Third Decade
[The first chapter recounts that papal permission was given to erect four novitiates in the convents in the four Spanish cities of Madrid, Valladolid, Zaragoza and Valencia.]
Chapter II
Foundation of the convent of Cigayan
The year 1612
The missionary fathers of the Philippinas Islands were free from anxiety, and were far from suffering the strife and upheaval that the Reform was enduring in España. However, in their great anxiety to guide souls to heaven, they did not desist from their fruitful conversion along the coasts of Zambàles. They needed associates to help them carry so heavy a burden; but notwithstanding that, in their sorrow for the lamentable loss of those who did not yet know God because of the lack of missionaries, after they had converted many infidels in the village of Cigayàn they set about founding a monastery there. They carried it out that year, and lived therein with all security until an Indian, instigated by the devil, laid violent hands on father Fray Alonso de San Augustin, whom he wounded severely in the throat with a very broad though short dagger, called igua in that country, which is made purposely for beheading a person at one blow—a vice common to the Zambàles, before they knew the sweet charity of the law which we profess. But as the stroke was first caught by the hood [of the father’s habit], the barbarian did not succeed in his purpose, which had been to behead him in a moment. But the wound did not heal readily, and consequently he lived but a little while. It is said that there was no further cause for the atrocious and profane act of the wicked parricide than the desire to free himself from the censures that that same father had administered to him for his crimes and wickedness. Thereupon, the Indians of the village rose in revolt, and after burning the church and the convent, fled to the mountains. However, some remained, who defended the other religious, and carried the wounded man to Masinglo. Consequently, the village was almost deserted. Afterward they tried, and successfully, to subdue the insurgents again. They succeeded by their energy and toil, and restored the settlement and church again to their former state for the administration of seven hundred souls or so, who were the last ones to comprehend the cry of the gospel.
It happened in this place that one Sunday, while father Fray Francisco de Santa Monica was in the church teaching the rudiments of the Catholic faith to the least intelligent Indians, they came to tell him that there was a certain woman, at a long legua’s distance from that place, dying of childbirth, who was entreating for baptism very earnestly. The said father left his exercise, and, seizing a staff, started to run so fast that, as he himself testified, it seemed as if he were flying through the air. He was not far wrong, for in less than one-half hour he reached the place or hut of the poor woman who was expiring, all swollen and black with the pain and anguish that she was suffering. He baptized her (and also instructed her as was necessary), and she immediately gave birth to an infant, which, although alive, was much deformed because of the danger of the mother. After it had been washed likewise from the original sin in which all we children of Adam are born, they both died, to the joy and wonder of that minister at seeing the depth of the divine decrees in regard to the predestination of those souls.
[Chapters iii, iv, and v treat of the European affairs of the order.]
Chapter VI
All of the charges against the Reform are annulled by a brief, and the fifth provincial chapter is held, with the prorogation which they claimed. Two convents are established and a mission arranged for the Philippinas.
The year 1616
[By a papal decree of May twenty-one, new life is given to the Recollect order, and their future assured. On the return of Father Gregorio de Santa Catalina, the chapter which had been delayed until that time was held. In this chapter, discretos (or persons elected as assistants in the council of the order) and visitors were abolished, the latter having been found more expensive than useful. The title of chief preacher was not to be given to anyone, as it tended to destroy the democratic principles of the order. A section on the founding of the college of Caudiel in Spain follows, and then the last section of this chapter, which is also the last of this volume in re the Philippines.]
Foundation of the convent of Cabite
Inasmuch as we have left our religious busily occupied in the lofty ministry of the conversion of the infidels, it will be advisable for us to turn our attention to them, on the present occasion, praising their great zeal. Much more must we do so, since they advanced with so few workers to do all that their forces were able, both in the preaching of the gospel, and in the spread of their houses, in order that they might serve with energy in the no small toil that was theirs. That convent of Cabite seemed to be necessary; and they did not deceive themselves, for, although only two leguas distant from Manila, it is of considerable consequence for the conversion of many souls, as Cabite is a port where men of not a few Asiatic nations assemble for the sake of its commerce, which is remarkable. Hence that place comes to be the largest one in the Philippinas Islands after the said metropolis, and all the seamen live there, in order to be conveniently near to its traffic and its trade. With such a motive, that convent was founded by father Fray Andres del Espiritu Santo, and under so good auspices that it has been of use to the service of God and to the credit of the Reform, because of the spiritual blessing that it has obtained, as well as by the esteem in which it has been held, as the various people who come there from the most remote and distant kingdoms have experienced the example and instruction of Ours. Divine Omnipotence has there made illustrious, for the feeding of hearts, a devout image of our Lady of Rule [Nuestra Señora de Regla]—modeled from the one that protects and defends the Andalusian shores between Cadiz and San Lucar—especially favoring through her means the poor sailors in the continual dangers of their fearful duty. So many are the vows that attest her miracles, that it would be a digression to have to mention them.
While the useful foundation of that convent was being directed in Philippinas, father Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel was in España, working carefully and diligently in order to get the necessary despatches to conduct helpers suitable for the prosecution of the spiritual conquest that had been happily commenced among the Zambàles. The vigilance employed by two commissaries to get the so desired subsidy for his brothers was disappointed by death, and by the opposition we have already related. Consequently, the few who were fighting the devil in the enclosure did not desist, and sent the above-named father—since he was the most fitting person that could be found for the attainment of such an enterprise—to whom they consigned papers of great moment, as a testimonial of the work and of the fruit which they were gathering with the gain of souls. Our calced fathers themselves affirmed it, to the confusion of those who here opposed father Fray Francisco de la Madre de Dios, and their ministries and desires. The father embarked with great haste, but as he was coming on an affair of heaven, misfortunes were not wanting in the world, and he endured very heavy ones. He himself mentioned them in a relation that he made to Pope Urban Eighth at the latter’s command, when he reached his feet, as the ambassador of certain schismatic princes of the Orient (as we shall relate in detail when we come to the year of that event). The father declares, then, that having suffered a severe storm amid the islands—during which the vessels anchored at Manila were wrecked—he sailed immediately toward Japòn. Thence, after suffering other tempests, they finally sighted Cape Mendocino in forty-four degrees of latitude. Then coasting along the shores of Nueva España (which was composed of inaccessible mountains), and through unknown seas (in which he saw great monsters), for the distance of one thousand leguas, he sighted the cape of San Lucas. There the gulf of the Californias begins. The father anchored in Acapulco, the best of the ports known to the pilots, after having spent more than seven months on the voyage. He went to Mexico and to Vera Cruz; and, continuing his journey and encountering a new storm on the ocean, was driven to the coasts of Terranova [i.e., Newfoundland] and of Labrador. As a consequence so much shortness of food was experienced that only two onzas of biscuit were given to each man, and about the same amount of water. The ship began to leak, so that it was as if by a miracle that it was able to put in at the Terceras. There they refitted, and the father finished his navigation, by coming to Cadiz, after having made to that point from Manila seven thousand one hundred and sixty leguas, in the manner that we have seen. Thence he went to Madrid, and was given favorable audience; and everything that he petitioned was conceded to him. But when twenty religious had been assembled, although they were even about ready to sail in the fleet that was being sent with reenforcements to the Malucas, the father’s luck turned against him with the order that was received, for the boats that were ready not to sail. Consequently, he was accommodated on the fleet of Nueva España, but with very few religious. However they proved to be many, because of the lack of religious in the ministries and convents of the Indias....
[1] Following is a translation of the title page of this work, a facsimile of which is here presented:
“General history of the discalced religious of the Order of the hermits of the great father and doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, of the congregation of España and of the Indias. To his Catholic Majesty our sovereign Felipe Fourth. By father Fray Andres de San Nicolas, son of the same congregation, its chronicler, and rector of the college of Alcalá de Henàres. Volume first. From the year M.D.LXXXVIII. to that of M.DC.XX. Divided into three decades. With privilege. In Madrid. Printed by Andres de la Iglesia. Year M.DC.LXIV.”
[2] Fray Juan de San Jerónimo was born at Malagón, Spain; he became a priest, and when already in middle life entered the discalced Augustinian order at Talavera, in 1593, making his profession in the following year. He soon attained high standing in this new order, and was the envoy sent to Rome to negotiate its separation from the regular Augustinians and secure approval for its constitution. In 1602 he was elected its first provincial, and under his rule the order flourished and spread in Spain. He was nominated to the bishopric of Chiapa, in Nueva España, but declined this honor that he might devote himself to foreign missions. Arriving at the Philippines in 1606, he organized there his mission, built a convent at Bagunbayan, and undertook the conversion of the natives in the province of Zambales. The convent expanded into a college, but its buildings were demolished in 1644. Being soon afterward rebuilt, it lasted until the eighteenth century, when it was again torn down. San Jerónimo had charge of it during two years; but, his health being much enfeebled, he set out on the return to Spain. When in sight of Ormuz, he died, in 1610. See account of his life in San Nicolás’s Historia, pp. 469, 470; and in Provincia de S. Nicolás de Tolentino (Manila, 1879), pp. 20–23.
[3] This and various other accents which are grave instead of acute follow the text of the original work.
[4] Andrés de San Nicolás died at sea, when the ship was in sight of the Ladrone Islands.
Miguel de Santa María, after reaching Manila, was assigned to the settlement of Mariveles; but the natives were angered at his preaching, and stoned him so severely that he died from the effects of this attack, in the Manila convent.
Jerónimo de Christo was an old man when he departed for the Philippine mission, but was noted for his learning and ability. He was elected prior of the Manila convent, and afterward vicar-provincial in San Jerónimo’s absence; and died while in active service in the missions, in 1608.
[5] Pedro de San Fulgencio soon afterward returned to Europe, to obtain more missionaries; having made arrangements for their voyage, he died on reaching Milan.
Diego de la Anunciacion, born in 1565, made his profession in the Recollect convent at Madrid, in 1597; and held several high positions in his order before he entered the Philippine mission. He was superior of the convent at Bagunbayan, and afterward prior. After some years he returned to Spain, where he spent the rest of his life, dying December 13, 1625.
[6] Rodrigo de Agandum Moriz (in religion, Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel) was born in Valladolid—or, according to some authorities, in Orio of Guipuzcoa—in 1584, and entered the discalced Augustinian order at the age of fourteen years. Joining the Philippine mission in 1606, he ministered to the natives in various districts of Luzón with great acceptance, employing his poetical talents in teaching the Christian faith to the Indians. In 1614 he went to Spain for more missionaries, returning to the islands in 1617–18. Again voyaging to Europe (1622), he went, via India and Persia, to Rome, where he arrived in 1626. Declining the pope’s offer to make him a bishop and patriarch in the Indias, he planned a mission to Chaldea; but he died at Orio, while en route to Madrid, December 26, 1626. He left several manuscript works, mainly historical, among which was Historia general de las islas accidentales á la Asia adyacentes, llamadas Philipinas; this was published in Documentos inéditos para la historia de España, tomos lxxviii and lxxix (Madrid, 1882), but it was apparently left unfinished by the author, the part that is extant treating mainly of the early explorations by Magalhães and Villalobos, and of the history of the Moluccas.
In the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla, is the following letter from Felipe IV to a brother of Fray Rodrigo:
“The King. It has been learned in the Council of the Indias that father Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel, a discalced Augustinian religious, who is said to be a brother of your Grace, brought from the Yndias a general history of the Filipinas Islands, compiled with great care, as, in order to write it, he had examined the archives and authentic memoirs of those regions; that it has been lately our Lord’s pleasure to take father Fray Rodrigo, who has died in Vizcaya; and that your Grace was given two of his books, especially the above history. And inasmuch as that work would be very important for what is written on the general history of the said islands by order of his Majesty, the matter having been discussed with the father provincial of the said order, in which the latter has declared that the said history is in possession of your Grace; the Council has directed me to write to your Grace, in its name, that it would be greatly to the service of his Majesty for your Grace to send me the said history for the said purpose. And if your Grace wish remuneration for it, or that it be returned after having used it for the said purpose, your Grace will advise me of what you desire in this matter, so that those gentlemen may know it, and so that the advisable measures may be taken. May God preserve your Grace, as I desire. Madrid, May seventeen, one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven.
Antonio Gonzalez de Legardo
On the receipt of this letter, I beg your Grace to advise me immediately, for the Council anxiously awaits a reply because of the history.” (Pressmark: “est. 139, caj. 1, leg. 15.”)
[7] Andrés del Espíritu Santo was born at Valladolid in 1585, and made his profession at Portillo in 1601. Entering the Philippine mission, he began his labors with the natives in the province of Zambales, where he was very successful. In 1609, and again in 1615, he was chosen vicar-provincial. Afterward going to Spain for more missionaries, he returned to the islands in 1622, and four years later became provincial, as again in 1632. The rest of his life was spent at Manila, where he died in 1658.
[8] A city between Vera Cruz and Mexico City, more commonly known as Puebla; it was founded about 1530, and became the seat of the diocese in 1550, and soon was a flourishing agricultural and manufacturing center.
[9] Instituto: constitution, or rules of observance, adopted by the order.
[10] “Now I shall die happy.”
[11] Luís de Jesús states (Historia, p. 79) that this name is a corruption of Manavilis.
[12] Cf. the accounts by Loarca (Vol. V of this series) and Plasencia (Vol. VII).
[13] This tree (Mangifera altísima) resembles the mango, but its fruit is much smaller. The tree grows to a greater height than the mango. The fruit is eaten by the natives, being used with vinegar. See Blanco’s Flora.
[14] “Behold the cross of the Lord. Flee, ye adverse ones. The lion of Judah is conqueror.”
[15] Antonio de San Agustin was born in Manila, the son of Francisco de las Misas, and made his profession in the Recollect convent there, in December, 1614. He was a minister in various places, and had been prior of several convents. In 1658, while returning from an official visit to the Calamianes Islands, he was captured by Moros, who slew him. At the time of his death he was sixty-six years old.
[16] The first father named above was afflicted by a grievous plague of vermin [chinches—literally, “bedbugs”], seemingly after a request that he might suffer his purgatory on earth. At the time of his death, “raising his voice and saying, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum, he expired, without making another movement. Immediately the chinches disappeared and not one could be found, although one could gather than by handfuls before, as they say.”
[17] The Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, one of the “sacred congregations” of the Catholic Church, was founded in 1622, by Pope Gregory XV, conferring upon it most ample powers for the propagation of the faith, and especially for the superintendence of missions in countries where heretics or infidels had to be evangelized. The jurisdiction proper of the congregation extends to all territories which are governed more missionum, or as missionary countries—not by the bishops of the regular hierarchy, but by prefects and vicars apostolic. It has, moreover, legislative and judicial power. See Hoffmanns’ Catholic Directory, 1896, p. 48.
[18] The status of a tertiary, or “member of the third order,” was originated by St. Francis of Assisi, after the foundation of his own order, and that of the Minorite nuns who lived under a rule prescribed by him. In 1221 he instituted a third order, the members of which, men and women, should be bound by rule to more unworldliness of life, pious devotion, and works of mercy than those of ordinary persons living in the world. He called them “Brothers and Sisters of Penance.” They had to take a year’s novitiate, and a simple vow to observe the rule. Many tertiaries, in course of time, desired to take solemn vows and live in community, while still conforming to the rule of the Third Order; thus arose various congregations of tertiary monks and nuns. Other religious orders had their Third Order; that of the Augustinians was established at the beginning of the fifteenth century. (Addis and Arnold’s Catholic Dictionary, p. 792.)