Fray Francisco de Villalva of the Order of Preachers, and
procurator-general (in virtue of powers which he presents) of the
province of Santo Rosario, which the said order has in the Filipinas
Islands, declares: That, as is well known, the religious of his
order in the said islands have converted to the Catholic faith,
and now have in their charge, the provinces of Cagayan, Pangasinan,
Mandayas, part of Tagalos, Zambales, and the island of Babuyanes--in
which territory there is diversity of languages, and a great number
of convents provided with ministers for the instruction of the Indian
natives; from this labor always has been and still is gathered the
spiritual harvest which is well known. Moreover, those fathers have
made extensive conquests in various parts of those kingdoms, founding
many churches--as they actually are maintaining public worship at
this very time in the vast empire of Great China. There they are
suffering immense hardships and persecutions, shedding their blood in
the violent acts committed by tyranny, in order to plant there the
Christian faith and religion; for this cause, and in its defense,
seventy-eight religious have given their lives as martyrs in that
province, leaving the church made illustrious by this triumph. And
besides this, they have in the city of Manila their principal convent,
which continually maintains the practices of hearing confessions,
preaching, and giving consolation in the sicknesses and trials of the
citizens, with great comfort to all. They have also the college of
Santo Tomas, in which are taught grammar, the arts, and scholastic
and moral theology, to the benefit of all that community and the
entire archipelago. They support students holding fellowships, usually
twenty-four to thirty, without receiving any stipend: and have thus
sent out, as they are still doing, graduates of much learning, for
the dignities and curacies of those islands. They have also another
college, that of San Juan de Letran, with more than a hundred orphan
boys, the sons of poor soldiers who have died in the service of your
Majesty--giving them all that is necessary for their support, and
instructing them in reading, writing, religious conduct, and virtue;
while those boys who are not inclined to study are aided in obtaining
positions as soldiers, artillerists, mariners, and in other occupations
in which they are employed to the service of your Majesty. Another
enterprise is also at the expense and charge of the said religious
order and province--the Parian, which is the silk-market of the
Chinese; it is close to the walls of Manila, and from five to six
thousand Chinamen usually reside in it. For the Christians preaching in
their own language is furnished every feast-day in their own church,
and there is continual preaching to the heathen through the streets;
with this labor they have made a great many conversions, and gained an
enormous number of souls. For this same nation those fathers maintain
a hospital, in which, with the good example of those religious, and
their instruction and continual assistance in the sicknesses of the
Chinese, they have gained so great a harvest that from its foundation
(which was in the former year of 1588) to the present year of 1677,
[29] seldom has a patient died without receiving the water of holy
baptism. This religious order also have at San Juan del Monte a
sanctuary which is the object of devotion of all that colony; and
at the port of Cavite, three leguas distant from Manila--where the
galleons and other vessels of smaller size are built--they have the
convent of San Thelmo, the religious of which assist the soldiers,
mariners, and sailors with their preaching and instruction, so that
all of them may live Christian and orderly lives.
This religious province administers the functions entrusted to
it without any worldly advantage, receiving neither imposts nor
fees for burials, marriages, feast-days, or sermons--its religious
being supported only by the stipend which your Majesty assigns to
the ministers in the mission villages; and from this amount they
spend much and distribute [alms] among the poor and needy Indians of
their districts. Nor is there in any convent of the said province any
fixed income; nor has the province ever accepted deposits or valuable
articles, or permitted its individual religious to keep these things
in their cells, or anything except a breviary and the holy Bible,
for the preaching of the holy gospel. Their clothing is of coarse,
rough frieze without, and their inner garments of what your Majesty
(whom may God guard) grants them as alms. All this is evident by the
publicity of the facts, and by official information which on various
occasions has been sent to the glorious Catholic sovereigns, your
Majesty's predecessors, and to their royal and supreme Council of
the Indias by the governor and royal Audiencia of the islands, and
the cabildos, ecclesiastical and secular, of the said city of Manila.
In consideration of these things, and of the fact that so numerous
Christian communities are persevering in the Catholic faith, and that
these are spreading with the new conversions, his Majesty who is now
in glory, moved by the fervent zeal which he always had for the good of
souls, continued to send to the said islands religious of the Order of
St. Dominic, in order that by their apostolic lives and doctrine they
might teach and preach the holy gospel. And finally, in the past year
of 1668 her Highness the queen-regent, the mother of your Majesty,
was pleased to grant permission that some of those religious should
go thither at the cost of the royal treasury; in accordance with this
thirty-three religious went to those islands, thirty priests and three
lay brethren. [30] But, although that permission and the number of
missionaries were enough for one shipment, they do not suffice for the
succor of so many souls as that province has in its charge, and for
the new conversions which continually present themselves. Moreover,
with the long voyage, the unaccustomed climates, the continual toil,
and the austerity which is observed by this province--which follows the
primitive rule of its order--the number of its members must necessarily
diminish. This has actually been the case, since from the time when
permission was given for the last shipload of religious, which was
nine years ago, a greater number have died than those who went to the
islands in that band, as was evident from the last reports which the
said province sent [to Espana], and which the petitioner will exhibit,
if necessary. And today, counting in the sick, crippled, and old men,
there are not ninety priests in the said province; and even though
there were many more, since more are actually necessary it is highly
expedient that other and fresh religious should go thither, that they
may be rendering themselves capable in the languages and ministries,
so that ready and intelligent laborers may never be lacking for the
instruction and teaching of the natives, and for the new conversions,
which our sovereigns the Catholic kings of Espana have so earnestly
striven to maintain and increase, sending religious every four or six
years, and sometimes every two years; without the ministries being
less than they are now, nor do fewer die now than then.
In order to provide those who should go, and to find the number for
whom your Majesty shall be pleased to grant permission, to obtain
information about them, to examine into their virtue and learning,
and to secure a judicious choice, the petitioner needs about a year,
in which time he can go personally to the convents of the three
provinces of Espana; for the importance of so delicate a matter will
not permit that it be entrusted to letters alone. Accordingly, he
should have at least the time until St. John's day next, or when the
first fleet shall be equipped; otherwise he cannot sail from Espana
and make a voyage to Filipinas with religious. To reach those islands,
two years are usually required, and at the very least more than one
year; and by that time eleven or twelve years will have passed since
the last permission [of that sort]. In that protracted course of time,
there must necessarily have occurred many deaths among the laborers
who work in that vineyard--of whose labor and conversion of souls
God has made watch-towers for our sovereigns the Catholic kings of
Espana, and for their royal and supreme Council of the Indias, upon
whom is laid this heavy weight of obligation--in fulfilling which they
have always made every exertion, giving permissions, orders, means,
and aid to the ministers who have gone thither to cultivate that field.
Therefore the said province, and the said Fray Francisco de Villalva
in its name, have recourse to the kindness and fervent zeal of your
Majesty, with which you have always striven for the preservation and
propagation of the Catholic faith; and prostrate at your royal feet
he entreats that your Majesty will be pleased to take pity on so many
souls and the conversions for which the religious of St. Dominic
are caring and in which they are laboring in the said Filipinas
Islands. They ask that you will grant to the said province forty
religious, [31] and a suitable number of lay brethren; and to the
petitioner permission to conduct them thither in his company, and the
necessary supplies for him and them, so that on the first opportunity
when there is a fleet they may embark for their voyage. In this, God
our Lord will regard himself as well served; and that poor and remote
province will be anew constrained, in return for this favor and grace,
to continue its prayers and sacrifices for the life and health of
your Majesty, and for the welfare and increase of your entire monarchy.