Volume 32 / Book 2 — Chapter LVI

A new congregation of religious which was proposed in these islands at this time

When the evil befell the province—which was on the fourth of May, the first Sunday in the month, and the day of our great saint Catharine of Siena in the year 1636—all the religious of the province went to beg the favor of their patroness, the Virgin of the Rosary; and in all the houses of the order her holy litany was recited every night, in unison, with this purpose. This means was so efficacious that, contrary to every human hope, matters were settled and arranged as if by the hands of this great lady; and without any effort on the part of the province so many things were cleared up, and put together in its favor that finally, by the aid of one who was not expected to give aid, the truth was victorious; and the houses returned to their ancient and legitimate possessors, and the province to its longed-for quiet, September 6, 1637, after having remained in the power of the congregation one year and four months. The religious being grateful for this restitution to the Virgin, from whose generous hands they had received so great a gift, rendered public thanks to her in all the convents. In the convent of Manila a feast of an octave was most solemnly celebrated, this lady being drawn in procession with great majesty, like a triumphant conqueror. As such she remained all those days in the midst of the main chapel, with the richest adornments and the finest of decoration. In this we were aided by those outside of the order to give to this lady our highest thanks, recognizing her supreme grace, which could have been granted by none but her powerful hand. The duty of writing with all care to the most reverend general was not neglected now, as it had not been neglected before; and a full account and report were sent to him showing how experience had manifested that the information in virtue of which the new congregation had been obtained was impossible. After the congregation had been placed in possession, and was under the obligation of going to the aid of Japon and China and other kingdoms, it did not do so; and there was no hope that it would do so, nor even that it would so much as have religious to maintain the houses which it had taken from the province. It was not to be expected that his Majesty would send them from España, and there was no other way or manner in which they could come. The vain expectation of giving many habits here was immediately disappointed, for even if they desired to give these, there was no one to whom they could be given, nor was there anyone suitable for the purpose. This would have been much more true if, as had been said to the most reverend general, the habit was to be given to Indians. This was something unworthy of thought; but it was actually stated in the very patent, because information to that effect had been given to the most reverend general, though it is contrary to the judgment of all those of ability who have been in the Indias, and contrary to the demonstration of experience ever since there have been religious orders in these regions. As soon as it saw itself possessed of the houses, it saw also the great difficulty or impossibility of this project; and even to maintain them it found itself obliged to disquiet the religious of the province by persuading them to enter the congregation. Some were even received, contrary to the express mandate of our most reverend general laid down in this patent itself. It is plain from this that these proceedings must have been the cause of great annoyance and of many difficulties, for there was nothing but lawsuits with the province, and disturbances, which left no time to pay attention to the greater fruit of the conversions of the heathen which had been promised. On the contrary, it interfered with them, as the Lord, who was offended with these acts revealed, however secret the interference was kept. There must be added to all this that the congregation, from its very beginning, began to relax and to give up the supports which the prudent and holy founders of the province set up in holy manner for the maintenance of the evangelical ministry which it exercised. These are prayers, the disciplines, the rigorous abstinence, and the like, commanded by the constitution and ordained in the same law. The congregation did not accept them; and on this account, and because of the results which followed, it could not continue, and was brought to an end, the Lord not permitting that to go further which set out with so bad a beginning. Even before seeing these evil results by experience, nearly all the religious brought by this father from España foresaw them; and, leaving him, they were nearly all incorporated with the province. Generally speaking, the more religious and intelligent of them did not desire to go to the congregation; for they judged with much prudence that a thing which was so ill founded could not have a good end, as it did not. Some of these have obtained the reward of this wise decision, for they have been sent to the province of Japon, and became most glorious martyrs, as we shall soon tell. One of those who were appointed for this most holy and happy mission lost and abandoned it by abandoning the province and joining the congregation. As a penalty for this act, he lost the crown of martyrdom, which his companions gained by remaining in the province. Thus the Lord manifested the truth of what we said when we declared that the province was more careful and even more able to attend to these missions than was the congregation which was formed for them. At the very time when the province sent out this mission, the congregation regarded it as impossible, and even strove to impede it, as has been said.