that it
gives dignity and splendor to the place--a work worth many a piece
of gold, because it seems very great, considering the poverty of the
city. Those Indians, too, whom many years ago the Society supported
near this city, have now set up in a newly-built church a statue of
their patron Saint Michael, together with a new and beautiful image
of the Virgin Mother of God, and other statues--marks of no small
piety in a small town.
III. The heretics among the prisoners taken in the Dutch fleet last
year (they were over ninety) [13] have been visited and assisted by
Father Andrea de la Camara very often, both those in prison and the
wounded in hospitals. Of the Lutherans and Calvinists in both those
places he taught over twenty to recant their heresies--and those
generally of the higher rank among them, masters, superintendents,
surgeons, etc., and (if he ought to be named in the same class) a
minister of the Word. This man, ashamed of his ignorance, readily
gave us his hand, and the letters which he had received from his
anti-bishop in testimony of his authority, having been in a manner
dragged from pitch and shoemaking to the ministry of the Word. These
all are now as true lovers of our Society as before they were bitter
adversaries of it. When on account of the scarcity of workers Father
Camara was sent to the Pintados Islands, these men went to the vicar
of the Holy Inquisition, and asked him that he would not suffer them
to be without some Jesuit, whose ministry they might enjoy--even
through an interpreter, if need be. For, they declared, they were
persuaded that Ours might differ in language, but not in character.
In fact, many others have been reconciled to us, or at least, if
friends have been made, more friendly. Distinguished among them is
he who governs these islands in the royal name, Don Juan de Silva;
for he has showed forth his love toward God and us in many ways. He
has especially done so by the restoration, at no small expense, of
the chapel in which the relics of the saints are kept, for which he
also provided that a lamp should be kept constantly burning. He has
also liberally assisted us with money and other things in a sickness
which afflicted us all for a short time. We have restored to not a
few persons their friends, from whom they had been torn by covert
grudges; but I wish to avoid unpleasant allusions; and I only praise
the greatness of soul of one woman in forgiving injuries. She sailed
all the way from Europe, first to Mexico, then to these Philippine
Islands, and finally to the Malucas, in search of her absent son. She
found him at last in the island of Ternate, where he held an official
position; but while she was rejoicing at finding her son, she was
deprived of this brief joy also. For soon after her coming her son,
pierced with many wounds, was slain in a quarrel; and she had again
lost him whom she had found with so great efforts and after so many
journeys. This misfortune the woman has borne in such a spirit that she
has not only freely forgiven the slayer, but, turning this grief to a
good use, has begun to give herself wholly to the praises of God and to
heavenly actions. Every day she devotes four hours to prayers; thrice
in the week she fasts; thrice she mortifies herself with a hair-shirt,
thrice with scourging; and partaking on the Lord's Day of the divine
feast, she continues to this day in this most beautiful mode of life.