The same subject is continued with testimony taken from regions and
persons at a greater distance
[The greater the virtue, the more widely it spreads its fragrance;
and so it was with the founders of this province. "Father Fray Thomas
de Jesus speaks thus of them in his book Stimulus Missionum, part iv,
chap, vii: 'At this day among the brethren of St. Dominic--who are
making their way throughout the whole world, and especially throughout
the Philippine Islands, to preach the gospel to the heathen--we have
found that in no other place does the observance of the rule of the
order flourish as it does in those islands; for the vesture that they
wear is rougher, their food is more sparing, and their devotion to
prayer is greater, and they voluntarily exercise themselves in all
the practices of a life of greater severity and perfection.' In the
same way speaks of this province the master Fray Domingo Gravina in
the book entitled, Vox Turturis, part ii, chap. xxiii, ad fin., where
he says: 'The province of the Rosary, which includes the Philippine
Islands and the empires of Japan and of the Chinas and other kingdoms,
is most celebrated for its sanctity. So accurately does it observe the
constitutions of the order that the primitive fervor of the order seems
to glow in it, as it did in the days of our father St. Dominic. And
hence it results that not only by their word but by their example,
the people of Pangasinan, Gayan, and other places in the islands of
Luzon have been aroused, and have enlisted under the banner of Christ;
while in the extensive empire of Japan, the kingdoms of Satzuma,
Figen, and Fingo have been, through their preaching and their works,
glorified with the water of holy baptism.' Thus far Gravina." The most
complete and accurate statement of our entire purpose has been made by
the father master Fray Baltasar Nabarrete. He writes to this province
a letter of eulogy and religious congratulation. He rejoices that the
Dominican order, transplanted to a sterile and mountainous country,
begins to bear most glorious fruit of celestial life. He celebrates
the spirit and fervor of the few brethren who undertook this honorable
enterprise at the beginning, and who put in the field an army in
which every soldier was fit to be a captain. He congratulates them
that the heathen Indian should have recognized their divine power;
he bears witness to the impression produced by the letters sent back
home. He praises the frequency of their prayers. He compares their
delight in their spiritual children to that which God may have in
His own son. He glorifies their devotion in going forth to a life
of affliction in distant countries; and declares that their love of
God should shine forth, however efforts might be made to hide it;
and that, in the power of their devotion, they will be able to do all
things. He glorifies the martyrdoms that they have suffered, assuring
them that for every martyr there will be a hundred more. He feels
that dark clouds are arising over the order in Europe; and expresses
the hope that the virtue of the Dominican order shall not leave its
home to go to China and the Philippinas. He prays that they may go on
as they have begun; and that they will offer their petitions to the
Lord that he may have a good departure from this life. The letter is
written from S. Pablo de Valladolid, April 25, 1625.]