The establishment of two churches in Nueva Segovia
In the month of August, 1607, at the octave of the Assumption of
our Lady, a church was erected in the village of Nalfotan, the chief
village among those which are called the villages of Malagueg [i.e.,
Malaúeg] in Nueva Segovia. This church had the name and was under the
patronage of St. Raymond. The Indians of these villages were and are
courageous and warlike. Hence before the coming of the faith they
were constantly at war among themselves and with their neighbors,
being men of fierce mind and lofty courage, and highly prizing their
valor, strength and spirit, an inheritance left to them by their
ancestors. Thus they and their neighbors of Gatarang and Talapa, with
whom they were very closely related, gave the Spaniards a great deal
of trouble, and were feared and still are feared by the other Indians
of that large province. In the village called Nalfotan the chief and
lord at this time was a young man named Pagulayan, to whom our Lord,
in addition to high rank, great wealth, and courage, had given a quiet
and peaceful disposition. He was a friend of peace and of the public
weal--[seeking not only] his own advantage, but that of his people,
and striving to secure what he recognized as good; and in him ran side
by side the love of peace, and military spirit and courage--in which he
was distinguished and eminent, and for which he was therefore feared by
his enemies. God our Lord, so far as we can judge, had predestinated
him for Himself; and this he showed by the great affection with which
he listened to matters dealing with the service of God, even when he
was a heathen and was living among barbarians, idolaters and demons,
such as were all his vassals. When he heard that the Ytabes Indians,
his neighbors, had religious of St. Dominic who taught them a sure and
certain road to salvation, and to the gaining of perpetual happiness
for the soul in heaven by serving God in peace and quietude, he strove
with all his heart to enjoy so great a good. He discussed the matter
with his Indians, and with their approval went down many times to the
city of the Spaniards to carry out his religious purpose, endeavoring
to have the father provincial, Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, give him
a religious for his village. The provincial would have rejoiced to
give him one; but those whom he had were so busy, and he had already
withdrawn so many in response to such requests, that he was unable
to satisfy this good desire, except with the hope that a missionary
would be provided there as soon as the religious had come whom he was
expecting from España. The good Pagulayan, although he was somewhat
consoled, did not cease to complain, with feeling, that he had been
unable to bring to his village the good which he desired for it. As he
was unable to obtain a religious, he took with him a Christian child
from among those who were being taught the Christian doctrine in the
church, that the boy might instruct him until a father should come who
could complete and perfect his teaching. Nay, more: he and his people,
having confidence in the promise which had been given them, erected
a church in their village that they might influence the religious
[to go there], and have that stronger reason for supplying a minister
to them rather than to other villages which had no church. All this
greatly affected the religious; and finally, in August of this year
[1607], father Fray Pedro de Sancto Thomas [51] went there and found
the church already built, and the whole village--men, women, and
children--gathered on purpose to receive him, as they did with great
joy and the exhibition of much content. This caused like content in the
soul of father Fray Pedro, who giving many thanks to the Lord, whose
work this was, firmly resolved to labor with all his strength in this
vineyard which seemed to bear fruit before it was cultivated. Father
Fray Pedro was very well suited to begin a conversion like this;
for he was so simple and affable that the most remote barbarians,
if they talked with him, were compelled to love him. He was of a very
gentle nature, and extremely open-hearted, being entirely free from
any duplicity or deceit, and acting in all things with the bowels of
charity. This is the greatest snare to catch love which may be set
for men. Hence they received him as if he came from heaven, and at
the beginning they listened to him and obeyed him with great zeal. The
devil at these things suffered from rage and the worst pains of hell,
as he saw himself losing, all at once, villages which had been his for
so many ages. Hence by the means of a sorceress, a priestess of his,
named Caquenga, he began to disturb the Indians, to whom this wicked
woman said such things that many determined to follow the rites of
their ancestors and not to receive the teaching of the divine law. So
devilish was this cursed anitera that she kept stirring up some of them
against the religious, while at the same time with those who wished
to keep him she pretended to be on their side; thus she deceived
them all, especially those who were influenced by their zeal for
ancient superstitions. Hence they themselves killed their fowls and
the swine which they had bred, tore down their houses, and cut down
their palm-groves, in which their principal wealth consisted; and,
crying out, "Liberty!" they fled to the mountains. Here they joined
those who had hitherto been their enemies, that they might be more
in number and might bring a greater multitude of weapons against a
solitary friar who went unarmed, and whom they had invited to their
village with such urgency, and received with such joy; and against
whom they had no complaint except simply that he preached to them
the law of God and the gospel of peace, at their own invitation, and
that a most earnest invitation. Pagulayan, with some of his vassals,
was constantly at the side of Fray Pedro--who, being secure in his
own conscience, was not intimidated, but strove to bring back those
who had revolted. Seeking for means of speaking to them, he determined
to send an Indian who should arrange in his behalf for a conference;
and who should promise the chief of the revolted ones, whose name was
Furaganan, that the Spaniards who were ¡n the city of Nueva Segovia
would not punish him for what he had done. That the Indian might feel
safe and might believe him, he gave the man a relic of St. Thomas to
carry; for among them there was no one who knew how to read or write,
because they had no letters of their own, so that he was unable to
give him a letter, or any other token better known as coming from
the father. This, however, sufficed to cause Furaganan to listen to
the messenger without ill-treating him; and he agreed to meet the
religious at a certain place and on an appointed day. As a token of
fidelity and peace, Furaganan sent his bararao--a dagger with which
they stab close at hand, and can easily cut off a head--that it might
be put in the hands of the religious. They met on the assigned day;
and the Indian, annoyed with Caquenga, who had caused the disturbance
among them, immediately joined the party of the religious against whom
she had caused them to rebel. Furaganan asked them to give him this
Indian anitera as a slave, alleging that she had been a slave of his
mother, and that in this way and no other could quiet be restored,
because he could not suffer that this intriguing slave-woman should,
merely through her crafty acts, be more esteemed by the Spaniards
than were the chiefs. She was, he said, full of duplicity, having
remained with Pagulayan that she might be able to say afterward to
the Spaniards that she was not at fault for the uprising--although,
in point of fact, she had been the cause of it. Fray Pedro promised
to look after this business with great diligence, and to do what
should be best. The Indian departed, apparently in peace; but the
others did not continue in that frame of mind. At midnight, while
the religious was reciting the matins, on the first Sunday of Advent,
and when he had come to the first response, the insurgents set fire
to the church, thus alarming those who had remained in the village,
and causing them to take flight. Pagulayan came to father Fray Pedro,
and, acting as his guide, put him on a safe road, carrying him at
times on his shoulders across creeks and rivers on the road which they
followed. At dawn they halted in a thicket, whence the father went
to a little village farther down, because the place where they were
was not safe. Here Pagulayan carried the robes from the sacristy,
and father Fray Pedro put them as well as he could into a chest,
being obliged to leave out a canvas of our Lady, which on account of
its size the chest would not hold. Leaving it there, he went on to
the village of Pia, where there was a religious with many Christians,
and where the people were peaceful. The insurgents went straight down
to the village where the chest and the picture were; and, opening the
chest, they took out the ornaments, the chalice, and all the rest,
and profaned everything. They cut the ornaments of the mass into
pieces, to make head-cloths and ribbons. They tore the leaves out of
the missal, and drank out of the chalice, like a godless race governed
by the devil. Taking the image painted on the canvas, they set it up
as a target for their lances. One of them blasphemously said: "This,
the fathers tell us, is the mother of God; if this were truth, our
lances would draw blood, and since she sheds none, it is all trickery
and deceit." The savage said this when he was throwing his lance at
the image, and his audacity did not remain without its punishment, for
he was soon after condemned to the galleys; and here, in addition to
the ordinary hardships suffered in them, he was maltreated by all the
other galley slaves when they learned that his crime had been committed
against our Lady. They struck him, buffeted him, kicked him, and abused
him with words as an enemy of the Virgin; and in this state he died,
passing from the wretched life of the galleys to eternal death in hell.
In this same year the Indians of Zimbuey, in the level part of La
Yrraya in the same province, rose and murdered their encomendero
Luis Henriquez, angered because he had treated them during the
previous year with more rigor than was proper. There was no religious
here. The Indians, in fear of like severity during the present year,
had mutinied against the encomendero and thrust him through with a
lance. Out of his shin-bones they made steps to go up to the house
of their chief--a piece of savagery such as might be expected from
enraged Indians. Information of these two risings was sent to the
governor of Manila, who sent out the sargento-mayor Christobal de
Azcueta with a sufficient number of soldiers. He ascertained the
facts in both cases and brought out the truth clearly--namely,
that the excesses of the dead encomendero had caused the Indians
of his encomienda at Zimbuey to rise, and that the intrigues of
Caquenga had roused the Indians of Malagueg. The latter, conscious
of their fault, came to the city of Nueva Segovia to beg that the
religious might return to them; and father Fray Pedro de Sancto
Thomas returned with them. He had greater confidence in the many
hopes which he had, for many of them, that they would be good and
faithful Christians, than resentment for the wrongs which he had
received from others. All this disturbance came to an end, and he
built convents and churches and baptized many. In course of time all
those people were baptized. Pagulayan was named Luis, and one of his
sisters was named Luysa Balinan. They were always very brotherly and
sisterly in all things, especially in following virtue. They remained
very firm in the faith, and have aided much to bring their Indians
to embrace it. They lived according to the teachings of the faith,
giving a noble example in this respect, and obviously surpassing all
those of their land in everything that has to do with virtue and the
service of God. They were, during all their lives, the support of the
mission, the comfort of the religious, and generous honorers of their
church--upon the adornment of which they spent freely in proportion to
their means, giving silver lamps and other very rich ornaments for the
service and beautifying of the church. Nor did they forget the poor,
not only of their own village, but of the others, who very often come
to this one to find food, since this is generally the village where
food is most abundant. Don Luis Pagulayan died while young, in the
year 1620. His death was much regretted and deplored, as it still is
both by the religious and by his Indians, and much more by his sister,
Doña Luysa Balinan. She is yet living, and perseveres in holy customs
and in laudable acts of all the virtues; for she wears hair shirts
underneath her dress as a married chieftainess, is constantly in the
church, and is very frequent in her confessions and communions. She
is very careful that not only those of her household (who are many)
but all of the village--which is one of the largest in the province
of Nueva Segovia--should carefully observe the law of God and hear and
learn the Catholic doctrine. This she herself ordinarily teaches, and
teaches well, for she has had much practice in this office, so that
she greatly aids the ministers. A few years ago, there was in this
province a great famine; and Doña Luisa having very fertile land,
from which she might have made a great profit, preferred to offer
it to Christ through His poor. Hence she spent it all upon them,
directing all the poor to come every day to her for their food, as
was done. In any tumult or disturbance that may arise, she is one
from whom the religious learn with perfect certainty the truth of
what has happened; and by her assistance (for she is very prudent)
the remedy is obtained. The Lord watches over her and prospers her
in all things--not only spiritual, in which she surpasses, but also
temporal, for she is one of the richest persons that there are in this
province. When some superstitious performances were carried on here
by some of the chiefs, she immediately informed the religious. When
he asked her if she dared to declare the matter before the guilty
persons, that in this way the evil might be demonstrated and cured,
she replied that she would venture, even though they should give her
poison; for they were unable to avenge themselves in any other way,
and she had reason to expect them to do this. Such is the spirit
and courage with which she serves the Lord and strives for the good
of her fellow-men; and so little does she esteem life when there is
an opportunity for her to venture it for such a noble end. In the
year 1626, the names of those entered in the records of baptism in
this church of Nalfotan were counted. The total was found to be four
thousand six hundred and seventy, in addition to those baptized in
sickness, who were many; and all this rich harvest was reaped in a
village which eighteen years ago was composed wholly of heathen.
At the end of this year, 1607, another church was built in December,
on Innocents' day, in a village of the same province named Yguig,
two days' journey up the river from the city of the Spaniards. The
encomendero had collected his tribute from these Indians with great
care; but he had given no attention to providing them with Christian
instruction, as God and the king commanded him. The Lord, who overlooks
many other grievous sins, was unwilling to let this pass without
chastisement; but the punishment which He gave the encomendero was
that of a kind father, and was inflicted outside of his clothes--that
is to say, it fell only upon his wealth, which, when it is guiltily
acquired, shall not profit. This encomendero lost all; and when these
misfortunes came upon him, one after the other, he perceived that they
did not come by chance, and saw what it was with which the Lord might
be angry. This was his supporting idolatry and the service of the devil
in this village, by his mere failure to provide Christian instruction
in it, as was his duty. He repented of what he had hitherto done,
and vowed to provide in this village the teaching of the true God,
and a religious to preach and teach it. In this year he asked for the
religious from the father provincial, Fray Miguel de San Jacintho,
and one was given him. Since there was a discussion as to what patron
this new church should be given, many slips with the names of saints
upon them were placed in a vessel. Three times the name of Sanctiago,
patron of the Españas, came out; and hence the church was given this
name, which has been retained in this village of Yguig. This has been
done in spite of the fact that, on account of great inundations and
floods of the river, it has been necessary to build the church on
four separate sites--the first three having been overflowed, although
it did not appear possible that the river should reach land situated
so high. This river, however, is very large; and its floods are so
extreme that they overflowed these eminences, until the church was
finally placed where it now is, which is upon a very high hill. Here it
enjoys without disturbance the fresh breezes, and is safe against any
flood. Among all these changes and difficulties, this tribe would have
been scattered and their village destroyed, if the religious had not
sustained them with alms and charities. They received much assistance
from the Indian chiefs, in particular from one who far surpassed the
others in Christian zeal and in fidelity to God, the church, and the
Spaniards. The Lord has wrought him great and apparent benefits for
this. One was as follows. He went for many days under a temptation
of the devil to kill another Indian chief, who had wrought him a
great wrong; and could not rest by day or by night for thinking how
he might obtain satisfaction against the guilty man. Now he thought
of these plans, now of those, and was in such disquiet that he could
not conceal the matter. The religious came to a knowledge of this,
called him aside, and rebuked him earnestly, for his guilt and the
great sin which he was designing, which was entirely contrary to the
laws which should govern a Christian, such as he was, who is bound
to love his enemies. It was even contrary to the principles of his
rank and his chieftainship for him to desire to commit a murder. Don
Ambrosio Luppo (as this Indian was named) responded, weeping freely:
"Would to God, father, that you might see my heart, in order that you
might understand well how much I suffer from the deed of this man,
and might also see plainly how great an impression your teachings have
made upon me. If I had not looked to God for some way of following
your teachings, would this man have had his head on his shoulders
so long? But I pardoned him because God pardoned me; and from that
time I have been calm, and more devout than before." He received
another benefit. He and his wife much desired to have children, but,
though they had lived for many years together, they had now passed
their youth, and had no children. They communicated their desire to
the father, and he advised them what they ought to do, saying: "When
good Spaniards feel these desires, they offer particular devotion to
the mother of God and to other great saints"--naming some who are of
most signal assistance in such cases--"and they go to the churches
and offer prayers before their images, that they may intercede with
God who can do all things. In this way they many times attain what
they desire." "All this will we do very willingly," answered husband
and wife; "but what shall we say in our prayer after we have recited
the Paternoster and the Ave Maria?" The religious taught them what
they ought to say and what prayers they ought to make to our Lady,
briefly indicating to her the desire which they had, and offering
to her service the fruit of the blessing which they might attain by
their prayers. This they did, going with their petition to the Lady
of the Rosary which was in their church. A year later they had a son,
to whom the religious, in memory of that which had been agreed upon,
gave the name of Juan de Sancta Maria. The parents recognized him as
a gift from our Lady. Afterward this same Lady, by means of this same
religious, restored the child to complete health in an instant, when it
was almost at the point of death. This she did for the comfort of the
parents, for it seemed as if they would follow it out of sorrow. On
many other occasions she has come to their help; and the Lord has
rewarded them with a generous hand for the faith and the good services
which, since they became Christians, they have done and are doing.