"It seems to me that the road to the conversion of those natives is now smooth and open, with the conversion of the chiefs and of the majority of the people; for the excuse which they formerly gave, saying, 'I will become a Christian as soon as the rest do,' has now become their incentive toward conversion, and they now say: 'We desire to become Christians because all the rest are Christians.' While I was passing through Canauan, one of the chiefs was enraged because a slave woman of his had become a Christian, and rebuked her angrily for it; but recently he brought her to me with all his slaves, and he, with his wife and all his family, have become Christians. Another chief prevented his wife from hearing the divine word and becoming a Christian, which she desired most heartily to be. Being unable to go to the church, as she was kept at home, she sent a message to the father informing him that her husband was using this violence toward her. Orders were given to arrest him, and, this done, the woman was baptized. But she obtained from God, as I believe, the conversion of her husband; for within a few days he returned to the church, subdued, and was baptized. This occurred during the first mission.
"Another mission was held at Catubig; this village is farthest from the residence, for it is at the extremity of the island of Ibabao, which is very large. The Indians are very well disposed, and among them are some Christians, who lack instruction; and all are desirous of having a father to teach them. There are more than four thousand souls who only await the coming of ministers of the holy gospel to distribute among them the bread of heaven. If we had chosen to open the door for baptism many might have received that sacrament; but during that mission only one hundred and fifty-four children were baptized, the others being reserved for a better opportunity, when our Lord might be pleased to send them those who would preserve them with the food of instruction in the new life which, with the divine grace, they would receive.
"In the third mission, there were baptized in three months eight hundred and thirty-seven persons; seven hundred and five of these were adults, and ninety-two children. At first, the men encountered great difficulty in putting away their many wives; but finally the divine Majesty made the outcome propitious, softening the hearts of those pagans, and they brought their undertaking to a glorious end.
"In the fourth sortie or foray, six hundred and thirteen were baptized; in the next, two hundred and seventy; and in the last, two hundred and fifty-four. With these and other baptisms in this residence alone, three thousand six hundred and eighty persons were therefore made Christians, as I stated above; and many more might be converted if the earnestness with which they ask for baptism were appreciated. But our fathers proceed by inspiring them first to desire baptism, and to give proofs of their desires, and constraining them to learn the doctrine, to attend the church, and to abandon all their heathen rites, their paganism, and their polygamy; thus they become more thoroughly acquainted with and rooted in the faith."
Instances occurring in the mission of Dulac. Chapter LXXVIII.
The year one thousand six hundred and one also gave evidence of great increase and perfecting in the Christian community of Dulac, effected through the ordinary labors and occupations of four fathers and three brethren. These laborers, making their retreat at the appointed times, to practice the spiritual exercises (as is the custom in all those residences), repair thereafter with greater courage to their ministry to souls; and the results of their work thus correspond to their fervor. But, of all the means that they have employed, we must attribute their good fortune in winning souls to their exposing the most blessed sacrament in our churches, thus stimulating the devotion and respect with which it should be regarded; celebrating with solemn processions the feast of Corpus [Christi]; and inviting the faithful to the table and feast of heaven. As a result of these measures, the people were so fond of holy communion, and so greatly enjoyed receiving it, that on some feast-days the crowd was as great as in cities of Europe; and with so thorough preparation, by fasting, discipline, prayer, fervor, and confession, that it seemed to be a primitive church. Thus their esteem for our holy faith is so increased that few are those who do not ask for or desire baptism. Indeed, there are so many who seek it that during the two weeks of advent and Easter in 1601 more than seven hundred persons were baptized; and from the Easter of the previous year, 1600, there were counted in this mission-field more than two thousand and twenty persons baptized—and all this with great fervor, eagerness, and esteem for the new law which they profess with holy baptism.
The residence of Dulac has in its care, among many others, the two large villages called Dagami and San Salvador (which is Paloc), both populous; their people are well instructed and submissive, and our fathers have labored among them with great success. Father Melchior Hurtado writes that in San Salvador, during the celebration of the Christmas feast, almost eight hundred infidels were baptized, and that the confessions and communions were such as might be expected in España—so many, that the fathers could not attend to them all. This is occasion for much glory to our Lord, especially in a land so new, which the Society had entered but six years before to instruct its people, and had found them so obdurate, as I have already stated. From the letters of this father, and from others of Father Juan de Torres and Father Francisco Vicente, some special incidents have been drawn, which I shall here relate.
A father, passing through a little village belonging to that residence and inquiring who were Christians, was told of an old man who lived out in the country, alone in his little hut, and remained there unable to walk. The father gave orders that this man be brought to his presence, and asked him concerning his life, not expecting him to recall much of the doctrine; but he gave so good an account of himself as to leave the father astounded. Among other things the old man said: "Although I remain in this life with my body, my desires are in heaven; and so much so that at night I dream only of the things of the other life. There I see all the dwellers of heaven covered with splendor, and especially one, who excels all the others in brightness. O, father, would that I might be there, freed from this decaying and burdensome body!" The father showed him a print of the judgment, in which heaven was depicted with splendor and beauty, and then asked him if it looked like what he had seen. He answered, Abà, which is one of their words of surprise, and, as it were, of disdain. "That and nothing more, Father? Much more, much more!" Then the father wondered as he beheld the riches which God our Lord had deposited in that clod of earth; and he felt sure that, as the old man said, his only occupation thereafter would be to repeat "Jesus" and "Mary"—which would never leave his memory or his lips, until he should end this life and begin that which is eternal. Two of Ours, passing a wretched hut, found a man, who must have been more than eighty years old, stretched upon some reeds, unconscious and dying. So thin was his body that it was hardly more than skin adhering to bones; and so wasted that he seemed the living picture of death. In their pity for him they prayed our Lord to have compassion on that poor soul. In a short time he recovered consciousness, and gladly asked for the waters of holy baptism, which he greatly desired; this was plainly evident in the ardor with which he declared his belief in our holy faith. After being baptized, his senses were entranced, and he very sweetly invoked the most blessed name of Jesus, and that of Mary; and then he died.
One of our fathers desired to visit another sick man (who had, when in danger of death, been baptized by the schoolmaster of the village), but, with his many confessions and other duties, he had forgotten to do so. Afterward, while resting, he had heard loud wailing and outcries, such as they are wont to utter for their dead; and they came to tell him that the man had died. The father could not refrain from going to see him (although he left all the people in the church), deeply grieved that he had not seen the sick man before. But with great confidence (although everyone said that he was already dead), he approached the unconscious sick man, and said: "Clement" (such was his name), "dost thou hear us, my son?" He opened his eyes and said: "Yes, Father." Then the father bade him invoke the most blessed name of Jesus, and the most sweet name of Mary, and aided him with some nourishment; the sick man regained consciousness, and some strength, and at the end of a few days made his confession, and died in the Lord.
Ours had been asked to visit a sick man, and, when the visit to him was ended, the father, while descending from the house, was seized with the desire to ascertain if there were any other sick person in the vicinity. In the next house he found an old woman, an infidel, ninety years old, although not very sick; he approached her, gave her instruction, and baptized her. On the following day, when he was setting out from the village at the same hour, his heart would not allow him to depart without first visiting his sick people. He gained the little hut, and found therein a dead person, shrouded. He inquired who it was and they told him that it was Ana (the name of the woman whom he had baptized the day before). He continued his way, praising the divine Providence and judgments of God, who had thus predestined the lot of that soul. We were informed that a sick man lay at the point of death, far out from the village. The road thither was hard to descry in the darkness of the night, and abounded with serpents, which were continually encountered, stretched out in the road. In addition to this, a very broad river must be passed, with rapid current and full of crocodiles—which, when they become ravenous, rush upon anything. Yet all these obstacles were of less importance than one soul redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ; so the father went to visit his sick man, and, with a certain medicine, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, cured and comforted him. But the marvel was that on the way he found another sick person, a woman, apparently in less danger; he baptized her, and she died immediately, while the sick man, for whom the father had undertaken all that hardship, was healed.