[ac beatissimi] optans ipsse quoque conspectu vestro frui, si me ad vos pervenire loci condicio permiteret. Quid enim mihi optacius et lecius pocet [i.e., posset] accidere, quam nunc vovis inhærere? … Sed quoniam qui [sc. huic] lætiçie interesse facultas non datur has pro me ad aures et [ad] oculos vestros vicarias literas mito, quibus glatulor pariter, et eshortor, ut yn comfessione selestis glorie fortes et estabiles perseberetis et ingressi viam Dominice dignacionis ad acipiendam coronam espirituali virtute pergatis.19 Manila, February 1, 1635.
Letter to Felipe IV from Father Andres del Sacramento
Sire:
Since I have passed thirty years in this province of the discalced Franciscans of San Gregorio of Filipinas, and, since I am a father of this province, I regard it as my obligation to advise your Majesty of its present condition; so that, since you are the one who sends the ministers at the cost of your royal treasury, you might apply the corrective that necessity demands. It is a fact that, although the said province has been established by the discalced religious, and always maintained in its first perfection by the religious sent it by the discalced provinces of España, among those who come some Observantines are generally found, under pretext of going to Japon—who, although they change the habit, do not change their inclination to their own observance. This mingling [of the two branches] is the cause of very great disquiet, because of the opposition that is sucked in there in the milk, as is apparent to your Majesty from many instances. Although the Observantines are so few that they do not number twenty, they make use of their favor with the commissaries-general, who generally appoint them as commissaries of visitation. In parts so remote and deprived of recourse [to superiors], they hold their will as law whenever they choose. For that reason we have always feared that the Observantines would deprive the discalced religious of this province; and that has been done by an Observantine commissary-visitor, who removed all the definitors and a great number of votes, by absolute authority and without sufficient cause. He did it for the sole purpose of succeeding in that design, which he accomplished; hence this province and its definitors are at present in the power of the Observantines. Since the fathers commissaries-general are Observantines, they naturally favor their own party. From that circumstance, serious and long-drawn-out litigation is promised, which your Majesty can prevent by ordering strictly that one or the other branch do not come. The discalced religious, as I said, established this province. They have furnished many martyrs to the church, and have toiled in the ministry with poverty, humility, and good example among Spaniards and Indians, as they relate and as your Majesty can inform yourself. You will also be informed of the manner in which the Observantine fathers administer in Megico; and you can select which [branch] you may please, and order that those religious who do not possess a testimonial from the discalced or from the Observantine provincials (according to which branch your Majesty selects) shall not embark at Cadiz. In case that Observantines are not to come, it is very necessary also to order strictly your viceroy of Mexico not to allow those who should not possess the said testimonials to embark at Acapulco; for, since the commissary-general is in Mexico, he will exert great activity in this respect in order to carry farther what has been commenced. For that purpose they are at present sending an Observantine religious. I beg your Majesty not to consider this as a matter of little moment, for on this one remedy alone depends the preservation of this province on its first foundation, the peace of the religious, the proper administration of the Indians, and the prevention of most serious scandals born from the said opposition and intermixture, of which this whole kingdom is witness.
In this letter it is seen that no favor or protection is requested from your Majesty for either myself or anyone else; but I only inform you, as our sovereign lord, so that you may remedy the injury that results from the aforesaid to the consciences of your vassals and in the administration of the Indians. Notwithstanding this, I beseech your Majesty, if you will be so pleased, to keep my name secret from the father commissary-general and the Observantines; for if they learn it, they will give me considerable trouble here. May Heaven prosper your life with the most fortunate successes, as we your Majesty’s most humble vassals and chaplains desire. [Nueva] Caceres, in the province of Camarines, June 2, 1635.
[Endorsed: “June 16, 638. Collect what may have been written on this matter, and bring it; and have the father commissary-general report whether Observantines go among the discalced fathers who are asked for. A report was asked from the commissary-general on the sixteenth of said month.”]
Letter from the Franciscan Commissary-General of the Indias
I have received two documents from your Grace, in regard to various matters, and I shall answer them in two others, so that your Grace may be pleased to read them to the gentlemen of that royal Council. In regard to one, I say that since the winter when I had certain advices from the province of San Gregorio of the Filipinas, and of which I informed the council, I have had no further news. That news was certain complaints of the provincial and definitors against the commissary who deprived them of certain things which he found in his visit, although he exceeded [his authority] in it. That case went to the commissary of Nueva España. According to what the discalced provincial of the Filipinas wrote me, who went to follow up the case, penalties were imposed upon the said commissary. Another was sent from the discalced province of San Diego, so that another chapter might be celebrated, and that province appeased. I hope in our Lord that it will be appeased and satisfied; but if not, I have written for them to send me all the documents and all decisions that shall have been rendered. Letters were also written to me then, and I was advised of the great injuries that the governor was causing to the religious. I neglected to inform his Majesty and that royal Council of this, as I considered it certain that, as it had been so public, the matter would have been communicated from there; and that, after having been weighed by those gentlemen, they would despatch orders to reform it.
Concerning the lawless act and the audacity of the friars in protecting and aiding the cleric Don Pedro Monroy, and their public censure of the governor, the Audiencia, and others in their sermons, with scandal, for which I feel due regret, although the things that occur there publicly, and the events that happen there, have been very extraordinary, yet the words of their sermons must be according to the statement of the holy Council of Trent: Que sint examinata et casta, eloquia ad edificationem20—words used by our father St. Francis, in his rules for preachers. If they are not so, then the word of God will not have the effect on its hearers that it had before the disturbance and scandal—a matter that has always seemed very wrong to me, and deserving blame and condemnation. That will happen on this occasion, for which, in due time, I shall send commission for an investigation and the punishment of the guilty; and [an account of] what shall be done shall be sent, so that I may present it to that royal Council, and it may be seen whether satisfaction has been made; for where that has not been done, I shall endeavor to secure it, as I strive to do in all things that arise. This is my response to the first document sent by your Grace. Given in this convent of St. Francis, in Madrid, June twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
Opinion of Council and Royal Decree Regarding the Request of the Jesuits of Manila for Alms for Their Residence
Sire:
By a decree of June first of the former year six hundred and twenty-five, your Majesty granted a concession to the residence of the Society of Jesus of the city of Manila, in the Philipinas Islands, of one thousand ducados in each of ten years, in unassigned Indians, or those who should first become such in the said islands, under the same terms with which your Majesty granted concession to the convent of the Order of St. Augustine in the islands for their buildings. The procurator-general of the said residence has now represented that, after the work was commenced, the church fell to the ground one night—leaving the house in ruins, and in so great danger that they were obliged immediately to borrow a temple for divine worship.
Translated: “I greet you, well-beloved and blessed brethren, yearning also myself for the joy of seeing you, if only the conditions of place would allow me to reach you. For what could be more to my wish and my joy than to be with you now? … But because no opportunity now offers for this happiness of being present myself to your eyes and ears, I am sending this letter instead; whereby I equally felicitate and exhort you to stand strong and firm in your confession of the heavenly glory: and, having entered upon the way that the Lord has honored, to go forward in spiritual strength to receive the crown.” This is the “Letter of St. Cyprian to Sergius and Rogatianus, and other confessors in the Lord”—no. vi in Tauchnitz ed. (Lipsiæ, 1838).—T.C. Middleton, O.S.A.
“Let them be of a considered and chaste eloquence, that they may be a cause for edification.”
