The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 13]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 13

Father Pedro de Segura, who went in the year I60o.
In previous months and years some of us had gone
there for a short time, as we had visited other places,
on a mission or by way of recreation; and by the
friendly reception that they gave us and the results
which, by Divine grace, were accomplished among
them, we were encouraged to establish among them
in that year a regular mission, stationing there the
two fathers whom I have mentioned. Through the
teaching and good example of those fathers they
abandoned some of their evil practices, and applied
themselves to the Christian customs with good will
and pleasure; and many (for there were no Christians among them) received holy baptism.
Not only do they attend their own mass and sermon on Sundays (never missing one of these services), but on Saturdays they go to hear that in honor
of our Lady, which is said for them with as much
solemnity as that on Sundays. They were greatly
encouraged in the observance of these masses and
feasts by the following incident which occurred at
that time: A woman, who was very eager to finish
the weaving of a piece of cloth, sat down at her
loom one Sunday to work thereon; afterward, upon
returning to her task, she found the cloth all eaten
away by moths. She herself made this known, with
the full knowledge that it had been a chastisement
and penalty for that offense of hers. To assist us in
instructing the large number of catechumens in those
villages, and in teaching the doctrine to the innumerable children who assemble at the mission from all
the settlements, our Lord provided for that work an
Indian blind in body but truly enlightened of soul,
who, with great faith, charity, and love for the things