[Father Fray Thomas de Zumarraga and brother Fray Mancio de Sancto Thomas were greatly grieved that they should have been left behind when the other fathers and brethren went to martyrdom; but soon afterward their grief was taken away, and the door of the prison opened that they might go forth to be executed at Nangasaqui. It was no small grief to the saints not to see the Christians in the streets, who had withdrawn themselves from fear of the emperor’s edict. The martyrs died courageously. The holy Fray Francisco de Morales was a native of Madrid. He assumed the habit in the convent of San Pablo at Valladolid, where he professed and began his studies. He was afterward a student in the college of San Gregorio in the same city, and became afterward a lecturer in arts in his own convent. Thence he went to the Philipinas, where he spent some time as a teacher of theology and as preacher to the Spaniards in the city of Manila. One Good Friday some Japanese happened to enter the church; and father Fray Francisco was so much affected by the sight that when he returned to his cell he was sighing and sobbing, and repeating, “To Japon, to Japon!” At the provincial chapter in the convent in 1602 he was prior, and was appointed definitor. At this time one of the subjects discussed was the answer to be made to the king of Satçuma, who had earnestly begged for friars of St. Dominic for his kingdom. The holy friar Fray Francisco de Morales was appointed superior to the missionaries in Japon, by the voice of all. In time of peace he built many churches; he gained many souls for God, and at last he attained the martyr’s crown. The holy Fray Thomas de Zumarraga was a native of the city of Victoria in Vizcaya, and a son of the convent of the Order of St. Dominic in that city. He studied in the college of San Gregorio at Valladolid. He accompanied Father Francisco de Morales to Japon and attained an elegant mastery of the language of that country, in which he lived twenty years, five of them in prison. The holy Fray Alonso de Mena was a native of the city of Logroño; he was a son of the famous convent of San Estevan at Salamanca, whence he went out to the Philippinas. Here he was occupied for some time in the ministry to the Chinese, and the Lord conveyed him thence to Japon. He suffered from illness for a number of years, and from a profound melancholy, which did not prevent him from fulfilling his ministry with great joy. The holy Fray Joseph de San Jacintho was a native of the town named Villarejo de Salvanes, in La Mancha, and was a son of the convent of Sancto Domingo at Ocaña. He went out to the Philippinas from the royal convent of San Pedro Martyr at Toledo, when he had finished his studies there. He was sent immediately to Japon, where he accommodated himself in all things to the Japanese manner of life, dressing and eating like the Japanese, employing their civilities, speaking their language with as much propriety as they, and in the same sing-song voice. In all this he surpassed the other fathers, insomuch that he was taken by the Japanese as one of themselves. The holy Fray Jacintho Orfanel was a Valencian by birth, and was by his habit a son of the convent of Sancta Cathalina Martyr at Barcelona. He was a religious of the greatest modesty and patience.]
Chapter XXIV
A mission sent by the province to Japon, and the result of it
[Though the province rejoiced in having so many glorious martyrs, it was grieved to see the preachers of the holy gospel in Japon come to an end, for without them it was impossible for the faith to be continued. These true sons of our father St. Dominic strove therefore to fill up the number of those who, after having fought valorously, had departed to heaven with the crown of martyrdom. The project was one of great difficulty. The law directed that not only the preachers should be burnt to death, but that all those who brought them should suffer the like penalty, and that the vessels and cargo should be confiscated. The Dutch and English heretics watched with great care to see if any religious attempted to enter the kingdom. The emperor decreed that a registry should be kept of all on board the vessels which came to the kingdom. And finally there were many, even in Catholic countries, who for the sake of trade with Japon endeavored to prevent the religious from going to that country. The commerce of that kingdom with the Philippinas Islands had been almost destroyed, so that the very archbishop himself endeavored to prevent preachers from going from these islands to Japon. They were even more rigorous in Macan. But the holy martyrs from their prisons sent back calls for religious to aid the Japanese in their extreme spiritual need. Hence in the year 1623 the superiors of three religious orders determined to buy a ship, and to give large pay to the pilot and the sailors to take the religious to Japon. The risk of death was great in Japon, and scarcely less in these islands, because the voyage was contrary to the will and the command of the governor. Finally, ten priests were embarked—four from our order, four Franciscans, and two Augustinian Recollects. Many obstacles were placed in the way of the journey, but the voyage finally took place. The province sent of its best: father Fray Diego de Rivera,[26] a son of the convent of San Pablo at Cordova who was at the time teaching theology, as he had done for many years in the college in Manila; father Fray Domingo de Erquicia, who was at that time the principal preacher in Manila; father Fray Lucas del Espiritu Sancto, lecturer in arts in the aforesaid college; and father Fray Luis Beltran or Exarch, minister to the Chinese and the Indians. They suffered much on the voyage. They followed the course by the Babuyanes and the islands of the Lequios, from which they were driven by a storm to the coast of China, where they took on water and wood at a point named Sombor. They tried to make port to get fresh ship-stores, but were attacked by the Chinese. Father Fray Diego de Ribera was shot in the leg, by accident, by one of his own men, and finally died. On the nineteenth of June they landed in Satzuma, and were directed to go to Nangasaqui. They immediately set about learning the language, and had been there but a short time when the emperor issued a decree expelling all the Spaniards who had come to Japon from Manila. The fathers pretended to return to Macan, but left the vessel to come back secretly to Nangasaqui. The persecution was going on, seventy persons being martyred in 1623—among them father Fray Francisco Galvez,[27] a Franciscan; and Father Geronimo de los Angeles, a Jesuit. Father Fray Pedro Bazquez was taken prisoner; and, as the other fathers had not yet learned the language, all the labors of the Dominican order fell upon father Fray Domingo Castellet. The fathers encouraged the Japanese, a number of whom confessed bravely and suffered death by burning, among them being some of noble birth. The accounts of matters in Japon during this period are drawn in the main from the letters of father Fray Domingo de Erquicia. The fathers were obliged to be most secret, to go from house to house by night, and to expose themselves to cold and snow. What happened to this father and his companion was not known here until August in this year 1626. We turn from the account of the works of these fathers to give a narrative of the experience of some who had been in Japon longer, and who had thus far escaped martyrdom. One was Fray Pedro Vasquez, a son of the convent of Nuestra Señora de Atocha at Madrid; and the other Fray Domingo Castellet, a son of the convent of Sancta Catalina Martir at Barcelona. As the persecution advanced, the Portuguese who lived in the kingdom were expelled from it.]
Chapter XXV
The harvest reaped in Japon by the holy father Fray Pedro Vazquez; his life and virtues
[The holy Fray Pedro Vazquez was born in Berin in the kingdom of Galicia, in the county of Monterrey. He assumed the habit in the famous convent of Nuestra Señora de Atocha at Madrid, and studied arts and theology in the royal convents of Sancta Cruz at Segovia, and Sancto Thomas at Avila. He came to the Philippinas with the second body of religious which I brought over, the first having come in 1613. His first work in the Philippinas Islands was in Nueva Segovia, where he reaped a great harvest. When the news of the happy death of the holy martyr Fray Alonso Navarrete reached him, he strove to be permitted to go to Japon, and after two years received license to do so. The ship arrived in Nangasaqui after a voyage of only eleven days. This was on the twenty-second of July, 1621. Hearing of the great number of martyrdoms, he strove with all his might to learn the language, until he knew enough of it to go to the prisons and confess the prisoners, as he did boldly. Within one year he heard the confessions of more than seven thousand persons.]