The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 31, 1640. Aduarte Diego
confessions, and began them heartily.” So they come now and make their confessions; and in general it is not necessary to summon them, for they anticipate the confessors, and sometimes even beg that their confessions may be heard, as a penance. They showed the greatest faith and sincerity in their confessions, striving to be reconciled with all their enemies before making their confession. The religious generally encouraged them to make their confessions on the day of their patron saint; and one Indian woman, named for St. Anne, was unwilling to confess on that saint’s day. When the father asked her the reason, she answered that she had had a quarrel with one of her neighbors, and that they did not speak to each other; and she begged the father to reconcile them. After he had done that, she very readily made her confession. It frequently happens that a man accused in a court of law denies the accusation, and that the religious is unable to draw anything else from him; while in confession the same man will clearly accuse himself of the same fault which he had previously denied, and will deny again if the same question is asked him on another trial. It not infrequently happens that if they have any ill-will against the religious, or have said anything against him, they confess to that very man, telling him of the ill-will that they have felt against him.]
Chapter XXXIX
The devotion with which these Indians approached the holy communion, and some events which give much glory to the Lord
[Since the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist is so high and difficult a thing to teach a people whose heathen state makes them opposed to ideas so lofty, the religious in this region spend a great deal of effort upon teaching the Indians this supreme mystery.] At first, only very few and very carefully chosen persons were admitted to the communion, according to the ordinance of a provincial council of Lima, confirmed by the Apostolic See, which in Act ii, chapter 20, says,1 Precepit sancta sinodus parochis, ceterisque Indorum praedicatoribus, ut saepe ac serio, de fide huius mysterii eos instituant; and, later, Quos autem parochus, et satis instructus, et correctione vitae idoneos iudicaverit, iis saltem in paschate, Eucharistiam administrare non praetermittat. It is true that the Indians of these regions have much greater capacity than those of Peru, of whom this council spoke; yet because they were so new in the faith, and so badly fitted by their ancient customs for this supreme mystery, the holy communion is not given to them indifferently at Easter, but is given to those whom the minister judges to be properly prepared. At the beginning, greater attention and caution were necessary. Hence, after they had been thoroughly instructed in the mysteries of the faith, and in particular in the doctrine of this holy mystery, and when they showed a desire to receive the holy communion, they were examined as to their lives, habits, and reputation, the most credible witnesses in the village being called in to testify. If they were found prepared, they were admitted to this supreme meal, to this holy table. A week before they communicated, unless they were occupied – and they generally gave up their occupations for this purpose – they went to church and heard spiritual addresses every day. [On these days they prepared themselves with more than ordinary prayer, and rose at midnight to pray and to take their discipline. If they were married, they separated their beds at least on the eve and the day of the communion. Many of the men went to the convent, and followed the hours with the religious. On the day of receiving communion, they followed the same customs as did the members of our order, dedicating the whole day to God, and keeping in it the silence which we observe in our convents on the day when those religious who are not priests communicate. They were taught to say something after mass in order to give thanks to the Lord; for since they cannot read, and have no books, the ministers have to teach them everything of this kind – especially at the beginning, for afterward there are many of them who teach the others. At the same time, they receive what the minister tells them with greater respect. Many extraordinary examples of piety have been exhibited by the communicants.] In the village of Pata there was an Indian chief, a man of great valor, named Don Francisco Yringan, of whom mention has several times been made. He, being governor there, had as a guest in his house a Spaniard who was traveling that way. He treated him kindly and entertained him as well as he could. The guest, not being content with this, asked him to find an Indian woman, that he might sleep with her; and gave him some trinkets with which to gratify her. But the Indian refused to accept them and to do what the Spaniard asked him, saying that this was wicked and that no one ought to do such a thing, least of all a communicant. This was a reply with which the old Christian ought to have been put to confusion, and which should have made him correct his desires; but it was not so; on the contrary, he grew angry at the answer, and threatened to cane the Indian unless he did what he was told. The Indian turned his back and bending his head said, “Give me as much of a caning as you please, for I am not going to do what you ask.” The Spaniard was so intemperate and discourteous that he vented his anger upon him and caned him, the Indian suffering with great patience, as if he had received from God not only faith in Him, but the power of suffering because he refused to offend Him. This is a grace which the Apostle praises, urging the Philippians to esteem it highly; and now it was found in a Philippine Indian. The Indian who suffered this was a man who could have employed lawyers against him who wronged him, though he was alone; and, if he had shouted to his followers, they would have cut the Spaniard to pieces. But, as he was a communicant, he would neither be an accomplice in the sin of the Spaniard, nor would he avenge himself; nor would he even make use of a just defense, as was taught in the counsel of Paul quoted above, Non vos defendentes carissimi [i. e., “Not defending yourselves, beloved”]. On another occasion when a great insult was offered to this same Indian, a religious comforted him and encouraged him to patience. The Indian answered: “O father, how good it would be if we all served God with truth. If it were so, that wrong which has been done to me would not have been done. If this thing had happened in the days of our heathendom, it would have sufficed to cause me and my followers to make war to the death against this town; but now that we are Christians, patience!” He said nothing more and uttered not a word of indignation, but passed over his sufferings and endured the insult, although he felt it keenly and was ashamed (though in a very Christian manner). Thus he gave proof that his virtue was enduring, because such a blow could not overthrow it. There was one poor Indian slave woman whom a Spaniard, who had communicated a few days before in that village, tried to violate. She resisted him with spirit; and, as if horrified at the lack of respect which by his actions he showed to the Lord, whom he had received, she said to him: “How is it that, being a communicant, you dare to commit such a sin?” In this way may be seen how some of the new Christians surpass others who are old in the faith, going beyond them in virtue, devotion, and the fear of God. [In the village of Masi, which is near to that of which we have been speaking, there was an Indian, a communicant, the fiscal of the church, who was of blameless life. His name was Sebastian Calelao. His sown rice had not sprouted on account of the drought; but, in response to his prayers, God sent rain so that his crop was saved. In Pilitan there was an Indian woman, named Ysabel Pato, a faithful Christian. When she was about to receive the viaticum, the priest found that the Lord had anticipated him. Other marvels and instances of virtue have been exhibited among these Indians.] Some Indian women accused themselves of having eaten buyos on fast-days, but not on Fridays. When the confessor asked them if they had fasted on other days than Friday – for the Indians are not obliged to fast on the other days in Lent – they answered that they fasted the whole of Lent, performing these fasts as works of devotion; for the holy Apostolic See has excused them from this fast, because of their weakness and the scantiness of their food. When the religious thought that this was excessive, and told them that they could not do so much, they answered that by the favor of God they could do so, as they had already fasted during the whole of Lent on previous occasions. The buyo is an aromatic leaf, shaped like an ivy-leaf, which the Indians are accustomed to chew with a sort of wild acorn and a little bit of lime. Even some of the Spaniards in this country very commonly use it, though they do not swallow it, so that only the juice reaches the stomach; it invigorates the stomach, and preserves the teeth. To carry some buyos in their mouths, if there were not many of them, would not break their fast; but in spite of all this, these Indian women made a scruple of taking it in their fasts, out of pure devotion and in an entirely voluntary way. [Visions of demons are frequent among the Indians. One such happened in a part of this province called Ytabes, of which the order took charge in 1604. The Indian concerned had a vision of demons driven away by persons whom he did not know, but who were clothed with white underneath