The following Sunday, March 20, the father commissary and all the tribunal left the convent of St. Dominic, and went afoot to the cathedral, where the serious and fearful ceremony was performed of reading the letter of excommunication against those who do not denounce persons whom they know to have fallen into heresies and the sins mentioned in the edicts. That is a ceremony that strikes fear and terror into the hardest heart; its tenor and details I omit, as it is long to tell and terrifying to hear. That ceremony was performed with the greatest solemnity and gravity possible. Inasmuch as it is not my intention, nor ought I, to come down to these present times with my records [in this history], I have thought it advisable to mention that matter in this place as a memorial of so holy a ceremony.
Our province was greatly advanced in that triennium by the great prudence and affability of its provincial, our father Fray Dionisio Suárez, who was more angel than man. With the abundant aid that had arrived in that year and the preceding one, plenty of ministers were appointed for all the convents; those convents which had been united with others were separated, and ministers placed in them; and in the large and populous places two [ministers were stationed]. The work was so apportioned that it could be endured; for the overwork occasioned by the lack [of ministers] had been the cause of many dying and others falling ill. Divine Providence also assisted by communicating grace to the newcomers, and facility in learning the languages of our provinces. Therefore, after a few months many of the latter found themselves sufficiently qualified in that respect to become ministers, alone and without company, in the missions. This province became renewed and flourishing with the abundance of religious, and the study of the arts and theology was greatly assisted in the convent of Manila. Ministers were placed in the missions of those who were recently converted in the hill-country of Ilocos, in the villages of Aclán, Vera, and Bangbanglo, father Fray Benito de Mena assisting them all the days of his life—which lasted until the year 1695, after he had founded the mission called Bangi, on the outskirts of the province of Cagayán.
[1] Alonso de Lara was subprior of the convent of Manila in 1638, prior of the convent of Guadalupe in 1641, definitor of the province in 1643, procurator-general in 1648, and minister of Guagua in 1650. He died in 1651. See Pérez’s Catálogo, p. 109. [↑]
[2] Cristóbal de León was a native of Galicia, and went to the Philippines in 1628. He was minister of Tagudín (1635 and 1638), Narvacán and Batác (1642), and Laoag (1647). From the last village he went to the villages of Bay (1650, 1659), Taal (1654), Tondo (1656, 1665), and Bulacán (1662). He was definitor and procurator-general in 1641, and died in Manila in 1668. See Pérez’s Catálogo, p. 109. [↑]
[3] Alonso Quijano, a native of Corral de Almaguér in La Mancha, was an excellent linguist in the Bisayan, and served in the missions of Dunangas (1632), Jaro (1633), Laglag (1635), and Panay (1638). He was definitor in 1644, provincial in 1656, prior of the convent of Guadalupe in 1659–62, and provincial again in 1665. His death occurred in 1667. See Pérez’s Catálogo, p. 108. [↑]
[4] Diego de Ochoa was a son of the convent of San Felipe el Real in Madrid, and lecturer on sacred theology in his province. After going to the Philippines he became minister of the villages of México (1638), Macabebe (1641), and Betis (1644), being also visitor for some time. He died in the year 1648. See Pérez’s Catálogo, p.113. [↑]
[5] A reference perhaps to the grandson of Emanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy (who died August 30, 1580)—who bore the same name, and the titles chevalier of Malta, grand prior of Castile and León, prince of Oneille, viceroy of Sicily, and commander of sea-forces for the king of Spain, whose nephew he was. His death occurred in 1624 at the age of thirty-six. Moreri mentions no duke of Savoy by this name in that period. See Moreri’s Dictionnaire. [↑]
[6] The Dominicans resolved in a council called by their provincial September 11, 1644, not to bring any charges against Corcuera, but to pardon the affronts he had given them. “The friars hated Corcuera for his partiality to the Jesuits.” See Montero y Vidal’s Hist. de Filipinas, i, pp. 265, 266. Cf. Ferrando’s Hist. de los PP. Dominicos, ii, pp. 451, 452. [↑]
[7] Luis de Amezquita studied Greek under the Jesuits. He was admitted to the Augustinian convent of San Felipe el Real where he took his vows in 1641. Arriving at the Philippines in 1645, he labored in the Tagálog villages of Bauan (1650), Tiaong (1654), Tanauan (1656), Batangas (1659–65), Caruyan and Sala(1662), and again in Tanauan (1666). He died at Manila June 26, 1667, at the age of forty-five, leaving several writings, including a catechism in the native language, sermons, and certain commentaries. The catechism has been printed. See Pérez’s Catálogo, pp. 119, 120. [↑]