The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 32, 1640

Chapter VI
The great devotion in Japon to the rosary of our Lady; the death of the emperor, and the state of the church there

[In the beginning of the year 1616, the confraternity of our Lady of the Rosary, which had been established in 1602, when the order of our father St. Dominic entered Japon, was very greatly increased, and the devotion to the rosary became much more intense. This order and the devotion connected with it spread from Nangasaqui through all parts of Japon, and much improvement in the lives of those who devoted themselves to the rosary was perceived. Miraculous strength was also given to the members of the confraternity to hold to their faith. In July the emperor died by poison, which was given him by mistake from a box of medicine. The emperor being succeeded by his son, Xogunsama,¹⁶ the persecution was continued, and even increased in severity, the officers exerting themselves to invent ingenious tortures. Sometimes the very tormentors themselves, though they did not abandon their idolatry, were compelled by the virtue of the martyrs, and the aid rendered them by the Lord, to admit the truth of our holy faith. Particulars are given of the deaths of a number of martyrs. In course of time the persecution extended to Nangasaqui. It was discovered by accident that there were religious in the city. This was one cause for the beginning of the persecution. Another cause was the contentions of two governors in the city, one Christian and the other heathen.¹⁷ Great efforts being made to capture some of the religious, father Fray Pedro de la Asumpcion of the Order of St. Francis, and Father Juan Baptista Tavora of the Society, were caught and suffered martyrdom, being decapitated May 22, 1617. This caused great joy among the religious, who had feared that, if they should be captured, they would merely be sent out of the kingdom, but were now encouraged to hope for the crown of martyrdom.]

Chapter VII
The expedition of father Fray Alonso Navarrete, vicar-provincial of our order in Japon, and father Fray Hernando de San Joseph, or Ayala, vicar-provincial of the order of our father St. Augustine, for the aid of the Christians of Omura

[The persecutors were satisfied with these deaths, thinking that they would frighten the ministers of the gospel and either drive them out of Japon or greatly curtail their activity. May 24, 1617, on the eve of Corpus Christi, father Fray Alonso Navarrete, vicar-general of our order, set out for Omura, where the other priests had been martyred, with the purpose of openly preaching the gospel there. He took with him a courageous Japanese servant named Pablo. The landlord of his house also volunteered. Father Fray Hernando de San Joseph, vicar-provincial of the Augustinian order, who was his close friend, decided to accompany him. After examining their consciences carefully, father Fray Francisco de Morales of our order approved their enterprise.]

Chapter VIII
The capture of the holy martyrs

[The two fathers set out, traveling slowly, encouraging the Christians and recovering some of those who had recanted. The number of those who came to be confessed was very great, and the religious heard their confessions at the risk of their lives. The fathers rejoiced to lay aside their secular garments; and the Christians who saw them in religious habits were greatly delighted. Five persecutors came to arrest the fathers, who received them with great joy and gave them presents. Father Fray Alonso wrote a letter to the tono, informing him that the fathers had come to give him an opportunity to repent of his great sin in martyring the fathers who had been executed, and to deliver him from the pains of hell. Some Japanese boldly offered themselves for martyrdom. The Christian inhabitants of the city showed the greatest devotion to the fathers, crowding about them and offering themselves for martyrdom with them; and they showed the greatest grief at the thought that the fathers were to be taken from them by death. The tono of Omura was in the greatest grief and perplexity, feeling that there would fall on him the obligation to martyr Christians after Christians who would come to offer themselves in his kingdom. He finally determined to take their lives, but with the greatest secrecy, in order to prevent an uprising in the city. The fathers were accordingly taken to a desolate island named Usuxima; and in spite of the efforts of the heathen to keep the place secret, they were followed by a great number of Christians, who confessed to them.]

Chapter IX
The death of the three holy martyrs

[From this island the three fathers were removed to another named Coguchi. They received with great joy the news that they were to die, and were carried to another island still more solitary. Here they showed great courtesy and kindness to those who were to slay them. They left letters for their provincials, desiring them to send religious to Japon at any cost. In spite of the care of the tyrant, some Christians were present at the execution. The two were beheaded on Thursday, the first of June, the octave of Corpus Christi. Their very executioners looked upon them at such men of virtue that they dipped their handkerchiefs and bits of paper in their sacred blood, to keep these as relics. The bodies of all the martyrs were put in coffins laden with stones, and cast into the sea. In spite of the danger, many Japanese went to the place of the martyrdom to venerate the relics of these saints; and the Confraternity of the Rosary offered continual prayers that they might recover the bodies of these holy martyrs. At the end of two months the bodies of the holy and blessed Fray Pedro de la Asumpcion and Fray Hernando were cast up on the shore.]

Chapter X
The virtues of these blessed fathers, their fitness to obtain the crown of martyrdom, and the fruits which followed therefrom

[The holy Fray Hernando was especially devoted to the souls in purgatory, and gave a notable example of poverty and obedience to the rules of his order. Father Fray Alonso was very pious, almsgiving, and compassionate. Although the lords in Japon are very rich, the poor people are very needy; so that the heathen often slay their new-born children, and the Christians cast them out in the street. The heart of the holy man was so afflicted by this that, at his persuasion, a Spanish captain named Pablo Carrucho settled a certain income upon the pious work of maintaining these children. Just before his death the holy martyr, not forgetful of this, wrote a letter to the captain, urging him not to forget the alms for the exposed children. Father Fray Alonso was one of the first ministers of Nueva Segovia; he returned to Europe, to bring with him a number of new religious to the Philippinas. After he had been assigned to Japon he once returned to the Philippinas. He suffered greatly in these voyages, since he was of delicate constitution. He was a charitable and most beloved minister, very bold, and especially distinguished for his gratitude. From this martyrdom the Christians of Nangasaqui received new courage, as did also those of Omura, who were greatly strengthened in the faith. Some, indeed, who had feared to do so before, boldly confessed Christianity. Throughout Japon the example of this martyrdom was a great source of strength to the Christians, and forced the heathen to respect the Christian faith. The heathen also were cured of their error of supposing that the fathers had come to this region because of temporal ambitions. The persecution which was feared in Nangasaqui ceased when the courage of the holy men was seen. The last result of this martyrdom was the many more martyrdoms, which soon followed, of those who by the example of these saints openly avowed Christianity. The names of several of the confessors and martyrs are given, with a brief account of their deaths.]

Chapter XI
The state of affairs in Japon after the martyrdom of the saints Fray Alonso Navarrete and Fray Hernando de Ayala

[After the martyrdom of these holy religious the Christians of Omura, ashamed of their weakness, desired to follow their example. Father Fray Thomas del Espiritu Sancto and father Fray Juan de Los Angeles, religious of our order, and father Fray Apolinario Franco, commissary of the Order of St. Francis, went to take spiritual charge of these Christians in Omura. Fathers Fray Apolinario and Fray Thomas were arrested, with their servants, and imprisoned. Father Fray Juan de Los Angeles was not found. The landlord of father Fray Alonso Navarrete in course of time won the crown of martyrdom by the boldness of his confession; and he and another Christian were carried to an islet, and secretly executed at midnight on the last day of September. The tono of Omura, in perplexity, went to the court of the emperor to confer with him in regard to the questions raised by the arrest of the two fathers. The Christian faith extended, and some remarkable conversions of persecutors took place. The holy fathers suffered in prison from the rigors of winter, having been deprived of their clothes, and having no bed or any protection against the cold; for the prison was made of wood, and did not protect them against the cold, wind, or snow. They suffered equal tortures from hunger, having but a small ration of boiled rice without other food – the Christians having been forbidden to assist them.]

Chapter XII
The building of the church of Los Sanctos Reyes in the Parian

As soon as the order entered these islands, it took upon itself the charge of evangelizing and teaching the Chinese who came to these islands, every year, in pursuit of their business and profit. They all lived in a sort of alcaicería, or market, called in this country a Parian; and here there were usually ten thousand Chinese, and at times as many as twenty thousand. Here they not only store their merchandise, which is very rich, but maintain all the trades required for a very well ordered and provided community. They were at that time all heathen, because up to that time as soon as any Chinaman was converted and baptized he was obliged to leave this idolatrous place and to go to live in another village, of baptized Chinese, which was near there. In this way the effort was made to separate the newly-baptized from the heathen, so that they might not follow the bad example of their heathen neighbors while their Christianity, being new, had not sufficient strength to resist this temptation and free themselves from the danger of this scandal. The town of the heathen was not forgotten on this account; for the religious went from the town of the Christian Chinese, called Binondoc, where they lived, to preach every Sunday to those who lived in the Parian. This course was followed up to the year 1617, when it was remarked, with reason, how advantageous it would be that preachers should be constantly in residence in this multitude of people. Thus by having more intercourse with them, and being in closer relations with them, they might reap a greater spiritual harvest among the Chinese, and the number of those who should be baptized, in both sickness and health, might be greatly increased. The father provincial conferred with the two estates, ecclesiastical and secular, receiving the approval of everyone. The usual licenses were obtained, and a small wooden church and convent were begun. Everything was done at the expense of the order, that it might not be necessary to ask anything from the heathen Chinese, for whose benefit and advantage the buildings were erected. The Lord straightway began to manifest that the work was very acceptable to Him, by showing marvelous favor to a Chinaman who was occupied as overseer of the building. A Spaniard, enraged because he had been bitten by a dog, asked the Chinaman “whose dog that was,” intending to avenge upon the owner the pain which the dog had caused him. The Chinaman answered that he did not know whose it was, and the angry Spaniard said: “It must be yours, because you do not tell me.” Drawing his sword he thrust it at his chest; but the Lord, who was pleased with the care which the Chinaman gave to the building of His poor temple, guided the sword so that it struck an ebony cross which the Chinaman wore under his clothes. The blow made a deep mark upon this cross, while the Chinaman was untouched – the Lord receiving the thrust upon His own cross that it might not harm His votary. The Chinaman recognized this as a very special mercy, and a great reward for his labor; and he and all those who knew of the fact praised the Lord, wonderful in His works.

The poor church was finished, and being the edifice of those vowed to poverty it lasted but a short time. The beams which served as columns and held up the building were not strong, and the soil was marshy and unstable; hence the beams were unable to carry the load of the tiling, but gave way, in such a manner as to threaten the downfall of the church. To prevent this, so that no one might be caught beneath, it was planned to take down the tiling; and while the church was being untiled, and there were nineteen persons on the roof, the building (which was already on the point of falling) broke open with this additional weight, and the whole roof came down – key-beams, ridge-pole, and tiles. Even some of the largest beams were broken into very small fragments; and many of those who were on the peak of the roof were caught and buried in the lumber and tiles, so that of some there was nothing to be seen except some part of their clothing. A great multitude of people ran to the noise. Most of them were heathen, and stood looking on with much alarm at the ruin which had been wrought; but they did not dare to show any kindness, or to disinter the poor workmen who had been overwhelmed. Hence the men remained for a long space of time covered in this way, all supposing that they were not only dead, but horribly mangled. However, this was not the case; for the Lord was desirous of teaching these heathen the omnipotence of His providence and the care that He takes of those who serve Him; and all were taken out, unconscious indeed, but uninjured and in health, without the slightest wound upon any one of them, although some very heavy key-beams had been broken to pieces. They soon came to themselves and gave thanks to Him who had so marvelously preserved them; while all those present, who were innumerable, both Christians and heathen, were astonished, and the heathen said aloud: “Great is the providence of the God of the Christians.” Thus the Lord drew from these His enemies the highest praises, and changed into honor to His name that which might have caused offense among these idolaters if these men had been killed while working on the house of God. It was believed that the fervent prayer of father Fray Bartholome Martynez aided much in bringing about this result; for the work was going on under his direction, and when he saw that a good account of it could not be given, if the Lord did not remedy this misfortune, he begged this grace of Him most affectionately. And this was not the only time when the Lord granted to his faithful and devout prayers very marvelous things, as will be narrated in due time.

A small portion of the land belonging to the convent was made ready to serve, as well as possible, for a tiny church for the few Christians who were there. The harvest reaped here by the religious, in this multitude of heathen and idolatrous people, was marvelous. They taught them constantly by day and night in the church, in the squares, in their houses, without losing an opportunity to do them good – though they labored beyond their strength, trusting in the Lord whose work they were doing. Marvelous results immediately followed, to the great service and honor of the Lord and the profit of souls. Of the many sick in the Parian, who before the residence of the fathers had all departed in their heathen state, now, since they have had these devoted fathers among them and have heard their teaching, practically none have died without being baptized. Such is the fruit of the fathers’ care in expounding the faith to them, explaining to them the great good and the spiritual benefit of baptism, and the eternal misery of those who have neglected it. Often even the heathen relatives and friends of the sick have persuaded them to be baptized; and they, like the persons of their own nation whom the fathers have appointed for that purpose, take great care to ascertain if there are any sick, and to inform the fathers, that the latter may visit them and teach them the way to heaven.

In addition to these who are baptized in sickness, many are baptized in health and take back the news of the gospel to their own country. In this way, it is hoped, the entry of preachers into China will be somewhat facilitated, if it is once known that we are persons who, in addition to loving and helping them, are not desirous for our temporal profit, but for the good of their souls. This is an argument of great weight with the Chinaman, who is excessively avaricious, and hence regards as a very divine virtue the contempt of that which he esteems so highly. Since they are very intelligent, they are easily persuaded that that is truth which we preach to them as to the great reward in the other life for those who are good, since they see that their preachers take such pains and undergo such penances to become good, and despise all temporal gain in the firm hope of an eternal one. If their eternal reward were not to be much the vaster, great would be their imprudence to cast aside for it all temporal reward; and they would be, as the apostle has said, of all men most miserable.

Father Fray Bartholome Martynez afterward erected on the same site a sumptuous and handsome church, which was intentionally made large and capacious, that there might be room in it for the many whom he hoped to baptize; and beautiful, that the very magnificence of the edifice might give some sign by its appearance of whose it was. In order that it might please the Chinese better, it was constructed entirely after the manner of the best buildings in China, out of wood, the pieces framed together with joints, without any nails in the entire frame. This was accomplished, in spite of the fact that the number of pieces which entered into the frame came to more than three thousand. They were wrought with marvelous skill, and with superior craftsmanship; indeed, before they began to be put in place they were all shaped, with their joints so fitted that, although the architect at the time of erecting the building happened to be unable on account of illness to rise from his bed, and had to give his directions from it as to what had to be done, yet everything was found to be so exact that his presence was not needed. Everything was fitted exactly as it was planned and worked out by the designer from the beginning. This is something which aroused great admiration in the Spanish architects who saw it, and they were amazed, and with reason. It is reckoned a matter worthy of the wisdom given by God to Solomon that the same thing is recounted of the temple which he built, as is narrated in holy scripture. The architect was a heathen, very old and infirm; but God prolonged his life until this work was finished. Afterward, as his illness grew worse, he asked for holy baptism; and, having received it devoutly, he died happy in being a Christian, and was buried in the church which he had built for God.

[While the church was being built, some very notable events happened. One Sunday, after the Christians had heard mass, they and a number of heathen who helped them were dragging a very large beam which was to serve as a column in the building. As they went down a little hill, it began to roll on some round sticks which they had placed under it in order that they might move it with less difficulty, and came at one of those who were dragging it with such force that, as it seemed, he could in no way avoid being caught by it. The Lord heard the prayers of some religious who were present, and delivered him from his danger. In the same church the workmen were setting up the beams which were to support the four corners of the transept like columns – which beams were much larger, longer, and thicker than any of the others. A great number of people were stationed on each of the four sides of one, to draw it so that it might go straight. The cables which they used were new and heavy, and there was a workman seated on the head of the beam to watch the hitches of the cables to be sure that they did not slip. The weight of the beam was so great that one of the cables gave way, and when it was broken the others began to become loose. The workmen dropped their work and fled in alarm, leaving the man on the head of the beam beyond help, as it seemed. Father Fray Bartholome Martinez prayed to the Lord for this man, and the beam rested upon some bamboos standing there, which were strong, but not strong enough to carry such a weight; and the man got down by them unhurt, but with his blood curdled by fright. The church was finished and was most beautiful, being a notable piece of work in its style. It caused great joy to the Spaniards, and to the Chinese, both Christian and heathen. In the course of time another event which greatly edified these Chinese occurred; for on Monday, March 13, 1628, at one o’clock at night, a fire broke out in the Parian which burnt down practically the whole of it – since it was at that time built of reeds and nipa, or of dry boards, which burn like a torch. The only houses saved were some which were protected by green trees, and some other small ones which were somewhat isolated. The fire bore directly toward the church, and had already begun to scorch the wood of it, when the religious carried out the image of our Lady of the Rosary, and turned her face toward the fire. The wind instantly changed, and the church was saved. Although in the construction of this most beautiful church care had been taken to build it of durable wood, yet within a few years some of it rotted, and it seemed as if it would be with this church as with the others. Hence it was deemed necessary to tear it down, for fear of accident; and another church was built, with strong pillars of stone.] Since this is very near the city, we did not fail to build it with stronger frame. But it is very beautifully decorated, its walls being covered from top to bottom with paintings, in which is depicted everything which may instruct these heathen in the knowledge of that which is of consequence for them to understand. There is represented the whole life of Christ our Lord, and His most holy Mother; there are many pictures of the judgment, purgatory, glory, and hell; much instruction as to the seven holy sacraments; many miracles pertaining to them, and especially to the greatest of all; many martyrs, and many holy examples. All this, in addition to beautifying the church, is of great use, serving as devout books wherein these people (who are very inquisitive) may see and understand that which is taught to them by word of mouth; and very great benefit is thus wrought for them. Many incidents have occurred which have made clear the great usefulness of having this church in the midst of this idolatrous population, to preach the true God with so loud a voice that it may be heard in the great kingdom of China, and may dispose it to be converted.

[One of those who had been baptized here was accused, when he returned to his country, of being a Christian. When the Christian replied that there was nothing evil in Christianity, the judge asked him how he could say that being a Christian was not evil. He handed the judge a little card printed in the Chinese language, containing the first prayers, the ten commandments, and directions for works of charity, and told him that this was the Christian law. The judge, when he had read it over, dismissed the Chinaman, retaining the card, and saying: “Who has deceived me by saying that Christianity is evil? On the contrary, it is very good.” Thus the knowledge of Christianity spreads in that great kingdom. The Lord wrought miracles in defense of the new converts, punishing with death a heathen who had insulted a Chinaman that had given up his litigious habits after his baptism; and other miracles of healing and protection were wrought, and marvelous conversions took place, evidently by the hand of God.] There have been baptized in this church, from the year 1618, when baptisms began, up to the year 1633, when this is written, four thousand seven hundred and fifty-two Chinese, all adults. Of these, two thousand and fifty-five were baptized in health, and two thousand six hundred and ninety-seven in sickness, in addition to some whose names were accidentally omitted from the registry. Since that time¹⁸ baptisms have continued at a proportional rate, where, before they had the church, all died in their idolatry, and there were very few who went hence in health to be baptized in other churches. Such persons usually went to our church in Minondo for the Christians of their nation; but those who went from the Parian were very few, because they did not at that time have the constant intimacy and stimulus of the presence of the religious, as now. The result has been a very great increase of the affection which the Chinese have always felt for our order, and the high regard which they have for our holy faith. This is so great that even the heathen, who themselves are not baptized because of worldly considerations, generally desire the sick with whom they are connected by relationship or friendship to become Christians. Hence it is rare that anyone dies in this great multitude of heathens without first being baptized; while those who return to their great kingdom give in it a very good report of our faith and of the doctrine of Christ, to the no small credit of our religious community, with the members of which they generally have most to do, and receive from them the greatest benefits, both in spiritual and in temporal matters; for we are often able to be of assistance to them. They recount all this in their own country; and this is an excellent preparation for the rapid advance of the holy gospel, which has already entered it.