The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 32, 1640

Chapter XXXIX

The life and death of father Fray Matheo de Cobissa

[Though sufferings and persecution refine the gold of the church, yet there are many rich and pure spirits who appear in time of peace. Of these latter we are now to give an example. There were but few years in which father Fray Matheo de Cobissa lived in this province. He reached the province toward the close of July, 1628, and was sent directly to the island of Hermosa where he spent less than three years, but those were full of glory. Fray Francisco Mola, vicar-provincial of the order in Hermosa, and Fray Angel de San Antonio, vicar of the convent of All Saints in that island, wrote a formal certificate testifying to the facts in the case of father Fray Matheo. They give an account of the marvelous visions which the father beheld, in which the Lord explained to him what was to come. The Lord had previously revealed the future to him, giving him notice beforehand of the coming of the English fleet to Cadiz in 1625; of the great inundation in España in 1626; and of the unfortunate death of the reverend father Fray Bartholome Martinez, the provincial, on his return from the island of Yama. To these fathers the dying father gave an account of other visions that he had had. He told them further that his rigorous penances had never weakened his bodily strength. He received the extreme unction, and told the fathers who were listening that when he was coming from España he saw by the mizzenmast of the vessel the patriarchs St. Dominic and St. Francis, and that he had had a vision of the three holy kings. Not satisfied with this evidence uttered by this father’s mouth, these fathers added other information. Father Fray Angel told of cases which had been revealed to him by father Fray Matheo, in confession, which he had received permission to publish for the glory of God. Such were the coming of the Dutch enemy against Tanchuy and the death of the provincial. When the fathers asked if his dreams, which signified that which was to come, were always clear, or were of indistinct figures, he answered that they were generally clear; but sometimes only such that he could understand that something was prognosticated, though he could not tell immediately what it was. He was most devoted to prayer, and most rigorously abstinent. Father Francisco Mola testified to the religious devotion of the friar. Brother Fray Andres Ximenez, who accompanied the father from España and was very intimate with him, testified to his life of mortification and penance, and to his devotion. He was reckoned a saint, and the high esteem in which he was held in this province is shown by the words of the provincial chapter in recording his death.]

Chapter XL

The entrance made from the island of Hermosa to the great kingdom of China by two fathers of St. Dominic

[If this island were of no value, its spiritual promise would make it important; and if it were poor in material things – and it is not, because it has many mines of gold and silver, and is fertile – it would still be well that our nation has set foot on it. It is of spiritual use because it is from hence, as it appears, that the conversion of the great kingdom of China is to have its rise. It is of importance in a material way, because of its nearness to the trade of that kingdom, which is so rich and so abounding in merchandise. That both spiritual and temporal ends might be attained, Don Juan de Arcaraço,48 who was commandant of the island at that time, decided to send an embassy to the viceroy of Hucheo, the capital of the nearest province, with a view to opening up trade with it, but without saying anything about matters of faith. He offered our religious an opportunity to go on the embassy. Two religious were accordingly sent – the father vicar of the convent, Fray Angel Coqui, a Florentine by birth, who had assumed the surname of San Antonino; and, as his companion, father Fray Thomas de Sierra, who was called here “de la Magdalena.” He was a native of Cerdeña. His natural gifts were but small, but his spiritual ones were great, as will be seen. They set out accompanied by two soldiers and seven Indians, carrying their letter of embassy and a present for the viceroy. They took what they needed to say mass, and a very little money for their support; and embarked (December 30, 1630) in two very small vessels. On the way a heathen Chinese, master of the vessel in which the religious were, planned to kill them in order to rob them. The signal being given, the Chinese killed five of the members of the expedition, and wounded two with the clubs which they used as weapons – for, among the Chinese, soldiers only are permitted to carry weapons of iron. Father Fray Thomas was one of those who lost his life. The narrative may pause for a moment to give some account of him. He was a native of Cerdeña, and a son of the convent there. He was destined to the Order of St. Dominic from his mother’s womb. Since the schools in his part of the country were not very good, he strove to be assigned to the province of Andalucia, and went to the convent of San Pablo at Cordova. Hearing of the devout manner of life of the religious in this province, he desired to enter it, and departed from España in the year 1627, at which time I was bringing over a body of religious. This was the third company which I led (besides the first, in which I came with others under leadership, which is now about forty years ago). I accepted his application, thinking that he could complete his studies in this province as well as in España. He was of most gentle and patient disposition. He suffered greatly from headaches, and was unable to carry on his studies, though in some cases of moral theology he showed ability. He was sent to the island of Hermosa, in the hope that the cooler climate would benefit him. His health improved, and he devoted himself to learning the mandarin language, which is the language used in China by the learned, and takes the place of Latin among us. Nicolas Muñoz, a native of Mexico, a soldier, was one of those killed at this time. He was a man of the greatest piety. God in His infinite pity delivered father Fray Angel from this terrible danger. He fled to the cabin in the poop, and there he and the three others who survived were able to defend themselves against the seventeen Chinese, who fastened them up there, hoping to kill them of starvation. The vessel was captured by pirates, to whom father Fray Angel owed his liberty and his life. The mutineers on the vessel told the pirates that the persons in the poop were captives taken in lawful war, whom they were going to sell into slavery. The pirates planned to make an assault upon them, but decided not to, because they would be certain to meet with some damage, and resolved to scuttle the ship, leaving the captives to drown. They took off the sail and the rudder, anchored the vessel that it might not be carried ashore, and abandoned it. The prisoners were left fastened up and unable to get out, while the vessel filled with water up to the poop. The imprisoned men found a chisel in the cabin, with which they worked a hole between two boards, and finally escaped from their confinement. They made their way to an island, and on the other side found an arm of the sea wherein there were many vessels, among them a fisher’s boat. They went up to the fishermen, who fled from them, but who came back again in response to their prayers, and let them have some food. These men warned them not to stay on that island that night, for fear of tigers; and said that if they survived until morning they would meet with other worse tigers – namely, soldiers from the fleets which were always moving about that coast, who would certainly kill them. In fear of both dangers, they asked the fishermen to take them to terra firma, and to bring them before some mandarin. A thousand difficulties were raised which were quickly conquered with a few bits of money which had escaped the recent robbery. Being brought before a mandarin, they were sent to the city of Ziumcheo with letters of safe-conduct and provision for the journey – which according to the custom of this kingdom, is afforded to every poor man who in any way comes to it. The letter which accompanied them described them as four robbers who had been caught on the seashore. The second mandarin before whom they were brought sent them to the third; and he despatched them to the viceroy, forty leguas away in the city of Ucheo. Father Fray Angel was taken ill, as a result of all his hardships, but recovered by the help of God. As all the papers had been lost, the viceroy directed the father to return to the island of Hermosa for satisfactory credentials, providing him with a vessel and everything necessary for the purpose. The father, unwilling to leave China, and being afraid that the viceroy had some design against him, sent in his place a Christian Japanese who understood the mandarin language very well. He was one of a number who were scattered over China, and who desired to make their way to a Christian country. He dressed this man in a religious habit and caused him to pretend to be ill, so that he might be left quiet in a dark part of the ship. By the laws of the kingdom the father thus exposed himself to death or to perpetual imprisonment, which in China is a prolonged death. The curiosity of the Chinese is such that nothing escapes it. The viceroy, the mandarins, and all knew of the return of the father, and even knew where he was lodged; but no disturbance arose, and the authorities paid no attention to the matter. The father decided to change his dress, and to assume such a one as was worn by the most honorable of the natives, who pay great attention to such matters. He permitted his hair and beard to grow in their manner, as some fathers of the Society of Jesus have done – who have performed many useful labors here, as is known throughout Europe. During four months the father was unable to say mass, having been robbed of what was necessary.]

Chapter XLI

Father Fray Angel leaves the city of Ucheo for the town of Fuhan, trusting solely in God; the success of his journey

[Father Fray Angel, knowing that there were some Christians in the village of Fuhan and the province of Funinchiu, decided to set out thither on foot. He met with no interference on the way. In Fuhan he found some Christians, and met Father Julio Aleni of the Society of Jesus. Like father Fray Angel, he was an Italian; and he showed the father much kindness. Here father Fray Angel made a number of conversions, and found everything promising for the future of Christianity in China. The Lord showed the father grace, for, though he was naturally weak, he received strength for many labors. He begged for a companion, saying in one of his letters which he wrote from Fuhan, December 24, 1632: “Laborers! laborers! laborers! for the harvest is ready and it is great.” There was sent him as companion father Fray Juan Baptista de Morales, a son of the convent of San Pablo de Ezija, for the province could spare no more.]

Chapter XLII

The lives and deaths of fathers Fray Marcos de Saavedra and Fray Juan Rodriguez

[January 6, 1631, died in the convent of Sancto Domingo father Fray Marcos de Saavedra, a native of Villamayor in the district of Veles, a son of Sancta Cruz at Villa Escusa in La Mancha. He left España in 1623, in which year he was ordained priest in Mexico. He was a minister in Nueva Segovia, and understood the language of the natives very perfectly. He composed in it a book of sermons for the whole year; and a grammar for those who might learn it later, abbreviating the old grammar. He was a devout and zealous religious, and patiently suffered the long illness which preceded his death.

On the seventh of May in this same year father Fray Juan Rodriguez departed from this wretched life for a happier one, in the convent of Sancto Domingo at Nueva Segovia. He was a native of the bishopric of Salamanca, and assumed the habit in the famous convent of San Estevan in that city. After he finished his course in arts and theology, he was assigned to the convent of Sancto Domingo in the city of Guadalaxara. He was a friar of exceptional devotion and received great favors from the holy Virgin and from St. Joseph and St. Dominic, who visited one of his penitents and directed his life. With the approbation of the Lord, father Fray Juan desired to go to the convent of the order in the town of Aranda de Duero, which was famous for its observance of the rule. Here he was master of the novices, and hence he was called by God to this province. He was sent to Nueva Segovia, where he learned the language of the natives, and within five months was able to preach to them in it. He was much beloved by the natives, and also by the religious, who all desired to be in his company. His devout and exemplary life edified all wherever he went. After he had been attacked by an illness which proved to be his last, he was sent with some Spanish soldiers to bring back some Christians Indians who were in the mountains, and who wished to return, but were prevented by their neighbors, who threatened them with death. In spite of his illness, he accepted the responsibility and went with the troops. The soldiers, growing impatient with the delay of the Indians, who feared them, desired to capture them with the aid of some friendly Indians who accompanied the expedition. The father, however, persuaded them to wait for another day; and after he had spent the night in prayer he succeeded by his gentleness and his arguments in persuading those Indians to give up their lost way of life and to return. There were in all more than one hundred and thirty persons. After his return his illness grew rapidly worse, and he died in the month of May.]

Chapter XLIII

A second expedition made by two fathers to the province of Sinay, otherwise known as Ytui, and the result of it

Eighty years had passed since Christianity was first planted in this country in the island of Luçon, the chief island of the Philippinas. From here it had spread to other islands; and in Luçon it had spread from one province to the next, for in this one island there are many nations and languages. Yet the province of Ytui49– as we shall call it in future, since it is better known by that name – had not had the good fortune to receive regular preaching before this late date, namely, the beginning of the year thirty-three. This delay was not due to the fault of the natives, for they have often manifested a desire to receive the gospel, and have asked several religious orders for ministers to teach them; but to the fact that all the orders were so poor in ministers, on account of the great number of people whom they must aid. That country also is so rough and so difficult of access for the visitations of the superiors, that all the orders have avoided assuming the charge of it. For some years the order of the glorious father St. Francis sent religious there to cultivate it, but without any good result. They made a beginning, but could not carry it on – some of the fathers being taken away by death, and others leaving the region because of sickness. The natives have constantly persisted in their request for ministers of the gospel to teach them, and have been particularly urgent with our sacred order – because they have some commerce with the province of Pangasinan, which is in our charge; and because they know how much that is advanced in all matters, both temporal and spiritual, as a result of the labors of the fathers who minister to it, though the population was previously the most barbarous known in these islands. Once, some years ago, some chiefs came here to Manila during a chapter when a provincial was elected, to place their request before it. The fiscal of the king (who was also that of the royal Chancillería), Don Juan de Bracamonte, offered a petition to the definitors, supporting this request for ministers for that province, since the Indians were vassals of the king and paid him their tribute, and his Majesty was bound to provide them with Christian instruction. The answer was a hopeful one, saying that if his Majesty would send ministers from España they would then very readily be assigned to this duty, as he desired; but in the meantime the order could scarcely fulfil the requirements of the regions which they had already in charge, for the Indians were many and the ministers few. On another occasion when the father provincial of the province, Fray Baltasar Fort, was making his visitation to this province of Pangasinan, the inhabitants of Ytui learned of the fact; and there came to meet him, in a village called Calasiao, some thirty of the chief Indians of that country – among them he who was, as it were, their king. He brought with him his wife and his sister; and they proffered their request with much feeling and many tears, complaining of their misfortune that when they were so near – the provinces were about four days’ journey apart – they were not worthy to receive the fathers, though they had several times striven to obtain them with all possible urgency. The provincial could but feel pity when he saw these heathen Indians becoming preachers to us, in so urgently persuading the preachers to come and teach them the law of God; yet he was totally unable to give them what they asked, but gave them his promise that he would do so as soon as possible. They returned to their country with this answer, very disconsolate. Father Fray Thomas Gutierrez – a minister who was then in Pangasinan and of whom an account will be given later – learned of this, and volunteered to undertake an expedition thither. A second father, Fray Juan Luis de Guete, offered to go as his companion. The father provincial granted their request, in spite of the need of them that would be felt in the posts which they left; but he commanded them that they should go at this time simply to explore the country, and should return within a few days to report their opinions to him, according to the impression made upon them by the natives. They did this, and went about through the villages of the province, setting up in the public squares large crosses, to the great delight of the Indians; this act was a token that the fathers took possession of them for the Lord who was crucified on the cross. That the devil might begin to give up his ancient possession of the natives, the fathers taught them the worship which they should perform, and some prayers out of the “Christian Doctrine” translated into the language of Pangasinan. That language they half understood, though it was different from their own. They understood it all so well that they immediately began to say the prayers they knew, around the crosses, seated on cane benches which they made for the purpose – two of them intoning the prayer, and the rest repeating it. With these excellent beginnings, which gave proof of the fitness of the soil for receiving the seed of the faith, the two explorers returned to report to their superior as he had commanded them, and offered themselves anew to return to that region. The provincial, when he heard their report, was not unwilling to grant their pious desires, although it seemed that these were contrary to what the strength of the province could sustain. So trusting in the power of God, and with the permission and benediction of the father provincial, they prepared themselves for the return; but they were interfered with by someone who disturbed them by indiscreet zeal, for the devil sometimes appears clothed in the garments of an angel of light. The project was not carried out, but not from the fault of the order or of its sons, who are not accustomed to be slothful before such opportunities. Perhaps those peoples were not yet ready in the sight of God for that which they desired; for in such matters the what, the when, and the how are understood by God alone and are determined according to His divine foreknowledge. The natives of Ytuy were not weary of being persistent in presenting their requests, as in such matters it is well to be. It happened that in the month of December in the year 1632 the father provincial, Fray Francisco de Herrera (now commissary general of the Holy Office for all these Philipinas Islands), was traveling in that region on his visitation to the province of Pangasinan. The natives of Ytuy, who must have had scouts to inform them, learned of this; and there immediately came in search of him some twenty-four Indians, four or six of them being leading chiefs in the province. In the name of all the rest of the natives, they put forward their old request. He did not make them the answer which they had received before – “Wait, wait again;” but gave his instant approval, drawing strength from the weakness of the province – which, in the matter of laborers, is great for such a harvest as it has upon its hands, and as it sees every day increasing; and which, therefore, has to pass by much for lack of ability to achieve it all. The father who seemed most suited for this mission was father Fray Thomas Gutierrez, who some years before had filled the office of explorer in this country. His companion was father Fray Juan de Arjona,50 a son of the convent of San Pablo de Cordova – a man of middle age, but of more than middling spirit. They both took up the enterprise with great delight, without any objections or requests; and went back with the Indians who had come thence, taking no larger outfit than was absolutely necessary to equip them for the journey. This chapter will give a brief account of the events of the journey and their arrival at Ytuy, drawn from a letter written by both fathers and dated at Ytuy January 21, 1633. The letter was directed to the father provincial, and contains the following narrative:

They left Pangasinan for Ytuy December 6, 1632, the day of St. Nicholas the bishop; and since there is but little communication between the two countries – none at all, in fact, except that occasionally some natives on each side visit the other – there is no open road from one to the other, since the Indians have no need of one, making their way like deer through the thickets of the mountains. By their account, the journey takes four days; but this is estimated by their mode of travel, which is twice as rapid as ours. Father Fray Thomas was so eager to reach that region that he even wished to make the journey shorter, and he asked the Indians if they did not know some short cut. One of them responded that he did; the father asked him to guide them, and they all followed him. This was in an evil hour, for the short cut did nothing but to increase their labor, as it took them out of their way. The journey occupied nine days, over mountains and across valleys, and through rivers, streams, and marshes, which they came upon at every step – for the guide did not know where he was going, and yet they were obliged to follow him. The provision which they carried was but for a few days, since they did not expect so long a journey, and they carried it all on their own shoulders that they might not burden the Indians. Since the journey took twice as long as they had expected, they became very hungry, and thus suffered much, hunger being added to exhaustion. The sky was not kind to them on their journey, for it rained constantly on all these days and they had no protection; and the ground was as cruel, for the thickets abounded with leeches who attached themselves to the faces, the hands, and the feet of the travelers, and drew blood like a physician’s blood-letting. The Indians were not distressed by any of these things, or by the necessity of carrying the fathers on their shoulders across rivers or very bad places in the road, which shows the pleasure and affection with which they were taking the religious to their country. The fathers endured this no less well, being certain that they were not putting into a torn sack what they suffered for God.

They derived some relief from their sufferings from one happy circumstance provided them by God, who seemed to have designed all these wanderings. This was that in the midst of these wildernesses they found a tiny village of Christian Indians; for this jurisdiction was under the charge of other ministers, but was very little visited by them, since it was at so great a distance and over so rough a road. They baptized two children, and heard the confessions of some adults – among them that of a woman who had not confessed for some years, having no one to confess to. Though she seemed well and healthy, she died that same day. This was a marked token of her predestination. They finally reached the principal village of the province, which is called Ytui, and takes its name from the village. The Indians received them with great demonstrations of joy, after their manner; and they remained there for eight days resting, and receiving visits from all the villages in the province, who sent ambassadors to bid them welcome with some presents of the fruits of the country. They set out afterwards to visit all the villages in it. Great and small, they visited eleven, that they might become acquainted with the temper of the Indians. In all they were received with the same tokens of pleasure. From what they saw and learned from the Indians, they had much to say in their report of the excellence of the country. They said that it was cool, so that by day the sun’s heat was pleasant at times, and a covering was agreeable at night. This is something new in these islands, which have the fault of being very hot. They reported that the country was so fertile that when Indians desired to plant their rice they only burn over a part of the mountain51 and, without any further plowing or digging, they make holes with a stick in the soil, and drop some grains of rice in them. This was their manner of sowing; and, after covering the rice with the same earth, they obtained very heavy crops. They said that some good fruits grew there, and that in their opinion that country would yield all the fruits of Spain, if the seeds of the latter were planted. There were, they affirmed, pleasant valleys with quiet rivers and streams in them from which the natives obtain some gold, and that the Indians are wont to wear golden earrings. They are not acquainted with silver, and do not care for it. They have no sort of money, so that all their sales and purchases are carried on by barter. They keep their villages very clean and in good condition – a new thing among the Indians. They also remarked that there was great fraternity between different villages. This is something even more unusual, for generally these nations live after the law of “Might makes right” [viva quien vence], at the expense of their heads. Hence these Indians walk alone over their roads without fear of being injured or robbed, for they are very safe in this respect – so much so that they leave the rice which they gather, each one in his own field, heaped up in the spike and covered with straw. They go there and carry what they want to their houses, to grind and eat, without fearing that anyone will take what is not his. They readily offered all their infants to the fathers to be baptized, so that within about three months, during which the religious went about visiting the villages, they baptized some four hundred. It would have been the same with the adults, if it had not been necessary to prepare them with the catechism. The fathers have been slow in this, because they have been obliged to translate the prayers into the native language, of which they have not a good command. They are spending their time in learning it, and on this account and no other are delayed in beginning baptism. In order that so few ministers may be able to teach the Indians, it is necessary to bring them together into a smaller number of villages, conveniently arranged so that the people may be visited and helped in their necessities. Since the country is very mountainous, the fathers have determined to bring and gather them in large settlements, at sites convenient for their fields, near a river which rises in this country, and which, increased by others, grows to be a very large stream, crossing the whole of Nueva Segovia to the ocean.52 This river, on account of its fish (upon which most of the Indians live), is also of great value to them. This is the only point as to which they are somewhat obstinate, because they are greatly grieved to leave their ancient abode. However, most of them have accepted it, and it is hoped that the rest will come, and in this way in a short time much will be gained by the aid of the Lord. Through the mountains next to this province, which are many and very rough, there wander a tribe of Indians known as Alegueses, a vagabond people having no settled places of abode. Father Fray Thomas sent word to them by an Indian chief of Ytuy that if they wished to come and settle one of the new sites which he indicated, he would receive them there as sons, and do them all the good he could. They answered in the affirmative, and he waited for them for some time; but before they came the holy man finished his days, full of years and of heroic works, as will soon be seen. This is the work which these apostolic men of God accomplished in only three months, as appears from the aforesaid report. They conclude their report with another case similar to that referred to above, of the woman who died so soon after she had confessed. In the goings-out and comings-in of the fathers among the Indians that they might become acquainted with them, they found in one village, called Palar, a very aged Indian woman who was dying. She had eaten nothing for five days. Father Fray Thomas went to see her, and began to talk with her of becoming a Christian for the salvation of her soul. He expounded to her briefly what she had to believe, and called upon her to repent of her sins. She answered as well as might be desired, and he accordingly baptized her on that day, which was the last day of her earthly life and the first day of her Christian one. It was a happy day, so far as can be judged; for, being newly baptized, she had merely to be recorded in purgatory. Not only in these new provinces where the dawn of the gospel’s light now begins to shine do extraordinary cases happen like those which have been mentioned, to the great glory of God and the joy of his ministers; but they also occur in many others where the dawn has risen high but has not yet bathed all the horizon, though it is covering it, little by little. From the province of Nueva Segovia father Fray Geronimo de Zamora,53 a native of the city of Zaragoça, wrote me a letter dated February 25, 1633. In it are these words: “Before Lent I went up the river of Mandayas” (this is the name of a part of that province), “to try to teach many Indians who were without Christian instruction in heathen darkness, but who paid tribute to the king our lord as his vassals, without even being sons of the Church. I asked them if I might visit them, and they received my request kindly and asked that I or some other father should remain among them. In token of the heartiness of their wish, they gave me, as a sort of hostages, ten sons of their chiefs to be baptized; and after having sufficiently instructed them, I baptized them, to the great joy and delight of my soul. I hope in God that in this way thousands of them may be redeemed from the power of the devil, for there is no one who will declare that they are not his.” He afterward asked aid from his neighbors to draw the net which was laden with so many fish as are promised by the casts already made there. Many are needed, but we may say here, “Where are those good men?”