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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55, 1640: 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 centuryAduarte, Diego

History

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55, 1640: 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

Name: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55, 1640: 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
Author: Aduarte, Diego

Aduarte, Diego

Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources

manifesting the greatest desire to become Christians (as at this time,
by the grace of God, they are). The same desire was displayed by the
Indians of the estuary of Yogan; but the father provincial did not dare
to give them religious. A marvel followed, for while they were very
urgently pleading for missionaries, two of the religious fell sick,
and were so near to death that they were already despaired of. At that
time a religious came in, who was much moved to pity when he saw the
heathen asking for preachers with so much urgency. He told the father
provincial, Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, that he ought to make a vow
to send missionaries to the people of Yogan if the Lord healed the
sick men; for, if the Lord did heal them, it was the same as to give
him anew two missionaries, the number necessary for these Indians,
for they were already mourning the religious as dead. The provincial
made no vow, but promised to do so; and the Lord straightway fulfilled
that condition by healing those whose life was despaired of, and the
provincial sent religious to Yogan. Many other Indians of that same
country have felt this same desire, wishing to enjoy the presence of
the religious, because of the high regard that they feel for them and
the great advantage which they receive from their presence. And the
hearts of the religious have been not a little grieved at seeing the
heathen coming to ask for preachers (which is the same as for them
to come to preach to us), and themselves unable to help them. Since
there are not religious enough for so many villages and districts,
the religious have done all they could, and at times have done more
than they could; so that, as a result of their excessive labor, they
have lost their lives. Even so, there are many to whose succor it has
not been possible to go; and they have failed to become Christians
for lack of missionaries to teach them, baptize them, and keep them
in the divine law.


(To be continued.)







BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA


The first document is obtained from Antonio Alvarez de Abreu's Extracto
historial (Madrid, 1736), fol. 1-28; from a copy of that work in the
possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago.

The second document is part of Diego Aduarte's Historia de la provincia
del Sancto Rosario (Manila, 1640), pp. 1-167; from a copy of that
work in the possession of Edward E. Ayer. It will be continued in
the next two volumes of this series.







NOTES

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