Petition for Dominican Missionaries
Fray Francisco de Villalva of the Order of Preachers, and procurator-general (in virtue of powers which he presents) of the province of Santo Rosario, which the said order has in the Filipinas Islands, declares: That, as is well known, the religious of his order in the said islands have converted to the Catholic faith, and now have in their charge, the provinces of Cagayan, Pangasinan, Mandayas, part of Tagalos, Zambales, and the island of Babuyanes—in which territory there is diversity of languages, and a great number of convents provided with ministers for the instruction of the Indian natives; from this labor always has been and still is gathered the spiritual harvest which is well known. Moreover, those fathers have made extensive conquests in various parts of those kingdoms, founding many churches—as they actually are maintaining public worship at this very time in the vast empire of Great China. There they are suffering immense hardships and persecutions, shedding their blood in the violent acts committed by tyranny, in order to plant there the Christian faith and religion; for this cause, and in its defense, seventy-eight religious have given their lives as martyrs in that province, leaving the church made illustrious by this triumph. And besides this, they have in the city of Manila their principal convent, which continually maintains the practices of hearing confessions, preaching, and giving consolation in the sicknesses and trials of the citizens, with great comfort to all. They have also the college of Santo Tomàs, in which are taught grammar, the arts, and scholastic and moral theology, to the benefit of all that community and the entire archipelago. They support students holding fellowships, usually twenty-four to thirty, without receiving any stipend: and have thus sent out, as they are still doing, graduates of much learning, for the dignities and curacies of those islands. They have also another college, that of San Juan de Letran, with more than a hundred orphan boys, the sons of poor soldiers who have died in the service of your Majesty—giving them all that is necessary for their support, and instructing them in reading, writing, religious conduct, and virtue; while those boys who are not inclined to study are aided in obtaining positions as soldiers, artillerists, mariners, and in other occupations in which they are employed to the service of your Majesty. Another enterprise is also at the expense and charge of the said religious order and province—the Parian, which is the silk-market of the Chinese; it is close to the walls of Manila, and from five to six thousand Chinamen usually reside in it. For the Christians preaching in their own language is furnished every feast-day in their own church, and there is continual preaching to the heathen through the streets; with this labor they have made a great many conversions, and gained an enormous number of souls. For this same nation those fathers maintain a hospital, in which, with the good example of those religious, and their instruction and continual assistance in the sicknesses of the Chinese, they have gained so great a harvest that from its foundation (which was in the former year of 1588) to the present year of 1677,[1] seldom has a patient died without receiving the water of holy baptism. This religious order also have at San Juan del Monte a sanctuary which is the object of devotion of all that colony; and at the port of Cavite, three leguas distant from Manila—where the galleons and other vessels of smaller size are built—they have the convent of San Thelmo, the religious of which assist the soldiers, mariners, and sailors with their preaching and instruction, so that all of them may live Christian and orderly lives.
This religious province administers the functions entrusted to it without any worldly advantage, receiving neither imposts nor fees for burials, marriages, feast-days, or sermons—its religious being supported only by the stipend which your Majesty assigns to the ministers in the mission villages; and from this amount they spend much and distribute [alms] among the poor and needy Indians of their districts. Nor is there in any convent of the said province any fixed income; nor has the province ever accepted deposits or valuable articles, or permitted its individual religious to keep these things in their cells, or anything except a breviary and the holy Bible, for the preaching of the holy gospel. Their clothing is of coarse, rough frieze without, and their inner garments of what your Majesty (whom may God guard) grants them as alms. All this is evident by the publicity of the facts, and by official information which on various occasions has been sent to the glorious Catholic sovereigns, your Majesty’s predecessors, and to their royal and supreme Council of the Indias by the governor and royal Audiencia of the islands, and the cabildos, ecclesiastical and secular, of the said city of Manila.
In consideration of these things, and of the fact that so numerous Christian communities are persevering in the Catholic faith, and that these are spreading with the new conversions, his Majesty who is now in glory, moved by the fervent zeal which he always had for the good of souls, continued to send to the said islands religious of the Order of St. Dominic, in order that by their apostolic lives and doctrine they might teach and preach the holy gospel. And finally, in the past year of 1668 her Highness the queen-regent, the mother of your Majesty, was pleased to grant permission that some of those religious should go thither at the cost of the royal treasury; in accordance with this thirty-three religious went to those islands, thirty priests and three lay brethren.[2] But, although that permission and the number of missionaries were enough for one shipment, they do not suffice for the succor of so many souls as that province has in its charge, and for the new conversions which continually present themselves. Moreover, with the long voyage, the unaccustomed climates, the continual toil, and the austerity which is observed by this province—which follows the primitive rule of its order—the number of its members must necessarily diminish. This has actually been the case, since from the time when permission was given for the last shipload of religious, which was nine years ago, a greater number have died than those who went to the islands in that band, as was evident from the last reports which the said province sent [to España], and which the petitioner will exhibit, if necessary. And today, counting in the sick, crippled, and old men, there are not ninety priests in the said province; and even though there were many more, since more are actually necessary it is highly expedient that other and fresh religious should go thither, that they may be rendering themselves capable in the languages and ministries, so that ready and intelligent laborers may never be lacking for the instruction and teaching of the natives, and for the new conversions, which our sovereigns the Catholic kings of España have so earnestly striven to maintain and increase, sending religious every four or six years, and sometimes every two years; without the ministries being less than they are now, nor do fewer die now than then.
In order to provide those who should go, and to find the number for whom your Majesty shall be pleased to grant permission, to obtain information about them, to examine into their virtue and learning, and to secure a judicious choice, the petitioner needs about a year, in which time he can go personally to the convents of the three provinces of España; for the importance of so delicate a matter will not permit that it be entrusted to letters alone. Accordingly, he should have at least the time until St. John’s day next, or when the first fleet shall be equipped; otherwise he cannot sail from España and make a voyage to Filipinas with religious. To reach those islands, two years are usually required, and at the very least more than one year; and by that time eleven or twelve years will have passed since the last permission [of that sort]. In that protracted course of time, there must necessarily have occurred many deaths among the laborers who work in that vineyard—of whose labor and conversion of souls God has made watch-towers for our sovereigns the Catholic kings of España, and for their royal and supreme Council of the Indias, upon whom is laid this heavy weight of obligation—in fulfilling which they have always made every exertion, giving permissions, orders, means, and aid to the ministers who have gone thither to cultivate that field.
Therefore the said province, and the said Fray Francisco de Villalva in its name, have recourse to the kindness and fervent zeal of your Majesty, with which you have always striven for the preservation and propagation of the Catholic faith; and prostrate at your royal feet he entreats that your Majesty will be pleased to take pity on so many souls and the conversions for which the religious of St. Dominic are caring and in which they are laboring in the said Filipinas Islands. They ask that you will grant to the said province forty religious,[3] and a suitable number of lay brethren; and to the petitioner permission to conduct them thither in his company, and the necessary supplies for him and them, so that on the first opportunity when there is a fleet they may embark for their voyage. In this, God our Lord will regard himself as well served; and that poor and remote province will be anew constrained, in return for this favor and grace, to continue its prayers and sacrifices for the life and health of your Majesty, and for the welfare and increase of your entire monarchy.
[1] So in the text; probably a typographical error, since Villalba did not leave the Philippines until 1683, and remained in Nueva España until at least 1686 (Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 79–80). It is probable that this document was written at least as late as 1687, for confirmation of which see Villalba’s own statement, post, that the mission band for which he was asking would go about eleven or twelve years after the last concession of this sort had been made; the mission before this one had reached Manila in August, 1679.
[2] In the Dominican mission of 1671 came thirty-five religious (Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 101–194).
[3] The mission which came to the islands in 1694 contained forty-three religious, besides four others who remained in Nueva España. (Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 363–457.)