The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 31, 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 31, 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
Aduarte, Diego
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
In 1605, a papal brief (obtained by the Jesuits) forbids any religious
to go to Japan except by way of India; but it is revoked three years
later. This, in the interim, causes the friar orders much trouble;
and Japan, moreover, is greatly unsettled and disturbed by various
political matters. In 1606 an intermediate chapter is held at Manila,
at which the religious of the order are directed to collect materials
(of which Aduarte has availed himself) for a history of the Dominican
province. The great victory of Acuña at Maluco, which occurs about
that time, is ascribed to the agency of our Lady of the Rosary,
to whom the Dominicans have a special devotion; a confraternity in
her honor had been founded in Acuña's army, and the captured town is
dedicated to her. In this same year, another company of religious
arrives from Spain; one dies before reaching Manila. At this time,
a Dominican mission is established in the province of Hizen, Japan.
In 1605 the mission in Pangasinan is extended to the village of
Manáoag, farther inland; and, "within a few months, there was not a
heathen in the village." A chief in a neighboring village is also
converted, to whom a miracle occurs. In 1607, two new churches
are established in Cagayán. In Nalfotan the Indians, led by their
excellent chief, build a church even before a missionary is sent to
them; and all is prospering when a priestess of the old idols stirs
up the people, against the new faith, and the villagers take to the
hills. Later, they burn the church; but the good chief saves the
missionary's life. Another revolt occurs in that province, caused
by the cruelty of an encomendero. Troops are sent from Manila; their
commander finds that the Indians had cause for revolt, and sends the
people of Nalfotan home with their pastor. This mission prospers, and
the chief is its mainstay during his life--a function long continued
by his pious sister.
The provincial chosen in 1608 is Baltasar Fort. Some account is given
of the persecution of Christians in Japan; they are banished from
Satsuma, but many find shelter in Nagasaki. The Dominicans accomplish
much in Hizen. They also extend their missionary labors among the wild
mountaineers of northern Luzón, gathering many scattered hamlets into
larger villages, and converting many of their heathen inhabitants. In
Ituy they attempt to open a mission, but the Franciscans claim that
as their territory; the Dominicans yield, but regret to see these
Indians abandoned soon afterward by their Franciscan teachers. In 1609
the general of their order commands the provincials of the mission
provinces to report every year the work and achievements of the
missionaries, with information regarding the numbers and condition of
the order in each province. Several friars die in that year, of whom
biographical sketches are presented. One of these, Pedro Rodriguez,
has rendered special and distinguished service in the hospital for
Chinese at Manila.
The Editors
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