Volume 37 — CHAPTER XXXIII

Coming of the governor Don Manuel de León y Sarabia; and arrival of a plentiful mission of religious.

(1669–70)

In the company of that governor came the largest reënforcement that had thus far arrived—namely, thirty-two religious, whom the father-procurator, commissary, and vicar-general, Fray Isidro Rodríguez, had brought with him. It was the balance of the mission that he had sent the former year—which, all told, reckoning it as one mission, was the most goodly and numerous mission that had come to this province from its foundation; for it consisted of forty-eight religious and three lay-brothers. They entered the convent of Manila on October 4, the day of St. Francis.

That year a function was solemnized which had not been performed for many years, namely, the publication of the edicts of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in the cathedral of Manila, on the first Sunday in Lent. The father commissary, Fray José de Paternina, was present, as were also all the officials and servants of the Holy Office, who were but few in that time. The new governor and the royal Audiencia were present, and father master Juan de Paz preached. On the following Sunday the letter of excommunication [anatema] was read, in the form usual to this holy tribunal, against those who have not denounced within the term of one week those who had committed the crimes against our holy faith which are mentioned in the edicts. That solemn function was not again repeated every three years, as is ordered by the Inquisitors; this was not done, not only within three years, but not for forty-nine, and until the present year of 1718, in which this history is written—the commissary being the reverend master and father presentado, Fray Juan de Arichedera, of the Order of Preachers; and the governor, the mariscal of the army, Don Fernando Manuel Bustillo Bustamente y Rueda, in his first year. That religious ceremony was performed with the greatest solemnity that has been seen in these islands by the many ministers, commissaries, and calificadors, belonging to the secular clergy and orders, whom the holy tribunal had. The most eminent persons in the community acted as familiars; at the order of the Inquisitors of Méjico, these were present not only with banners, but also with the white and black cross (the insignia of this holy office) on their capes and mantles—the religious wearing it on their cowls, worked in gold and silver. On the evening of Saturday, March 12, the procession marched through all the city, the standard of the faith setting out from the convent of St. Dominic, carried by Sargento-mayor Don Domingo Bermúdez, a citizen of Manila, who had been alcalde-in-ordinary the preceding year. The regidors and most eminent citizens accompanied him, dressed in gala attire and on gaily decked horses, and followed by many lackeys wearing rich livery (which is less costly in Manila than in other places). The father commissary rode a mule with trappings, and was accompanied by the servants of the holy tribunal, both ecclesiastical and lay, the alcaldes with their maces, and the drums, and followed by the other officials, all on horseback.

The second Sunday of Lent, March 13, the same parade was held from the convent of St. Dominic to the cathedral. The father commissary was there, under a canopy in the chancel on the gospel side; and the ministers of the Holy Office in the body of the church, on their benches on the epistle side. The above-mentioned governor was there, and was the head of the city, as there was no royal Audiencia. The father secretary, Fray Francisco de Contreras, read the edicts, and the father lecturer Varela, of the Order of St. Dominic, preached. After mass the standard of the faith was returned, and the father commissary and all the tribunal went to the convent of St. Dominic, accompanied by the governor and captain-general, and by the rest of his retinue of the preceding day.

The following Sunday, March 20, the father commissary and all the tribunal left the convent of St. Dominic, and went afoot to the cathedral, where the serious and fearful ceremony was performed of reading the letter of excommunication against those who do not denounce persons whom they know to have fallen into heresies and the sins mentioned in the edicts. That is a ceremony that strikes fear and terror into the hardest heart; its tenor and details I omit, as it is long to tell and terrifying to hear. That ceremony was performed with the greatest solemnity and gravity possible. Inasmuch as it is not my intention, nor ought I, to come down to these present times with my records [in this history], I have thought it advisable to mention that matter in this place as a memorial of so holy a ceremony.

Our province was greatly advanced in that triennium by the great prudence and affability of its provincial, our father Fray Dionisio Suárez, who was more angel than man. With the abundant aid that had arrived in that year and the preceding one, plenty of ministers were appointed for all the convents; those convents which had been united with others were separated, and ministers placed in them; and in the large and populous places two [ministers were stationed]. The work was so apportioned that it could be endured; for the overwork occasioned by the lack [of ministers] had been the cause of many dying and others falling ill. Divine Providence also assisted by communicating grace to the newcomers, and facility in learning the languages of our provinces. Therefore, after a few months many of the latter found themselves sufficiently qualified in that respect to become ministers, alone and without company, in the missions. This province became renewed and flourishing with the abundance of religious, and the study of the arts and theology was greatly assisted in the convent of Manila. Ministers were placed in the missions of those who were recently converted in the hill-country of Ilocos, in the villages of Aclán, Vera, and Bangbanglo, father Fray Benito de Mena assisting them all the days of his life—which lasted until the year 1695, after he had founded the mission called Bangi, on the outskirts of the province of Cagayán.