Note 31 — Chapter XXXII

Excellent ordinances were enacted in this chapter. The first was, that those confessors who had not been examined in the province should be examined before they received confessions. For this examiners were appointed—not because the few who were in the province were not of known competency and had not been examined in other provinces before, but to establish a matter of such importance firmly at the very beginning; and to have the medicine anticipate and prevent the disease, as the Holy Spirit counseled, and as was very wise. They established in the convent lectures in theology, and appointed as lecturer father Fray Juan Cobo. Anyone who will consider how few the religious were, and how much they had to do, one performing the work of many, will see the esteem which these fathers felt for the exercises of sacred theology (which are so appropriate to our order), and will think very highly of this care. It was ordained that the preachers to the Indians should follow in their sermons the form of the Roman catechism, teaching them the virtue and necessity of the holy sacraments, and the reverence and devotion with which they must be treated. Since by the mercy of God the Indians have given signs of approaching them in the spirit necessary to receive them, and since they were every day increasing in works of charity and mercy, and exhibiting their faith, it was ordained that they should be instructed thoroughly in regard to this matter; and that those sufficiently instructed should be admitted to the most holy sacrament of the altar, and in time to extreme unction. They repeatedly impressed upon their own memory the ordinance passed in the first chapter, namely, that they should treat the Indians with great love and charity, not only in words, but in works—aiding them in their necessities with alms, as much as might be possible for them, and in all things treating them with the spirit of mildness. This ordinance further provided that if at any time there should be necessity for punishment [of the Indians], it should be performed by the hands of others, in order that from our hands they might receive nothing but benefit and might thus become devoted to the law which we preached. The chapter was held with great solemnity and joy, as the church was then used for the first time. It was now very beautiful, and was built wholly of stone. To crown the feast they held some theological discussions, certain moral difficulties being therein vindicated and explained. These difficulties had to do with that which at that time was of the greatest importance; in particular they discussed questions of great weight with regard to the collection of the tributes,31 and the justice with which encomiendas and other places of profit ought to be distributed; and with regard to slavery in this country, since, because it does not follow the laws of España, but conforms to the customs of the Indians, it presents peculiar difficulties. But the point which they discussed most, and with the greatest profit, was the obligation of the ministers to the Indians to remain among them and preach the gospel to them, and to keep them in the law which those who were already Christians had received. It was shown with great clearness that, in the condition in which affairs were, the priests who were in these islands could not leave them without being guilty of mortal sin against the charity which we owe to these Indians our neighbors—who are placed in the most extreme need of ministers to teach them, and to administer the sacraments to them, without which it is impossible for them to be saved. Since the Indians who were in this state of necessity were so many, and the priests so few that, even though their number were many times increased, there would not be enough, it was inferred with clearness that those who went away were guilty of most grievous sin. It was concluded that they were obliged to give an account to the Lord of the souls which should be lost on account of their absence, the number of whom must of necessity be very great. This teaching was of great importance and usefulness in calming some priests and religious whom the love of their own country was drawing back to España; and thus there resulted much consolation and improvement to the Indians. [At this time there occurred an incident which very greatly impressed the Chinese Christians, and caused them to respect the directions of their confessors. The incident might be called a punishment, but it was the punishment of a kindly father, as the punishments of the Lord often are; and it resulted in the entire salvation of a soul. In 1590 a Chinese Christian bookseller called Pablo Hechiu desired to return in the vessels which left Manila for China. He did not dare tell any of the fathers, because he knew that they would interfere with his departure; but he was unable to keep the matter secret from father Fray Juan Cobo. The father did what he could to keep him from going away, because of the danger which he ran of relapsing into idolatry; but the Chinese succeeded in eluding him, and departed for China. The vessel in which he took passage was cast upon the mountainous coast of Bolinao.32 Though the people on board escaped to land, they lost their lives, because the Indians of this country, the Zambales or mountaineers, are ferocious, and find their greatest delight in slaying men and cutting off their heads, for no other reason than their own wicked disposition. They are trained up in this from childhood. When they saw the wretched Chinese cast on shore, they fell upon them, robbed them of everything they had saved from the wreck, and killed as many as they could; these were nearly all—some few escaping, and hiding themselves in the most thickly overgrown parts of the mountain. Among those who thus escaped was Pablo Hechiu. He remained there hidden for a fortnight, without daring to come out from the place where he had concealed himself; and, having no food, he died, leaving on two crosses made of bamboo a written account of what had happened to him. This came to light in the following way. The governor of Manila sent a strong expedition against these Zambales, which sought for them all through those mountains. Some of the scouts came upon Pablo Hechiu, his body, entire and dried, leaning against the foot of a tree. The preservation of the body was an extraordinary thing; and still more extraordinary was it that Christians should go through a region which had probably never been trodden by the feet of Catholics since the world was created, because the country was mountainous and visited by the Zambales alone, and the place was hidden even from them by the thickness of the undergrowth.