Note 27 — Chapter XXVII

As a result of the continued preaching to the Chinese, the number of them converted and baptized increased from year to year. Since after this they were not permitted to return to their own country, they married and settled down in this one, so that the population of Christians in Baybay belonging to this nation was greatly increased. It accordingly became necessary to buy another large site, in order to extend this village—which, though it is immediately contiguous to the other, has a separate name, and is somewhat divided from it by a river which passes between them. This village is called Minondoc. This site was bought to be given to the new Christians, as in fact it was given, by Don Luis Perez das Mariñas,27 knight of the Habit of Alcantara, and former governor of these islands, a man of superior virtue, who lived in this same village among the Chinese, setting them an admirable example as a man who had the name and did the works of sainthood. In this location of Minondoc it was necessary to build another church, much larger than the one they had at Baybay (which was very small, and did not accommodate all the congregation). From time to time it has been increased in size and is now a most beautiful church, very capacious, very well lighted, very pleasant, very strong, and very attractive. It is built wholly of stone, being thirty-eight brazas in length, and more than eight in width, and eight and one-half high. It has fifty large windows, which add much to its beauty. Its size is now so great that it is the largest church in the village; and since it will not accommodate all the congregation at one time, they go to it twice on every Sunday and feast-day. Sermons are delivered at each of the masses, in two languages—one in Chinese, and the other in the language of the natives of this country, for the wives of the Chinamen and other Indians who live in this town. There are then four sermons delivered every Sunday, two in Chinese, and two in the language of these Indians; although, that they may not be too heavy a burden, each address lasts not more than half an hour. The Chinese have always given this church of theirs the name of St. Gabriel, after that of their hospital, in admiration of the miracle of his lot having been drawn out three times in succession as patron of the hospital, as has been said. They desire not to fail to deserve the favor of this most holy archangel, whom the Lord has given them with His own hand as their especial advocate; and they therefore celebrate in his honor every year very joyful and devout feasts. Throughout the year the divine offices are performed in this church with great solemnity and grandeur, many of these Chinese affording their assistance, with very large contributions toward everything necessary for the adornment of the church and the divine services. There have been in this town many Chinese of very exemplary lives. Juan de Vera was not only a very devout man, and one much given to prayer, but a man who caused all those of his household to be the same. He always heard mass, and was very regular in his attendance at church. He adorned the church most handsomely with hangings and paintings, because he understood this art. He also, thinking only of the great results to be attained by means of holy and devout books, gave himself to the great labor necessary to establish printing in this country, where there was no journeyman who could show him the way, or give him an account of the manner of printing in Europe, which is very different from the manner of printing followed in his country of China. The Lord aided his pious intention, and he himself gave to this undertaking not only continued and excessive labor, but all the forces of his mind, which were great. In spite of the difficulties, he attained that which he desired, and was the first printer in these islands;28 and this not from avarice—for he gained much more in his business as a merchant, and readily gave up his profit—but merely to do this service to the Lord and this good to the souls of the natives. For they could not profit by holy books printed in other countries, because of their ignorance of the foreign language; nor could they have books in their own language, because there was no printing in this country, no one who made a business of it, and not even anyone who understood it. Hence this labor was very meritorious before the Lord and of great profit to these peoples. As a reward the Lord gave him a most happy death, with such joy and devotion that he began to sing praises to the Lord in a very loud voice—at one time in his Chinese language, at another in that of the Indians, at another in Spanish; for he knew them all well. There were about his bed many religious, who loved him much for his devoutness. One of them said, in a low voice, to him who was next to him, “It seems that the severity of his disease has affected his mind;” and as if this had been said aloud the sick man heard it, and answered, “Has he not lost his reason, fathers, who on any such occasion as this should think it well to do anything but what I am doing—sing praises to the Lord and give Him many thanks for having made me a Christian?” He longed for a thousand languages that he might praise Him in all; and in this devotion and fervor of spirit he died, leaving the religious not only greatly comforted but very envious of such a death. Juan de Vera had a brother somewhat younger than he; and when Juan saw that he was about to die he called him and said to him: “Brother, there is one thing which I wish to ask you to do for me, that I may die in comfort; and that is, that you will carry on this business of printing, so that the great service done by it to God may not come to an end. I know well that you are certain in this way to lose much gain; but it is of much greater importance to you to obtain a spiritual profit by printing devout books for the Indians. You may well afford to lose this temporal gain in return for that eternal one.” The brother promised, and much more than fulfilled his word; for, greatly influenced by the aforesaid holy death, the brother greatly improved his own manner of life, and began a career of especial devotion, which lasted until his death. He was made steward of our Lady, and served her with great diligence. From his own fortune he provided many rich adornments, giving to the church a large cross and silver candlesticks for the procession, besides a silver lamp for the most holy sacrament. He also contributed largely to the building of the church. He gave all these things to our Lady, in return for what he gained in his business; and he agreed with this Lady to give her a certain portion of his profits, obliging himself to this with a special vow. In return for this devotion, his merits and his gains increased, and he felt himself daily more and more under obligation; and he more and more devoutly fulfilled his office, in which he died, leaving behind him a very good name, as such a life deserved. A still greater advance in spirituality was made by Antonio Lopez, a Chinese of superior ability and judgment, very devout and charitable, and a liberal benefactor of his church. To the building of the church he gave many thousand pesos in life, and after his death left a perpetual endowment of considerable amount for its ornaments, repairs, and other needs. Because of his probity, rectitude, and disinterestedness—a rare virtue among the Chinese, who are naturally avaricious, and one which is never found by itself, but is always accompanied by all the rest in a high degree, since it is the most difficult for them—because of these good qualities, he was frequently obliged to hold the office of governor of his people. This gave them great delight, because they knew he was just and pious. Though this office is usually sought for, and even ordinarily bought for many thousand pesos, he did not desire it, even free of cost; and it was necessary to force it upon him. When finally he accepted it, being unable to resist longer, he desired to avoid all temptations to avarice; and therefore, from the very beginning, he made an offering to the church of all the profits obtained from the office. He left for himself only the labor, so that good-will to the party affected by his decisions might not make him swerve a single point from justice. When he died he left a will very Christian and very prudent, providing for many masses immediately and a perpetual chaplaincy, bestowing much alms, giving three slaves to his church, and doing many other things worthy of his Christian spirit and his advanced intelligence. There have been in this town many other persons of very great virtue, particularly women. A reference to their devotion at this point will cause a similar spirit in the readers; but, being a matter not directly connected with this history, we are obliged to omit it, that we may pass on to matters more germane to our subject. It will be sufficient to refer to one special case which happened to one woman, a Japanese by nation, married to a Chinaman. [Poor in the things of this world, they were rich in those of heaven. Each of them had the characteristics opposite to those of their race; she was without the duplicity and choleric spirit of the Japanese, and he was destitute of the avarice and loquacity of the Chinese. She in particular amazed and humiliated her confessor. Her virtue was such that she was rewarded by a vision of our Lady, who comforted her with the promise that her confessor, father Fray Thomas Mayor,29 who had expected to return to his native province of Aragon, would not leave his post in the islands.]