CHAPTER XXII
In which are contained the indulgences and favors conceded by the supreme pontiffs to the brothers and sisters of Santa Misericordia of the city of Manila, which are copied from the original briefs, relics, with which it is enriched; with its authentic royal decree which exempts and preserves it from visits by the ecclesiastical ordinaries, in imitation of the royal house of Lizboa; the chaplaincies and becas of which it is patron, the number of brothers of which this venerable brotherhood is composed and those who serve this present year in the Board of Santa Misericordia; and the report of the alms which are given annually.
The purveyor and deputies who compose the illustrious Board of Santa Misericordia at present are as follows: General Don Benito Carrasco y Paniagua, purveyor (an office he has held three times previously); secretary-in-chief for the king our sovereign of this noble city and its deputation, with active voice and vote by privilege in its most noble ayuntamiento; secretary of the board, Captain Don Juan Baptista de Uriarte (author of this small work), regularly-appointed regidor for his Majesty of said noble ayuntamiento, who as ex-treasurer took charge of the office of secretary, in accordance with the rules, in the absence of Sargento-mayor Don Joseph Antonio Nuño de Villavicencio, general treasurer of the bulls of the Holy Crusade, accountant regulator, regularly-appointed regidor of this noble city and special notary of the Holy Office, as he has been promoted to the post of accountant, a royal official of the royal treasury; treasurer, General Don Miguel de Allanegui, accountant of accounts and results of the royal treasury of these islands, and familiar of the Holy Office; chapel-steward, General Don Joseph Verelo de Urbina; purse-steward and attorney-general, Captain Don Antonio de Olivarria; prison-steward, Sargento-mayor Don Joseph de Vega y Vic; steward of the plate, who looks after the gathering of alms, Captain Don Simon de Amechezurra; and deputies of the board, General Don Antonio Sanchez Zerdan, and the sargentos-mayor, Don Joseph Beltran de Salazar, regularly-appointed regidor for his Majesty of this noble city, Don Frutos Delgado, Don Antonio Lopez Perea, also senior regidor of the city, and Captains Don Domingo Allende and Don Sebastian de Arramburu.
[An act of May 22, 1728, orders a compilation to be made of the indulgences and other things, in order that the high estimation of the popes and sovereigns for the brotherhood may be apparent. Indulgences have been granted by Urban VIII, Clement XI (September 20, 1717), and Innocent XIII; and the latter has also approved the Institute of the brotherhood. The latter own various relics. One reliquary, bearing the papal arms, and conserved in an elaborate golden pyx which is deposited in a tabernacle on the altar of the assembly room of the brotherhood, contains a bit of the wood of the holy cross, a bit of the swaddling clothes in which the child Jesus was wrapped, a bit of a bone of St. Isabel the mother of John the Baptist, a bit of a bone of St. Ignatius Loyola, and a bit of a bone of St. Pasqual Baylon. Other relics are another bit of the wood of the cross, a bone of St. Felix, pope and martyr, a letter of St. Pedro Baptista, O.S.F., who was martyred in Japan, and a shinbone of St. Christina, virgin and martyr. In addition, the brotherhood bears the title of Apostolic syndic of the seraphic Order of St. Francis, and as such its brothers enjoy all the privileges and exemptions conceded to that order by apostolic bulls, and all of the indulgences, privileges, etc., for all the provinces of Nueva España subject to the obedience of the father commissary-general of the order. The royal decree of June 20, 1623, confirms the rules and regulations of the brotherhood. In consequence of this decree, the brotherhood presents a petition to the governor asking him as royal vice-patron to confirm the rules and regulations. This is done by special act on September 4, 1625 by Fernando de Silva. They have already been approved by Francisco Tello, and Gabriel de la Cruz, schoolmaster of the cathedral, January 24, 1597. The royal decree of September 7, 1699, inserted in the decree of June 11, 1708, grants exemption from government or religious visit. Notwithstanding this decree, the effort has been made without success to subject the brotherhood to visit. The closest of supervision has been exercised by the brothers themselves. All the documents mentioned above are given by our author.]
Chaplaincies with collation
There are twenty-nine chaplaincies with collation, of which the Board of Santa Misericordia is patron. They were founded by different benefactors, so that in accordance with the conditions and clauses which were provided in their foundations, the board appoints the chaplains who are to serve them. Such appointees taking the appointments which it sends to them (in which the obligation which falls to each one is made known to them) present themselves before the proper persons within the term which the holy Council of Trent prescribes, for the approval and collation of those chaplaincies. It is intimated to them at this time that they must inform the board promptly that they have fulfilled their so necessary obligation for the good government which is demanded in this. An account must be kept in a separate book of chaplaincies, in the form which is always usual.
Lay chaplaincies
The lay chaplaincies, of which the board is also patron, number ten. They are filled in accordance with the clauses of their foundation by the chaplains whom the board appoints to serve them; in whose despatch a different style is followed since they are lay.