The venerable father Fray Miguel de Venavides, one of the first
founders of this province and archbishop of Manila.
Among the great kindnesses and benefits which our province, and indeed
all these islands, have received from the Lord, one of the greatest
was His having given them father Fray Miguel de Venavides as one of
the first who came to establish this province of the Holy Rosary,
and as second archbishop of this city. At a time when its inhabitants
suffered great tribulations, and found themselves suddenly besieged by
a number of enemies much larger than their own--enemies from within
their houses and their homes--they found in him a true father for
their consolation, and a prelate acceptable to God, who could placate
His ire by interceding for his people. He was born in Carrion de Los
Condes, of noble parents, well known in that region because of their
descent and their virtue. When he was not more than fifteen years old
he assumed the habit of this religious order, and learned by experience
how true is the saying of the Holy Spirit that it is well for a man to
carry the easy yoke of the service of God from his youth. He received
the habit and professed in the distinguished convent of San Pablo at
Valladolid. He immediately began to display the subtilty of his mind,
which was very great; at the very beginning of his studies he seemed
like an eagle soaring above his fellow-pupils, distinguishing himself
by special marks or acuteness, so that most of the students and the
learned were astonished. He was, accordingly, soon made a member of the
college of San Gregorio in that city, a crucible in which is refined
the metal of the finest intellects which the order has in the provinces
of España and Andalucia. Here he had as master him who of right was
the master of the theology of España--the most learned father Fray
Domingo Bañez. The two were so completely suited to each other in
virtue and ability that father Fray Miguel could not fail to be the
beloved disciple of such a master. So much did the great teacher love
him that, when he saw him advance so far in both virtue and ability,
he was accustomed to say Hic est discipulus ille [i.e., "This is that
disciple"], giving him by antonomasia the name of his disciple, out of
the many, whom he regarded with so great praise. He taught the arts in
his convent, and theology in many houses of the province; and finally
returned to be lecturer in theology in his convent of San Pablo. It
was while he was engaged in this duty and exercise that he was taken
captive by the voice of father Fray Juan Chrisostomo, who was seeking
for religious for the foundation of the province of the Holy Rosary
in the Philippinas. The province was to be founded for the conversion
of the many heathen who were in those islands, and for the purpose of
entering upon the preaching of the gospel in the most populous kingdom
of China, if the Lord should open the door to it, as well as in that
of Japon and the other kingdoms neighboring to the said islands. Being
seized by a fervent desire and a holy zeal for the redemption of the
souls of the many heathen in these islands, he gave up his position
as lecturer, and the honors and degrees which were waiting for him;
and esteeming it a higher task to labor for Christ and for his fellow
men he made up his mind to go with those who were preparing for this
holy journey. The Lord thus ordained because of the serious problems
which were to be met, in which his character, ability, knowledge,
and talents would be very necessary to overcome the many obstacles
which confronted this holy foundation as soon as its founders reached
Nueva España, and also in the royal court and in the Roman court;
for in all these places there were many impediments. Against all
of them father Fray Miguel was the defender of truth; and by his
speeches and writings he came off always victor. Afterward, when
the difficulty which was met with in Mexico was overcome, he came,
with the rest of the fathers who founded the province, to the city
of Manila on the day of the apostle St. James; and on the day of our
father St. Dominic, which came immediately afterward, he presided in
the great church over some theological discussions. This he did to the
admiration of his listeners, who were not accustomed to have anything
so remarkable in these regions. The good bishop of these islands, Don
Fray Domingo de Salacar, was bathed with tears of joy when he heard,
to the great refreshing of his spirit, such superior preachers of the
gospel in his bishopric--men who were not only fit to be teachers
of these heathen races, but to teach others who might be the same,
and this more excellently than he had ever expected to see in those
regions. Among the many various heathen nations who come to this
country that which excels in intelligence, civilization, and courtesy
is that of the Chinese; and, much as they excel in these qualities,
they likewise excel in their multitude and number. For there are very
many who come every year to attend to their large and rich business,
and to serve the city in all the trades which can be expected in the
best regulated of cities; for they learn everything with the greatest
ability, and succeed in everything that they undertake.
Some of the Chinese, though very few, were Christians; and it was
believed that many would be converted if there were someone to preach
in their language. But this is so difficult that, although many
desirous to undertake that conversion had endeavored to learn it, no
one as yet had succeeded; and thus no religious order had taken up this
ministry, being afraid of the difficulty of the language. When father
Fray Miguel arrived, he instantly undertook this enterprise--for the
Lord had created him for great things; and this ministry was given to
our order, the bishop asking each and everyone of the religious orders
who were there before to undertake it, and not one of them accepting it
because of the reason given. Father Fray Miguel immediately began with
all his energy to study this language, and succeeded with it. What
is more, he learned many of the letters of it, which are much more
difficult. Father Fray Juan Cobo joining him immediately, they began
to teach the Chinese, amazing those people that anyone should have
been able to succeed with their language and to preach to them in
it. Much greater was their amazement, however, at the extraordinary
virtue and charity which they beheld in these two religious. They did
not content themselves with the labor of teaching them--which was
not small, for soon many were converted and began to be baptized;
but they proposed to build a hospital where the sick poor could be
cared for. The number of these was great, because their sufferings
were great in this foreign land, where they were neglected by all,
and suffered the extremity of need, which is sickness and death. The
fathers began their hospitals; and, poor religious as they were,
they had no better house than that which they were able to make,
almost without money, out of beams and old planks--the habits and
cloaks of the religious often serving as beds, because they had no
other bedclothes. The religious sometimes brought in the sick whom
they found lying on the streets, without power to move themselves
and with no one to pity them. In this way the fame of the virtue
of father Fray Miguel and his companions was very widely spread,
and there were many of the Chinese heathen who were converted and
baptized. The fragrance of this great charity spread so far that it
reached Great China and proclaimed in trumpet tones what was done
for their sick in the Philippinas. There was one man who came from
China to look upon so rare a thing as caring for the sick--poor, and
cast out by their own nation and kinsmen; but admitted, sought for,
and cared for by persons who were not known to them, and who were not
only of another nation, but of a different law and faith, and who
labored without any expectation of temporal profit, but merely for
the salvation of souls. Hence the Lord was favorable to them, and
this work was constantly growing better in all things. It is today
one of the most glorious things in Christendom, not because of its
income and its building (though in these respects it is very good),
but because of the many who at the hour of death are baptized in it
with many indications of going hence to glory, as being newly cleansed
of their faults and their sins by baptism.
The rich harvest which was reaped in the conversion of these Chinese,
as well by preaching to those in health as by the care and instruction
of the sick, was so sweet to father Fray Miguel that it caused in
him glowing desires to go to Great China. It seemed to him, and with
reason, that there, without abandoning their own country and the
company of their fathers, sons, wives, and kinsmen, which here are
great impediments to their conversion, the Christians converted would
be many more, and far better ones. Hence he was always making plans to
go to that great realm, where the devil is so strongly fortified that
he does not even permit the entrance of those who might, by preaching
the gospel, cast him from the throne which he unjustly holds among
that people. He was finally successful in making his entry into that
kingdom, and went there with father Fray Juan de Castro, who was
the first provincial of this province. They suffered the hardships
which have been described in chapter twenty-six, together with the
marvelous miracles which the divine pity wrought in their favor for
the preachers of the gospel. When they returned to Manila from China,
where they had suffered so much, the orders of their superior directed
them to undertake another longer and more painful voyage, which was
to España. They were to accompany and assist the bishop, Don Fray
Domingo de Salaçar, who was going to discuss very important business
with his Majesty; and were also to endeavor to bring back religious
from España, to aid in the great labor which rested upon the religious
of this province in the conversion of the heathen of these lands,
He did not take for this journey money or anything else, or even more
clothes than those which he wore, so that he did not have a change of
clothes in the whole voyage, which lasts for six months. A ship is so
much an enemy to cleanliness that, when he reached Mexico, his habit
was in such a condition that the father prior of the convent in that
city was obliged to give him clothes wholly out of charity. During
the voyage he fell into the sea and was miraculously brought back to
the ship by the Lord at the prayer of the good bishop--who afflicted
by the accident, prayed the Lord briefly but devotedly for the remedy
of it; and he gained what he desired, for the Lord is very quick to
listen to the prayers of His servants. The time between the end of
this voyage and that which follows afterward over the Mar del Norte
[i.e., Atlantic Ocean] was spent by father Fray Miguel in the convent
which offered him hospitality, but without the dispensations which
the reception of hospitality usually brings with it. He was the
first in the choir and the refectory, and in all the other labor
of the convent. In particular he helped in the infirmary, in caring
for the sick and serving them, whenever he had an opportunity. This
was a charge which he took upon himself when, at the coming of the
first founders to the Philippinas, they were guests in this same
convent. As at that time he had done well in this service, daily
exercising many acts of humility and charity, virtues which are
supremely pleasing to God, he would not cease this same conduct on
this second occasion; on the contrary, as one that had grown in virtue,
he did it better than before. What he did here for the sick religious
was not a heavy task [for him], for he had become accustomed to do
much more in his hospital at Manila for the Chinese heathen, who are
by nature filthy and disgusting. Father Fray Miguel reached España,
and was present before the royal Council of the Indias, endeavoring
to obtain religious for this province as its procurator-general. One
of the counselors, incorrectly informed by persons who resented the
sermons of our religious, said: "If the matter were in my hands,
the Dominican religious would not be in the Philippinas." The rest
desired him to restrain himself, and he went on with what he had to
say. Father Fray Miguel answered, showing his cloak, which was very
old and patched and full of holes: "So far as concerns ourselves,
we have no need to go to the Indias; what we endeavor to do by going
there, this cloak tells well enough." So well did the cloak of rough,
mended serge speak that all were highly edified, and he who had offered
opposition was abashed and corrected. In the convent of San Estevan
he gave to be washed his inner tunic, which served him in place of a
shirt. This was of serge so rough and hard that one of the religious
of the convent of novices, who put it on over his habit, was unable to
bend any more than if it was a bell; and they all gathered around to
look at it as if it were a bell that was sounded. That which began
as jest and ridicule so powerfully supplied the place of father
Fray Miguel in winning religious, that many determined to go to the
province where the religious treated themselves so rigorously and
observed such poverty.
Father Fray Miguel found an evil doctrine spread abroad in the
court, which a member of a religious order [45] had taken pains
to introduce. He had come from the Philippinas with documentary
authorizations from the bishop and the two cabildos [i.e.,
ecclesiastical and civil], before the province of the Holy Rosary
was established there, and before there were any Dominican friars
in the islands. After having carried on some negotiations at Roma he
had returned to the court, and endeavored to bring it about that the
preaching of the holy gospel in heathen countries should be begun by
soldiers, who by force of weapons and musketry should make the country
quiet and subject the Indians, in order that the preachers might do
their office immediately without resistance. This doctrine is very
well suited to human prudence but is contrary to divine Providence,
to that which the Lord has ordained in His gospel, and even to the
very nature of the faith, which demands a pious affection in those who
hear it. This is not to be acquired as the result of the violences,
murders, and conquests wrought by soldiers. On the contrary, as
far as in them lies, they make the faith to be hated and abhorred;
and hence the Lord commanded that the preachers should be as sheep
among wolves, conquering them with patience and humility, which are
the proper arms to overcome hearts. Hence not only the apostles,
but all the other apostolic preachers who had followed them, have by
these means converted all the nations of the earth. This father saw
all this very well; but it seemed to him, as indeed he said, that
these were old-fashioned arguments and that the world was now very
much changed; and that no conversion of importance could or would be
made unless soldiers went before to bring into subjection those who
were to listen to the gospel, before the preachers preached it. He
painted out this monster with such fair colors of rhetoric and with
arguments so well suited to our weakness, our little spirit, and our
less readiness to suffer for Christ and His gospel, that these lords
of the Council were firmly established in this his doctrine--a new
doctrine, as its author himself affirmed, and, as such, contrary to
the gospel and to the works of the saints who acted in conformity
therewith. To overcome this error, much was done by the bishop of
the Philippinas and by father Fray Miguel. The latter, being younger,
was able to exert himself more; and being so great a theologian and
so subtile of mind, he was able to adduce such superior arguments,
and so clearly to reveal the poison which was hidden in the arguments
of this religious, that the king our lord and his Council were firmly
persuaded of the truth. They came to regard it as a great inconsistency
to say that our Lord Jesus Christ had acted with so short a view as
a legislator that, when He made a law which was to last to the end of
the world, He had announced a method which was to be followed only at
the beginning by the preachers of it who were present before Him, and
not under the same conditions by those who should follow after--just
as if His providence were unable to apprehend that which was distant
and future. It will further be seen, if we consider it well, that
the gospel received much more opposition at the beginning than it
does at the present time; and if it was not necessary at that time
to subject kingdoms by war, in order to preach the gospel to them,
much less will it be so now. Hence grave scandal would arise in the
church if, when the Lord commands that gentle sheep shall be the ones
to introduce His gospel, the introduction of it should be entrusted
now to bloodthirsty wolves. Afterward, by the activity and diligence of
father Fray Miguel these black clouds which promised thunderstorms of
arquebuses and soldiery were dissipated; and there were left for the
promulgation of the gospel the gentle clouds of the preachers, which
with the soft rain of teaching, example, and patience have carried the
gospel to the most savage and hardened heathen. On this occasion father
Fray Miguel displayed such force, and such were his arguments, that the
Catholic king directed a most important council to be held, at which
were present the president of Castilla, the father-confessors of the
princes, the auditors of the Audiencia, the lords of the Indias, and
many distinguished theologians. In this conference it was determined
that there should be soldiers in the Spanish towns for the defense of
the country, but that these soldiers should not go as escorts to the
preachers, and that they should not go in advance of them subjugating
or killing Indians; for this would be changing into a gospel of
war that gospel which Christ our Lord delivered to us--a gospel of
peace, love, and grace. So great was the reputation for learning
and sanctity which father Fray Miguel gained in these matters that,
in the arduous and difficult undertakings which afterward came up,
his Majesty directed that he should be consulted and his judgment
should be followed, as that of a learned man despising all things
which were not of God, and zealous for the good of souls. There was
issued at this time a brief of his Holiness to the effect that the
bishops of the Indias should have authority to make visitations to
the religious who ministered to the Indians, in all matters connected
with this ministry, as if they were parish priests. Father Fray Miguel,
understanding the bad results which would follow such a plan, presented
a very learned memorial, signed by all the procurators of the Indias,
to the prince-cardinal Alberto, who gave audience and decided causes
for his Majesty. Nothing more was necessary to cause the brief to be
recalled, and not to be put into execution. Father Fray Miguel was
directed to give the Council of the Indias his advice with regard to
the repartimientos of Indians for mines, estates, and the like. He
gave it, and it was so sound that they esteemed it highly, the more
on account of the character of him who offered it. Hence, when the
time came to appoint bishops for these islands he was appointed
the first bishop of Nueva Segovia, although such an idea had never
crossed his mind, and it was necessary to force him to accept the
bishopric. The Council even went so far as to ask him to indicate to
them those who seemed to him suitable for the other bishoprics; and
those whom he thus indicated were appointed. He sent out religious
to the province three times. The first company he sent with father
Fray Alonso Delgado, the second with father Fray Pedro Ledesma, and
the third, whom he accompanied himself, went under the direction
of father Fray Francisco de Morales as vicar, who was afterwards
the first minister of our religions order in Japon, and a holy
martyr. That he might better prepare the religious for the journey,
he went twice from Madrid to Sevilla when he was already a bishop
traveling on foot with his staff and his hat like a poor friar; so
the people who came to find him and did not know him asked him if he
had seen the bishop of Nueva Segovia. He, to avoid vanity, answered
them that the bishop was on his way to Sevilla, concealing the fact
that it was himself. For the advantage of the inhabitants of Manila,
he brought it about that commerce with Nueva España was opened to
them and that the money which came from their trading was sent back
to Manila up to the amount of five hundred thousand pesos in money
or silver bullion. Up to that time, they had license only to receive
the principal back again; while the profits were retained in Mexico,
or were brought back without a license, at great expense. For the
Indians he obtained, by a memorial which he offered, that the natural
dominion and chieftaincy which they had over their villages should
be left to them, with all their lands, mountains and rivers, and the
other rights which they had from of old; since the fact that they had
become subjects of his Majesty ought not to cause them to lose the
natural right which they had inherited from their ancestors. Further,
since the conquest of these Philipinas Islands had not been carried
out conformably to the holy instructions which the conquerors carried
with them, and which they were bound to observe, but had been carried
out in exactly the opposite manner and with the most serious acts
of injustice, he gave information with regard to these things to
his Majesty and to his royal Council of the Indias. It was decreed
that the consent and voluntary obedience and allegiance of all the
Indians should be asked for anew. The new bishop, Don Fray Miguel,
very earnestly undertook to attempt to carry this decree to execution,
and accordingly it was made. When the bishop was desirous of embarking,
there were so many rumors of enemies, and the damage inflicted at Cadiz
was so great, that it was impossible to have any fleet that year; and
there was no other vessel for him to travel in except a small patache
with a single deck. The cabin in the poop which he occupied was so
low that it could not be entered exception on one's knees, while for
the twenty religious whom he was taking there was no accommodation
at all. He tried, by putting up an awning, to protect them from the
sun and the water; but the only one on the ship was full of patches,
and very small. The Lord made matters better for them by causing
the voyage which they were obliged to take to be very calm, for the
patache was not built to encounter storms. It did not rain more than
twice, so that they were at least able to lie on the deck at night,
though by day they were compelled to suffer the heat of the sun,
which was extreme and very oppressive in their little patache. For
this the religious gave thanks to the Lord; but the bishop was so
accustomed to hardships that this fair weather grieved him; and he
said that the Lord had forgotten them because He did not send them
hardships, which are the best things which in this life He gives to His
friends. "For my sins," he said, "the Lord deprives us of hardships,
and of the merit which they bring with them when they are borne with
patience for the love of the Lord who sent them. Not so did we sail
on our first journey when so devoted servants of God were going;
but we traveled in great and continual afflictions--tempests, fire,
and fears of enemies. That we should now lack all this, and travel
with such fair weather when we are not such as they, is not for our
good. In me is the fault; it is well that I should feel it and weep
over it." When he went ashore, he traveled on foot all the way to
Mexico, and from there to the port of Acapulco, a distance of more
than a hundred and fifty leguas. Thus he afforded the example of a
poor religious, even when his state as a bishop would have excused
him from such poverty and hardship. However, he did not seek for
excuses, but for opportunities for poverty and religious devotion,
though at the expense of so great an exertion, and in his advanced
age. He reached Manila at a time when there happened to be a procession
from our convent to the cathedral, because of an occasional need. He
disembarked there, at a gate which was near our convent on the shore,
and the procession began by receiving him. This caused much joy, on
account of the high esteem and regard in which he was held by both
religious and laymen. He accompanied the procession to the cathedral,
and when the time came he went into the pulpit, taking the sermon
from him to whom it had been committed. He preached most eloquently;
and, though he came down bathed in perspiration, he did not change
the heavy tunic of sackcloth which he wore. On the contrary, he went
direct to the sacristy and robed himself to say mass, though he said
it very slowly, and with so much feeling that it was a great effort
for him. These were acts, and this was an entry, which promised an
extremely good bishop and superior. The promise was not falsified, but
fell short of the truth, so much did he surpass it. He went straight
to his poor bishopric to care for his flock. In the principal part
of his diocese, the province of Nueva Segovia, they were nearly all
heathen. There were only about two hundred baptized adults, those who
were not so being innumerable; for it was only a very short time since
our religious had begun to preach the gospel to them. When the new
bishop was once among his sheep, he began to watch over their welfare,
and to defend them from the alcaldes-mayor and the encomenderos, who
abused them like wolves. The bishop's conduct forced him to hear rough
words and violent insults from those who had fattened themselves with
the blood of the Indians. They feared lest they should grow lean if the
shepherd, coming out to the defense of the flock, were to force them
to be satisfied with moderate returns, without flaying the sheep. The
bishop was not intimidated, and did not desist from this just and due
defense; nor did he cease to strive for the good of his Indians against
the outrages which he beheld. On the contrary, he strove to give his
remonstrances their due effect and if he was unable to succeed there
in securing the rights of the Indians, he was accustomed to write to
the governor and the Audiencia, without taking his hand from the work
until he had brought it to the perfection which he desired. Though he
aided the Indians, he did not neglect the Spaniards, who lived in the
principal towns of his bishopric less edifying and exemplary lives than
those whose Christianity is ancient ought to lead in towns of the newly
converted. They are under obligation to be shining lights, to give
light to those who are either blind because of their heathen belief,
or who know little of God because they have been newly baptized. He
stirred them up to live as they ought, and aided them in their
necessities like a loving father; if he could not make them such as
he wished, he improved them as much as possible. At the death of the
archbishop of Manila, he was obliged to go to that city, and saw in
it so many things contrary to the divine Majesty and to the human one
that he found himself under the necessity of writing to his Majesty
a letter very full of feeling, which begins: "I have twice visited
this city of Manila since I came to these islands as bishop. The
first time was last year, ninety-nine, because I received reliable
information that the governor and the auditors were in such bitter
opposition that there was fear of a serious rupture. Now, learning
that there was no archbishop in the city, it seemed desirable" (and
was so without doubt) "that I should be present and prepared for any
contingency." He gives an account of what had happened, and says: "I am
obliged to speak as my position and the condition of affairs require,
very clearly, without caring who may be affected by my words; for God,
your Majesty, and the common weal are of more importance than any
smaller things." The truth of what he stated, and the clearness with
which he spoke, are plain in the rest of the letter, which to avoid
prolixity is not inserted here. He strove to settle the state of the
church in these islands; and when he saw some bad customs introduced
without any foundation, and contrary to reason and theology, he was
greatly grieved. What he was not himself able to remedy, he wrote
of to the supreme pontiff. Since the competency of the bishop was
so well known in España, he was appointed archbishop as soon as the
vacancy was known, although he had no procurator there; for, being a
poor and peaceful bishop, he did not expect to carry on any suits,
and hence did not care for a procurator or agent at court. Since
his poverty was known, his Majesty caused the bulls to be drawn, and
directed the royal officials of Manila to collect from the bishop the
expense of drawing them when it should be convenient for him to pay
it. The bishop hesitated long, and asked the advice of many, before he
accepted this promotion, having seen and experienced the difficulties,
the opposition, and the dissensions which accompanied this dignity,
at such a distance from the eyes of his Majesty and of the supreme
pontiff, to whom in difficult cases (of which there were many) he
might have had recourse. Yet finally, since all thought that it was
desirable for him to accept the office, he was compelled to take it
for the public good, although he saw that for his private advantage
it would be very injurious. Becoming an archbishop did not change that
poor and humble manner of living which he had followed as bishop and as
religious. He continued to wear the same habit of serge and tunics of
wool. His food was always fish, unless he had a guest, which happened
seldom; or unless he was afflicted by some infirmity. Whenever he
had a journey to take on land--for traveling in these islands is
usually carried on by water--he was accustomed to go on foot; and,
that he might travel with more abstraction from the world, he used
to walk uttering prayers. He sent the others forward in hammocks
or on horseback and he followed after alone, commending to the Lord
himself and the undertakings in which he was engaged, in order that
they might turn out more satisfactorily. If, when he was indisposed,
he was forced by pleadings to go into a hammock--something which is
much used in this country, and which is carried by Indians--he used
to get out again as soon as he left the town, and sometimes earlier,
if he heard any of the carriers groan; for this groan so penetrated
his soul that it was not possible for him to travel any farther in
this manner. His bed was the same which he had when a poor friar,
a mat of rushes or palm-branches on a plank. The small income of his
archbishopric he spent in alms; and he used to delight in giving them
with his own hands, kissing the alms with great devotion as if he
were giving them to Christ, who has said that He receives them when
they are given in His name to the poor. That the principal door of his
house might not cause embarrassments to persons who had known better
days and who were under the necessity of asking alms, he had another
door for these persons which was always open, so that they might come
at any time to tell him their troubles, and that he might relieve
them as well as possible. In this way he spent all his income, and
therefore had very little expense or ostentation in his household. He
never had a mule or a chair to go about with, avoiding all this that
he might have means to give to the poor. He was most devoted to the
ministry and instruction of the Indians and the Chinese; and, whenever
he had an opportunity for doing so, he used to aid in it with great
pleasure. He envied much those who were occupied in so meritorious an
exercise, as he wrote in the last year of his life to those whom he
had left behind in Nueva Segovia, in a letter which reads as follows:
"To my fathers and brethren, the religious of the Order of St. Dominic
in Nueva Segovia. A poor brother of your Reverences, very weak in
health and very full of troubles and of his own wretchedness, has
written this to your Reverences, his truest brethren, who are walking
about in those places of rest and new fields of the true paradise,
feeding the flocks of the Great Shepherd and rejoicing your souls
with the sports and the gambols which the new-born lambs are making
upon the hill-sides at the dawn of the true sun. May your Reverences
refresh yourselves and feed upon that celestial milk which creates
manna covered with honey upon those mountains. May you rejoice in the
fair season that now is; for I once tasted the same pleasures--though
the fair weather lasted but for a short time for me, because of my
sins and my pride; and now I see myself wretched as no one else is
wretched. Happy the father provincial, who, having seen as from the
parapet of a bull-ring something of the wounds and the bulls here,
has returned so soon to the delights of that region, and is among
his sheep. I refer you to him; let him speak the love which I have
for every one of your Reverences and the esteem which I feel for you
all. Pay me with the money of love and pity. Valete in Domino, viscera
mea, felices valete in aeternum. [46] To all the Indians, a thousand
greetings; and I beg their prayers for this poor soul." His life was
continually burdened with scruples which sometimes are more cruel
enemies than those who are openly declared as such. They were not born
in him from ignorance, but from his great depreciation of himself and
from his looking upon the greatness of God, both of which caused him to
be always timid. This, as he said, was the counterweight with which the
Lord burdened him that he might not be puffed up by the great blessings
which the Lord had granted him. He preached continually, that he might
the better advise and direct his sheep. He grieved for the poor much;
and over sinners he was a Jeremiah, weeping for what they failed to
lament, that he might make them weep. He was deeply versed in sacred
scripture, and with it he filled his writings, and even the ordinary
letters which he wrote. In the opinions which he gave, everything was
founded upon and approved by the divine authority, which was his rule
and his arms, both offensive and defensive. He was accustomed to read
with great care the sacred councils and canons of the church. In them
he found stated with the greatest precision everything of which he had
need for the government of his church, as well as for the satisfactory
decision of the questions with regard to which they asked his opinion,
and of the disputes which arose among learned persons. When there
were different opinions among such persons, he was accustomed to say,
"Veritas liberabit nos [i.e., "the truth shall make us free"], and
this will make clear to us that for which we seek; let us follow
it and strive for it." This confidence was always justified; for on
many occasions when it seemed that the whole world was in a tumult,
and that justice was certain to be clouded over and obscured, he was
then accustomed to say, with the greatest confidence, "The truth shall
make us free," and finally it turned out so. Because of the love which
he had for truth, he could not endure to hear new opinions; and if
they were opposed to the doctrine of the ancient saints, he attacked
them like a lion set on fire, though he was in all other things as
gentle as a lamb. For the same cause, he was most devoted to the
teaching of St. Thomas--who, like a mystic bee, made the honeycomb
of his works from the flowers of holy scripture, sacred councils,
sacred canons, and the works of the saints whom the Lord gave to His
church as teachers and guides for its direction. In order that in the
Philippinas so sound and safe a doctrine should be read, he strove
greatly that in the province, although the numbers were so few, there
should always be some one to read St. Thomas. As soon as he entered
upon his archbishopric, he asked for a religious of our order to read
in the cathedral to those who had been ordained; and carefully took
pains to encourage and favor those who went to listen, so that the
rest should imitate them. This desire he retained up to his death;
and hence in his last sickness he gave the little which he had, asking
the order to build a college for this purpose. With this beginning,
which was of the value of a thousand pesos, was established the college
which we now have in Manila under the advocacy of St. Thomas, in order
that from their first letters the students may feel an affection to
this holy doctrine, and may follow him afterward when they are further
advanced. The devotion which Don Fray Miguel felt for our Lady was
so great that in everything which he did or said he commended it
to her, saying an Ave Maria before he began. So scrupulous was he
that he was unable to say the Ave Maria unless he understood all
the circumstances; and even if it occupied a considerable time for
him to repeat it, still, in spite of this, he always said it. One
day the dean of his church, Don Francisco de Arellano--a man whom,
on account of his virtue, the bishop loved and esteemed--asked what
was the beginning of this devotion, and whence it was derived. He
answered that our Lady herself, to whom at first he had said the Ave
Maria, was the beginning, and that she it was who had taught him this
devotion. The dean remained in wonder, and did not dare to ask him
more on this point; nor did the good archbishop ever make any further
declaration. Hence the mode in which this happened was never known; but
the great attention which he gave to it was seen. Whenever there was
anything to be done the Ave Maria always preceded. It was said before
he answered or put a question, or took any medicine, or gave alms,
or did anything else. Thus always all his acts were actually referred
to God our Lord, and to His most holy Mother. This was a custom of the
highest virtue; but when the business was of unusual weight, he was
not contented with an Ave Maria, but recited a rosary. Thus he did in
China, when the judges caused him to write a petition in their presence
in Chinese characters--something which far exceeded his powers, but
not those of the Virgin. Accordingly he wrote a miraculous petition,
to the satisfaction of the judges. They believed that which they saw
to be impossible, as it really was; for though father Fray Miguel knew
some of the commoner Chinese letters, he did not understand those
which were necessary for what was then required of him, since they
were extremely peculiar and were in the judicial style, with which
he was not acquainted. Hence this was doubtless a miraculous event,
worthy of the compassion with which this great Lady comes to the aid of
her afflicted devotees. The sufferings of the archbishop from storms
at sea, as well as from the opposition of clergymen and laymen with
disrespectful words and acts, were very great, but were the cause
of great happiness. As was affirmed by his confessor--a religious
of great virtue, a man who had known him for many years and who was
familiar with the secrets of his soul--when the sufferings were at
their greatest, and in his sorrow and affliction he went to God, our
Lord himself visibly consoled him and gave him strength, not once,
but often. To this was attributed his habit of looking sometimes with
his eyes fixed on heaven, with flames of fire, as it were, shining
upon his face. On such occasions he was heard to utter some words
which, without his striving or having power to say more, he spoke in
affectionate converse with God. This caused great devotion in those
who heard; and as it was so, it is no wonder that he so much desired
other sufferings in addition to the weighty cross of his scruples,
because their absence was much more painful to him than the necessity
of enduring them. Hence he showed much more sadness and melancholy
when he was exposed to no hardships than when they were heaped upon
him; for in the latter case he was sure of the consolation of heaven,
which was lacking when he had no sufferings.
The end of his days finally approached; and as he lay on his bed
it was plain to him that this was his last sickness, and he began
to prepare for this important journey. At his departure he was much
afflicted to leave without a minister the Indians of Marivelez, which
is situated at no great distance from Manila. Since these Indians
were few and by themselves, he had found no one who was willing to
accept the charge of them. Taking advantage of the present occasion,
he sent for father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, who at that time was
provincial of the province, and most energetically begged him to urge
on his religious to give instruction to these poor Indians. When the
provincial promised that he would do all he could for this purpose,
the bishop remained in great content, as if there were nothing now to
cause him sorrow. He divided his poor treasures, sending part of them
immediately to his church, and giving part to our Lady of the Rosary,
and part to the poor. In his illness he did not complain or ask for
anything; and when he was asked if he wished or longed for anything,
he answered, "I desire to be saved." His face was very full of joy,
and the words which he uttered came forth kindled so by the love of
God that they showed plainly what a fire of love was in the breast
where they were forged. He asked them to dress him in his habit;
and on the coming of the festival of the glorious St. Anne in the
year 1605 he asked them to get ready his pontifical robes, as if he
were preparing to go out on that festal day. This was as much as to
say that his departure was at hand. He was surrounded by his friars,
and though they saw him joyful they themselves were very sad to
perceive that they were to be deprived of such a superior and such
a religious. He consoled them with loving words, and, perceiving
that his departure was at hand he called fervently upon his special
patroness, the Virgin, his guardian angel, our father St. Dominic,
and the other saints of his devotion, with whom he spoke as if he were
already with them in heaven. His countenance appeared to be celestial
rather than to belong to earth; and amid loving converse with God,
with His most holy Mother, and with the saints, his soul departed
to his Lord, leaving his body, as many said, fragrant with the odor
of roses. By the voice of all, he was given the palm of a virgin,
as if all had heard him in confession and felt the certainty which
his confessor had and manifested in this respect, although this
declaration was made after that in which the palm had been given to
him as to a virgin. When the fathers of St. Francis came, father Fray
Vicente Valero, who lived and died with the reputation of sainthood,
went up to the dead man, saying, "This body is holy and should
be regarded as such," and kissed the feet. After this all of his
religious did the same thing, and they were followed by the others,
for in this way the Lord honors those who faithfully serve Him. His
interment was performed with all possible solemnity in the cathedral,
on the epistle side near the high altar. The archbishop left behind
him some writings of much erudition, and full of Christian teaching,
which are very helpful to the ministers of the holy gospel.