The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 32, 1640. Aduarte Diego
the order rigorously. Although he had seemed to be of delicate constitution in España, his health was always very good, so that for more than twenty years during which he was in this province he did not even have a headache, except once, when he struck himself by accident. He spoke with intense energy, in a grave, sententious, and clear manner. He learned the Chinese language, in addition to the other two in which he preached; and he took as his especial charge the duty of teaching the many negroes and slaves in Manila. He was most humble, in spite of his great abilities. When he was vicar-provincial of Manila, he received a letter from the provincial, who was making a visitation in the province of Nueva Segovia. He asked father Fray Francisco, as vicar-provincial, to see if some of the religious in his district could not be spared for that needy region. Father Fray Francisco, thinking that he was himself the least necessary person in the district of Manila, took with him one father as his companion, and set out for Nueva Segovia. In the year 1614 he was sent to España as procurator of the province, but died on the voyage to Mexico. Just before and after his death his body gave signs by the beauty of its appearance of the sanctity and purity of his life. He printed a grammar of the Tagal language, and in that language he printed a memorial of the Christian life, a book on the four last things,10 another of preparation for the communion, a treatise on confession, a book on the mysteries of the rosary of our Lady, and another to teach the Tagal Indians the Spanish language. He also left behind him many devout and valuable compositions in the language of those Indians, particularly many sermons for Sundays and saints’ days, which were highly regarded because of their doctrine and their language, which is very elegant and pure. He had also made a collection of sermons in the Spanish language for a whole year, with the purpose of printing them. The letter of the dean and chapter of the holy church of Manila (dated May 12, 1614), given him as he was about to set out for España, corroborates Aduarte’s account of him, and is therefore printed by that writer in full.]
Chapter III
Events in this province at this time
In the year 1615 this province, which from the beginning had sailed with a fair wind, and had proceeded with the conversions which it had undertaken in these Philippinas Islands without meeting any storm, began to feel a hurricane which caused much anxiety and pain. It was of great value in teaching the religious to open their eyes, and to know that in dealing with heathen and new converts they should not be content with the simplicity of the dove, but should strive to add the wisdom of the serpent, as our Lord charged His disciples and His preachers. Seven years only had passed since the village named Batavag, which is the furthest village in the province of Nueva Segovia, had been formed by assembling a population of mountaineers. Many of these were still heathen; while the adult Christians (who were the minority in the village) had been educated in their idolatries, and therefore had not completely rooted out from their hearts their ancient customs. Thus in time of sickness the former priestesses of the devil, or witches, found their way into many of their hearts. These women, coveting payment, came to offer on the part of the devil, health to the sick if they would observe the ancient superstitions which he had taught them. These sorceresses killed certain birds, anointed the sick with their blood, practiced other superstitious ceremonies which the devil accepted as a sacrifice, and performed other similar acts. Some sick persons were guilty of these things in their desire for health, not giving heed, since they were not firmly rooted in the faith, to the grave offense which in this way they were committing against God, the author of life and health; and not considering the injury to the faith or the serious harm to their own souls and consciences, which would follow. Yet their condition was such that they ought to have considered this matter all the more carefully, as the death that they feared brought them nearer to the time when an account of all this would be demanded from them. If the evil had been confined to this village, it would not have been very great, because Batavag was small and had not a very large population, and a majority of the adults were not yet Christian; but the evil spread to other villages which were larger and older in the faith, such as Bolo, Pilitan, and Abuatan, each of which had two thousand inhabitants or more. Hence the matter was of greater importance, and caused more anxiety to the ministers and preachers of the law of God. When they received information as to what was occurring, they went with great secrecy to make an investigation into the evil; and they wrote down the names of the old aniteras or witches, in whom was the whole foundation of this sin. One of the persons who took part in this investigation warned the guilty old women in the village of Batavag; and they, to escape the punishment which they feared, began to stir up the inhabitants of that village. When the religious went there with the purpose of remedying one evil, they found another greater one; for the people of the village of Batavag were in tumult and alarm because of what the witches had said to them, and had determined to flee to their mountains and their ancient dwelling-places. They had been brought to the one that they now had, that they might be more easily, and more to the profit of their souls, taught and baptized and given the sacraments, in sickness and in health; for so long as they were divided as they had been, into tiny hamlets at great distances from each other, it was impossible to do that. But being (as at this time they were) disturbed and alarmed by the witches, and desirous of abandoning the faith, they returned to their ancient sites, which more readily permitted each one to live in the law which he preferred, and none in that which would have been well for him. Yet, in spite of all this, the religious had dealt so well with them, and had shown them so much love and benevolence, that the Indians could not cease to feel and to show kindness for them. Hence, though they were able to kill the religious or to do them any harm they pleased, because the fathers were alone among them without any other protection than their good consciences – which is a great safeguard – the Indians not only did them no harm, but laid hands on nothing of theirs or of their convent. This was, as it were, a declaration that they had fled, not on account of any harm that the ministers had done them, but on account of their fear of the punishment which their bad consciences caused them to dread – a fear increased by what the aniteras or witches, as the most guilty, had falsely said to them with the purpose of alarming them. In point of fact, the religious had had no idea of severe punishment, but simply of remedying such pernicious evils. They pitied them as being new in the faith, and pitied even the very witches as being persons deceived by the devil, little exercised in the law of God, and many of them not even baptized. The religious were greatly grieved by this event, and carried down to the nearest village the adornments of the church which they had there, taking with them some Indians who feared God and did not wish to follow the pernicious behaviour of those who fled from God to the devil. They made some efforts to bring back with kindness those who had fled; and in this way some of them, enlightened by God, returned to the bosom of the Church and the easy yoke of the divine law. They made continual efforts to bring back the rest, declining no labor, no journeys, and no discomforts, in order to gain some soul from among these lost ones. The flight of these Indians took place on the day of the ascension of the Lord, May 28. Since they had retired into the mountains, the Spaniards, as they were few, did not pursue them, deeming that on account of the roughness of the country where they were the pursuit would have little effect, and would cause many deaths, much suffering, and great expense. Hence many of them remained apostates from the faith and the baptism which they received, which is a cause of great grief.
On the nineteenth of the following month in the same year, ships arrived from Mexico with thirty-two religious to aid in the work of conversion upon which this province was engaged. On the following day, Saturday, in the morning, they entered the convent, to the great joy of themselves and of those who dwelt in it. Their vicar and superior from Mexico hither had been father Fray Angel Ferrer,11 who was afterward a glorious martyr in Japon. When this company of religious arrived in Mexico, he was vicar of the convent of San Jacintho, which this province has near that noble city, as a hospice for the religious who come to it from España. Since he who was conducting them [i. e., Aduarte] went back thither, father Fray Angel undertook the very useful duty of conducting them to the Philippinas, in order that the former might fulfil his office as procurator of the province. The Lord led him, without his knowing it, that He might give him a glorious martyr’s crown, which he received a few years afterward, as will be told later.
These religious reached Mexico in the year 1613. Since in that year there had been no ships from the Philippinas, it was necessary to detain them there until the following year,
See Vol. XII, p. 222.
Angelo Orsucci e Ferrer was born in Lucca, Italy, in 1570, also entering there the Dominican order. Hearing of the Filipinas missions, he went to Valencia, in Spain, to join them, and arrived at Manila in 1602. He labored successively in the Cagayán and Bataán missions, and in 1612 went to Mexico to take charge of the Dominican hospice there. In 1615 he returned to Manila, conducting the mission band which Aduarte had brought to Mexico. He went again to Bataán for a time; but, hearing of the persecutions in Japan, determined to go thither, reaching that country in August, 1618. In the following December he was arrested, and imprisoned in Omura. He remained there nearly four years, and was burned alive on September 10, 1622. He was beatified in 1867.
See