The devotion with which these Indians approached the holy communion,
and some events which give much glory to the Lord.
[Since the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist is so high and
difficult a thing to teach a people whose heathen state makes them
opposed to ideas so lofty, the religious in this region spend a great
deal of effort upon teaching the Indians this supreme mystery.] At
first, only very few and very carefully chosen persons were admitted
to the communion, according to the ordinance of a provincial council
of Lima, confirmed by the Apostolic See, which in Act ii, chapter
20, says, [1] Precepit sancta sinodus parochis, ceterisque Indorum
praedicatoribus, ut saepe ac serio, de fide huius mysterii eos
instituant; and, later, Quos autem parochus, et satis instructus,
et correctione vitae idoneos iudicaverit, iis saltem in paschate,
Eucharistiam administrare non praetermittat. It is true that the
Indians of these regions have much greater capacity than those of Peru,
of whom this council spoke; yet because they were so new in the faith,
and so badly fitted by their ancient customs for this supreme mystery,
the holy communion is not given to them indifferently at Easter, but
is given to those whom the minister judges to be properly prepared. At
the beginning, greater attention and caution were necessary. Hence,
after they had been thoroughly instructed in the mysteries of the
faith, and in particular in the doctrine of this holy mystery,
and when they showed a desire to receive the holy communion, they
were examined as to their lives, habits, and reputation, the most
credible witnesses in the village being called in to testify. If
they were found prepared, they were admitted to this supreme meal,
to this holy table. A week before they communicated, unless they
were occupied--and they generally gave up their occupations for this
purpose--they went to church and heard spiritual addresses every
day. [On these days they prepared themselves with more than ordinary
prayer, and rose at midnight to pray and to take their discipline. If
they were married, they separated their beds at least on the eve
and the day of the communion. Many of the men went to the convent,
and followed the hours with the religious. On the day of receiving
communion, they followed the same customs as did the members of our
order, dedicating the whole day to God, and keeping in it the silence
which we observe in our convents on the day when those religious who
are not priests communicate. They were taught to say something after
mass in order to give thanks to the Lord; for since they cannot read,
and have no books, the ministers have to teach them everything of
this kind--especially at the beginning, for afterward there are many
of them who teach the others. At the same time, they receive what the
minister tells them with greater respect. Many extraordinary examples
of piety have been exhibited by the communicants.] In the village
of Pata there was an Indian chief, a man of great valor, named Don
Francisco Yringan, of whom mention has several times been made. He,
being governor there, had as a guest in his house a Spaniard who
was traveling that way. He treated him kindly and entertained him as
well as he could. The guest, not being content with this, asked him
to find an Indian woman, that he might sleep with her; and gave him
some trinkets with which to gratify her. But the Indian refused to
accept them and to do what the Spaniard asked him, saying that this
was wicked and that no one ought to do such a thing, least of all a
communicant. This was a reply with which the old Christian ought to
have been put to confusion, and which should have made him correct
his desires; but it was not so; on the contrary, he grew angry at
the answer, and threatened to cane the Indian unless he did what
he was told. The Indian turned his back and bending his head said,
"Give me as much of a caning as you please, for I am not going to do
what you ask." The Spaniard was so intemperate and discourteous that
he vented his anger upon him and caned him, the Indian suffering with
great patience, as if he had received from God not only faith in Him,
but the power of suffering because he refused to offend Him. This is
a grace which the Apostle praises, urging the Philippians to esteem
it highly; and now it was found in a Philippine Indian. The Indian
who suffered this was a man who could have employed lawyers against
him who wronged him, though he was alone; and, if he had shouted to
his followers, they would have cut the Spaniard to pieces. But, as he
was a communicant, he would neither be an accomplice in the sin of the
Spaniard, nor would he avenge himself; nor would he even make use of
a just defense, as was taught in the counsel of Paul quoted above,
Non vos defendentes carissimi [i.e., "Not defending yourselves,
beloved"]. On another occasion when a great insult was offered to
this same Indian, a religious comforted him and encouraged him to
patience. The Indian answered: "O father, how good it would be if we
all served God with truth. If it were so, that wrong which has been
done to me would not have been done. If this thing had happened in
the days of our heathendom, it would have sufficed to cause me and
my followers to make war to the death against this town; but now that
we are Christians, patience!" He said nothing more and uttered not a
word of indignation, but passed over his sufferings and endured the
insult, although he felt it keenly and was ashamed (though in a very
Christian manner). Thus he gave proof that his virtue was enduring,
because such a blow could not overthrow it. There was one poor Indian
slave woman whom a Spaniard, who had communicated a few days before
in that village, tried to violate. She resisted him with spirit; and,
as if horrified at the lack of respect which by his actions he showed
to the Lord, whom he had received, she said to him: "How is it that,
being a communicant, you dare to commit such a sin?" In this way may
be seen how some of the new Christians surpass others who are old
in the faith, going beyond them in virtue, devotion, and the fear
of God. [In the village of Masi, which is near to that of which we
have been speaking, there was an Indian, a communicant, the fiscal
of the church, who was of blameless life. His name was Sebastian
Calelao. His sown rice had not sprouted on account of the drought;
but, in response to his prayers, God sent rain so that his crop
was saved. In Pilitan there was an Indian woman, named Ysabel Pato,
a faithful Christian. When she was about to receive the viaticum,
the priest found that the Lord had anticipated him. Other marvels and
instances of virtue have been exhibited among these Indians.] Some
Indian women accused themselves of having eaten buyos on fast-days,
but not on Fridays. When the confessor asked them if they had
fasted on other days than Friday--for the Indians are not obliged
to fast on the other days in Lent--they answered that they fasted
the whole of Lent, performing these fasts as works of devotion; for
the holy Apostolic See has excused them from this fast, because of
their weakness and the scantiness of their food. When the religious
thought that this was excessive, and told them that they could not
do so much, they answered that by the favor of God they could do
so, as they had already fasted during the whole of Lent on previous
occasions. The buyo is an aromatic leaf, shaped like an ivy-leaf,
which the Indians are accustomed to chew with a sort of wild acorn
and a little bit of lime. Even some of the Spaniards in this country
very commonly use it, though they do not swallow it, so that only the
juice reaches the stomach; it invigorates the stomach, and preserves
the teeth. To carry some buyos in their mouths, if there were not
many of them, would not break their fast; but in spite of all this,
these Indian women made a scruple of taking it in their fasts, out of
pure devotion and in an entirely voluntary way. [Visions of demons
are frequent among the Indians. One such happened in a part of this
province called Ytabes, of which the order took charge in 1604. The
Indian concerned had a vision of demons driven away by persons whom
he did not know, but who were clothed with white underneath and with
black cloaks. This was something which the Indian had never seen,
because the religious rarely wear their cloaks in the Indian villages,
assuming them only when they go into the pulpit to preach. At that
time the Christians there were so few that the sermons were not
delivered from the pulpit, but from a seat, the cloak not being put
on for the purpose. Frightful visions of the anito drove the father
of Don Francisco Tuliau to baptism. In Camalaniugan father Fray Gaspar
Zarfate drove out several demons who were tormenting Indian women.]