The province takes charge of the missions of the Chinese, and the
results which follow
Although the zeal for the good of souls with which the religious
came to these regions was universal in its scope, and included all
those races who were ignorant of their God and served the devil, they
were always most especially influenced by everything that concerned
the conversion of the great kingdom of China. This is incomparably
greater in population and higher in the character of its people,
who have greater intelligence and more civilization. It is therefore
the greater grief to see them so blind in what most concerns them,
and so devoted to their blindness that of nothing do they take
such heed as to close the doors of their souls against the light;
for they believe that there is no truth of which they are ignorant,
and no race that is further advanced than they. Perhaps this pride
and presumption is the cause why the Lord has left them so long in
their errors, a suitable punishment for those who, puffed up by the
benefits of nature, despise those of grace--imitating in this the
Father of Pride, who in this way lost all his good and made himself
incapable of regaining it. But since this race, being men, are capable
of recognizing their error, there is always hope that by the aid of
the Lord they will bethink themselves. The desire of converting them
was the greatest and most important motive that the founders of this
province had for coming to it; and when they arrived they set about
with all their hearts learning the language, without being too much
afraid of it. Up to that time, though many had desired to learn it,
no one had yet been able to conquer its great difficulty; thus it
had been impossible to minister to the Chinese or to teach them in
their own language. The Lord favored the friars' designs, seeing
that, although these designs were in so uncommon a matter, they did
not spring from presumption but from fervent wishes for the good of
those souls, and from perfect confidence that, since the Lord required
these people to be baptized, He would provide the language in which
they might be ministered to. It was in this faith, without hesitating
at any labor, that on the first Epiphany, which was in 1588, father
Fray Miguel de Venavides was able to baptize solemnly three Chinese,
though he had already baptized many others who asked for baptism at
the point of death. This was within six months of the time when the
religious set foot on this land. The bishop was greatly delighted,
because he had greatly desired and striven for this end, without being
able to attain it before, and now saw his desires accomplished. Still,
he did not even then assign to them the ministry to the Chinese
without having first invited to undertake it each one of the three
religious orders that were in the country when our order came; and
without having received the response from all of them that they were
unable to supply religious to learn that language, and to minister to
this race in it. He then, with all this justification, gave to them
the said ministry, and granted them a license to build a new church
for those who were already Christians, or who should later become
such. They received the same license from the governor, Sanctiago de
Vera; and in fulfilment of this mandate they took possession of this
ministry, and built a new church near the village of Tondo, in another
new village called Baybay. The church was dedicated to our Lady of the
Purification, and there were assigned to it the excellent colleagues
Fray Miguel de Venavides and Fray Juan Cobo, who struggled manfully
with the new language, and conquered its difficulties marvelously,
although these were so great. They preached and taught in it, not
only in the church to the Christians, but also to the rest of them,
the heathen, in their Parian--as a large town is called, formed
by those who come every year from China to this city of Manila on
business. They were greatly pleased and delighted by the marvelous
conversion of some Chinese. These conversions were effected not only
in the case of those who came with frequency and devotion to hear
the sermons and addresses made for this purpose, but even in one case
when a man merely heard them repeated by others. The convert spoken
of lived in the Parian, where all were heathen; and he understood
nothing of what they had heard but that there were religious who
taught the law of God in the Chinese language. This man lay sick,
and was seized with a great desire to speak with these fathers,
wishing to accept the law that they preached. The religious went to
see him; and, when he came in, the sick man exhibited such fervent
desire to become a Christian that the religious in wonder asked him
the reason. [He replied that he had seen in a vision a most beautiful
lady, who had told him that he must become a Christian in order to see
the glory of heaven. When the father questioned him, he already showed
considerable knowledge of the mysteries of the faith. He was baptized
immediately, and died soon after. A number of similar cases followed,
some Chinese being converted by happy visions, some by dreadful ones.]
Soon after the building of the church already mentioned in the
village of Baybay, the religious thought they ought to go nearer the
principal town of the Chinese, called the Parian, where there are
ordinarily from eight to ten thousand Chinese, and often more than
fifteen thousand. Accordingly, half-way between this large town and
the city of Manila they built a tiny hut of nipa, which here fills the
place taken by straw in Castilla; and from this they went, by day or
by night, to take advantage of the opportunities offered for preaching
to those who were in good health, and teaching and baptizing those who
were sick. Many of the sick were in the greatest poverty, and lacked
the necessaries of life; for the Chinese in Manila show each other
very little charity, being heathens, and, like all the rest of their
nation, extremely avaricious--a quality not very consistent with caring
for the sick poor. Thus the religious were obliged to show compassion
upon the sick, and to put the poorest ones in their little hut and in
their own beds, for they had no others; and, because they could not
get bed-clothing, the cloaks of the poor friars served as blankets
for the sick. The friars reckoned it a profitable exchange, a most
profitable exchange, to give their cloaks of serge or sackcloth for
that of charity, which affords a much better and much more honorable
covering. Chinese and Spaniards both greatly admired this deed, the
more so when they saw religious of such endowments as fathers Fray
Miguel de Venavides and Fray Juan Cobo not only putting these poor
heathen and strangers in their own beds and cloaks, but serving them
in all the low and humble offices required for the sick, applying
themselves to all things in their own proper persons--washing their
feet and bathing them and caring for them, although their maladies
were very disgusting, as they usually are with this race. Thus these
people began to feel a very great affection not only for these fathers,
but for all of their habit, seeing in them so rare and disinterested
a virtue. The food for the sick was taken from that sent to the
fathers from the convent of Manila, for in this little hut there was
nothing to eat, and no kitchen in which to prepare it. The result was
that they had all the more for the poor, for those who lived in the
convent of Manila were unwilling to lose the merit of so good a work,
and therefore gave up a good part of what they had to eat and sent
it to the poor. Since these poor were at first few in number, it was
possible to serve them carefully; and when their numbers afterward
increased, there likewise increased the piety of many Spaniards and
Chinese Christians, who aided with alms to enlarge the lodgings, to
buy food and medicines, and to get the other things needed by the sick,
so that there was never any lack of these, and it was never necessary
to send away anyone that came. On the contrary, the religious went out
and looked for people, and at times forced them to come and receive the
good that they did to them. Some heathen wished to give contributions
to this good work done for their people; but the fathers at that time
thought it well not to accept these offers, so that they might make
it still more clear that they were giving their services purely for
charity. The governor of Manila saw the good results attained by the
hospital, and the great need in which it was; and in the name of his
Majesty he made it a present of a hundred blankets from the country
known as Ylocos, which are large and are made of cotton cloth. These
were for the sick to be covered with, and this gift was a very useful
one. This was a work which the Lord would not fail to aid, as He has
so many times commended to us compassionate treatment of the poor;
and as the religious in this case attended to all the needs, spiritual
and temporal, of those whom they had in their care. Hence the number
of the poor whom they cared for was constantly multiplied, as were
the alms which gave the fathers the ability to care for them. Very
soon the religious who accepted no income or possessions for their
own, and who gave all their attention to seeking for these for the
poor--had the courage to build a regular hospital of stone. In fact
they drew the foundations around the little hut of nipa that they
had between the Parian and the city of Manila, and built a large room
accommodating twenty beds. But the inhabitants would not permit them
to complete it, for they thought that it would be an injury to the
city to have a stone building so near, as, in case of an earthquake
(such as happened some years afterward), it might do damage. On this
account the friars crossed to the other side of the river which washes
the walls of the city, and built a temporary building entirely of wood,
but large, with a capacity for eighty beds, which were ordinarily
occupied. At the present time it is built with pillars of stone,
and accommodates more than one hundred and fifty beds in three large
wards. There are many who die in the hospital, and practically all
are baptized when they are at the point of death; so there are very
few who die in their unbelief, for they are influenced by the great
charity with which they are cared for there. They receive all that
they require, and even all the food allowed by the physician. Thus
their wills are made gentle, and there is fixed in them that pious
affection needed by the faith, so that they will make no perverse
resistance. Since great care is taken to teach them the Catholic
truths, they understand these very well; for they have good minds;
and they not only embrace them with great willingness when they are
at the point of death and have lost their other purposes and desires,
which previously kept them from being baptized, but usually when
they leave the hospital, cured of their infirmities, they also leave
their errors. Then, after they have been well educated in the faith,
they are made Christians. Thus on both accounts this hospital is one
of the most illustrious in the world; for if others are illustrious on
account of their splendid buildings, their great incomes, the excellent
diet they provide, and the neatness with which the sick are cared for,
this one, though it has of all these things even more than enough,
exceeds all the rest in the fact that practically all those who enter
it are heathen, and practically all are baptized. Since this occurs
at the point of death, they generally pass from the bed to heaven
without being obliged to pass through purgatory--the proper effect of
baptism being that it not only pardons all faults, but releases from
all penalties. When this hospital was moved from a situation close
to Manila, as has been said, to the place which it now occupies, it
was named for St. Peter the martyr--whom the religious took as their
patron, inasmuch as he was so in matters of faith, for the propagation
of which everything carried on in that hospital was and is done. Hence
some of them desired to have the first name retained in the newly-built
hospital, while others had other ideas. Finally they settled the
matter by lot, begging the Lord to give this spiritual patronage to
that saint to whom He should please to assign it. For this they put
in many lots, among the rest that of the archangel St. Gabriel, which
was the first to come out. Some were not satisfied, and for a second
time the names of the saints were gathered and whirled round; when one
was drawn out for the second time it was the same St. Gabriel. Then,
when they tried drawing lots again, as they had done twice before,
for a third time the same saint came out, and all were persuaded
that the Lord was pleased to have the patronage belong to this holy
archangel. So the hospital was named for St. Gabriel and became his
house, so that he might arrange with God for the spiritual healing of
those who were cared for there--since to him, as one so zealous for
salvation, the same Lord had made him His ambassador to the Virgin,
to confer with her on the means necessary to the universal salvation
of the world. As the hospital increased in size, the number of those
cared for likewise increased, its reputation spread, and it was a
continual preacher of the truth of our holy faith. For the superior
intelligence of the Chinese forced them to the conviction that the
virtue of these religious was real, because without any worldly motives
they took care with such devotion of the sick of another nation,
another faith, and another law, without being under any obligation to
them and without expecting from them any pay or reward. If they were
truly virtuous, their law must be good; and they would not be able to
attempt to deceive the Chinese in a matter of so much importance as
their salvation. Accordingly they listened with profit and many were
converted, believing that one who lives a good life would tell the
truth in his preaching. Not only those who were converted, but all
the rest, made these matters the subject of familiar conversation;
then, when they went back to their own country, they told about them
to those who were there; and by this hospital the order was made famous
in China. To this end it was a great assistance that when the sick man
first came in, and his sickness gave an opportunity for it, they did
not immediately discuss spiritual matters with him, until by experience
he saw the truth of what the religious ordinarily said to him, and had
learned with what solicitude and care they attended to his health and
his diet. Upon this good foundation, and the confidence which they had
created among them by such works, they built up, little by little,
the preaching of the faith, and the consistency of its mysteries,
confuting the errors of his infidelity. Now when all this rests upon
a basis of so much beneficence which is not his due, but which he
has received out of kindness alone, he is very willing to accept it;
and he earnestly begs for baptism, receiving that sacrament with
great joy. Sometimes, when some with great obstinacy have resisted
the light, the Lord has amazed their ears, and has forced them to be
eager for baptism, as happened to one who had a severe disease of the
head. He was very perverse, and one day--the day of St. Nicholas the
bishop--when he had been asleep for some time and had not spoken,
he aroused a little, calling upon them to baptize him, because he
wished to become a Christian. When the religious wondered at this,
as did all the rest who had seen him a short time before in so contrary
a mood, they asked him the reason for the change. He answered that he
had seen a venerable old man, whom he described as the saint to whom
that day is sacred is represented; the vision had commanded him to be
baptized. In another case, one of two sick men was baptized; and the
other saw a vision of that man rescued from demons as a result of the
baptism. In still another case two impenitent sick persons refused
to be baptized. One of them died, and the other saw him in a vision
tortured by frightful demons, and prayed to be baptized.] The result
is, that few who enter the hospital are not baptized, while all tell
of the good done in it for the people of their nation. Years ago, a
Chinese heathen came from his own country, and the first thing that
he did when he reached this country was to ask for this hospital,
of which he had heard so much good in his own land. When they showed
it to him, he went straight to it, and told the fathers that in China
he had heard how the fathers in this hospital cared for and fed those
who were not their kinsmen or their acquaintances; and that the glory
of so noble a thing and so pious a work had caused him to come to keep
them company and aid them. The religious received him lovingly, and,
finding that he had unusual intelligence, they taught him not only
what was required for baptism, which he received, but enough for him
to teach those of his own nation all they required for baptism. This
he did marvelously, and greatly diminished the labor which fell on
the religious. He was named Bartholome Tamban; and he lived with the
religious many years, being as one of them in prayer, discipline,
and their other penances. He frequented often, and with much purity,
the holy sacraments of penance and the eucharist. When he had served
in the hospital for eighteen years, he married; and he lived a very
exemplary life in the state of marriage, heard mass every day with
great devotion, and, after coming to the first mass did not leave
the church until he had heard all that was said, in the church at
his village of Minondoc. In the year 1612 he died, leaving behind him
the name not only of a good Christian, but of a very devoted servant
of God. The hospital was afterward built with large stone pillars,
but, as the number of the sick constantly increased, and as there
was not room enough for them in that house, they erected another
building, very large and handsome, which was finished in 1625; and
both are still used. Since at some times they cannot accommodate the
sick because of their number, another one is now being built, still
larger and finer. The Lord always supplies it with great abundance,
as a house that continually furnishes Him people for heaven--those
who, if they had died out of the hospital, would necessarily have
died in their unbelief, and would have gone to people hell.
As a result of the continued preaching to the Chinese, the number
of them converted and baptized increased from year to year. Since
after this they were not permitted to return to their own country,
they married and settled down in this one, so that the population of
Christians in Baybay belonging to this nation was greatly increased. It
accordingly became necessary to buy another large site, in order to
extend this village--which, though it is immediately contiguous to the
other, has a separate name, and is somewhat divided from it by a river
which passes between them. This village is called Minondoc. This site
was bought to be given to the new Christians, as in fact it was given,
by Don Luis Perez das Marinas, [45] knight of the Habit of Alcantara,
and former governor of these islands, a man of superior virtue, who
lived in this same village among the Chinese, setting them an admirable
example as a man who had the name and did the works of sainthood. In
this location of Minondoc it was necessary to build another church,
much larger than the one they had at Baybay (which was very small,
and did not accommodate all the congregation). From time to time it
has been increased in size and is now a most beautiful church, very
capacious, very well lighted, very pleasant, very strong, and very
attractive. It is built wholly of stone, being thirty-eight brazas in
length, and more than eight in width, and eight and one-half high. It
has fifty large windows, which add much to its beauty. Its size is
now so great that it is the largest church in the village; and since
it will not accommodate all the congregation at one time, they go
to it twice on every Sunday and feast-day. Sermons are delivered at
each of the masses, in two languages--one in Chinese, and the other
in the language of the natives of this country, for the wives of
the Chinamen and other Indians who live in this town. There are then
four sermons delivered every Sunday, two in Chinese, and two in the
language of these Indians; although, that they may not be too heavy
a burden, each address lasts not more than half an hour. The Chinese
have always given this church of theirs the name of St. Gabriel, after
that of their hospital, in admiration of the miracle of his lot having
been drawn out three times in succession as patron of the hospital,
as has been said. They desire not to fail to deserve the favor of
this most holy archangel, whom the Lord has given them with His own
hand as their especial advocate; and they therefore celebrate in his
honor every year very joyful and devout feasts. Throughout the year
the divine offices are performed in this church with great solemnity
and grandeur, many of these Chinese affording their assistance, with
very large contributions toward everything necessary for the adornment
of the church and the divine services. There have been in this town
many Chinese of very exemplary lives. Juan de Vera was not only a
very devout man, and one much given to prayer, but a man who caused
all those of his household to be the same. He always heard mass, and
was very regular in his attendance at church. He adorned the church
most handsomely with hangings and paintings, because he understood
this art. He also, thinking only of the great results to be attained
by means of holy and devout books, gave himself to the great labor
necessary to establish printing in this country, where there was
no journeyman who could show him the way, or give him an account of
the manner of printing in Europe, which is very different from the
manner of printing followed in his country of China. The Lord aided
his pious intention, and he himself gave to this undertaking not only
continued and excessive labor, but all the forces of his mind, which
were great. In spite of the difficulties, he attained that which he
desired, and was the first printer in these islands; [46] and this not
from avarice--for he gained much more in his business as a merchant,
and readily gave up his profit--but merely to do this service to the
Lord and this good to the souls of the natives. For they could not
profit by holy books printed in other countries, because of their
ignorance of the foreign language; nor could they have books in their
own language, because there was no printing in this country, no one who
made a business of it, and not even anyone who understood it. Hence
this labor was very meritorious before the Lord and of great profit
to these peoples. As a reward the Lord gave him a most happy death,
with such joy and devotion that he began to sing praises to the Lord
in a very loud voice--at one time in his Chinese language, at another
in that of the Indians, at another in Spanish; for he knew them all
well. There were about his bed many religious, who loved him much
for his devoutness. One of them said, in a low voice, to him who was
next to him, "It seems that the severity of his disease has affected
his mind;" and as if this had been said aloud the sick man heard it,
and answered, "Has he not lost his reason, fathers, who on any such
occasion as this should think it well to do anything but what I am
doing--sing praises to the Lord and give Him many thanks for having
made me a Christian?" He longed for a thousand languages that he might
praise Him in all; and in this devotion and fervor of spirit he died,
leaving the religious not only greatly comforted but very envious of
such a death. Juan de Vera had a brother somewhat younger than he;
and when Juan saw that he was about to die he called him and said
to him: "Brother, there is one thing which I wish to ask you to do
for me, that I may die in comfort; and that is, that you will carry
on this business of printing, so that the great service done by it
to God may not come to an end. I know well that you are certain in
this way to lose much gain; but it is of much greater importance to
you to obtain a spiritual profit by printing devout books for the
Indians. You may well afford to lose this temporal gain in return for
that eternal one." The brother promised, and much more than fulfilled
his word; for, greatly influenced by the aforesaid holy death, the
brother greatly improved his own manner of life, and began a career
of especial devotion, which lasted until his death. He was made
steward of our Lady, and served her with great diligence. From his
own fortune he provided many rich adornments, giving to the church
a large cross and silver candlesticks for the procession, besides a
silver lamp for the most holy sacrament. He also contributed largely
to the building of the church. He gave all these things to our Lady,
in return for what he gained in his business; and he agreed with
this Lady to give her a certain portion of his profits, obliging
himself to this with a special vow. In return for this devotion,
his merits and his gains increased, and he felt himself daily more
and more under obligation; and he more and more devoutly fulfilled
his office, in which he died, leaving behind him a very good name,
as such a life deserved. A still greater advance in spirituality was
made by Antonio Lopez, a Chinese of superior ability and judgment,
very devout and charitable, and a liberal benefactor of his church. To
the building of the church he gave many thousand pesos in life, and
after his death left a perpetual endowment of considerable amount
for its ornaments, repairs, and other needs. Because of his probity,
rectitude, and disinterestedness--a rare virtue among the Chinese,
who are naturally avaricious, and one which is never found by itself,
but is always accompanied by all the rest in a high degree, since
it is the most difficult for them--because of these good qualities,
he was frequently obliged to hold the office of governor of his
people. This gave them great delight, because they knew he was just and
pious. Though this office is usually sought for, and even ordinarily
bought for many thousand pesos, he did not desire it, even free of
cost; and it was necessary to force it upon him. When finally he
accepted it, being unable to resist longer, he desired to avoid all
temptations to avarice; and therefore, from the very beginning, he
made an offering to the church of all the profits obtained from the
office. He left for himself only the labor, so that good-will to the
party affected by his decisions might not make him swerve a single
point from justice. When he died he left a will very Christian and
very prudent, providing for many masses immediately and a perpetual
chaplaincy, bestowing much alms, giving three slaves to his church,
and doing many other things worthy of his Christian spirit and his
advanced intelligence. There have been in this town many other persons
of very great virtue, particularly women. A reference to their devotion
at this point will cause a similar spirit in the readers; but, being a
matter not directly connected with this history, we are obliged to omit
it, that we may pass on to matters more germane to our subject. It
will be sufficient to refer to one special case which happened to
one woman, a Japanese by nation, married to a Chinaman. [Poor in
the things of this world, they were rich in those of heaven. Each
of them had the characteristics opposite to those of their race;
she was without the duplicity and choleric spirit of the Japanese,
and he was destitute of the avarice and loquacity of the Chinese. She
in particular amazed and humiliated her confessor. Her virtue was
such that she was rewarded by a vision of our Lady, who comforted
her with the promise that her confessor, father Fray Thomas Mayor,
[47] who had expected to return to his native province of Aragon,
would not leave his post in the islands.]