The coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions
of the intermediate chapter
Though the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e.,
Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main
attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with
his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord,
and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off
two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom
he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had
the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been
moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having
been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced
in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order
desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command
of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation,
but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English
found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it. [22]
This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and
the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet
for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or
near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon
whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited
to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was
no fleet, a rumor spread that some ships were being fitted out for
the voyage. Hereupon the bishop--who had come on foot from Madrid,
but had been several days on the return journey because of the
misfortune which had happened--took courage and went to the port a
second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With
these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a
reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the
ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops
who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva
España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop
and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God
sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry
the baggage and the ship's stores; but it had no accommodations for
passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small
size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater
evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might
suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and
they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which
there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the
rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it,
and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there
was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage
of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as
to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their
voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck,
and at least to enjoy the coolness of night if they could not avoid
the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in
a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader;
and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent
sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as
it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of
His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort
of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all
cheerful. The bishop alone was silent--so much so that his religious
became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered:
"I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His
own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such
fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what
we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was
sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing." When they
reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came
to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to
avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had
already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift
of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of
building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings
were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which
arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.
The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very
prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships,
those who embarked in the flagship, called "Rosario," were unable
to get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the
commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the
ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship,
and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something
which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so
extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting
upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand
comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The
intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and
the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully
and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious
were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been
admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging
the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries,
could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries
to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and
arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father
Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who
had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the
small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been
customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces
to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not
superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents
and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were
to be in the place of priors. These and no others were now to have a
vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions
and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained
that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong
to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España,
which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were
received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which
at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and
Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the
estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of
vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya. [23] In this
place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from
that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows,
another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very
fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant
and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the
religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took
as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason
and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to
many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to
go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life,
since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly
resented their coming, and complained and uttered frightful howlings
through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the
missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself
in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them
in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they
reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not
endure the sight of "those barbarians with white teeth." He called
the religious "barbarians," because of their little knowledge of
the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth
because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth
black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a
child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were
baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and
never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath
with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman
would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under
the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great
anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after,
the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child
to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever,
thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it
grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been
discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to
that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little
daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming
that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the church that,
though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by
her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick
to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who
happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other
striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl
was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism,
but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father
Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him
look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he
had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste
the joys of eternal salvation.
To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church
and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people
from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,
[24] the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some
from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to
one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run
away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus
bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.
At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria,
one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia. He did not enter upon
the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or
youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though
he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that
he was no longer needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for
the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and
was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles,
in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially
when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España,
find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of
religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio
was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin,
and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies,
following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts
and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in
his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of
novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious
life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and
became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia,
there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been
described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where
he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following
provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to
preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests
need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care
of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all
this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in
that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which
is distant from the city five or more days' journey. He collected
his tribute from the natives, and desired to give them a minister,
as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing
to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio
to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to
see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in
His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it
was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and,
besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire
of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he
overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest,
in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached
the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe,
that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they
gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was
more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out
some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said:
"If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now
be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him." To build the church
in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a
noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which
were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it
as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This
he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had
killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father
of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was
not able to appear before the religious; how much less, then, to kill
them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians
was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered
and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not
inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the
house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might
not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried
the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the
church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He
it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not
trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of
a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went
there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray
Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that
which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in
these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived,
and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor,
and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by
the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the
Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San
Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was
going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as
there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions,
where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among
his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the
ministry that within six months he was attacked by a mortal disease,
which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he
had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator,
to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted
to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in
the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who
followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his
life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.