The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 13 of 55: 1604-1605; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 13 of 55: 1604-1605; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
"After Christmas I was summoned back to Manila, but in Lent was sent
again to the village of Silang. At that time I found the mission
greatly increased by the many natives whom the fathers had recently
brought together; they were coming to us each day from other villages
(the entire village of Indan had joined us), all of them very needy,
and almost half of them unbaptized. On the feast of St. Gregory I
baptized twenty-five persons, only one of whom, a sick woman, was of
adult age, and on the feast of the Annunciation twenty-one, of whom
nineteen were adults; at present another goodly number of them are
being prepared. The number of those baptized this year is about two
hundred, and the confessions very numerous; and the number of those
admitted to communion is about fifty, the choicest of whom are members
of the confraternity. We erected our altar of the sepulchre [25] as
skilfully as we were able, and celebrated the offices [appropriate to
the occasion], by the help of which this new people gained new light
upon the services of Holy Week. Those who took the discipline, going
forth in a formal procession, were on Holy Monday, the singers, who did
this by way of preparation; others desired to march on Holy Tuesday,
but, as the day was stormy and the winds violent, I forbade them to
do so. They had their procession on Holy Wednesday; and others, in
greater number, marched on Holy Thursday. Our most important procession
was on Holy Friday, in the evening; two images were carried--one,
a small crucifix (for we had no larger one); the other, an image of
our Lady--while the choir sang the litanies. When this procession
ended, people gathered in sufficient number to form another; this
was caused by the lack of [woolen] tunics, which were removed by
their wearers and lent [to those in the second procession]. In all
the processions except the principal one, the music consisted of the
Christian doctrine, sung by the children as they walked.
"I must continue the account which in other letters I have written to
your Reverence of the favors which the Lord communicates by means of a
print of our blessed Father Ignatius; for He is continually bestowing
these favors upon those new Christians, on account of their strong
faith in Him. A woman was brought in to us, sick and unable to speak,
and was dying before us without our being able to obtain from her
a word or sign so that we could give her absolution; the statement
of her friends, moreover, that she had asked for confession, was
doubtful. I was therefore anxious and grieved, until I brought her
an image of our blessed father, and I said mass for the sick woman,
and when I returned she was able to speak, and made a good confession;
but utterance again failed her, and she died in peace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account