Volume 32 — Chapter LXXI

The arrival at Manila of father Fray Luis, his assignment to Pangasinan and the events there

[Father Fray Luis was assigned to the province of Pangasinan and went there in the company of the two other fathers who were sent to the same place. Suffering from disease as a result of exposure, he was miraculously cured. The Lord wrought miraculous conversions by means of father Fray Luis, and supported him in his sufferings and illness with visions. Being taken back to Manila for care, and fearing that he might be sent to some other province, he prayed God to renew his strength that he might return to Pangasinan. The Lord heard his prayer and he was able to return to the duties which he loved. The Lord blessed the mere word of father Fray Luis, sometimes even more than the great labors of other religious; and he took as his special charge those Indians who had been given up by others. At one time when news came that smallpox was raging in one of the villages named Bimmalay, and that many children were dying in it, father Fray Luis instantly went there to baptize as many of the children as he could. The fathers were not usually permitted to baptize the children, except in cases where it was certain that they were not going to live, and then they were permitted to do so only as a result of prayers and importunities. At one time a soldier came to Binalatongan with news that Don Luis Perez das Mariñas was dying in the province of Ylocos. He sent word to father Fray Luis, but without asking him to come, as the sisters of Lazarus wrote to the Lord. Father Fray Luis went to his choir to intercede for his friend, and there remained constantly in prayer and sacrifice until he received news that he was better. From the very day when the soldier reached father Fray Luis, the governor began to recover his health. On many occasions sick children were healed by the prayers of father Fray Luis. He was ready to risk his life for his duties. In many cases it seemed as if God had kept children alive only until they received baptism that they might be saved.]