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

Chapter XVIII
The voyage of the holy Fray Luis Flores to the kingdom of Japon

[Father Fray Luis Flores was for many years engaged in the ministry to the Indians of Nueva Segovia. Though his work was rewarded with much fruit, he felt that it was not such as he desired it to be; and he asked and received license to return to Manila, where, by devoting himself to prayer and the reading of holy books, his soul might obtain strength to be more fit for his labors. While he was living in the convent in great quietude of spirit, the news of the imprisonment of some of our religious in Japon reached Manila; and – like that Antonius who, in the time of Constantius the Arian emperor,²⁸ left the desert and went to Alexandria to confound the heretics – father Fray Luis determined to leave his beloved quiet and to go to Japon. Having received permission to go on this enterprise, he departed without having had any companion assigned to him. God provided one in the person of father Fray Pedro de Zuñiga,²⁹ an Augustinian friar who had been driven from Japon at the time of the banishment of the religious. They embarked as secretly as they could, June 5, 1620. They dressed themselves in secular habits, and disguised themselves as completely as possible. They met with storms and contrary winds, and were obliged to land at Macan to renew their stores. They reëmbarked July 2, and on St. Magdalen’s day anchored off the island of Hermosa to get wood and water. They were still within sight of the island when they were captured by a ship of Dutch pirates. The Japanese, when they saw that these were Dutch, were at ease because of the peace between the Dutch and the Japanese; but the fathers and the two Spanish passengers aboard were in great fear, because of the mortal enmity between the Dutch and the Spanish. The Japanese tried to hide them in the cargo, which was almost entirely composed of the hides of deer, many of which are bought by the Japanese in the Philippinas to be made into breeches. The moisture caused the stench from the skins to be horrible, and the fathers suffered much from it during the day and night while they were there. The Dutch caught them and, suspecting them of being religious, offered them meat to eat on Friday, and tried them with theological arguments. They also made prize of the ship and cargo, for carrying Spanish friars. There were seven other vessels, Dutch and English, with whom they divided their captives and their booty. The fathers were threatened with death, and the letters accrediting them to the religious orders in Japon were found. Although these were in cipher, they increased the suspicion against them. On the fourth of August they landed in the port of Firando in Japon, where the Dutch and English had their factories. They were subjected to a most rigorous imprisonment and to very severe treatment, being stripped to their waists with their hands tied behind their backs, and their feet fastened to some small cannon. The Spanish and Japanese Christians in Nangasaqui were greatly grieved when they heard of the imprisonment of the religious; and made plans to rescue them, which came to nothing. The Dutch were desirous of giving their prisoners to the emperor, for they wished, as he did, to root out Christianity from Japon, and at the same time to bring to an end all commerce between the Japanese and the Spaniards, hoping in this way to have the commerce to themselves, and caring nothing for the loss of all these souls.]

Chapter XIX
The many efforts made for the rescue of the prisoners without any good results, and rather to their cost; the martyrdom of the prisoners

[Several of the fathers who were in Japon made efforts to rescue the prisoners. At one time father Fray Pedro de Zuñiga and the two Spaniards were slipped past the guard, but were soon caught again and driven back. When the Japanese sent to ask if they were religious, father Fray Luis sent an answer complaining of the Dutch for plundering the ship and taking him prisoner, and alleging that they were rebels and pirates. The Dutch, in anger, determined to force the father by torture to confess that he was a religious. They bound his body and let water drip upon a cloth over his face until he lost consciousness. The prisoners were afterward actually rescued from prison, but were soon caught again and were beaten. It may be asked how priests were justified in concealing the fact that they were priests. To this it may be answered, as St. Thomas says (22, sec. 3, art 2), that the priesthood is a free state, which may be assumed by anyone who desires; and when they were asked if they were priests or not, they had a right to conceal it, or to deny it in some good sense true according to their own meaning, without following the meaning of him who asked the question – which they were not bound to follow, because the question was unjust. In making this denial they did not deny that they were Christians. Indeed, they expressly confessed that; they denied only that they were fathers, as they were not in the natural sense. This declaration did not scandalize or injure the Japanese Christians. They were satisfied that it was not a lie, but a prudent and lawful artifice. As there is a time to be silent, there is also a time to speak, and as the evidence against father Fray Zuñiga became so strong that the truth could not be denied except to his own discredit, he confessed in December, 1621. Father Fray Pedro was then handed over to the Japanese to be put in prison; and father Fray Luis, seeing that nothing would be gained by further concealment, confessed to the king of Firando that he was a religious of the Order of St. Dominic. The two friars were imprisoned on the island of Quinoxima. The other Christian prisoners were visited by a priest, a Japanese by nation, named Thomas Araqui, who had studied at Roma, but who upon his return to his own country had apostatized. He was laboring at Nangasaqui to induce the Christians to recant, that the work of persecution might be carried on with less bloodshed. On the seventeenth of August, the fathers and the Japanese who had tried to rescue father Fray Luis were taken to Nangasaqui. Here it was impossible to find Christians who would bring the wood for the pyre of the fathers; and finally the officials found some heathen of low life who lived among the brothels, who consented to do it.³⁰ The apostate Thomas Araqui strove to pervert the fathers, and the holy prisoners were offered their lives if they would recant, but they boldly refused. Finally sentence was passed upon fifteen Christians. Three, including the fathers, were to be burnt alive, and the others were to be burnt after decapitation. On the following day, the twentieth of August, the sentence was executed in the presence of a great multitude. When the heads of the twelve were shown to the multitude in order to strike terror into the hearts of the Christians, the contrary result was attained, for they shouted aloud that the saints were happy and victorious. The Japanese by the name of Joachim who suffered the extreme of torture with the fathers spoke boldly to the crowd, as the fathers did also. The death of the fathers came by noon; and this great multitude remained there all that time without breaking their fast, accompanying the saints with prayers and groans. At this time the women and children went home, while the men remained to obtain the holy relics, which were kept for five days that they might be shown to the Dutch as evidence that the sentence had been carried out. The Christians afterward secured the relics. His own holy religious order will take care to provide an account of Fray Pedro de Zuñiga. The holy Fray Luis Flores was a Fleming by nation, a native of Gante (i. e., Ghent). He went to España in company with his relatives, and from there to the Yndias, assuming the habit of the Order of St. Dominic in the convent of the illustrious City of Mexico. When he came to the Philipinas he was sent to the province of Nueva Segovia, where he was an excellent minister.]

Chapter XX
The captivity of other religious in Japon

[The first of the religious to join father Fray Thomas del Espiritu Sancto in prison was father Fray Angel Orsuchi, who called himself in España and here Ferrer, from devotion to the glorious St. Vincent. He was an Italian, a native of the distinguished city of Luca, in Toscana. He was born of noble ancestry and assumed the habit and was a student in the college of La Minerva at Roma. Seeing the great lack of ministers of the gospel in these regions, and the great devotion of this province, he desired to enter it. For this purpose he went to España under color of pursuing his studies, that his voyage might not be hindered by his relatives or by the religious of his own province. He took advantage of his first opportunity to come to these regions from España, which was in the year 1601. He was assigned to Nueva Segovia, and after learning the language reaped a great harvest of converts. Being afflicted by a severe illness he returned to Manila, where his illness kept him for more than two years. After his recovery he went to the district of Bataan. The Lord restored his health to him in response to a vow. Father Fray Angel learned the language of Bataan, and ministered to the Indians of this region, without leaving it – except for a short time, when he went to Pangasinan as vicar-provincial – until he was assigned to the duty of superior of the hospice of our order in Mexico. In Mexico he advanced greatly in the things of the spirit, and after a time became very desirous of returning to this province. He took advantage of the opportunity offered him by the return to España of the superior of a company of religious, to take his place and to lead the religious to the Philippinas. In the following year, 1616, it was proposed to make him provincial, but he himself objected so strongly that he was not elected. Father Fray Angel was definitor at this chapter. The news of the sufferings of the Christians of Japon, and of the glorious martyrdoms of so many religious there, aroused in the mind of this blessed father such lively desires to go to the aid of these faithful and courageous Christians that he could neither sleep nor eat nor take any rest. He submitted his purposes to a religious of the Society of Jesus named Father Calderon, who had been in Japon almost thirty years. This father approved his designs; and then father Fray Angel desired his superior to determine whether or not he should go – fearing, on the one hand, that his strength might not be sufficient for the purpose; and being, on the other, desirous of undertaking this glorious work. His superior accordingly commanded him to take the journey to Japon. He assumed a secular garb, and after many hardships and sufferings on the voyage reached Japon in August, 1618. While he was still studying the language he was captured by the ministers of Satan on St. Lucy’s day in December, at midnight. With him were also captured father Fray Juan de Sancto Domingo and a number of Japanese. The fathers admitted that they were religious, and were sent to the prison of Omura, where father Fray Thomas de Sancto Dominico and Fray Apolinario Franco, a Franciscan, had been confined for two years. They were commanded to lay aside their habits, which they had again assumed, and to dress in lay garments. It was intended to prevent the Japanese Christians from reverencing the fathers, but this act of the judges increased the devotion of the multitude. One of the most devoted of the fathers, father Fray Alonso de Mena, was betrayed on Thursday, March 14; and was bound and taken, with his landlord and a number of Japanese, before the judge. He admitted that he was a religious of the Order of St. Dominic. On the following day, they tortured a boy until he revealed the hiding-place of father Fray Francisco de Morales. He was immediately arrested. This caused much grief among the Japanese Christians, many of whom showed great courage and boldness in confessing their faith. On the following Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, the two fathers were sent to the island of Yuquinoxima, where the holy martyrs, Fray Luis Flores and Fray Pedro de Zuñiga, had been burned. In spite of the efforts of the judges to prevent the faithful from venerating these holy prisoners, the pious Japanese showed the greatest devotion and reverence to them. The fathers were thus made happy in their prison; and father Fray Francisco de Morales sent home a letter to Manila rejoicing in his imprisonment – which was very severe, and in which they were subjected to great suffering for lack of proper food, from the discomfort of their lodging, and from the indecent and insulting behaviour of the guard. In the month of August all the prisoners were brought together to the prison of Omura, and they rejoiced to meet one another. Soon after was captured the holy Fray Joseph de San Jacintho. He was seized on the seventeenth of August, 1621; he confessed that he was a religious, and told his name. On August 19 he was brought ignominiously bound to the prison of Omura, followed by a crowd of sobbing Christians.]

Chapter XXI
The arrest of the holy Fray Jacintho Orfanel; the narrowness of his prison, and the great miseries of it; his martyrdom, and the marvelous fruits which followed from his captivity

[Though most of the fathers had remained in the cities of the Japanese, others wandered through the mountains and in thinly populated places, where they suffered even greater hardships than the former class, as they ministered to their faithful sons in those desolate regions. Among these was the holy Fray Jacintho Orfanel. Being lean, swarthy and tall, it was difficult for him to disguise himself, since the Japanese are generally short, broad-shouldered, and fair-skinned. Even if his secular habit had disguised him so far as his external appearance went, the modesty and gravity of his behaviour would have been sufficient to betray him. While he was resting in Nangasaqui for a time to recover from an illness, he was betrayed by a renegade Christian and arrested. Boldly avowing who he was, he was sent to the prison of Omura to join the rest of the prisoners, who received him with the Te Deum laudamus, as at the entry of a prince or papal legate. Merely to hear the description of their prison causes horror, it was so small and so wretched. The persecutors permitted them no materials for writing, and no implements made of iron, so that their nails and their hair grew long. They were not allowed to wash or to change their clothes. The guards were changed constantly, that they might form no friendship with the prisoners. This severity, which was intended to alarm the other ministers of the gospel who were in Japon, if there were any, had no such effect. The imprisoned Japanese showed the greatest courage, and their wives desired to follow them into their imprisonment. The captive Christians spent all that time in holy exercises, prayers, the singing of psalms, the keeping of the hours, and the celebration of the mass. The conduct of the Spanish prisoners was such as to overthrow the false opinion spread through Japon by the Dutch, that the fathers were spies of the king of España. Their sufferings and their martyrdom encouraged the Christians in the faith. From the prison the fathers wrote encouraging letters to the suffering Christians of Japon. They also wrote to their brethren in Manila.]

Chapter XXII
The giving of the habit to three Japanese by the holy captives; and the martyrdom of the fathers Fray Francisco de Morales, Fray Alonso de Mena, Fray Angel Ferrer (or Orsuchi), Fray Jacintho Orfanel, Fray Joseph de San Jacintho, and two of those who had professed in prison (all members of the order), besides many others

[The fathers, desiring those to be their equals in condition who were so in virtue, determined to give the habit to some of the holy Japanese, their companions. Three therefore, among those of the best capacity and the highest virtue, passed their novitiate in the prison, and at the end of their year professed. These saintly men feared that their penalty would be banishment, not death. On the ninth of September, 1622, the judges called before them many of the prisoners, offering them life and liberty if they would renounce Christianity, and at this time they brought before them some of the prisoners from Omura. As they came to Nangasaqui a great crowd of Christians came to welcome and escort them. On the following day, the martyrs were brought out to be slain; there were, in all, thirty-three. Before those who were condemned to the stake were burned, the others were decapitated in their sight. There were seven of our order in this company: fathers Fray Francisco de Morales, Fray Alonso de Mena, Fray Angel Orsuchi, Fray Jacintho Orfanel, Fray Joseph de San Jacintho, and the lay brothers Fray Thomas del Rosario and Domingo (a donado),³¹ both Japanese. The two lay brothers were decapitated, and the fathers were burned at the stake, twenty-five men in all being burned. All the sufferers died with the most cheerful courage. The judges did all they could to keep the holy relics from being venerated by the Christians, some of whom lost their lives in the effort to obtain these.]

Chapter XXIII
The martyrdom of the holy Fray Thomas de Zumarraga, brother Fray Mancio de Sancto Thomas, and a Japanese; and those of other Japanese in Omura

[Father Fray Thomas de Zumarraga and brother Fray Mancio de Sancto Thomas were greatly grieved that they should have been left behind when the other fathers and brethren went to martyrdom; but soon afterward their grief was taken away, and the door of the prison opened that they might go forth to be executed at Nangasaqui. It was no small grief to the saints not to see the Christians in the streets, who had withdrawn themselves from fear of the emperor’s edict. The martyrs died courageously. The holy Fray Francisco de Morales was a native of Madrid. He assumed the habit in the convent of San Pablo at Valladolid, where he professed and began his studies. He was afterward a student in the college of San Gregorio in the same city, and became afterward a lecturer in arts in his own convent. Thence he went to the Philipinas, where he spent some time as a teacher of theology and as preacher to the Spaniards in the city of Manila. One Good Friday some Japanese happened to enter the church; and father Fray Francisco was so much affected by the sight that when he returned to his cell he was sighing and sobbing, and repeating, “To Japon, to Japon!” At the provincial chapter in the convent in 1602 he was prior, and was appointed definitor. At this time one of the subjects discussed was the answer to be made to the king of Satçuma, who had earnestly begged for friars of St. Dominic for his kingdom. The holy friar Fray Francisco de Morales was appointed superior to the missionaries in Japon, by the voice of all. In time of peace he built many churches; he gained many souls for God, and at last he attained the martyr’s crown. The holy Fray Thomas de Zumarraga was a native of the city of Victoria in Vizcaya, and a son of the convent of the Order of St. Dominic in that city. He studied in the college of San Gregorio at Valladolid. He accompanied Father Francisco de Morales to Japon and attained an elegant mastery of the language of that country, in which he lived twenty years, five of them in prison. The holy Fray Alonso de Mena was a native of the city of Logroño; he was a son of the famous convent of San Estevan at Salamanca, whence he went out to the Philippinas. Here he was occupied for some time in the ministry to the Chinese, and the Lord conveyed him thence to Japon. He suffered from illness for a number of years, and from a profound melancholy, which did not prevent him from fulfilling his ministry with great joy. The holy Fray Joseph de San Jacintho was a native of the town named Villarejo de Salvanes, in La Mancha, and was a son of the convent of Sancto Domingo at Ocaña. He went out to the Philippinas from the royal convent of San Pedro Martyr at Toledo, when he had finished his studies there. He was sent immediately to Japon, where he accommodated himself in all things to the Japanese manner of life, dressing and eating like the Japanese, employing their civilities, speaking their language with as much propriety as they, and in the same sing-song voice. In all this he surpassed the other fathers, insomuch that he was taken by the Japanese as one of themselves. The holy Fray Jacintho Orfanel was a Valencian by birth, and was by his habit a son of the convent of Sancta Cathalina Martyr at Barcelona. He was a religious of the greatest modesty and patience.]