The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 | Page 2

Jesuits meet much success in their ministries--especially in the confessional, in public preaching, and in various benevolent works. They also accomplish much in private affairs, reconciling enemies, preventing lawsuits, and checking licentious conduct. The annals continue with the progress of the Antipolo mission during 1598. The mountain-dwellers continue to come to the mission, of whom many are baptized--among these some of the heathen priests. Among the converts are formed confraternities which most efficiently aid the labors of the missionaries. The people have given up their pagan practices, and display great piety and devotion as Christians.
At Cebu the bishop has greatly favored the Jesuits, who have opened a school for his clergy and the sons of some citizens. Their labors are chiefly among the Visayan natives and the Chinese, and meet much success. The writer relates some instances of especial virtue and piety among these converts; there, as in missions elsewhere, the women are distinguished in those respects. No less important are the labors of the Jesuits among the Spaniards of Cebu, among whom they exercise great influence, even the bishop depending upon their advice; and they often preach in the cathedral. The bishop, "in imitation of Manila," introduces the practice of flagellation at Lent, and himself leads the "procession of blood."
In the island of Bohol the infant church continues to grow. The converts have entirely abandoned idolatry; and certain miraculous cures have kindled in them a most fervent piety. In Butuan (in northern Mindanao) "Christianity is in a flourishing condition," according to Father Ledesma, whose letters are cited. Conversions are steadily increasing: and several chiefs are to be baptized soon, although the most noted leader, Silongan, is not yet cured of his polygamous inclinations. He is, however, most friendly to the fathers, and protects them in certain dangers. In Alangalang, Tomas de Montoya (an American Indian who has gone to the islands) has resumed the work dropped at the death of Cosme de Flores; he relates some instances of piety among his converts, and of punishment visited on the impenitent. At Ogmuc much caution had been exercised in conferring baptism, and those who have received it show most edifying piety. In Holy Week occurs a procession in which "the most pleasing and touching sight was to see all the children disciplining themselves with scourges which they themselves had made for that day." The missionaries adjust various family quarrels, and put an end in the islands to the practices of usury and unjust enslavement. Chirino here gives some account of these evils, but adds that they are abolished among all the christianized tribes in the islands.
Good reports come from Carigara and Paloc; the latter village is unusually prosperous because one of the Jesuits has aided the people to construct better dwellings. They have abandoned their idols, and take pleasure in scourging themselves on Fridays. At Dulac many baptisms have occurred, and various diseases, among them leprosy, have been cured by this sacrament. A letter from Father Otaco, who is in charge at Tinagon, shows that idolatry has been abandoned, and immoral customs are almost uprooted. He gives an interesting description of the methods pursued by the missionaries in their preaching, and by one of their native helpers in teaching his fellows.
In June, 1599, Diego Garcia is sent to the islands as official visitor of the Jesuit missions there, and he at once reorganizes and systematizes their plan and conduct. Soon after his arrival there is a violent earthquake at Manila, which injures two of the churches. The Jesuits receive much aid for restoring their building--contributions from the Spaniards, and services from the Indians. In an epidemic of disease among them much good is done by the confraternity established among the converts, and the sick depend upon the fathers for spiritual comfort. When the people harvest their rice, their first care is to carry an offering of the first-fruits to the church. As usual, the Jesuits here do much to better the lives of their penitents, both Indian and Spanish, reconciling those who were at enmity, and breaking up licentious alliances. The pestilence extends to Antipolo and other villages near Manila, and both the missionaries and their converts aid the sick and the dying in every possible way.
The uprooting of idolatry in the Taytay mission has been effectual; various instances of this are related by Chirino, as also the cure of a lunatic by wearing an Agnus Dei. Garcia, the official visitor, arrives at Cebu in 1600, and makes arrangements by which the Chinese there are cared for by other priests, the Jesuits being thus free to labor among the Indians. But the harvest of souls is far greater than the few laborers there can reap and more are urgently needed. Chirino relates some instances of conversion and pious deaths in that