§ VIII
Our religious preach in the province of Butuan
The province of Butuan—so called from the river of that name which flows through it and renders to the sea the tribute of its so abundant waters, while the sea enters the land for one-half legua—has wide borders and plains where numerous people live who resemble the Caraghas in their customs and ceremonies. However they are not so rude in their behavior, perhaps because they were softened by the evangelical law, which they once enjoyed. However, they abandoned that law because the ministers abandoned them.[10] That holy conquest was undertaken with great resolution by father Fray Juan de San Nicolàs, one of the eight, who with a spirit apostolically bold planted the standard of the cross in the town nearest the seashore. He subdued its inhabitants by his gentleness, and attracted them to the bosom of the Church by sermons in their own language. Those sermons produced a great fruit, not only among those country people, but also among the traders who came from other districts to traffic.
With such auspicious beginnings, Ours continued to penetrate the province, and, going up and down that river, sowed the divine word. It fell to the lot of father Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio, also one of the eight above mentioned—who regarded but lightly the hardships that were represented to him, with unfortunate examples, as having encountered other ministers of the gospel—to journey more than fifty leguas, preaching the faith of Jesus Christ to the villages. He had serious and frequent difficulties in making himself heard; for the devil appeared in a visible form to the Indians, persuading them not to admit those fathers into their country, because of whom, so they said, dire calamities and troubles must happen to them. But, as it was the cause of God, all the deceits and cunning of that common enemy remained only threats.
It was no little work to make the Indians leave so many wives as each one had, obliging them to marry the first, and to free their slaves whom they miserably oppressed. But he attained it with his mildness, the inoffensive method by which our religious succored the weakness of those Indians. Thus did they obtain permission to travel through the shores of that river, gaining souls for heaven, and building a dwelling in the village of Linao.[11]
In that did the superb zeal of father Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio excel wonderfully. For having resolved to go up the river together with some Butuan Indians, already Christians, and arriving at the said place of Linao, and seeing that its inhabitants were gentler and more docile, he erected an altar in a chosen house, where he placed the images—from which the heathen received great joy, praising their beauty. Then he assembled the chief men of the district, and preached them a sermon, in which he informed them who the true God is, and bade them abandon the customs and rites of the devil. They jested at such a proposition, but were soon subdued—especially one, who declared the location of their god or divata. Father Fray Jacinto was overjoyed at that, and schemed how he might see such place of worship, which was located on the other side of the river. Commending himself, then, to Jesus Christ, whose cause he was advancing, he ordered a boat to be launched and went to look for the idol. Some Indians went out to meet him, brandishing their lances in order to prevent his entrance. Others more humane, persuaded him that he should abandon that undertaking, saying that, if he wished to build a church there, they would give him a better location. The father answered mildly that that house was very much to his purpose because it was large, and all could gather in it in order to be instructed in the mysteries of the faith. The Indians who accompanied the pious father feared that a quarrel was about to ensue, and that fear went with them even to the door [of the house]. The father entered the place of worship boldly, to the wonder of all. He saw various altars on which they sacrificed to the idol, which was placed on a higher altar covered with curtains. The father carefully avoided giving any attention to the said idol, and, having assembled the chiefs, addressed them in regard to erecting an altar to the true God. All agreed to it. On going out, the father purposely turned his gaze to the image, and asked who was that who had so much reverence there. No one replied, whereupon the zealous father seized the image, which was a fierce devil, made of wood covered with black paint, which made it altogether ugly and frightful. The barbarians were as if thunderstruck, for they thought that no one could touch that god without losing his life, and they could not cease their surprise that that father had been able to capture their divata. Thereupon the fervent missionary took occasion to make them understand their blindness, and to persuade them of the offense which was committed against the true God in worshiping the devil. After so notable an action, he returned triumphant, with the protection of heaven, to his boat, taking the idol with him without any one preventing him. On the next day the Indians offered a considerable quantity of gold to ransom their little god. The father paid no attention to it. On the contrary, he diverted them, and leaving them to forget it, descended to the convent of Butuan. There the people went to look for him, proclaiming the little or no value of their god, and saying that they wished to receive the true God. That was a matter of great consolation to the father at seeing how well his pains had been recompensed.
The divine pity approved the holy zeal of our religious by the experience of that village of Linao, which was located on the shores of the river, forty leguas away from the sea—that while before they were molested by crocodiles, which killed numerous people, as soon as the fathers made a settlement there they suffered no persecution from those fierce animals. They all attributed it to the most holy cross now set up, and to the voice of the gospel. Numerous conversions were made in that country. Very famous is that of an Indian woman who, having received our holy faith, died shortly afterward on the eve of St. Catalina, virgin and martyr, at the first watch of the night. On going next day to deliver her to the fathers in order that they might bury her, and the grave being already opened, they came from the house of the deceased woman to say that she was alive. Wondering at the news, the fathers went to verify the matter, and found it to be truth. For the deceased talked before them all, declaring that God had permitted her to return to this life, so that, inasmuch as she had concealed a very grave sin in confession, she might confess and be saved. She did so immediately, and the instant when she was absolved she expired; while Ours gave many thanks to our Lord for the pity that He had had toward that soul, and to the others, since they became more inclined to our holy Catholic religion because of that prodigy.
Also it is worth while to narrate what happened in the province of Ambongan and the lake of Compongan through the preaching by Ours of the faith of Jesus Christ. An Indian woman was very near the end of her life, and her husband and children were sad because at the time there was no father there to administer the sacraments; for Ours were at Butuan, whence they could not come without considerable delay. The sick woman, seeing their sadness, told them to console themselves; for the most holy Virgin, their advocate, had appeared to her very beautiful and shining, and had told her to rejoice, for she would not die until a father should have come to confess her and give her all the other sacraments of the church. That very thing happened, for within a month a missionary priest arrived there to visit and console those villages. The sick woman heard of it, and had herself carried to the church, where she received the sacraments of penitence, the eucharist, and extreme unction, in the presence of that village. She returned to her house, embracing a cross, to which she spoke innumerable tender words. She died about midnight, leaving behind strong indications of having gone to enjoy the eternal rest.
§ IX
Ours preach in Calamianes, and Cuyo