"After Christmas I was summoned back to Manila, but in Lent was sent again to the village of Silang. At that time I found the mission greatly increased by the many natives whom the fathers had recently brought together; they were coming to us each day from other villages (the entire village of Indan had joined us), all of them very needy, and almost half of them unbaptized. On the feast of St. Gregory I baptized twenty-five persons, only one of whom, a sick woman, was of adult age, and on the feast of the Annunciation twenty-one, of whom nineteen were adults; at present another goodly number of them are being prepared. The number of those baptized this year is about two hundred, and the confessions very numerous; and the number of those admitted to communion is about fifty, the choicest of whom are members of the confraternity. We erected our altar of the sepulchre [25] as skilfully as we were able, and celebrated the offices [appropriate to the occasion], by the help of which this new people gained new light upon the services of Holy Week. Those who took the discipline, going forth in a formal procession, were on Holy Monday, the singers, who did this by way of preparation; others desired to march on Holy Tuesday, but, as the day was stormy and the winds violent, I forbade them to do so. They had their procession on Holy Wednesday; and others, in greater number, marched on Holy Thursday. Our most important procession was on Holy Friday, in the evening; two images were carried—one, a small crucifix (for we had no larger one); the other, an image of our Lady—while the choir sang the litanies. When this procession ended, people gathered in sufficient number to form another; this was caused by the lack of [woolen] tunics, which were removed by their wearers and lent [to those in the second procession]. In all the processions except the principal one, the music consisted of the Christian doctrine, sung by the children as they walked.
"I must continue the account which in other letters I have written to your Reverence of the favors which the Lord communicates by means of a print of our blessed Father Ignatius; for He is continually bestowing these favors upon those new Christians, on account of their strong faith in Him. A woman was brought in to us, sick and unable to speak, and was dying before us without our being able to obtain from her a word or sign so that we could give her absolution; the statement of her friends, moreover, that she had asked for confession, was doubtful. I was therefore anxious and grieved, until I brought her an image of our blessed father, and I said mass for the sick woman, and when I returned she was able to speak, and made a good confession; but utterance again failed her, and she died in peace.
"When I returned the second time, I was called in haste to visit a sick woman, great with child, who was suffering violent pains and torment. We went to see her, and it aroused our compassion to behold her in convulsions of pain, both she and the infant (which was entering the ninth month) being in danger of death. I sent for the image of our blessed father, and then left the sick woman with Diego, our good blind man, and his wife, who performs the duties of a midwife. So good service did they render, in conjunction with the intercession of our blessed Father Ignatius (to whom they were greatly devoted), that very soon they sent for me to baptize the child, which was born alive. I baptized it, but it died; and the mother regained her health.
"On Holy Saturday a young man came to me in alarm, saying that a demon was trying to choke his sister. I went to her house and found her suffering from an oppression in her breast and throat, and distressed by fear. I asked for the image, and when it was brought, I heard the sick woman's confession; she was at once relieved from the oppression and anxiety. For her greater consolation I left the image in order that she might have good company.
"On the following day, the Lord accorded us a most joyful Easter Sunday. In the morning there came to me a man, but recently arrived from Indan, who said that his wife was in a very exhausted condition from the pains of childbirth. I sent him with a boy to take the image of our blessed father and carry it to his home. He departed at once, and when the image was carried into the house his wife brought forth her child. It seems that the Lord has chosen to confirm this newly-converted people in their recent coming to Him, and in their faith. A few days ago, a Bilango came to us in haste to ask for the image in behalf of a woman who was in childbirth; and as soon as it was brought to her, she gave birth to a child. In Santiago also the fiscal, remembering what he had heard about our blessed father, entreated his aid, as his wife was in a like critical condition, and her life in great danger. Immediately her infant was born alive, and, while receiving the water of holy baptism, passed on to the bliss of eternal light." Thus far I have cited the letter of Father Gregorio Lopez; he could easily have related therein many other unusual events and marvelous incidents which occurred among those new believers. He omitted them probably for the sake of brevity, and because many of them are quite similar—for which reason I too omit them. But I must not fail to mention one incident which occurred during the absence of Father Gregorio Lopez, at which time his companion, Father Pedro de Segura, remained in Silan. Two Indians came to this father one night, seeking relief for a woman who was the wife of one and a relative of the other. She was suffering violent pangs in childbirth, and was in a most critical state, being unable to expel the child. The two Indians earnestly entreated the father, in their simplicity, for some blessed beads. He gave them his own reliquary, and as they were carrying it away he bethought himself of the image of our blessed Father Ignatius. Immediately he summoned the fiscal (who is always a man of mature years and trustworthy character), and gave him the image to be carried to the sick woman. The Indian woman, when she beheld the image, took it in her hands with devotion and love, and at the same moment gave birth to a child as beautiful as an angel, to her own great joy and the wonder of those who were present. Soon afterward she named the child, on this account, Maliuag, which signifies "difficult;" and again, at the baptism, Ignacio, in memory of so signal a favor. The name which this woman gave her child at its birth gives me occasion to describe the custom of these people in giving names.
The manner in which names are conferred among the Filipinos. Chapter
LXXX.
When a child is born, it is the mother's duty to give it a name; and whatever appellation she gives it must remain its name. The names are most often conferred on account of certain circumstances—as, for example, Maliuag, which means "difficult," because the child's birth was such; Malacas, which signifies "a man of strength," because the mother thinks that the child will be strong, or desires that it be so. At other times they name it, without any symbolism or special reason, by the first word which occurs to them—as, for example, Daan, which signifies "road;" Babui, which means "pig;" or Manug, which signifies "fowl." All persons are called by these names from birth, without using surnames until they are married. The first-born son or daughter then gives his or her name to the parents; for until they die they call the father Ama ni Coan, "father of So-and-so," and the mother Ina ni Coan, "mother of So-and-so." The names of the women are distinguished from those of the men by adding "in." Thus, while the name of a man and of a woman may be practically the same, that of the man is left intact, and to the woman's is added the [termination] "in;" for example, Hog (which means "river") being the name of two persons of different sex, the man is called Hog, the woman Hoguin. In naming children they use diminutives, just as we do; but in order not to exceed the limits of my narrative, or to enter those of grammar, I shall not enumerate these, or the other appellations more personal, more intimate, or more elegant, which those people use for nearly all the degrees of relationship. For instance, ama means "father;" thus the son, in speaking of him to a third person calls him ang amaco, that is, "my father." But the son in addressing his father directly does not call him ama, but bapa, which is a more intimate and affectionate term; nor does he address his mother as ina, but bai. On the other hand, the father and mother in familiar intercourse call their sons, brothers, uncles, and other near relatives, not by the common appellations of such relationship, but by others more intimate and personal, which signify a like connection. This is but another illustration of the fertility, elegance and courtesy of the Tagal language, which we described in chapter 16. The children of those natives were reared in such respect and reverence for the names belonging to their parents that they never called them by these, whether the parents were living or dead; they believed, moreover, that if they uttered these names they would fall dead, or become leprous.
At first, I was much often annoyed at these superstitions, because, as I did not know the secret, I would upon occasions of affability or flattery, or necessity or obligation, inquire of the son for his father; and, as he gave me no answer, I remained confused and abashed. But, with the aid of Divine grace, this and other bad customs and errors were banished and forgotten; and we played a game—our fathers, and the little children, and even the adults—in which each one told the name of his father, I also telling them the name of mine. Not only this, but anyone would name the parents of another—a thing which they consider a great incivility and insult.
It is a general custom among all these nations not to have any special family names, titles, or surnames; using, as I have before said, but one appellation. Now, besides the Christian name, Juan or Pedro, they use as a surname that which the mother gives them at birth—although there are mothers so Christian and civilized that they will not use this latter name, but prefer that both Christian name and surname be conferred in baptism; this we often do. The wretched "Don" has filled both men and women with such vanity that every one of them who has a tolerably good opinion of himself must place this title before his name; accordingly, there are even more Dons among them than among our Spaniards.
The visit which the right reverend bishop of Sebu made to Bohol, and the fervor and growth of those Christians. Chapter LXXXI.