The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 31, 1640

Chapter LI

The coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapter

Though the procurator whom this province had in España [i. e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22 This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumor spread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop – who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened – took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of night if they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent – so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.

The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unable to get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These and no others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23 In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complained and uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the church that, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.

To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24 the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.

At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia. He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was no longer needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desired to give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; how much less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he was attacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.

Chapter LII

Fathers Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray Juan de San Pedro Martyr, and Fray Pedro de la Bastida who died at this time

[Father Fray Pedro de Soto was a native of Burgos, and assumed the habit in the convent of San Andres at Medina del Campo, where he professed, and whence he went to study in the distinguished convent of San Pablo at Valladolid. Here he showed signs of his great ability and the subtlety of his mind, soaring above his fellow-students as does a royal eagle above all other birds of less flight. In him the fathers hoped that they were to have a third Soto, in addition to the other two famous ones whom that province has had. He exhibited as much virtue as learning. When the religious for this province began to be gathered, his superiors were planning that he should become a professor. The devotion and the severity of the discipline, and the opportunity to save souls, attracted father Fray Pedro; he was also influenced by the example of his two masters, Fray Miguel de Venavides and Fray Antonio Arcediano, who had left their chairs of theology to enter the new province, as had also two other fathers, lecturers in arts at the same convent. The father master Fray Hernando del Castillo, who was then prior, strove by all means to prevent him from going; but the calling and inspiration of God prevailed in the heart of father Fray Pedro. He arrived at Manila July 23, and on the day of our father St. Dominic, less than a fortnight later, they asked him to hold some public discussions of theology in the main church. Father Fray Pedro avoided display of his knowledge and ability; but, on occasions when necessity required him to speak, he made evident the great superiority of his mind and his great learning. In the first distribution of the religious, he was assigned to Pangasinan. The people of this region still lived in their ancient villages and rancherias in the hills and mountains, without civilization, order, or system, any more than if they had never known Spaniards. Father Fray Pedro lived among these tribes for three years, suffering the hardships and perils which have been already described. He was constantly in danger of death, being particularly hateful to the hostile natives because he was the first one who learned the language of the Indians. When some of them began to accept the faith, he offered money for information as to those who continued to sacrifice to the devil. Keeping secret the source of his information, he immediately went] in haste to the place, sometimes alone, and caught the sacrificers in the very act. Without waiting an instant, he upset everything, and broke the dishes and bowls and other vessels which they used in their rites; poured out their wine; burned the robes in which the aniteras or priestesses dress themselves on such occasions, and the curtains with which they covered up everything else; threw down the hut, and completely destroyed it. In this way he made them understand how little all those things availed, and how vain were the threats which the devil uttered against those who would not venerate him; and, in brief, that this was all falsehood and deceit. Many were thus aroused and undeceived; while others, and not a few, were angry, so that it was a wonder that he was not slain. [The rest of the fathers followed his plan; but father Fray Pedro led them all, following the track of this chase, in which his scent was so keen that nothing could escape him. At his death, father Fray Pedro was able to say that he was sure of the two aureoles of virgin and of doctor, and that he had almost succeeded in gaining that of martyr. The village of Magaldan was the most obstinate of all these villages in their errors. They had striven to kill a father of the Order of St. Francis, insomuch that the dagger was already lifted above him for that purpose, and he had fled. They had refused to admit the fathers of the Order of St. Augustine, and they would not listen to a secular priest who was assigned to them, although the alcalde-mayor fined and punished them. It was these Indians whom father Fray Pedro de Soto came to conquer with patience and Christian charity. The Indians said that he never employed a word of their language wrong. He was engaged for a whole year in translating the gospel into this language, and translated some lives of saints and instances of virtue – which though they were composed in the very beginning, are still esteemed and are greatly prized, because of the propriety of the words and the elevated style with which he treated these matters. He was devoted to the study of theology and sacred letters, and was continual in both mental and vocal prayer, to which he added fasting. Being taken to Manila to be treated for the fever from which he suffered, he died there.

In spite of the failure of the two previous expeditions to Camboja, the governor, Don Francisco Tello, judged it desirable to send another ship with troops, and asked the order to send some of their friars with it. The father provincial directed that father Fray Juan de S. Pedro Martyr (or Maldonado) and father Fray Pedro Jesus (or de la Bastida) should go. Father Fray Juan was then commissary of the Holy Office. He was a native of Alcala de Guadiana,25 and belonged to a rich and honorable family. He studied canon law at Salamanca, and assumed the habit in the illustrious convent of San Pablo at Valladolid. The influence of Father Juan Chrisostomo attracted him to the new province to be established in the Philippinas Islands. When he was about to set forth, a certain Doctor Bobadilla, a canon in the church in Valladolid, took him to one side and assured him that he was to die a martyr; and this prophecy was corroborated by another devoted monk. It was on this account that he changed his name of Maldonado to that of S. Pedro Martyr. He spent his first year in the Philipinas in Manila; and in his second year was sent as vicar to a village in Pangasinan, which was at that time the most difficult in the province. From that place he was transferred to the vicariate of Bataan, the language of which he learned very well. When Father Juan Cobo went as ambassador to Japon, father Fray Juan was assigned to the mission to the Chinese, being thus required to learn a third language in addition to the two which he already knew. He learned more words of the Chinese language than any other member of the order, though he was not successful with the pronunciation. He assisted the Chinese so much that they named him as their protector; and he was, as it were, the advocate of their causes, so that they became very much attached to him, and listened with good-will to his preaching and his corrections. During the absence of the father provincial in Camboja, the province could find no one more suitable to govern it in his place, and accordingly father Fray Juan was nominated as vicar-general. In the following provincial chapter he was appointed lecturer in theology, for there was nothing which the province did not find him competent to do. He made no objection to carrying out any orders that were given him, although they dragged him about hither and thither, causing him to learn so many languages and immediately to drop them again. This is a great evidence of his obedience and subjection to his superior. His reputation outside of the order was very great.] The tribunal of the Holy Office of Mexico appointed him commissary-general of the Philippinas, which office he filled with the prudence and strength of mind which the Lord has given in these regions to the sons of the first inquisitor-general, our father St. Dominic. Don Luis Perez das Mariñas, a wise and holy knight, refused to accept the governorship of these islands until Fray Juan persuaded him to do so, stood security for him, and undertook the duty of confessing him and of aiding him with his good advice, that he might the better fulfil the office. This he did in spite of the fact that this was certain to be, as it was, to his own damage; for suitors who did not receive what they desired immediately threw the blame on Father Juan, whom they well knew that the governor consulted as to the appointments which he made. Father Fray Juan knew all this well, but accepted it very readily, in order that he might undertake the direction of so upright a man as Don Luis. In spite of the fact that the esteem which was felt for Father Juan within and without the order was very great, the counterweight of humility and the consciousness of his own inferiority which he had was much greater. He regarded himself as the most useless in all the province, and treated himself as such. Hence, when he was named for vicar-general of the province, he managed that this title and office should be given to father Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas. [In the same way, when he was nominated prior of the convent of Manila at the time when father Fray Diego de Soria went as procurator to España, he succeeded in bringing about the election of another religious. He likewise strove to resign the office of commissary in favor of father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Cathalina, or Navarro. Such was the character of father Fray Juan de San Pedro Martyr, whom the province was willing to spare for the mission to Camboja. They would have spared an even more perfect religious if they could, well knowing that he who had to preach the gospel in a heathen kingdom like this should be such as father Fray Juan was, or even greater in all things. The companion of father Fray Juan, father Fray Pedro de Jesus or de la Bastida, a religious of great virtue, had come to the islands in the previous year, 1591, with the rest who were brought from España by father Fray Francisco de Morales. He had displayed high qualities in the mission to Bataan, to which he had been assigned. He had come from the very devout province of Aragon, of which he was a son. When they reached the great river of Camboja, father Fray Juan endeavored to carry out his mission, both for the conversion of those tribes and as an ambassador of the king our lord. He was contemptuously treated by the king,26 the son of that king who had sent to ask for religious. The present king was wholly in the hands of Mahometan Malays, who persuaded him that the embassy involved some evil to him. When father Fray Juan asked his permission to return to the ship which they had left in the port, the king refused to grant it, and thus showed that he was plotting treachery. Father Fray Juan saw no opportunity for preaching the gospel, as the country was disturbed and in arms; and as the two captains, Diego Velloso and Blas Ruiz de Fernan Goncalez, were in a difficult situation because their comrades were so few, and the Malays, their enemies, were in such favor. The captain of the ship [i. e., Mendoza] attempted to secure peace between these factions, but did not disembark from his vessel. The same thing was done by the captain of a fragata that had come from Sian. The Malays, seeing that they had the advantage because their vessel was larger and stronger than ours, made an attack and shot contrivances of fire and powder to burn the Spaniards and the Japanese. The ship caught fire, and those on board had to leap into the water to escape. Father Fray Pedro de Jesus was unable to swim, and took refuge from the fire on the poop. Here the Moros came out in small boats and thrust lances at him. He fell into the water and died of his wounds, or was drowned by the hands of the Moros. This vessel had done no harm to the Moros, and had not even tried to aid the Spanish captains in the kingdom. The only reason for attacking it was the desire of the Moros to prevent the preaching of the gospel; and hence father Fray Pedro died a glorious martyr. Father Fray Juan succeeded in reaching the fragata commanded by Juan de Mendoça. In it father Fray Juan made his escape to Sian, being wounded in the throat by a shot which had passed obliquely through it; and thus half of the prophecy had been fulfilled that he and his comrade were to die the death of martyrs. Father Fray Juan went to Sian that he might be near to the kingdom of Camboja. The king of that country was a cruel and barbarous tyrant; he took delight in causing men to be thrown to wild elephants, who tore them to pieces with their trunks. He caused others to be fried with a very small quantity of oil, and their flesh to be torn off from them with pincers while they were thus tortured, and to be thrust into their mouths, that by force of the pain which they suffered they might bite and eat their own flesh. When there were no criminals, he used to perpetrate these cruelties solely for his own recreation; and that not to one, or a few, but to a thousand at a time. Only a few days before, he had had four or five Portuguese fried alive for some trifling offense, for which they had already paid a fine to him. There were here at this time a Portuguese religious, Fray Jorje de la Mota,27 and several other Portuguese who were now trying to escape from the country. The force of the tides is so great that, when the tide is coming in, it is impossible to make head against it; and as they were fifty leguas from the sea, it was easy to follow and catch them. Overjoyed with the possibility of escape offered by the coming of Father Juan, they prayed him for the love of God to rescue them in his boat without the knowledge of the king. The Spaniards planned to do so; but, because of the too great haste and anxiety of the Portuguese, the vessel was followed and found before it had made its escape into the sea. The king was mad with rage, and sent three separate expeditions after it. They surrounded the boat and fired at it with small cannon, arquebuses, arrows, and lances. There were about twenty persons, Castilians and Portuguese, on the ship, and they had about a dozen muskets and a few arquebuses to protect themselves with. So long as the tide was going out, they managed to defend themselves fairly well, because they could manage to engage a part of the enemy only at one time. When the tide came in they were obliged to anchor, and they were like a target for the Sianese. After three days of this torture, they managed to get to sea. The pilot had been slain by a shot; and the captain, Juan de Mendoca, and father Fray Jorje de la Mota were so badly wounded that they afterward died. The arm of father Fray Juan de San Pedro Martir was broken by a shot from a small culverin. As they had lost all their drinking-water in the combat, the sufferings of father Fray Juan were very great. He saw that his hour was come, and confessed to father Fray Jorje. He wrote to the fathers in this province an account of the fortunes of this voyage; and expressed his joy in dying on an expedition carried out by the command of his superior for the purpose of preaching the gospel, in which he had saved those poor Portuguese from dreadful danger to both their lives and their souls.] Almost at the end of the letter which he sent he wrote: “What we have in this province is good, and God is greatly served in the province. Let us strive to keep what we have, by observing those things which we have established; for I am sure that God will show us a thousand favors. The arms of Saul do not fit all men; nor is preaching in these regions suitable to any but a very holy man.” [They buried him on land near the port of Cochinchina, on an island called Pulocatovan, at the root of a tree – not daring to set up a cross, for fear of the derision of those heathen. He had set out upon this voyage certain to meet his death in it; and at the beginning of the expedition he had shown the perfection of his obedience in several ways.]