In each of these two villages there was formed a confraternity, which, besides other works of piety and devotion, practices two that act as a preservative against the two great evils of idolatry and intoxication—which, as we have already stated, were customary in cases of sickness or death—since in this confraternity are the people who are most prominent, most Christian, and most trustworthy in those villages. Moreover, they take the utmost care to ascertain who in the village may be sick or dying; and they aid the families of both the sick and the dead by frequent visits—in such cases not only exercising perfect piety and charity, but preventing the abuses, superstitions, idolatries, intoxications, dirges, music, and wailing which had been their own custom when they were pagans, as now among these others. These confraternities have rendered Christianity in those regions most glorious, and for their good deeds are so highly esteemed that he is not considered a person of worth who is not received into one of them. On two special occasions they made processions, in excellent order, and with great solemnity and concourse of the people, and attended mass and preaching; and very many frequented the communion. One of these was at the foundation of a confraternity; the other was occasioned by a plague of locusts which had been devastating all those islands for two years. In order to obtain from God a remedy for this evil, they chose the most holy Virgin Mary as their intercessor, and made a vow to celebrate the feast of her most pure conception, and to give on that occasion liberal alms as aid for the marriages of the poor and the orphans. They fulfilled their promises, and our Lord received their humble tokens of service and showed them that He was well pleased, by turning aside the locusts from their crops, and giving them that year very abundant harvests. All the people of the village have now directed to the church that recourse and dependence which they formerly exercised toward the ministers of the devil; and, consequently, when they experience any ill, however trifling it maybe, they summon the father to hear their confessions, or to have the gospel recited to them. Hardly a day passes, while their sickness lasts, when they do not cause themselves to be conveyed to the church, at the time of mass; and when that is ended they approach the priest, to have him recite the gospel and sprinkle them with holy water. Sometimes there are so many of them that, when the priest has done this for them, he is compelled to wait until they go away before he can leave the altar. They also carry first to the church whatever grain or seeds they are about to sow, to have these blessed, in return for which they offer the priest the first-fruits of their harvests.
The leading events in the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus. Chapter
XXXXI.
As a result of the favors bestowed upon the six resident members of the Society by the right reverend bishop of Sebu, Don Fray Pedro de Agurto, a religious of the Order of St. Augustine (who entered this year into his church and erected it into a cathedral), the fruits of our ministries were at this time most abundant and prosperous. As I have already stated, these were exercised among the various nationalities who inhabit that city, or who resort thither from various regions for their business and traffic. Likewise, at the instance of his lordship, a school of Latin was opened in our college for his servants and clergy, who were joined by the sons of some of the citizens. This school was not only a common and general benefit, but also very useful as a retreat and aid for those who in the school for children were already advanced in reading, writing, and reckoning. Although many of the boys remained in the lower school as pupils, a considerable number of students began the study of grammar with the new master, Father Francisco Vicente Puche, who as an initiation to the studies, and as a welcome to the bishop, gave with his students a two-hours' dramatic representation in the cathedral, in honor of his Lordship, which proved most agreeable, learned, dignified, and devout, and gave extraordinary pleasure to all the citizens, who had never before seen such a thing in their city.
There were two Indian peoples among whom we were especially laboring at that time: one the Bissayans, who are the natives of that country, to whom we preached, on Sundays and feast-days, throughout the year, in their own language; the other the Chinese—many of whom, coming from their own land into this (and many do come in the merchant-vessels), remain here. They have established in this city, near our house, a quarter of their own, which at that time was in charge of the Society; and our fathers administered the sacraments to them and their families, including their women and servants—Chinese, Japanese, Malucos, and Bissayans. They repaired with great frequency to confession and communion, especially on days in jubilees and in Lent; and we always had catechumens among the infidel Chinese, whom we baptized only at the notable feasts, and with great solemnity—excepting on occasions when that sacrament was bestowed on persons at the point of death. The first confirmations which the lord bishop celebrated outside of his cathedral were in our church, where he most devoutly bestowed this holy sacrament upon our Chinese and their families. On Easter of this last year, he celebrated in the same church, as an encouragement and a favor, the solemn baptism of the catechumens, of whom there were a large number; and he was greatly delighted and edified to behold one of our fathers, his assistant on that occasion, conversing in the Chinese language.
The fruitful results of these ministries were displayed in many instances, more especially in regard to purity and constancy. I shall mention one case only, wherein it seemed to us extraordinary constancy which could inspire with courage for such resistance an Indian woman whose former occupation, while she was a heathen, was so contrary to such conduct, as we have related. It happened in this way. One of those women was solicited by a wicked man whom she bravely repulsed. But he finally began cautiously to offer her money, urging her to receive it, and assuring her that he made no claim upon her thus. Not less valorously than before did she reject his offering, saying that she desired no money which, when she must appear before God; would cry out against her, and be an accuser and witness against her; and she reminded him that this money, with which he was striving to wage such war against her, could serve only for her condemnation and chastisement. In proportion to her resistance, so did the furious passion of this wicked man increase, who gave himself no repose in devising projects for her downfall. Attempting to accomplish this, on a certain occasion when she was alone, she uttered loud cries, at which someone came to her aid and delivered her from his violence. With that his love turned to hatred, and his cajolery to threats, which he carried out by accusing her to her masters, with false testimony. She went from their house, in great affliction and distress, but ever repeating, with much patience: "God sees it all." Still further to exercise her virtue, God permitted that even her master, who was a person of high rank, instigated by the devil, should solicit her with great importunity. She answered him by saying that she would, under no persuasion, commit such a sin, and that he should consider that he would greatly disgrace himself, as a man of so high position, by seeking relations with her, a woman of lowly state. She added that, besides this, she kept before her the thought of God, in whose presence she dared not commit any vile act, or consent to it in her heart, knowing that God sees all things; and, moreover, she had consideration for her mistress, who treated her as her own daughter, and against whom she could in no wise commit such treachery. The man, irritated by this resistance, threatened her with harsh treatment; but she replied that even if he were to kill her, it was enough for her that God saw all that she was suffering to avoid sin. The evil man, notwithstanding, carried out his threat, annoying her and treating her with great harshness; yet this only increased the strength and virtue of this innocent and chaste woman. Another Indian woman, left a widow, was so devoted to the preservation of her chastity that, without the advice of anyone, she made to God a vow of chastity, and most strictly kept it. There are many other women who, though they make no vow, preserve intact their chastity and virginity. Nor are the men behind the women in the fervor and contrition wherewith they make their confessions, and the rigor with which they scourge themselves and do penance. One of those Indian women made her confession with so abundant tears and signs of true contrition, that the father who confessed her was greatly aroused and moved thereat, and afterward related that the feelings of devotion caused by those so fervent tears and true contrition remained with him for many days; and that when he wished to humiliate himself or enliven his piety he had only to remember what he had beheld in that Indian woman. For it is vastly different to but talk of contrition for sins, and to contemplate its vivid image and reality in a soul. Another woman came to the confessional and, without noticing the multitude of people in the church, began her confession, and continued it with so many tears and such grief for her sins that she could with difficulty speak. She was thereupon seized with a great longing to do penance, and desired to go at once through the streets of the city, publicly scourging herself, as many do here [in Europe] throughout Lent, in the early part of the night. A young man in the confessional experienced such horror at his sins that, incensed against himself, and without informing the father, he scourged himself through the streets with such severity that he fell down as one dead, and was considered as such. He came later to our house to confess his offenses, and was as disfigured as if he were recovering from a severe illness; but, not content with the former scourging, he desired to inflict on himself another—for, as he said, his heart was transfixed, as by a nail, with grief for his sins. The father, however, commanded him to cease for the present, and he obeyed. There were many other special instances which, for the sake of brevity, I here omit. Not the least affecting among them were those where there was manifested the eternal predestination which has mercifully provided for many at the hour of death the resource of baptism.
Our ministries in behalf of the Spaniards were no less fervent at this time. They repaired in great numbers to our fathers, especially during Lent and on days of jubilee, when the results of their instruction were most apparent. There were, very commonly, consultations in cases of conscience, not only with laymen, but with ecclesiastics, and religious, and even with the bishop—who hardly took any step without the advice of our fathers, although he was a most learned and discreet prelate. It must have been from seeing that persons of so high standing held our Society in so great esteem that the people conceived the idea, and made the resolve, of coming to our house for their confessions; and for that very reason they felt under obligation to lead better lives. With regard to this, one man said that during our absence he had endured many inward struggles on account of not having made his confession to Ours; but that, after he had done so, he had, through the mercy of God, overcome them all. In short, no matter of weight or importance arose where the advice of the Society was not sought with confidence and truth, especially when it was seen that the bishop had such confidence in us—which his Lordship manifested on many public occasions and before many people, by words and deeds which could not then be heard or now repeated, without confusion and embarrassment.
Our sermons in the cathedral and in our own church were regular and frequent, and were all attended by the right reverend bishop, who also honored our church with a pontifical mass for our feast of New Year's day, which was celebrated with much solemnity, many persons, from all classes of people, repairing to confession and communion. His Lordship also preached at the titular feast of the same church (that of the glorious St. Ildefonso), which was celebrated with the like attendance and devotion, in the presence of a concourse of people, and with many communions. His Lordship was also desirous of introducing, in imitation of Manila, the practice of scourging in the church during Lent; and he actually visited it, on the first Friday, with a considerable following. He began by preaching a very devout sermon, at the conclusion of which, seeing that, although night had set in, the church was still light with the rays of a full moon, he determined to leave it for the time, and accordingly returned after his choir had sung the Miserere.
On account of the heat in this region, the churches are so constructed as to be open and airy, and for this reason are poorly adapted for taking the discipline. Accordingly he changed his plan and, inviting the children of the school, and the students, with these and many others of the town, he arranged for every Friday of that Lent a procession of blood, in which the bishop himself marched barefoot. This procession left the cathedral in the evening, and proceeded to the other church (of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady), some distance away. In the meantime the rest were flagellating themselves, even to the extent of drawing blood; and while the choir was singing the Miserere, the holy bishop scourged himself alone in the sacristy.
How the Christian religion extended in the island of Bohol. Chapter
XXXXII.
Through the solicitude and fervor of the two fathers who were in Bohol, who soon received the help of a brother, that new Christian church was notably increased, especially among the old people, from sixty to eighty years of age. These—the world no longer for them, or they for the world, but for Him who died for them—He did not disdain to receive into His church when their sun was setting, although they had not begun so early to follow and obey Him as He had to seek and invite them; many of them died shortly after they were baptized, having left many tokens and proofs of their salvation and the sincerity of their faith. All of them—little children and grown men, youths and aged people, the well and the sick—all convinced and persuaded by the truths of Catholicism, are certain that no other road leads to heaven; and so, without resistance or objection, they prepared themselves for holy baptism—although the fathers with praiseworthy prudence, restrained them by conferring the sacrament on those only who were well prepared, or really in need of it. Many who received the holy sacraments were cured of their maladies, and, consequently, the earnestness and devotion with which they sought and received them were intense. Even when they are in health, it is indeed marvelous to see the satisfaction and willingness with which they repair to all virtuous exercises, especially to confessions and masses. There was no scent or trace of vice or idolatry, or witchcraft, or of other evil customs practiced by them while they were pagans; and if, in confession or elsewhere, mention were made to them of these things, they became deeply offended, saying: "Since we are now Christians, how could we do such things again?" Especially notable is the fidelity maintained by married people, which they observe not only in outward act, but in their hearts.