Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
Chapter XXIIISome miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the preaching in this province
[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]
[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these regions by many marvelous works. FatherFray Alonso Montero,20a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: “There was a child here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, perhaps they will give him to you.” After they had refused him, too, the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms and said to him in the Castilian language, “Come to me, child of my heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, and to do thee good,” the child, as if it had understood Castilian (of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon himas if thanking him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, began to scream and said, “Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a Christian.” They kept this up for some time till the father let him go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out to father Fray Bernardo, and said: “Let us ask him now if he wishes to be a Christian.” He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they might not suppose that the virtue of this mostnecessary sacrament had an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms—even then not regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, by which he was converted.He put away all his wives but the first, though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed over and failed to mention.]