The death of father Fray Miguel Ruiz, and the state of affairs in Japon
[On Friday, June 7, 1630, died father Fray Miguel Ruiz, a son of the
royal convent of Sancta Cruz at Segovia, who had come to the province
of the Philippinas toward the end of April in 1602. At the time of his
death he was vicar of San Gabriel at Binondoc. He was several times
vicar of the district of Bataan; he was once vicar-general of the
province, was definitor in many provincial chapters, vicar-provincial,
several times prior of Manila, and provincial of the province,
which office he filled with justice and gentleness. He was a devout
religious, much given to penance, and indefatigable in teaching the
Indians--in whose language, in addition to a book of the Holy Rosary
which was printed, he wrote several tracts, made the abridgment of
the grammar which is still printed, and made a careful vocabulary,
which at the end of his life he was desirous of augmenting. It
was said that he died by poison, given him by a person whom he had
chastised for scandalous living. It is most likely that the pains in
the stomach from which he suffered came from the fogs which are so
common in the Philippinas.
The persecution in Japon had reached such a point that it was
impossible to enter the kingdom. The religious orders did all in their
power to replace the holy martyrs with new laborers. They went to great
expense for this purpose, and many religious died in the effort to make
their way to Japon; but the kingdom remained so closely shut up that
their efforts were without result. Information as to the condition
of affairs there in this year 1630 was received from father Fray
Lucas del Espiritu Sancto. The religious in the empire were even
unable to meet one another, and were hunted from place to place,
exposed to wind and weather. Under these circumstances the peace
between the religious orders was of great utility to the ministers
in Japon. The religious were constantly exposed to being captured,
being obliged to lodge in the houses of renegades and heathen; but
the constancy and devotion of the fathers caused even these men to
respect them. The Japanese were absolutely controlled by the devil
of idolatry. Every false sect was tolerated, Christianity alone was
persecuted. Among the fathers in Japon at this time was a native
Japanese, who had completed his course in arts and theology in the
college of Sancto Thomas at Manila. He profited well by his studies,
and had been given the habit, had professed, and had passed through
all the orders. He had been taken by father Fray Bartholome Martinez,
during his term as provincial, to the island of Hermosa--not to remain,
but to make his way from there to Japan, if possible, by the islands
of the Lequios. He was dressed after the Japanese fashion, with two
swords, and succeeded in making his entry into Japon, from which he
wrote a letter to the provincial, dated January 3, 1630. In this he
says that he reached his country on the eve of St. Martin; but that
he has been unable to get into communication with his superior,
who was at that time father Fray Domingo de Erquicia. He later
writes that it is dangerous to send letters, because of the severe
punishment of those who are caught with letters of the fathers upon
them. If it had not been for the return of this father in this way,
no information would have been received with regard to the fate of
Father Juan de Rueda in the islands of the Lequios.
The third religious at this time in Japon was father Fray Domingo
de Erquicia, who also sent back a letter in this year. He says that
the savage persecution which was designed to root out Christianity
from Japon made many weak, but brought out the bravery of many noble
martyrs. In November, 1629, father Fray Bartholome Gutierrez, of the
Order of St. Augustine, was captured in Arima; and in the same month
there was captured in Nangasaqui a father of the Society of Jesus,
named Antonio. Somewhat later an Augustinian Recollect named Fray
Francisco de Jesus, and afterward his companion, Fray Vicente de
San Antonio, were captured, a mountain having been burnt over in
pursuit of them. Father Fray Domingo de Erquicia writes that a man
recognized him and set out to betray him, but that he was rescued by
the courage of his landlords. In March, 1630, they captured a brother
of the Order of St. Francis; so that there were in that year five
religious imprisoned in Omura, together with forty lay Christians,
besides those in Nangasaqui. In his letter father Fray Domingo
gives a record of the executions of which he knew. The total within
a year and a half is over two hundred. In this year the daire [47]
(who in Japon is like the pope in our Church), on account of various
causes for offense against the emperor, caused his hair to be cut
off, to indicate that he renounced his high office--something that,
it is said, had never been seen in Japan; and thus that realm is now
without a head in spiritual affairs. No Dutch ship came to Japon in
this year, and the Dutch who had come in the two previous years were
all put in prison. The Japanese desire that the Dutch surrender to
them the fort which they have in the island of Hermosa, where some
of them have been sent, while others remain in Japan as hostages.]