Note 111 — The Pardo Controversy
Reading edition
No other judgment is merited by the exemplary virtues of his illustrious Lordship; for even those most blind and obstinate in their prejudices were obliged to confess that the archbishop was a saintly man—as was said by the auditor who went to arrest him, as has been previously stated. The holy archbishop was much given to prayer and meditation, and inclined to silence; he was modest and sedate in his actions; and he was very watchful in whatever he did that all should be ordered by the divine law—continually keeping in mind the account that he must render to God of his ministry, a consideration which frequently shines out through his letters and other documents pertaining to the affairs of his high office. And this was the most potent stimulus which constrained him to act with so much firmness in the affairs pertaining to his ministry, as is noticeable in the letters which he wrote thereon to the governor, and are found in the authentic relation of his acts. In eating he was always very sparing, not only that he might observe religious abstinence, but because the delicate condition of his stomach could not endure the least excess. The holy archbishop lived in extreme poverty, behaving like the poorest religious in regard to his table, clothing, bed, and everything else. The province supplied his clothing, of rough, coarse frieze; and when a garment was torn he himself mended it with his own hands, as the members of his household have often seen. He employed the income of his see in doing good to the poor, in aiding the missions of his diocese, and in the adornment and repair of the churches. In the university of Santo Thomas he endowed a chair of canonical law, on account of the need in his church for training in this knowledge—to the end that the ecclesiastics of this archbishop might in future be better instructed in a subject so important for the management of the business in the ecclesiastical court; but this foundation was not enough to be effective, on account of unexpected accidents in the country.111