ARTICLE

OUTLINE

Introduction

Methods of Evangelization

Reducción

Preaching of the Gospel

Administration of the Sacraments

Popular Devotions

Challenges Encountered by the Recollect Missionaries in the Island of Cuyo

The Problem of Personnel

Moro Invasions

Insufficient Support from the Governors and Mayors

Conclusion

(The following articles is Chapter III of the Thesis Paper for the degree MAT Major in church History at Recoletos School of Theology)

Methods of Evangelization and the Challenges Encountered By The Recollect Missionaries in the Island of Cuyo

Fray Kenneth Caligdong, OAR

Introduction

The Recollect missionaries experienced ups and downs as they evangelized the islanders of Cuyo and Calamianes. Despite the disastrous events they encountered, their efforts bore fruits and were not in vain. The Augustinian Recollects worked hard the their evangelization of the Cuyonons, guiding them in cultivating and deepening of their faith.

This chapter will now present, in the first part, the methods used by the Augustinian Recollect missionaries in their evangelization activities supported by the Modo de Administrar or Manner of Administration1 of 1729 and 1844. The second part will deal with the challenges that the Recollect missionaries had encountered.

Methods of Evangelization

Reducción

The initial step of the Recollect missionaries to establish interaction with the natives of the Philippine island was to learn their language. The language of the natives that time was varied. However, these dialects were almost similar. Learning one dialect was almost learning all the other dialects. The variety of spoken tongues could be attributed to the islands separated by bodies of water, ranges of mountain that separate groups of people, and the tribal rivalry that existed between tribes.2 In the Provincial Chapter of 1624, it was decreed that ministers must learn the language within a year. After two years, a postscript was added that he who would not be able to learn the language would be deprived of the ministry. Another Chapter of 1638 ordered that those who failed to learn the language must be pulled out from the mission as incapable. The Capitular Fathers had no other reasons for this implementation than that the task was demanding or that the religious were carefree more than what was due to them for the fulfillment of the obligation. Despite this arduous task, there were still missionaries like Fr. Damian de la Madre de Dios who were able preach in any of the four languages that were used in the mission. With this, it was presupposed that a religious would be able to master one language within a year as prescribed by the Chapters. The Chapter of 1635 ordered that the prayer and doctrines be circulated around without altering anything. If the Prior of a community saw anything that was to be modified, it had to be consulted with the Provincial for corrections.3

Fr. Luis Sáenz stated that the religious now learning the language, went and searched for the natives on foot among the woods where they lived in order to attract them and convince them to live in settlement. They even made small huts that they themselves built where they took their meals composed of herbs and vegetables and sometimes some rice, and refreshed their tired bodies. Their process of evangelization was first very elementary. But what moved the natives to believe the missionaries was the teaching preached to them, the purity of the lives of the friars, and their detachment from material things. The missionaries lived what they preached and that was what the natives saw. Thus, many of them were converted. Secondly, what was eminent in the missionaries were their patience, friendliness, and sweetness in their apostolic works. However, they were aware of the necessity of uplifting their state of life to a better one, of convincing them to leave their primitive practices and pagan rites, and of certain customs not in conformity to a civilized way of living.4

What was thought would be easy was not. The missionaries found it hard to pull out the natives from their sementeras (land for sowing) for the reason that the natives already found solace and comfort in the crops and grains of rice that the land provided them. Moreover, they were still able to harvest fruits, hunt, and fish for food. As described by Tomás de San Jerónimo, the sown land of the native Filipino became their habitat. Because of this, the missionaries granted baptism to the natives who still lived in their sown land even though it had been resolved and decreed in the Chapter not to give it if they would not settle in a common place with other natives. But, the problem of this tolerance was that the baptized would find it difficult to attend liturgical celebration in the church because of the distance and the danger of returning to their pagan practices.5

One of the strategic plans that the missionaries did was to build an infirmary annexed to the convent for the sick natives. However, the natives would not avail of this. There were three who stayed in the infirmary, however, they left at night even when still in a bad condition. Some of the sick even died in their sown land. According to an account of a sick person, they loved their sown land even more than clothing, medicine, gifts or indulgence.6

The difficulty of the reduction could not be attributed only to the friars. According to the Provincial Fray Benito de San Pablo (1729), the difficulty was not rooted mainly on the unwillingness of the natives to abandon their sown land but also on the lack of collaboration of the alcaldes mayores. He stated that the latter should also enter into the mountains and force the natives to come out and place them into settlements so that the missionaries could attend to them. The reason for the inclusion of the government for the reduction was that these natives were paying tribute yearly to the king. So it was but necessary that they too should take their part in the reduction process. Here Fr. Benito favored the use of violence, if necessary, in order to keep the natives into settlement. But the use of violence was overruled by the new Father Provincial, Fray Felix de la Encarnacion in 1732 for, according to him, this may lead to the revolt of the natives in the provinces. The only solution he saw to attain this end was to build decent houses in towns wherein the sick may be transferred, looked after, administered with the sacraments, and be given a decent death.7

In the nineteenth century, the process of reduction still continued. The Provincial Fray Aquilino Bon, to address the problem, asked for the opinion of expert missionaries. The opinion, which stood out, was that of Fr. Patricio Ruiz, curate of O’Donnel, in the present-day Tarlac. He agreed to have the natives live in settlement, the most convenient way was the use of armed force. But this had to be led by the good chieftains, religious and knowledgeable people through peaceful means, bringing out the natives from their sown land and imposing severe penalty for those who would return. The use of armed force was the best solution at that time because the natives greatly feared firearms. Fr. Patricio himself was able to create a town by the use of the same means. However, the military men must first have a meeting with the missionaries in order that they might be informed of the manner and way of acting. Another way of preventing the converts from going back to their old pagan ways was to prohibit any commerce or contact with the infidels. But for the missionaries, this was not a trustworthy action because the infidels got all their needs from the mountains. If, however much labor had been done yet the infidels were not yet convinced to live in the settlement, the missionaries could ask assistance from the government for the use of force so that the natives would live in an area indicated by the missionaries. The proposals given by Fr. Patricio Ruiz were radical and hard. But one of the things they had to consider was the harm and damages done by the infidels to the missionaries.8

Although the reduction process was a laborious task and had met many failures, still the Recollect missionaries and other missionaries from other religious Orders from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries were able to make towns where the natives lived.9

Preaching of the Gospel

Left on their own, the missionaries could have baptized a good number of natives. However, to their dismay, their faculty to baptize was taken away from them when Fray Vicente de San Agustin paid a visit in 1688 and found out enough reasons to suspend that faculty from the missionaries. According to him, the natives might be baptized but they lacked enough information and instruction in the faith. Moreover, most of the adults did not have the will and intention to receive Baptism and the Catholic faith. This inadequacy of training on the part of the natives could lead to pernicious consequences. They were, however, allowed to receive baptism in case of death. He further added that having been baptized, yet, not instructed enough, they had the tendency to go back to their own primitive way of life. They could not be obligated to live in a community with other Christians and worse they would fail to fulfill their Christian obligations.10

Here, the regressing number of baptism would not be attributed solely to the scarce population but to the difficulty of reducing the natives into settlements. Given this situation and seeing the problem, and as provided by the Instrucciones,11 the catecheses of the catechumen were done for a long period of time. The duration was not determined. This was done on Saturdays. The instruction that the natives received included the holy mysteries of the Catholic faith, the sacrament the natives would receive, the precepts they had to accept and live, how they should pray to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the saints. Those who persevered in the instruction and were seen committed were allowed to receive the sacrament of Baptism. Furthermore, the same document, Instrucciones, laid down that it was up to the minister to determine whether a candidate was ready to be admitted to the faith through Baptism. Also, the primary goal of the ministers was to instruct the young ones for they were the ones who would instruct others in the future.12

The superiors of that time recommended that the missionaries be patient enough and treat the neophytes with prudence, patience, and zeal or otherwise their mission would go backwards rather than forward.13 The missionaries were also exhorted to attract and convert more catechumens through their examples than by word, with an amicable spirit than with rudeness.14

As can be observed, the missionaries dealt with the natives very cautiously in terms of Baptism. They had to make sure the candidate was ready, taking into account their commitment and inconsistencies. But with the cautions that were to be observed, they were to avoid the risk of someone dying without receiving the sacrament. With this, the fiscal mayor and the midwife were given instructions of how to administer the sacrament should they face this situation. The Instrucciones further required that a person of good reputation should be sent and inform the visita who they were and that if situation of death was imminent and there were no priests available, the natives were to approach them for the reception of the sacrament. What was also peculiar in this practice was that the formula for baptism was said in their native tongue to avoid grammatical errors in the administration of the sacrament. The norms of the Instrucciones further stated that should there be instance of children born out of wedlock, the parents were not to be reprimanded for fear that they might abort the child or not present it to the Church. What was given as an instruction was to put unknown for the name of the father and that the surname of the baptized mother be given to the child.15

In the case of a son of moros in danger of death, like in the case of the missionaries in Davao, out of charity, if the child survived, the parents were to be asked so that he may be educated in the Christian faith. In reality they were not allowed to baptize children of the moros. If these children were not passed on to Christian parents, the godparent had the obligation to educate them in the Christian faith.16

The recorded days of the highest number of would-be-baptized were on Saturdays especially on the Holy Saturdays and vigil of Pentecost at the end of the eighteenth century; baptisms on Sundays were included.17

It cannot be doubted the slow increase of baptism was not caused by the lack of zeal on the part of the missionaries. One of the considerations was the difficulty of bringing the natives into settlement for the giving of instruction and the administration of the sacrament. According to the Provincial Juan de la Concepciόn, to baptize natives while letting them live in the mountains was a dangerous task. These natives would eventually turn out to be apostates. However, the efforts of the Augustinian Recollects is to be commended for they tried to produce quality Christians by applying utmost care in the administration of the sacrament.18

The book written by Fr. Fidel de Blas provides the number of baptized natives in the island of Cuyo dating from 1749 up to 1897.19

Year

Number of Baptized

1749

38

1770

28

1778

34

1815

50

1820

296

1834

354

1838

300

1843

218

1847

423

1851

469

1857

379

1861

394

1866

258

1871

457

1877

393

1882

392

1887

371

1891

408

1894

458

1897

246

Administration of the Sacraments

On Penance

The Instrucciones does not mentioned so much regarding this sacrament, however, it can give sufficient idea of the practice and the form that the missionaries administered it.

It was commanded that in taking away the dangers and suspicions, men and women had to confess in the church. And it was recommended that the penitent should confess in daylight, most especially the women; in some instances when the minister attended to their confession in the afternoon, he should interrupt the confessions before sunset.20

In the administration of this sacrament, the ministers did not only perform the sacrament but “he should continually study matter related to moral theology for he would need much matter related to moral theology. He would need much prudence and discretion in applying these moral principles and a lot of patience in hearing the confession of the Indios.”21

Before the coming of the celebration of Easter, the minister bore the obligation in examining the penitents in matter of Christian doctrine. Before having the sacrament of confessions, a talk should be given to move everyone to grief and at the same time an explanation must be given regarding the effects of the sacrament to those prepared and disposed to receive them.22 Consequently, there were guidelines provided by the Instrucciones for the minister in administering the sacrament of penance.23

On Eucharist

On the celebration of the Eucharist, The Instrucciones has much to say. The document urged the minister to make the faithful accustomed to the daily celebration. In the tradition of the Recollects, the young boys and girls who were not yet at the age of tribute would attend the sung Mass and Salve.24 Furthermore, the document urged the ministers not give up on giving sermons though it was a laborious task. This has been very instrumental to the increased number of converts. But a more fruitful one if the sermon was accompanied by their deeds. The sermons may be given after the Gospel was read or at the end of the Mass in simple words comprehensible to the faithful so that it may serve as an avenue for instruction on the faith.25 Furthermore, the document recommended a certain level of tolerance and accommodation to those members of the family who would not be able to hear Mass since they had to keep watch over their house as the case that stealing may happen. However, if the reason for absence was not of grave reason, the religious marked the name of the absentee on the list so that he might admonish him the following Sunday and amend his ways.26 On the matter about receiving Communion, the document tells a little. It was on the minister to instruct the faithful on what they were receiving so that being informed, they may prepare themselves more ardently.27 With regard to giving of Communion to the sick, the document required the sick make his profession of faith in their native tongue. Aside from this, it was the task of the chief sacristan to adorn the room of the sick with flowers as a sign of reverence to the Sacrament.28

On Matrimony

The sacrament of marriage became one of the difficulties among the ministers.29 The Instrucciones mandated that couples applying for this sacrament must be examined about their knowledge of the Christian doctrine. If one or both parties were ignorant of it, the norm holds that they learn the doctrine first. The day before the marriage, the couple must seek the sacrament of penance and receive Communion.30 If the couple had lived together prior to their marriage and was scandalous, Communion is denied to them. Moreover, it was stressed on the missionaries not to permit natives who will be married the following day to take food and drink in excess for it may lead to a serious offense against God. For those infidels who were married already prior to their conversion, the Instrucciones recommends that the couple be in a tranquil and calm disposition so as not to receive the nuptial blessing in haste.31

With this sacrament, one of the most challenging part was the assurance of freedom on both parties and absence of force for the validity of the sacrament. To arrest this, the Instrucciones instructed the minister to look and examine carefully each of the party whether they come with their full freedom and without external coercion.32

With regard to coercion, there was a casuistry that the minister must know in its details to avoid the danger of illicit or invalid celebration of the sacrament. The casuistry states that if there is the presence of violence from the parents, the minister must see to it that they be freed from that pressure. If the procedure fails, then the couple must take resort to the Governor General who could give them the permission to contract marriage. Since, a royal cedula of 1803 prohibits the priests to assist in arranged marriage without the consent of the parents, this norm was set in the Islands: a man who is already twenty-five and the woman at twenty-three could contract marriage without the consent of their parents. If the parents were dead, the man must be twenty-four and the woman must be twenty- two for them to get married; or that if the grand parents are still living who stood as guardians, the man must be twenty-three and the woman twenty-two so that they could get married without the consent of the grandparents. Lastly, if the authority is passed to a tutor or judge in the absence of the parents or grandparents, the age requirements were lowered to twenty-two and twenty. In case of marriage between Chinese, permission of the sovereign must be sought first, for soldiers, from that of their head.33

The day of the marriage depended on the most appropriate time of the visitas and not of the capitals. Also, the celebration of marriage was done in their native tongue to avoid misunderstanding. Church fees were reduced to donation of eight candles: four for the altar and the rest for the contracting couple and godparents of the couple.34

In the island of Cuyo, the book Los Agustinos de las Islas Filipinas of Fr. Fidel de Blas provides the number of marriages.35

Year

Number of Marriages

1749

17

1770

15

1778

22

1815

36

1820

36

1834

59

1838

24

1843

51

1847

100

1851

72

1857

80

1861

90

1866

31

1871

65

1877

53

1882

107

1887

87

1891

104

1894

157

1897

43

On Viaticum, Anointing of the Sick and Burials

The Instrucciones of 1729 recommends that the minster administer these sacraments with solemnity. Furthermore, the document adviced that the sacrament of viaticum be given while the sick is still conscious so that the recipient may know what they were receiving, thus, be fruitful to their souls.36

As early as the seventeenth century the missionaries desired to transfer the sick natives to the infirmary built beside the church and not in their sown land. The reasons were practical. It was to facilitate the administration of the sacrament and the bad condition and inaccessibility of their sown land only aggravated the illness. The sick, especially the serious ones, were given first the communion then the Extreme Unction. Once these sacraments were given, the sick may stay in the town or in their relatives in the town so that the sacraments may be given to him anytime, or if not be brought back to the sown land with their family looking after him.37

The Instrucciones obliged the minister to give a Christian burial to the dead with the faithful carrying candles and the school children usually accompanying the funeral procession. If the dead was a member of a confraternity, the confreres took part of the rite with the members carrying the coffin while some carrying the standard of the association. The document also indicates that the presence of the minister may not be asked in the transfer of the body from the house to the church. He just waits at the church.38

Fr. Gregorio Fidel de Blas provided a number of deaths in Cuyo from 1749 to 1897.39

Year

Number of Deaths

1749

26

1770

23

1778

35

1815

32

1820

227

1834

148

1838

160

1843

90

1847

114

1851

141

1857

444

1861

156

1866

226

1871

223

1877

114

1882

72

1887

110

1891

88

1894

184

1897

120

Popular Devotions

Processions

Processions played an important role in bringing religion to the natives. It attracted the senses of the people due to its festive observance in its color, lights and sounds. A procession was one of the religious activities where the natives participated actively as a manifestation of their religiosity.

The missionaries felt obliged to fill whatever religious vacuum was left from the natives from their turning away from their primitive beliefs. It has to be considered that prior to the coming of the missionaries, the natives already had their own way of celebrating special events in their lives like birth and death, sowing and reaping, victory and defeat, peace and war and the like.40 Thus, taking away all these practices without supplementing Christian religious practices would mean taking away something that had been part of their way of life. Moreover, the missionaries came from the Mediterranean country where the observances of these processions were part of their lives. Thus, the observance of the same was with facility in the Philippine islands. The processions that they observed that time were the celebration of the Corpus and titular patron, of Resurrection Sunday, of the Litanies, the Via Crucis, of Holy Thursday and Friday or in any other rogation, of the Cincture every fourth Sunday of the month and of the Confraternity of the Rosary every first day of the month.41

The Modo de Administrar of 1729 recommended to the minister that a short talk on the passion of Jesus Christ be given to the faithful in the church before or after the procession wherein everyone would be exhorted to examine their conscience. This would be useful for their penance and sorrow for sins and that it would be an avenue to better their life. With this continued and regularly observed religious practices, they became part of the culture and religious observance of the Filipinos.42

In all celebration of Masses and processions, singing had a prominent place and role to take. The Modo de Administrar of 1729 established that in every capital towns, there should be a maestro de capilla.43 He was to be one of the highest leaders, well considered and well versed in reading music as well as organ playing. He had the obligation to teach the sopranos note to sing, train the singers and manage choirs. He also had the obligation to see to it that the music books and notebooks, as well as the musical instruments be kept safe and locked in the convent.44 In towns of five hundred tributes, the master and eight singers who had reached the age of eighteen were to receive salary from royal public funds. The training of children suggested a mix of choir with high and low voices. In the Modo de Administrar of 1844 indicated the convenience of having tiples (sopranos) because of the harmony that they bring and the advantage for the children because in their tender age they were already learning music and were practicing themselves in singing. The training of children became a seedbed for future singers.45

The children also helped the master in teaching other children to play musical instruments aside from their regular duty to sing during celebrations and processions. Those who were not assigned for the week to sing returned to their homes and did regular household chores.46

For the reason that singers received only a minimal salary, the Instrucciones did not require their daily attendance in order that they may look for some other ways for their daily sustenance. However, during Sunday celebrations and principal feasts, the singers were to assist in the celebration.47

Marian Devotions

The transmission of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was one of the important contributions that the Recollect missionaries have imparted to the people whom they supervised for many years.

In the Modo de Administrar of 1729, the boys and girls were to assemble in the church every morning before the beginning of their class to sing the Salve Regina in their own native dialect or in Latin language.48 The inhabitants of Cuyo had their native prayer of Salve Regina; it is entitled Maghimaya ca Reyna.

In the afternoon after the class, they gathered once again in the Church and they ended it with the antiphon Nativitas tua49 in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The convent boys recited every day the rosary and the salve. The minister, provided them a book written in the local dialect that explains the Marian mysteries.50 The same Modo de Administrar obliged the missionaries to encourage the believers to recite the rosary in the homes every after the angelus. The instruction says that “this was to be done in a loud voice and kneeling.”51 However, in order to encourage the people to embrace this devotion and encourage attendance during the Saturday Votive Mass and Salve, the missionaries must speak most of the times the glories of Mary and remind the people of the numerous favors and blessings that the devotees received.52

Challenges Encountered by the Recollect Missionaries in the Island of Cuyo

The Problem of Personnel

The province in the eighteenth century faced a difficult situation of having few workers to work in the administration of the sacraments. The missionaries that were sent in various embarkations were only enough to fill the vacancies that were caused by the sickness and death of a number of missionaries.53 Apart from this was the ecclesiastical error of not receiving local vocations. The acceptance of natives to undergo formation only started late due to their primitive cultures that has taken roots in their lives. The natives then aspired only to be lay brothers. The definitorio letter of 1751 stated the prevailing mentality of the time; that is the “pusillanimity and less inclination for work and serious problem of administration. But the great need for religious have moved and constrained us to grant those habits to them, so we could have someone to help us in the observance in the convent of Manila and could assist those subjects who will serve, or at least, as companions of the priors of our doctrinas and ministries, and of the missionaries of the live missions.”54

The personnel who continued to arrive to fill in the vacancies were missionaries from Spain. The volunteers were normally priests and theology students whose age ranged from 20 to 30.55 However, during times of crisis the commissary or procurator of Spain sought help from Philosophy and Theology students.56 However, the recruitment of volunteers for the mission was not an easy one. The transportation of the said missionaries was supposed to be the responsibility of the state but in reality it did not shoulder any expenses. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the government started to doubt whether or not the province still had the capacity to pay for the trips. Aside from this, the commissaries had tried to intervene with the affairs of the province. Also, some volunteers had withdrawn upon learning the difficulties that they have to face in the mission land as indicated in the reports.57 Another problem that the province tried to resolve was the avoidance of not turning the religious missionaries into parish priests. Moreover, wars in the peninsula and the interference of Carlos III also contributed to the delay of sending missionaries.58

Aside from the delays of embarkations, the Chronicles indicated the high number of mortality among the missionaries caused by sickness. According to the document, an average of fifteen missionaries died annually. The sickness was due to the high demand of work while with a little supply of food and lodging; not to mention the death of a number of missionaries from the hands of Muslims. According to the study conducted by Fr. Martínez Cuesta, almost forty percent of the religious died before reaching the age of forty and only a few reached the age of fifty-five.59

Moro Invasions

One of the major factors that the Recollect missionaries had encountered during their evangelization activities was the constant invasions of the moros. When the missionaries arrived in the Philippine archipelago in the year 1606, most of the isolated islands were given to them. The far-flung areas that the missionaries received were considered the most difficult areas for evangelization. The moros had constant attacks and they were already trained for cruelty, looting, capturing, destruction, and death.60 Consequently, the Recollect missionaries were exposed to the raid and plunder of the moros. José Luis Sáenz, citing Father José de la Concepción, the Recollect contemporary chronicler, said: “In a brief period of time, the Moros left the Province (he refers to Calamianes and Paragua) without churches, without population centers, without icons, without sacred vessels, and without ministers.”61

In the year 1659, the Recollects returned their missions to the Bishop of Cebu. However, the missionaries were able to work again in the islands of Calamianes in the year 1676 after giving a promise to have fort, arms, and ammunitions. In 1719, the fort of Taytay was constructed and it defended the area from the invasions of the moros. The havoc brought by the moros continued not only in the islands of Palawan, Cuyo and Calamianes. It also reached the islands of Romblon, Tablas, and Mindoro in the year 1730. The Prior Provincial reported that the Province of Saint Nicholas had lost more than 10,000 souls which included the dead and the captives.62

In the 1752, the invasions of the moros was extended to the provinces of Caraga, Siargao, Tandag, Butuan, and even in the island of Leyte where the Jesuits were working. The missions of the Recollects in the island of Mindoro, Burias, Ticao, Masbate, Romblon, Banton, Tablas, Sibuyan and Simara were sacked by the moros.63 They even reached Luzon from the province of Mariveles and Zambalez to Saul in the province of Pangasinan. However, the raiders were not able to capture some of the provinces because priests and their parishioners were armed, equipped with ammunitions, given food provisions, and defended by cannons, forts, and ramparts.64

Beginning the year of 1753, the Christians in the islands of Calamianes were defended by the forts and bulwarks. In the case of the islands of Cuyo, Agutaya, and Culion, the ministers assigned a parishioner where he had to stay within the portals of the forts for their safety from the barbaric activities of the moros. Unfortunately, the properties of the inhabitants such as their fields, fruit trees and their livestock were left and very much open for the moros to grab. In 1754, the island of Taytay was invaded and hundreds of the inhabitants were captured. Afterwards, they attacked Calatan, an old parish near the island of Culion, which they razed to the ground.65

The Augustinian Recollect missionaries constructed forts, bulwarks, watchtowers, and other defenses in their spiritual jurisdiction with the assistance of their parishioners. The structures were erected in the places of Siargao, Caraga, Surigao, Catarman in Camiguin, San Jacinto, Romblon, Cuyo, Taytay, Agutaya, and Culion. The construction of the said structures brought substantial results, the invasions of the moros were lessened gradually.66

For the religious ministers assigned, they were not only evangelizing the natives. They also taught them how to handle arms, such as cannons and arquebuses. They had to devote their precious time in constructing fortifications, providing cannons, guns, and gunpowder and they assigned also watchmen day and night.67

Insufficient Support from the Governors and Mayors

A royal decree of King Charles II stated that he was saddened by the slow development of evangelization and at the same time reprimanded the mayors for the delay. The problem of ineffectiveness of the civil authorities had been encountered also by the missionaries especially by the mayors of Calamianes, Mindoro, and Paragua.68 In a letter, Vicar Provincial Fray Isidro de Jesús María, enumerated all the misconducts of the authorities, namely: the covetousness of the authorities that led to the deprivation of the ministers of their sustenance, help and freedom to leave the town to administer the sacraments that even reached a point of threatening the ministers with punishment if they left the town. The faithful encountered violence because they were forced by the mayor to seek wax for him. Also the natives were prohibited to do commerce from other towns since this was the responsibility of the mayor, thus they were not allowed to leave the town nor let merchants from other towns enter their town. This behavior of the mayor forced the natives to flee to the mountains. The ministers were set aside and these leaders did not bother to hear their cry of distress and worse, the mayors removed the ministers.69

In the words of the provincial Fray Juan de la Madre de Dios, he said that the ministered would be more credible and listened to by the natives than the civil authorities since what the ministers said corresponded to their works. Thus, the efficacy of their works and words was impossible to cease.70

Conclusion

In the work of evangelization, the missionaries had to follow certain methods in order to have a successful and orderly manner of doing pastoral activities. The Modo de Administrar or Manner of Administration served as their guideline in doing their missions not only in the islands of Calamianes and Cuyo but also in other places where they were sent.

Doing pastoral activities in the far-flung and unpacified areas in the Philippine archipelago, most especially in the islands of Calamianes and Cuyo, brought a lot of challenges. The Recollect missionaries offered their sweat and blood for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the uplifting of the natives’ way of life.

Their struggles did not lie only in the surprise invasions of the moros but also in the insufficient support given by the governors and mayors and in the lack of personnel. Because of the insufficient government protection the missionaries had to take the initiative to build bulwarks, forts, and etc., to provide protection to the people whom they were serving.

It is noteworthy that the fruits of their labor can be seen and observed even up to the present century. The notable gift that the missionaries imparted to the people of the island of Cuyo is the observance and practice of procession and the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Procession is very much observed by the people in the Philippines but most especially in the island of Cuyo specifically during their celebration of fiestas, Holy Week and other religious activities. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is the second priceless gift to the inhabitants Cuyo. During the first Saturday of the month the inhabitants who attended the Holy Mass sang the Salve Regina and the Iosef in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph.

The work of Fr. Fidel de Blas presents the flourishing numbers of Christians in the island. It gives a clear indication that indeed the missionaries were able to lived out if not all at least some of the methods provided for them.

The next chapter of the study will present the contributions of the Recollects, as well as the biographical background of the prominent missionaries behind the notable contributions, who were assigned in the island of Cuyo during their work of evangelization.

1 Modo de Administrar or Manner of Administration is a document of pastoral instructions given by the Province of the Augustinian Recollects the first version appeared in the 18th century with the titleInstrucciones. It served as a guide for the missionaries in towns and mission centers, particularly for its spiritual administration.

2 José Luis Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral, Social y Cultural de los Agustinos Recoletos e Filipinas” in Boletín de la Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino 82 (1992): 23.

3 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 23-24.

4 Ibid., 24.

5 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 24.

6 Ibid.

7 Sáenz, Actividad Pastoral, 29.

8 Ibid., 29-30.

9 Ibid., 30.

10 Manuel Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” in Bulletin of the Province of St. Augustine, (July-September, 1967) Vol. 7: 267.

11 This is the first Modo de Administrar of 1729.

12 “Instrucciones que deben tener y observar cada uno de los Ministros que residen en los conventos de la Misión de Zambales, es a saber: el convent de Alupay, el (espacio roto.¿Será el de Mariveles? El de Mabalacat, el de Talimarin y el de Dinalupijan,” in Boletín de la Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino de Filipinas (Enero-Febrero, 1965): 231.

13 “Instrucciones,” 231.

14 Peter Balili, Jr., “On Manner of Administration,” in Recoleto Missions to the Philippines in the Nineteenth Century: Life and Times of Mons. José Aranguren, OAR, Archbishop of Manila 1854-1860 (no publication details), 200-201.

15 Ibid.

16 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 267.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Gregorio Fidel de Blas, Labor Evangélica, 22.

20 Balili, Jr,, “On Manner of Administration,” 203. It is indicated that the minister should avoid hearing confessions at night; on days of big gathering of the faithful he could reconcile only the men. He can never hear the confessions of women at night, except in cases of serious sickness or urgent necessity, and if this is necessary, he will confess them in a lighted place and will do so in the presence of other people.

21 Balili, Jr,, “On Manner of Administration,” 202.

22 Sáenz, Actividad Pastoral, 94.

23 “Instrucciones que deben tener y observar cada uno de los Ministros que residen en los conventos de la Misión de Zambales, es a saber: el convent de Alupay, el (espacio roto.¿Será el de Mariveles? El de Mabalacat, el de Talimarin y el de Dinalupijan,” 230-231. It is written that the confessor be not very strict, nor scrupulous with the natives; he should strive to have compassion with their weakness and pusillanimity, listening to them with pleasure, helping them with love, exhorting them with zeal. Do not burden them with heavy penances, for the danger that they may not fulfill them. Absolve them from all censures, which they may have incurred.

24 “Instrucciones,” 235.

25 Sáenz, Actividad Pastoral, 51-52.

26 Ibid.

27 Balili, Jr,, “On Manner of Administration,” 204.

28 Ibid., 204-205.

29 Sáenz, Actividad Pastoral, 53.

30 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 267-268.

31 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 267-268.

32 Balili, Jr,, “On Manner of Administration,” 207.

33 Ibid., 207-208.

34 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 55.

35 Gregorio Fidel de Blas, Labor Evangélica, 22.

36 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 268. It is to be imparted with candles lighted or at least with a lighted lantern, and with the Sacristan in attendance dressed in cassock and surplice. He is warned no to wait until the sick person is unconscious before taking the Sacrament to him. It was to be administered when the sick person was still conscious and could know what he was receiving so that there would be some profit to his soul.

37 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 55-56.

38 Ibid., 56.

39 Gregorio Fidel de Blas, Labor Evangélica, 22.

40 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 57.

41 Ibid.

42 “Instrucciones que deben tener y observar cada uno de los Ministros que residen en los conventos de la Misión de Zambales, es a saber: el convent de Alupay, el (espacio roto.¿Será el de Mariveles? El de Mabalacat, el de Talimarin y el de Dinalupijan,” 235.

43 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 261.

44 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 261.

45 Balili, Jr,, “On Manner of Administration,” 195-196.

46 Ibid.

47 Ibid.

48 See Appendix H.

49 See Appendix I.

50 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 264.

51 “Instrucciones que deben tener y observar cada uno de los Ministros que residen en los conventos de la Misión de Zambales, es a saber: el convent de Alupay, el (espacio roto.¿Será el de Mariveles? El de Mabalacat, el de Talimarin y el de Dinalupijan,” 235.

52 Carceller, “The Augustinian Recollection and the Philippine Islands,” 264.

53 Ángel Martínez Cuesta, René Paglinawan, Emmanuel Luis Romanillos, The Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines since 1606 (Quezon City: Recoletos Communications, 2012), 57.

54 Martínez, The Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines since 1606, 58.

55 Ibid., 61.

56 Ibid., 63.

57 Ibid., 64-65.

58 Ibid., 62.

59 Ibid., 65.

60 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 31.

61 José Luis Sáenz, “Invasiones de los Moros Filipinos en los Ministerios Agustinos Recoletos a Mediados del siglo XVIII: sus repercusiones en la Vida Social y Religiosa de la Misiones” in Boletín de la Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino 74 (1985): 10.

62 René Paglinawan, “The Creation of the Apostolic Prefecture of Palawan in the Philippines (1910)” in Recollectio 8 (1985): 93.

63 Sáenz, “Invasiones,” 15-17.

64 Sáenz, “Invasiones,” 17.

65 Ibid.

66 Ibid., 18.

67 Ibid., 18-19.

68 Sáenz, “Actividad Pastoral,” 33-34.

69 Ibid., 34.

70 Ibid.