The Philippine Islands, 1493 1898, by Ed. by Blair and Robertson

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"Thence I returned toward Sebu, passing through some villages where
Father Miguel Gomez had given instruction; and I can assure your
Reverence that while I tarried there I found more consolation, and
gathered a greater harvest of souls, than I have ever before known. For
theirs was so great a longing and hunger to hear of the things of God,
and so ardent a desire to learn the doctrine that throughout the night
could be heard in their houses, now here and now there, ceaseless
songs and praises to God; and morning and night, in the field and in
the church, nothing could be heard but praises of our Lord. A chief
said to me: 'Would you believe, Father, that all night long I did
not close my eyes, I was so anxious and eager to pray?' Accordingly,
it appeared in eight or nine days that all the people had learned
the prayers and other things needful for baptism. Your Reverence
will doubtless ask: 'Who inspired them with such warmth and fire,
since they are a people so heedless by nature?' I know not what
answer to give your Reverence save, _Digitus Dei est hic_. What I
can say is, that he whose heart is set on an end, also holds dear the
means to that end. They were inspired by God to desire holy baptism,
and for that reason they so heartily availed themselves of the means
which we offered them to gain it, and heeded no difficulty in their
way. Upon the feast-day of Saint Anne, when the church was called
together, our Lord was pleased to make for us a goodly beginning in
the conversion of an aged chief regarded by all as their father. While
in the church, he fell upon his knees and said: 'Father, baptize me,
for God is calling me.' I said to him in a loud voice, while all
the rest preserved silence: 'Dost thou say this heartily?' 'Yes,
Father, with all my heart do I say it.' 'Does love for God and for
thy salvation move thee?' 'Yes, Father; that and nothing else.' 'Hast
thou determined to abandon all the maganitos and to exchange them for
the true God?' 'Yes, Father.' 'Art thou resolved to serve the true
God and to be a good Christian, or dost thou ask this with thy mouth
only?' 'There is nothing else in my heart.' 'That is well, then,'
said I; 'I admit thee as a catechumen.' With this example those
who were already prepared were so convinced, and others so deeply
moved, that more than a hundred came, one after another, and knelt
in the same way and asked for baptism. I, on my part, began to ask
them questions, to confirm even more their faith; for this virtue,
as well as other habits, grows and is increased by acts. Brother
Dionisius and I returned home, astonished at such fervor and devotion
among Bissayans. At one time I baptized more than eighty-nine adults;
a few days later, ninety-four, children and adults together; and, at
still another baptism, the other people in that village. A few whom
I did not baptize fell upon their knees and asked for the sacrament;
but I deferred it until the next time when I should, God willing,
return to them.

"While we were passing, on the way from that village, over some
mountains, the Lord offered us, as a spiritual gain, twenty-nine
children, who were like so many little angels [19] (which is
a safe money); these we baptized, together with three adults
whom I took on this journey with me that they might hear some
masses, and be instructed, by word and example, in the things
of Christianity. Although those people were mountaineers, they
entertained us with the best that they had; and he was not held in
honor by them who did not bring a banana, some papaya [20] fruit, rice,
or a fowl. Here I have learned by experience how important it is that
we should not rear these Indians in such [spiritual] aridity that
they know not how to perform any act of charity. For admitting that
they are poor, yet even in their poverty there is room for merciful
and charitable deeds with the little possessions which are theirs;
and by performing these they are made humane, and they find pleasure
therein. On the other hand, they can be recompensed by us with other
gifts, by which they are greatly pleased, and their hearts are more
easily won for God.

"From that place we set out for another little village which is
called Tobigu, where, in anticipation of our arrival, they had
quickly erected a very convenient church. We cast our nets--or, to
speak correctly, those of Jesus Christ--and the Lord pressed into
them all the fish there were. Indeed, even if there were no other
return than this, I would consider myself well repaid for having come
from Espana; for all--the headmen and chiefs, the children, old men,
and women--prostrated themselves at the feet of Jesus Christ, making
public confession and asking for the waters of baptism. The first
time, we baptized a hundred souls; the second time, the rest of
the people in the village, so that we did not know of any perverse
one remaining--although, at the beginning, there were a few who
resisted. When I arrived at the village, I heard someone say in
a loud voice: 'I do not have to become a Christian;' but he was
afterward converted, being unable to resist the Holy Spirit. Another
savage, fierce and intractable in disposition, after having heard
the sermon on salvation and hell, said that he would go to hell;
and he maintained this so obstinately that he seemed to be possessed
by the devil. He was arousing the same spirit in others, as he was
an influential man, respected by those of the village. I told him of
the terrible punishments of hell, and in return he asked what he was
to do if his ancestors and parents were there, and he wished to be
with them. I told him that he ought first to try the fire, to see if
he could endure it, and I ordered some red-hot coals to be brought,
that he might make this test; but his hands were as hard as his heart,
and the fire had little effect on them. After a few days had passed,
however, he turned over a new leaf, so completely that he went through
the plains and grain-fields, calling together his people so that they
might become Christians and be baptized with him. He is now one of
our good Christians, and the most earnest one whom I have known among
the Bissayans.

"The devil, envious of such success, sought to disturb our new
Christian community with rumors of war, which compelled us to return
to the village of Tobigo. There, while the people were wrought up
to the most ardent fervor of prayers and conversions, forty-eight
armed men descended upon the village, to plunder it and to burn
the church. That night our people posted a sentinel, and kindled
large fires, and so the enemy did not dare to enter openly; but
they remained in the neighborhood to rob anyone who might enter
or leave the village. On the morning of the next day, armed with
better weapons than theirs--namely, with confidence in the Lord,
whose work we are doing--I set out to go where they were, taking
with me Brother Dionisio (who has been, in all these experiences,
my very faithful companion); and there I said to them: 'Fear not,
my children, for I am your father, not the alcalde-mayor; I come to
do you good, not harm. What do you fear from a man unarmed and alone,
who puts himself in your power? You behold me here. If you desire me
for a slave, I will live with you in your village of Tibor, and will
serve you as a slave if you will in turn let me teach you how you
may obtain salvation. I have compassion on you when I see you acting
thus, for if the Spaniards seize you they will do you much harm. Let
us be friends, and in token of our friendship, take this garment:'
and I handed to the chiefs an elegant striped mantilla, asking them to
give me also some pledge. They presented to me a necklace, and then we
embraced each other and drank from the same cup. In short, we became
so good friends that they promised me that whenever I might summon
them to Loboc, they would come, provided that they would bring but few
people. They gave me a little fruit and some eggs, and I gave them a
basket of rice. After expressions of friendship had been exchanged,
I asked them to make peace also with my friends of Tobigon; this they
did, and departed abashed without having done any harm. May God bring
them to a place where they can receive instruction; for some of them,
when questioned, replied that I was the first Spaniard whom they had
ever seen in their lives. This took place near Sebu; what must be
the condition of affairs elsewhere?"

Another letter from Father Valerio to the father-visitor, dated
October 4, gives the following account: "Father Gabriel writes me
that he has baptized in Loboc and Dita more than four hundred souls,
most of them children under the age of reason. In these three months
I find, upon examination, that more than a thousand souls have been
baptized, and that the ardor of numberless others is aroused. The
fathers write me that the hour has come in which God is present in this
island. May your Reverence send us laborers, or at least one father,
until those from Espana arrive. Fortunate is he who may come hither,
for he will delight in the fervor of this primitive church."

Father Gabriel Sanchez writes thus, in a letter of October 5:
"Our Lord has favored the plans and labors of the father rector and
other fathers; for in uniting the villages, their people have been so
thoroughly converted to the Lord that I know not what to say, except
that the Lord, who created and redeemed them, has been pleased to call
them with so special a vocation. Of the people in those reductions
there have been newly baptized in the last four months more than
two thousand souls, and it seems to me that, if we had fathers,
the whole island would be converted in one month. I am filled with
devotion when I see people who are practically savages come from the
mountains, and on their knees ask for baptism, and children as well,
like angels, who have already learned the prayers, although I know not
who are their teachers. Today, for instance, one of them came down,
a child about ten years old, whom I had never before seen; and yet
he knew the catechism and the questions, and was most eager to be
baptized. Catolonas, or priestesses, also come to us, and have given
so many proofs of their holy desire that we have not been able to
deny them baptism. Truly, my father, I am living in great consolation
and joy; for here in these regions there is nothing more to be desired
than that we may faithfully serve our Lord, and that all the people may
be brought into the presence of His Divine Majesty. On Sunday we had
in the church of Loboc six or seven hundred souls, which is the usual
attendance. If your Reverence could see in the early mornings nearly
a hundred children from the mountains, boys and girls but recently
baptized, march with praises to God in a procession along the bank
of this river, singing the doctrine with angelic voices that seem
to come from heaven, I verily believe that your Reverence would be
moved to devout tears, at seeing how God has brought them down from
these mountains and dragons' caves that they may praise and glorify
Him. During the last few days there were baptized in Dita five hundred
more souls, so that in this mission of Bohol there are now more than
three thousand Christians. At the beginning, we had eight hundred, and
now, with the blessing of God and the mercy that He has shown them,
two thousand three hundred have been baptised. Since God decrees it,
may St Peter bless it. Amen."

In another letter he writes: "For days I have been toiling alone;
and when I depart from a village, a considerable time passes before I
return to it. But it is evident that the spiritual benefit of those
poor people acquits me for this delay, in order that your Reverence
may take pity on them. For this reason, my father, let fathers be
brought from Espana; and will your Reverence send hither even twenty,
for there will be a harvest for all of them. In Loboc and Dita in the
last few days nearly four hundred little ones have been baptized;
this has given me much consolation in the Lord, for I find great
satisfaction in these little creatures. The adults are learning the
doctrine with such fervor that even until midnight the sound of their
voices is incessant. We have received information that enemies are
coming to attack this island, and the people are therefore greatly
disturbed. Would to God that we might be made captives for His love,
and might die for pure love of Him!" All this is from Father Gabriel
Sanchez.

The enemies whom the father here mentions are Indians from the island
of Mindanao which lies near the islands of Terrenate and Maluco, where
the doctrine of Mahoma is professed. In the year one thousand six
hundred that people collected an armed fleet of sixty small vessels,
which descended upon these islands subject to the government of Manila,
and wrought much damage. They laid waste the island of Bantayan and
the river of Panai, and burned the churches. Then they coasted along
other islands, robbing and murdering, and finally carried away as
captives one thousand two hundred souls. But it pleased our Lord that
when they came to this island of Bohol, where our fathers reside, they
should inflict no considerable losses, nor did they burn our church
and house--which they could have done with impunity, for all the
people fled to the mountains. Yet they passed on without stopping,
as Father Gabriel relates in part of his letter of November 16,
which runs as follows:

"In order that your Reverence may aid us in rendering thanks to our
Lord for a great act of mercy which He has shown us, your Reverence,
as father-visitor, should know that on the twenty-sixth of October in
this year, 1600, the enemy attacked Baclayun just after our fathers
had gone thence to Sebu, summoned thither by holy obedience; for the
father rector had sent in haste for the three of us who were in the
island, and lo! the enemy were there. As evidence of the value of holy
obedience, and to show how it exempts from dangers, as well as another
token of mercy--the enemy committed scarcely any ravages in Bohol,
considering what was in their power to do. Their approach was made
known three or four hours in advance, and all, as I have been informed,
fled to the mountains--except three old women and an old man, whom they
killed; and three women and a man, whom they carried away captive. One
of the old women whom they killed had been a notorious witch; but God
our Lord, who loved her soul, inspired her with so fervent a desire to
become a Christian and receive baptism that for three months she did
not cease asking me for it. Finally, on account of her importunity,
I baptized her, after she had several times given evidence of her
sincerity by expressing in public her abhorrence of her idolatrous
belief. But she was fortunate indeed, for soon after she had been
baptized they killed her, which is certainly a singular blessing from
our Lord. The other old woman who was about seventy years of age had
also been baptized a little while before. They did no damage in our
church, although I am told that they disinterred some bodies--why,
I know not. Here is another instance of God's mercy: although they
passed very near the river of Lobo, Dita, and other little villages
belonging to our newly converted Christians, they neither visited
nor attacked them; this seems miraculous, considering that they had,
as your Reverence well knows, committed so deplorable ravages in
other places."

Another of our fathers held a mission in that island, during the
vacation in the Latin studies in the College of Sebu; and, among
other things, he writes thus about his short stay there: "So great is
the heavenly influence which God sends upon this village of Tobigon,
and the abundance of gifts which He bestows upon it, that I have not
dared to go hence, and cut the thread of a progress so auspicious,
thinking it best to remain and behold the marvels of God. The church
is full night and day, and there is no leisure to leave the building,
and hardly to eat when I must; and it is necessary to have my food
brought to me from a distance. All are eager to become Christians and
be baptized. During the two weeks that I have spent here, among those
to whom we have been able to give instruction, one hundred and fifty
adults have been baptized, and today we are to baptize about forty
catechumens; the rest will be left until our return. Their affection
for us is great; they bring their children and sick that we may bless
them, and in the street they fall upon their knees to receive the
benediction. They make frequent use of holy water for their houses,
at their meals, in their grain-fields, and for their sick; indeed,
to drink a swallow of it they consider an efficacious remedy. In
short, all that I see in them is piety and devotion--which is all
the more precious since they are Christians so recently converted. An
old man asked on his knees for baptism, and, as it was necessary to
defer the sacrament, he said with his hands crossed upon his breast:
'Father, teach me how to invoke God, since I do not know how to
pray and thou wilt not baptize me; for I truly reverence Him in
my soul, and desire to serve Him:' Another old man--a chief, whom
all respect--who hitherto had been obdurate, has just asked me for
baptism; he is very hoary, and so old that it seems as if he could
not, from very age, utter a word. I go to his house to instruct him,
for he is too feeble to come to the church. I shall soon baptize him,
and another old man of his age; and it seems to me a certain proof
of their predestination that God should have kept them so long, and
now have inspired in them so ardent a desire to be saved. The Lord be
blessed, amen! for His marvels, who from the stones can raise sons of
God and heirs of heaven, at the time and hour that pleases Him, and by
instruments most inadequate, so that all may know that it is the work
of His power. Up to this time we have in this island three thousand
three hundred Christians, and I am confident in the Divine goodness
that by next year there will not be one man who is not baptized."

The mission held in Tanai. Chapter LXXI.

Tanai is a beautiful and thickly-settled river in the great island
called Negros, on the side which forms a strait with the island of
Sebu. This part of the island is under the parochial care of Don
Diego Ferreira, the bishop's vicar there, and first archdeacon of
the cathedral of Sebu. This priest, in his great affection for our
humble Society, and influenced by seeing the results of our fathers'
labors in those islands--aided by the demand of the natives of
Tanai themselves, who had at various times asked for us--so urgently
requested our presence there that at last the authorities were obliged
to consent. Overjoyed that they had assigned this field to Father
Gabriel Sanchez, whom he held in great esteem, the said Don Diego went
in person to Bohol with a ship, expressly to convey Father Sanchez,
and carried him to their Tanai. What this faithful minister of Jesus
Christ accomplished there the Indians themselves made known, and the
archdeacon lauded it in various letters, being most grateful to God
and to the Society for this service that we had rendered him. We
gave him therein no little aid in carrying his burden of the many
souls which are under his care, alone as he is, without any other
assistance or instruction than ours. But Father Gabriel Sanchez, with
his accustomed plainness, has written a more detailed account of some
particular cases, while making a report of his labors to the superiors,
as is the custom among us. In a letter to the father-visitor, dated
in November of the year one thousand six hundred, he writes thus:

"The archdeacon of Sebu, who holds the benefice of Tanai--a venerable
and meritorious man, as your Reverence well knows--went in person to
the island of Bohol, twelve leguas away, to beseech Father Alonso de
Umanes, our superior, to send, for God's love, a father to teach his
people the law of God, since he himself did not know their language. I
was chosen, and it pleased our Lord to give us a good foothold in
the island; on the very first day we found all the people gathered
on the beach, awaiting us with music and other tokens of joy. We went
to the church, and there I began to address them and discuss our holy
faith. At the first or second sermon, your Reverence might have seen
almost all the people suddenly changed. Indeed, as they had not before
had any minister who could address them in their own language, they had
not, as I learned, been able to form any conception of the things of
God. When the light penetrated their souls, they were astonished; and,
full of joy, they began to ask one another, 'What is this?' They gazed
on me (poor wretch that I am), as on one descended from heaven. As the
greater number of those who assembled there were Christians, but had
not made their confession nor did they even know _si Spiritus Sanctus
est_, I discussed with them the remedy of confession, explaining its
purpose, and arousing their affection for it. Within one month about
four hundred persons made their confessions, with the utmost sorrow
for their sins; and many received communion, with such devotion that
to behold them inspired a like emotion. I baptized about eighty,
most of them infants, although there were a few adults. We instituted
the procession of children which, in our doctrinas, is wont to march
through the streets. We began, too, in the church to give instruction
and ask questions, which so pleased them that the chiefs answered them,
and were offended if we did not question them.

"During our stay several incidents occurred which I shall relate. An
Indian woman, wife of the governor of the village, and of high rank,
lay sick. One night her malady grew so violent that it left her without
power of speech. Believing her to be dead, they hastened to summon us
late in the night. When we arrived she was speechless and unconscious,
and they were bewailing her as one dead. It grieved me that the woman
should die in that state; for she had been a Christian for some years,
and yet had not attended confession (although she led a blameless life)
because there was no priest who knew her language. I was anxious that
she should, if only by a sign, ask for confession, but she could not
do even this. We repeated the gospel to her, sprinkling her with
holy water; and God, the Father of mercy, gave such efficacy to
these means that we had not finished reciting the holy gospel when
the woman regained consciousness and asked for confession, saying:
'Jesus, have mercy on me.' Many people were present on this occasion,
and we gave thanks to our Lord. Within ten minutes the sick woman was
as well as before her illness; accordingly, I would not confess her
in her own house, but left her, directing her people to bring her to
the church the next day. This was done, and on the following day she
confessed, to her great consolation. Another woman, also of rank,
was attacked by an illness so violent that she could not be held,
and even dashed herself against the walls. Finally, she was dying,
and they hastily summoned us; we read to her the gospel, as usual,
and gave her holy water. Then with much difficulty, on account of
the many persons who were in the house, I began to confess her before
she should die. But it was God's pleasure that, just as she began to
confess, her malady and the pains of death should be mitigated--so
fully that before her confession was concluded she was as well as
before. The next day she went to the church, and there, before many
persons, she made known the mercy which our Lord had shown to her the
night before. Another woman was reduced by sickness to the point of
death, so that she was speechless; her people hurriedly summoned us,
saying that she was already dead, and we found her unconscious, and
already lamented as dead. We recited the holy gospel, and gave her
holy water; and we had not yet finished the reading when the woman
regained her senses and said 'Jesus.' She then made her confession,
and even before we departed she had recovered health, and was offering
thanks to our Lord.

"They also called us in to see two children who were dying. We went
to them in haste, putting aside the confessions which we had on hand;
and found both of them speechless and unconscious--one of them with
no sign of respiration--and already bewailed as dead. We recited the
holy gospel to them, and gave them holy water; and soon we left them
so well that one of them, who was four or five years old, came down
that same day to play with the other children, and the other one soon
became well. We went to hear the confession of a man who lived a legua
and a half away from the village; he was so sick that they could not
bring him to the church, for his body was in such a state of corruption
that no one would touch him. We went to hear his confession and found
him in the condition which we have described; he could not even move
from one side to another. We sought to induce him to confess, and
repeated to him the holy gospel. This was on Friday or Saturday; on
the following Sunday, when I asked for him, they told me that he was
sound and well, and had gone to another island in quest of food. We
were informed that another, a pagan woman, was at the point of death;
at her request, we went to baptize her. I gave her this sacrament
in some haste, lest she should die on my hands; but after baptism
she regained her health. All these things aroused in their hearts a
deep affection for our Lord, and they recognized that what had been
preached to them was the truth, and that their idols are but demons.

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