Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapterThough the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapterThough the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapterThough the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapterThough the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapterThough the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Chapter LIThe coming of some religious to the province, and the transactions of the intermediate chapter
Though the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.
Though the procurator whom this province had in España [i.e., Benavides] had become bishop of Nueva Segovia, he gave his main attention to the augmentation of the province, having seen with his own eyes the service done by the religious here to the Lord, and their service to their neighbors. So, though he had sent off two shipments [of missionaries], he prepared to send a third, whom he should accompany when he went to his bishopric. So greatly had the hearts of the religious of all the provinces in España been moved that sixty were found gathered and assembled together, having been designated by Father Juan Volante. They were all far advanced in religion and letters, which are the excellences that the order desires and strives for in its sons, that they may fulfil the command of its institutes, by laboring not only for their own salvation, but for that of others. It happened at this time that the English found the city of Cadiz unguarded and unprepared, and sacked it.22This aroused a great excitement in all the ports of Andalucia; and the announcement was made that in that year there would be no fleet for Nueva España. Though all these religious were at that time in or near Andalucia, they returned to their provinces of España and Aragon whence they had set out, with the exception of some few who waited to see the end of this matter. Although it was true that there was no fleet, a rumorspread that some ships were being fitted out for the voyage. Hereupon the bishop—who had come on foot from Madrid, but had been several days on the return journey because of the misfortune which had happened—took courage and went to the port a second time, reassembling the religious as well as he could. With these, and with some others who offered themselves, he made up a reasonable number. When they reached the port they found that the ships which were about to sail were only some galizabras, with troops who were going to guard the silver which came from Peru and Nueva España. It seemed that for a second time the purpose of the bishop and the religious had been frustrated and their labor wasted; but God sent them a patache or fragata, with only one deck, which was to carry the baggage and the ship’s stores; but it had no accommodations for passengers, and was not designed to carry them, because of its small size. In spite of this, their willingness to suffer even greater evils for God made them despise the hardships which they might suffer by making so long a voyage on so uncomfortable a vessel, and they determined to sail in it. They spread the only tarpaulin which there was, that they might have some defense from the sun and the rain. They could not place it high enough for them to stand under it, and whenever the sea was rough the waves dashed over it; but, as there was no better ship, the bishop and the religious had to take advantage of this one. The Lord felt such compassion for their discomfort as to give them fair weather, so that during the sixty days of their voyage it only rained twice: thus they were able to sleep on deck, and at least to enjoy the coolness of nightif they could not avoid the heat of the day. During the voyage, they acted as if they were in a very well-organized convent. The bishop filled the place of reader; and upon what he read they held daily conferences, and very frequent sermons and spiritual discourses. On the great feasts they had, as it were, literary contests, composing verses in praise of God and of His saints. Being thus very well occupied, they felt the discomfort of the ship less; and as a result of the fair weather they were all cheerful. The bishop alone was silent—so much so that his religious became anxious, and felt obliged to ask him the reason. He answered: “I am afraid, fathers, that the Lord does not look upon us as His own, so much happiness does He grant us in so cramped a ship. Such fair weather, and not more than one religious sick; we are not what we ought to be, for the Lord has sent us no hardships. My coming was sufficient to prevent you from receiving that blessing.” When they reached Mexico, he planned to buy a house where the religious who came to this province from that of España might be cared for. He wished to avoid scattering them among the towns, the evil results of which had already been learned by experience. He found someone to make a gift of a piece of land suited for the purpose, with the obligation of building a church upon it named for St. Just and Pastor. The writings were already made out; but afterward, because of difficulties which arose, the agreement went no further and had to be given up.
The voyage which they made from Acapulco to Manila was very prosperous. The religious having been divided between the two ships, those who embarked in the flagship, called “Rosario,” were unableto get their ship-stores on board because of the great hurry of the commander, Don Fernando de Castro. But God provided for them from the ocean; for every day without exception they fished from that ship, and thus the food of the religious was supplied. This is something which never happened before or since that voyage to any ship. Being so extraordinary, it caused astonishment, and gave reason for reflecting upon and praising the divine Providence, which with so free a hand comes to the aid of those who depend upon it in their need. The intermediate provincial chapter was in session when the bishop and the religious reached Manila; and thus they were received joyfully and gladly, and the meeting was enriched by their presence. Religious were assigned to the conversion of villages which, though they had been admitted for their own comfort and for the sake of somewhat encouraging the holy desires with which they so eagerly begged for missionaries, could not hitherto obtain them, because of the lack of missionaries to send. In the convent of Manila a regular school of theology and arts was established. The chapter appointed as preacher-general father Fray Diego de Soria in place of father Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had hitherto held this place and had now become bishop. Because of the small number of religious and of convents up to this time, it had been customary that some should be designated from the distant provinces to come and vote in the provincial chapters, although they were not superiors. Now, however, as there was a sufficient number of convents and of superiors, vicariates were designated, the vicars of which were to be in the place of priors. These andno others were now to have a vote in the provincial chapter, in conformity with the constitutions and privileges of the provinces of the Indias. It was also ordained that the confirmation of the newly-elected provincial should belong to the eldest definitor, according to the privilege of Nueva España, which is likewise that of this province. At this chapter there were received: in Nueva Segovia the village of Dumon, the church of which at that time was called San Antonino; the villages of Gatarang and Talapa, with the church of Sancta Catalina; and the village on the estuary of Lobo, the church of which was San Raymundo. The title of vicariate was given to San Pablo of Pilitan in Yrraya.23In this place it seemed that another climate had been found, different from that of the rest of this province, other fields and spacious meadows, another temperature, and another race of people. The country is very fertile, and abounds in game. It is very well watered, very pleasant and very healthful, although at first it did not seem so for the religious. The first vicar straightway died, and those whom he took as associates were afflicted with severe illness. For this reason and because of the distance from the other convents, it seemed to many that it would be best to abandon it; but the desire prevailed to go to the aid of those souls, though at the cost of health and life, since on no occasion could these be better offered. [The devil greatly resented their coming, and complainedand uttered frightful howlings through the mouths of his priestesses or aniteras. The coming of the missionaries and the building of churches forced him to show himself in his true light to his deluded followers. He often appeared to them in dreams, bidding them resist and not become Christians. When they reminded him that he did not resist, he answered that he could not endure the sight of “those barbarians with white teeth.” He called the religious “barbarians,” because of their little knowledge of the language at the beginning; and he spoke of their white teeth because the Indians regard this as a blemish, and make their own teeth black.] In this mission of Pilitan the fathers found a madman with a child, whom they desired to baptize as other children generally were baptized; the father feared that they wished to take it away, and never left it. He ate with it, slept with it, and went to the bath with it. He did all he could to give it pleasure, but as a madman would. Hence, often, in bathing it, he plunged it down so far under the water that he drew it out half dead. The religious was in great anxiety, fearing some disaster, and finally baptized it. Soon after, the father caught a venomous serpent, ate it, and caused his child to share in the meal. They both died, but the child to live forever, thanks to the care of the missionary in baptizing it so as to give it grace and glory. [From the last village which at that time had been discovered, which was named Balisi, an Indian came with his family to that of Pilitan to spend a few days. He brought with him his little daughter, who was only six years old. She was so bright and charming that all who saw her loved her. She grew so fond of the churchthat, though she was a heathen, she wept bitterly when she was obliged by her father to return to their own village. Soon after, falling sick to death, she was baptized by a Spaniard named Alonso Vazquez, who happened to be there. The Lord showed His kindness in several other striking or marvelous instances of baptism. In one case a little girl was very ill and the father had given his permission for baptism, but the relatives and all the rest of the village resisted. Father Antonio de Soria went there and asked him that they would let him look at her to cure her. Spreading over her a moist cloth which he had brought purposely, he cured her soul, which was soon to taste the joys of eternal salvation.
To the province of Pangasinan there was added by this chapter a church and village, that of San Jacintho, which was formed here of people from different regions, on a very pleasant river named Magaldan,24the inhabitants gathering to it from several villages and some from the mountains of the region. The Lord showed His kindness to one woman by striking her with blindness when she purposed to run away from the baptism which she had promised to receive, and by thus bringing her back to the salvation of her soul.
At this time the Lord took to himself father Fray Antonio de Soria, one of the first missionaries of Nueva Segovia.He did not enter upon the religious life, as generally happens, when he was in boyhood or youth, but in mature manhood. He had been left a widower; and though he had sons to care for, he provided for them in such a way that he was nolonger needed to attend to them. Being thus left free for the service of God alone, he determined to become a religious, and was accepted in the convent of our order at Puebla de Los Angeles, in Nueva España. Most persons of this age and condition, especially when they have lived in the luxuries which are common in Nueva España, find it difficult to accommodate themselves to the severities of religious life, both in little and in great things. Father Antonio was not such. He began with the greatest humility to study Latin, and became a master of the tongue. He entered upon greater studies, following them with such success that he was made lecturer in arts and a director of students. And as he was so superior not only in his learning, but also in virtue, he was also appointed master of novices, which is the same thing as being a teacher of the religious life. He joined the fathers who came to these islands in 1595, and became one of the first missionaries to the province of Nueva Segovia, there suffering all the want, discomfort, and hunger which have been described. The first results of his mission were at Camalaniugan, where he drove a demon out of a woman who was possessed. In the following provincial chapter, he was appointed superior of Nueva Segovia, to preach to and teach and guide the Spanish, who in these new conquests need the best of teachers. For his consolation they gave him the care of the villages of Camalaniugan and Buguey. Not satisfied with all this, he also took charge of the village of Daludu.] There lived in that city Captain Alonso de Carvajal, encomendero of Pilitan, which is distant from the city five or more days’ journey. He collected his tribute from the natives, and desiredto give them a minister, as he was obliged; but he was unable to find anyone who was willing to undertake the mission. He accordingly urged father Fray Antonio to go to visit these Indians and their country, called Yrraya, to see if he could attract them to the law of God and the belief in His holy gospel. The journey was long and hard, not only because it was up the river, but because there were enemies on the road; and, besides, there was no religious to leave in his place. Yet the desire of converting heathen was so strong in father Fray Antonio that he overcame all these obstacles and went to this new spiritual conquest, in which all of the rest of the religious soon aided him. He preached the holy gospel, and the Lord gave him such favor with that tribe, that he led them by his command like tame sheep. The credit which they gave to his teaching was such that long after, when Christianity was more settled in Yrraya, and there was some difficulty in rooting out some superstition which had remained among them, the old people said: “If father Fray Antonio had commanded us that, there would not now be a trace of it, or anyone to contradict him.” To build the church in the village of Pilitan, he threw down the hut of an old woman, a noted anitera, by whom the devil gave answers to the questions which were asked him. As this was done in this hut, the devil regarded it as his own, and therefore greatly resented the overthrow of it. This he said on many occasions, and he even sometimes said that he had killed the father for tearing down his hut. But in this the Father of Lies should not be credited; for, as he often confessed, he was not able to appear before the religious; howmuch less, then, to kill them. The manner of living followed by this father among these Indians was exemplary, and such as to cause wonder among them. He suffered and endured many hardships, and hunger and want, that he might not inconvenience them. He was at once the master and the servant, at the house. In order that a boy who served him by preparing his food might not be offended at the work, the father went to the river and carried the water that he had to drink; he was the sacristan who cared for the church, the porter who closed and opened the doors of the house. He it was who attended to everything that was needed, that he might not trouble any persons by making them serve him. It was a journey of a day and a half from Pilitan to the village of Nalavangan. He went there and built a church, and baptized many; for the spirit of Fray Antonio was to undertake much, and he was never contented with that which would have seemed excessive to others. While he was engaged in these holy exercises, the time of the intermediate chapter arrived, and he was obliged to go to it to Manila. Here he was definitor, and gave an account of the good work which was being wrought by the Lord in the conversion of Yrraya. The chapter, feeling that the Lord had chosen him therefor, appointed him as first vicar of San Pablo at Pilitan. He returned in great contentment, because he was going where he would have more to do than in other places, much as there was to do everywhere, since all of these were new conversions, where the labor is great and the ease very little. When he was among his children he gave himself with such devotion to the labor of the ministry that within six months he wasattacked by a mortal disease, which obliged him to return to the city to be cared for. Here, when he had received the holy sacrament, he gave up his soul to his Creator, to the great sorrow of all the religious, who were greatly afflicted to lose such a father and associate. He made some compositions in the language of the natives, which served as a guide to those who followed him; but the greatest guidance that he gave was that of his life spent and consumed in these so holy exercises.