The coming of some religious, and the second visitation of father
Fray Juan de Castro
As has been seen, the conversions that had been begun proceeded with
great prosperity, affording even at the very beginning marvelous
fruits. The Lord at the very outset favored them, as being matters
peculiarly under His own care, with supernatural marvels--manifest
proofs of the truths preached in them, proofs which the heathen could
not resist; and hence more and more of them embraced the faith and
abandoned their errors with the greatest marks of devotion. This they
did with such rapidity that the few missionaries there were could
not serve so many converts, scattered in so many villages. Therefore
the Lord had compassion upon them, and in the year 1589 sent them
reenforcements of religious, few but excellent. As their superior
came father Fray Juan Chrisostomo, the man who had labored most in
the establishment of this province, and who therefore greatly loved
it. But the Lord had kept him in desire for it, that he might obtain
the greater merit; and therefore in his first year he was not able to
come, having been so infirm and weak that he could not even use his
arms and hands to carry the food to his mouth, and had to depend upon
others. In the second year, although he had not completely recovered,
he set out on the road and almost reached the port, desiring to take
ship; but was unable to do so, for lack of a vessel. These were reasons
enough why a man who had been of old a missionary in Nueva Espana,
who had great command of the language, and who was much beloved by
religious and Indians, as father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was, should
remain among them. Still, this result did not follow in his case,
because of the great desire that he felt to do a greater service
under greater difficulties in this new province, where with the
utmost fervor the missionaries devoted themselves to their labor
for the benefit of souls, drawing them from the darkness of their
unbelief. Therefore in this year he sought for an opportunity and
for some associates, and embarked for this province--although,
on account of his many and severe infirmities and his great age,
and on account of the fact that his life had been spent with great
praise in the ministry to the Mexican Indians, he might justly have
taken his ease in a country where it would have been so natural to
do it as Mexico. He was joined by father Fray Francisco de la Mina,
[48] who had been a missionary in Nueva Espana for forty years,
setting a noble example, and exhibiting the most finished virtue;
by Fray Thomas Castellar, likewise a very devoted religious, who had
been a missionary there and had labored notably in that office and in
other laudable exercises, for which he received great commendation
in that province; and by Fray Alonso Montero, who, though younger,
had likewise been a missionary to those Indians. These two fathers
were sent directly to the province of Pangasinan, where they learned
the language well, and labored much and with notable results. Father
Fray Francisco de la Mina went to the district of Bataan. He was so
old that he could not learn the language of these Indians very well;
but the good example of his life, his great virtue, and his strictness
of life, qualities which were eminent in this gray-haired and venerable
man, were of great profit to the natives, and gave opportunity for
permitting father Fray Juan Garcia to leave this mission and go to that
of Pangasinan. This was the vocation indicated for him by the Lord;
and hence, by His aid, he was most useful in this tribe, and one of
those who labored most and best in it. He was greatly beloved by the
Indians, among whom his memory still remains; and they speak of him
with great affection, which he deserved by his exemplary life and by
the great devotion with which he labored for them, as will be told when
his happy death is related. Father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was occupied
in the conversion of the Chinese, not only because that was what was
most desired by the religious, but also because his many infirmities
would not permit him to go very far from the physician, and there was
none in the other districts. When the father provincial had divided
the new workers, as has been said, he himself would not be idle;
and accordingly he set about a second visitation of his province,
desiring to see that of which reports were sent to him--the favor
shown by the Lord to these new conversions, in softening the hard
hearts of the heathen, and in firmly rooting the faith and virtuous
habits in those already converted. He received consolation enough in
seeing the great things wrought by the Lord in the conversion of the
Chinese--the church and the teaching that they had in Baibai, and
the continual conversions in the Parian, as a result of the sermons
assiduously delivered to them. But what most of all delighted his
spirit was what he saw daily in the hospital of the Chinese, where he
dwelt with great comfort to his soul. It delighted him greatly to hear
these sick persons--who had previously not known to whom to turn in
their troubles, except to their idols and devils, but who now despised
these, and called in their sorrows and wretchedness upon God--invoking
the most comforting name of Jesus and of His most holy mother Mary,
our Lady. To her all these peoples feel such loving devotion that
some of them more quickly remember this our Lady and call upon her
in their necessities than God Himself--in which our Lord delights,
for the honor of His most holy mother. It took from the holy old
man a thousand gray hairs to see the many persons who, recovering
from their sickness, asked for baptism--and much more to see those
who died baptized. He was not displeased but delighted when he heard
them ask for food and dainties, which he provided for them with great
charity and kindness, giving them whatever they asked so long as it
was not dangerous to their health. He regarded his provincialship
as a happy one when he went among those who were serving the sick,
not as their needy neighbors, but as taking the place of Christ,
our good, who regards as a kindness to His own person everything
that is done in His name to those who are so poor. Hence the good
provincial went on, in happiness and devotion, serving the sick as
if he were their nurse; he provided them with good beds, shared with
them his robe, and as well as he could, though he did not know their
language, encouraged them to patience. Lifting his eyes to heaven, he
thanked the Redeemer of the world that He had so changed the hearts
of this race, who in their heathen state seemed to have no heart or
understanding for anything except the gaining of money, in which they
seemed to place all their happiness and all their desires. Afterward,
when he saw some miraculous conversions here, which have already been
partly described, it was a wonderful thing to see the devout superior
breaking out in lively and fervent wishes that he might see similar
mercies of the Lord enjoyed by the great kingdom of China; and that
the doctrine of the Catholic church, carried thither by apostolic men,
might succeed in conquering in that same country those able minds by
the force of its truth, and by the constant aid which truth has always
received from the divine Goodness. He was sure that among the people
of that kingdom, as they are more polite, having a superior political
organization, and are more highly cultivated by learning, the faith
would accomplish very extraordinary results. To this belief he was the
more inclined because it had already wrought so much among those poor
Chinese who came to the Philippinas Islands; for they are ordinarily
of the lower class of their kingdom, and as such come to serve and
labor for foreigners. On this account there followed in his mind a
great desire to send to China religious from the number of those who
understood the language, and even to accompany them, though he could
not see the way to carry out his plan. He could not venture to take
them thither, because of his fear of the great hardships that those
would have to endure who ventured upon this undertaking. So he felt the
desire only, with no further results than to commend it constantly to
the Lord, to whom there is nothing impossible or difficult. He visited
the district of Bataan and found it greatly improved as a result of the
useful spiritual exercise introduced by the fathers. They had set up
crosses at the intersections of the roads, and here the people of the
neighborhood gathered every evening as they came in from their fields,
which they have very near their villages. Here they recited all of the
doctrine [that they had received], in order that they might be more
thoroughly acquainted with it; and from day to day they became more
tractable and devout, as being more fully instructed in the faith. It
was for the father provincial a most delicious morsel to hear them
recite not only all the prayers, but afterward all the questions which
are ordinarily put in regard to the teaching of Christianity--some
asking the questions and others answering them; and even offering
difficulties to each other, about which they asked questions, and to
which many old Christians would not know what to say. What pleased him
more than anything else was the happy beginning of confessions that
had been made. By these confessions, given with clearness and truth,
the missionaries came to the knowledge of the great errors which had
been committed by those who had previously been concerned with this
mission. By this time, as a result of the great amount of teaching
which had been given to this district, the Indians came to bethink
themselves, and gave information to their confessors; and thus many
things which needed remedying were set right, in cases which were of
no less importance than salvation itself. The provincial was with
great reason pleased; for all the faults which are committed, not
only against the commandment of God and of His church, but against
the other sacraments, are corrected and blotted out, if only this
one is properly received, for our Lord has placed reparation for
all of them in this sacrament of penance. But if confession is not
such as it ought to be, there is no remedy; and hence everything is
irredeemably lost. This truth, which holds for the whole church of
God, has greater force among Indians, in whose way the devil strives
to place a thousand difficulties, and fears of this sacrament. Since
they do not know as much or have as much capacity as old Christians,
they are more easily deceived, and it is not so easy to deliver them
from such temptations. Only continual instruction by the ministers
can help them to escape from these snares, as the Christians of this
region escaped. With great clearness and distinctness they stated what
troubled their consciences, and many evils were remedied, to the great
comfort both of the penitents and of their confessors, who gave an
account of this matter to their superior, and he rendered many thanks
to the Lord for it. Continuing his visitation, the provincial went
on to Pangasinan, where he saw and heard even greater things--since,
as the obstinacy of this tribe had been greater, it was proper that God
should work in it greater marvels. These had been such as to overcome
nearly all their perversity, and much has been said with regard to
them already. Much more is omitted; but they all wrought upon these
untamed Indians marvelous effects. Not that they subjected themselves
wholly to the easy yoke of the faith; rather, the Christians there
were very few, but they were very good ones; and all the rest were
almost convinced, by the things which they saw and heard, in favor
of the gospel and its ministers. Even though they did not wholly
accept the missionaries, they were not so much opposed to them
as they had been in the two previous years. They were influenced
by the many evident miracles wrought daily for their benefit and
that of their children--so many indeed that one of the ministers,
in some remarks which he made upon the events which occurred there
in these first years, affirms that during the time that he spent in
this province not one day passed in which the Lord did not work some
miracles or new marvels. Sometimes these took the form of the healing
of incurable diseases--a cure at times so sudden and unexpected that
the Indians could not deny or fail to perceive it. The result was that
more and more asked to be baptized, and received baptism with much
faith and devotion. A good evidence of the truth of their conversion
was the coming of these same new Christians to the fathers, saying:
"You teach us that the vessel which is full of one liquid cannot
contain another if the first is not poured out--so that if a man
persists in pouring another upon that which is within, it will all
go outside and be lost. This is true; we cannot deny this truth,
of which we have daily experience. It follows from this that though
you pour upon us baptism and the good teaching which you give us, it
all comes to nothing so long as we are still full of the appliances
and the vessels with which we offer sacrifices to our idols; because
these things keep in our memory that which we used to do with them,
so that as they are the customs in which we were born and bred, they
do us much harm. Command, fathers, that all shall show where these
things are; take them from the possession of those who have them, so
that with all our hearts we may be Christians." The fathers listened
with great pleasure to the things said--things which had been said so
many ages before by the prophet Samuel, in the spirit of God, to his
own city. But considering that those who kept these objects hidden,
and esteemed them highly, would not display them immediately, even
though they were commanded to do so, they said to these chiefs: "The
example of your leaders is that which overcomes all the difficulties
there may be in the rest of the village. Do you begin, and the common
people will follow you. Even if your example is not sufficient, that
which you do will be a service pleasing to God; and you will render
a benefit to the souls of your neighbors, if you will declare to
us who they are that make use of these things or hide them. If you
do not do this, your zeal and Christian resolution which you have
shown to us will be useless; and the doctrine of the Lord will not
be advanced among your kinsmen, much to your blame." These arguments
had so much weight that these chiefs were immediately the very first
to cause to be brought thither the vessels of quila (this is a wine
which they make of sugar-cane, and when it has aged for some years
it has the color of our amber wine). This they esteem very highly
and keep with great care, using it at their feasts in honor of
their idols. They also brought a great amount of fine earthenware,
which they employ only in their superstitions; with a great heap of
various kinds of apparatus, as it were, consecrated and employed
for their idolatries. After the consecration of these articles,
they were used only by the ministers of their idols, who among them
were old women--as it were, priestesses. All this they poured out,
or broke, by the common consent of the village. This was on Shrove
Tuesday, in Pangasinan. And thus they cast from them the remnants
of their idolatry, to the great confusion of the devils, to whom all
this had been dedicated. This example was followed in other villages,
but not in all; for up to that time they were still almost all not yet
baptized, and, as heathen, they could not bring themselves to give up
their superstitions. It was therefore necessary that father Fray Pedro
de Soto should spend great diligence on such things in the district
of Magaldan, where he was settled; for the people there were more
given to superstition than were those in the rest of the island. He
instructed the persons who enjoyed the greatest influence what zeal
they ought to have for the honor of the Lord; and to move them more,
as they were only taking on for the first time the office of agents of
virtue, he offered payment to anyone who would give him information
with regard to these things, assuring the informers that the matter
would never be revealed by him. As a result of this assurance and of
the payment of the money, and, above all, the Lord lending His aid
to this holy purpose, but few idolatries were concealed. To all those
of which he knew the father strove to bring a healing remedy, without
hesitating before any labor or danger for this end in venturing among
this race which was so barbarous, untamed, and idolatrous, and which
so hated the gospel. In this region there was one Indian chief named
Lomboy. This man had fled from his villages three years, for fear of
the alcalde-mayor, as the officer intended to punish him for having
taken the life of his own sister, whom he had detected in sin, and
for failing to consult his tribesfolk or kinsmen in the matter. This
Lomboy used often to visit the churches and convents of the religious;
and, simulating carelessness, looked on with great curiosity to see
how they lived. He beheld their great innocence, their penitence,
their continual prayer, their frequent scourging; he saw that they
ate but little, labored much, went afoot from one village to another
to give aid to all, without fear of the great heats and the no less
dreadful storms of rain which follow each other in this country,
according to the seasons; above all, he was impressed by the great
uniformity displayed by the life of the fathers in all these holy
exercises. He saw them so poor and so completely without covetousness
that they not only did not strive for temporal gain, but shared freely
the little which they had with the poor. He saw them so patient that
they paid with good works for the bad deeds and the worse words which
the heathen Indian did and said to them. He saw them so chaste that
they did not seem to be made of flesh and blood, and seemed to be
sinless in this respect. When this Indian saw and thought of all
these things he said: "You know me, fathers, and you see that I am
exiled for my sins. I too have noted the manner in which you live in
your convents, and the way in which you treat each other. So good are
your ways in all things that I cannot help seeing that the law which
you preach is a good one; and therefore I have determined to bring my
evil life to an end and to seek for God. Therefore I beg of you the
training that is needed by my faults and my wretched conditions of my
life, and I put my will wholly in yours." The religious encouraged
him to go on as he had begun, taught him, and baptized him; and his
conversion was of great value, since it resulted in the baptism of many
who heard him tell all these things as a witness at first hand from
within the convent, from whom nothing could be concealed if anything
to the contrary had existed. It kept the good provincial from many
gray hairs to hear and see all these things; and he gave thanks to the
Lord for the fortitude and perseverance which His grace had inspired
within him in previous years, when not only the well-affected Spaniards
and the religious of other orders, but even the bishop himself, had
advised him to withdraw the religious from that province, where there
was nothing but immeasurable labor to be done, to the great danger
of their lives, while the Indians gave no hope that they would be
converted. Rather, they strove with all their might to dismiss the
religious from their country, offering a great quantity of gold for
that purpose, so great was their obstinacy and their opposition to
the gospel. To this the good superior had answered: "Then it is these
bad Indians whom I wish my friars to strive to convert." Indeed, he
had even commanded them to persevere in that which they had begun,
urging them on to the labor and the suffering with most efficacious
arguments, full of spirit and truth. Therefore, though this conversion
was a matter of great delight to all, it was so particularly to the
father provincial, for it was he who had had the greatest part in it.