_Jesus, Mary_
May all empires and kingdoms be made subject to your royal Majesty. We
were sent here by the great king, Don Felipe, our sovereign (may
he rest in peace), by his royal decree and favor he ordering the
governor and royal Audiencia to receive us under his royal protection
as nuns of the first rule of St. Clare, [22] so that the daughters
of the conquistadors who do not have the means for marriage may be
aided; and [it was ordered] that, when the provincial of our order
should be present they should make regulations according to our
rule and profession--his royal Majesty ordering the above with the
earnestness that is made evident in his decree. We have found in this
kingdom so friendly a disposition and so great abundance of what is
necessary (with which we are supplied in the city), that although
at present we number only thirty-three sisters, seventy could be
supported on the alms that are bestowed upon us every week in small
contributions--besides those given in quantity by private persons and
bequeathed to us in wills; and those from women who are admitted to
the order, who have wealth for this purpose.
Our rule declares that we may not solicit the property of those who
enter to become nuns, and we are not to be careful of aught else
than their virtues; but that if any one of these wishes to give
some alms of her own freewill, we may receive it, as from any other
person. Consequently, having observed faithfully this rule--I mean,
in not desiring or striving for any more than the said benefit (and
we exercise great care in this)--our Lord moves hearts, so that one
woman alone has given us fourteen thousand pesos. With that the
work on the convent is progressing. Other women who are about to
make profession say that they will give the same amount that they
would give their husbands if they married; and that, since God is
their spouse, they wish to give it to Him so that a convent capable
of sustaining many nuns may be built, so that they may serve his
Majesty. Some have as their dowry only the spiritual wealth that
the rule requires. Consequently, there are liable to be many orphan
girls who serve God, daughters and granddaughters of conquistadors,
who are calling aloud, and they refuse to allow them to enter. It is
a pity to see so pious desires disappointed. I petition your Majesty
to send me a royal decree that no limit shall be set to the number of
nuns that the convent may contain. The rule does not limit the number,
nor does any other convent throughout all these kingdoms. The city is
very rich, and food so cheap that fourteen libras of beef cost one
real; another real buys eight libras of fish; six libras of sugar,
one real; and fowls, salt pork, and all other things in the same
proportion; of salt alone, they have given us, on this last arrival
of the ships, three hundred and seventy baras [i.e., bahars]; also
a goodly supply of wine for the mass; and linen, which is very cheap.
Consequently we, these least important vassals of your Majesty, do
not need human aid, but the divine. That aid we have entreated from
the royal favor, so that no restriction be laid on the nuns that the
convent shall contain. It is a great pity to see how they hinder the
souls who serve God in so great perfection as those women who are
here, the natives of these kingdoms. I consider beyond any doubt
that they will be most devoted servants of God, who works marvels
in all those whom He shrives, and all set themselves to observe the
warnings of the gospel. An infinite number of little girls and older
orphans come weeping, with their widowed mothers, begging us for the
love of God to give them the habit. Since the king, our sovereign,
sent them so great a spiritual and temporal consolation, and since
their parents gained it for them by conquering this country at the
cost of their own lives, we all are so bounden. Beseeching our Lord to
prosper your royal Majesty, spiritually and temporally, with infinite
increase; and may He subject to the royal power of your royal Majesty
all empires and kingdoms that He has created for the greater honor,
glory, and increase of the faithful, and the exaltation of the holy
Catholic faith. Manila, July 31. Given in this convent of La Concepcion
of the discalced nuns of St. Clare, in the year 1626.
The most humble vassals of your royal and sacred Majesty,
_Jeronima de la Asunsion_, [23]
abbess, and her sisters,
_Ana de Christo Bicaria_
_Leonor [de] San Francisco_
_Leonor de Sant Buena Bentura_
_Lüysa de Jesús_
_Magdalena de Christo_
_Juana de San Antonio_
_Maria de los Angeles_
_Maria Magdalena_
_Ana de Jesus_
_Ana de Christo Bicaria_