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Chapter XLI
The servant of God, Don Fray Domingo de Salaçar, first bishop of the Philippinas

By the ships which came to these islands from Nueva España in 1596, arrived the sad news of the death of their father and first bishop, Don Fray Domingo de Salaçar. This was one of the greatest losses which they could have met with at that time, for they lost in him a most loving father and a most faithful defender. In their defense he had not hesitated to set out on a long and perilous journey to España, and that in his very last years, when his great age would have excused him from such excessive labors. But the fervent love which he had for his sheep would not permit him to offer any excuses, when he saw them in so great need as they were in at that time. There was in these regions no place from which he could obtain relief for them, nor could he have obtained relief from España if he had not gone there in person to get it, for he had tried all other means. He had sent a procurator; and he had written most urgent letters, and had learned by experience that they did not bring about the results desired. In fine, these islands lost a shepherd and a holy bishop; and when this has been said, everything has been said. The Order of St. Dominic, which had been so recently established in these islands, suffered the greatest loss in this general affliction, for it had in him a father and a brother who loved it most affectionately; and a continual benefactor, who, though he was poor in the extreme, seemed rich and generous in the benefits which he conferred upon the order. Without them it would have suffered much, because the religious came as apostolic preachers, in the greatest poverty, and in the greatest need of the favor which they always received from this pious bishop. Don Fray Domingo de Salacar was born in La Rioja in Castilla, and had assumed the habit in the distinguished convent of San Estevan at Salamanca, where he was contemporary with some who afterward became famous professors of theology in this illustrious university – the father masters Fray Domingo Bañes and Fray Bartholome de Medina [Fray Domingo de Salacar was not inferior to them in scholarship, but his heart was set more on sanctity than on learning; and hence he desired to go to the province of Santiago de Mexico, which seemed to have renewed the primitive austerity of the time of our father St. Dominic. When he reached Mexico, though he wished to labor among the Indians, the orders of his superior kept him from doing so, and he became a teacher, and finally a master of theology, the highest degree of this kind which can be reached in the order. His virtue was such that during all the time while he was in Nueva España (namely, forty years), he never broke any of our sacred constitutions in any point. As one of the popes has said, a religious who thus follows the constitutions of our order, has done enough to be canonized. When the directions of his superiors at last permitted him to give the reins to his desire, he devoted himself to missionary work among the Indian tribes in the province of Vaxac. He suffered deeply from every wrong that the Spaniards did to the Indians; and his suffering was doubled because he could not remedy their wrongs. However, he did what he could for those that were under his charge by comforting them and encouraging them to patience; and it is no small consolation for the unfortunate to see that there is someone who pities them and sympathizes with their suffering. So desirous was father Fray Domingo of laboring for the Lord that he joined the expedition to Florida,⁴ accompanying the holy Fray Domingo de la Anunciacion in the hardships which he endured, which he felt the more because he could not make the conversions which he hoped for among those Indians. Before beginning his journey, he asked the superior to bless all the waters of the streams and rivers from which he should have to drink, that he might not break the constitution which directs us not to drink without permission and a blessing. The want of food from which they suffered was such that they were obliged to boil the leather straps of their helmets and of the other parts of their armor that they might have something to keep them alive, or to delay death a little. When they had exhausted this supply they ate roots and the bark of wild trees. On this journey our Lady of the Rosary showed her favor to father Fray Domingo by assisting him in a remarkable way on several occasions. Once she enabled him to save the life of a poor soldier who had been condemned to death, and once gave him grace to change the heart of a man who intended to commit suicide. Although he desired to give himself to work among the Indians, he was obliged by the orders of his superiors and by his vow of obedience to assume several honorable posts in the province of Mexico, becoming prior and vicar-provincial, and finally the chief consultor of the Holy Office; but he gave up these positions as soon as he could to devote himself to the work which he preferred among the natives. He spent thirty-eight years in laboring for those poor people, teaching them, and protecting them against wrong. He was at one time sent to España by his superiors on matters of important business connected with the missions to the Indians. Here he met many difficulties, as vested interests and great wealth were arrayed against him; and on one occasion the nuncio of his Holiness, to whom he had complained, commanded him not to visit the palace. But, though he did not attain the end for which he set out, he made a great impression upon his Majesty, who appointed him first bishop of the Philippinas.] His Majesty felt a particular affection for these islands, because their conversion had begun in his time and as a result of his initiative. As they had received their name from his, he desired also to give them a bishop with his own hand. He chose a man whose learning, virtue, and deep zeal for the good and the protection of the Indians qualified him to be the father and first shepherd of regions so new and so remote from the presence of their king. In such regions it is very easy for the wrongs which the powerful do to the weak to be more and greater than in others; hence they needed a valiant defender, and a strong pastor and master to contend with the great difficulties which are always met with in new conquests. At first father Fray Domingo did not venture to accept the bishopric, and consulted learned and able religious. They all advised him to accept it, as being a very heavy charge, but one in which he could do great service to God and be of great advantage to the Indians. They suggested that, if he were the bishop of the Indians, he could help them better in the great sufferings which it might be expected that they would have to endure, as all newly-conquered people have endured them. These sufferings he saw and deplored when he went to his bishopric; and he strove to remedy them as completely as he could. He accepted the dignity for the labor and the banishment which it offered him, knowing well that there was no honor and profit to be expected from it. At this time he strove to bring with him religious of his own order, feeling that they would be more closely allied to him and under greater obligations to him; and that thus they would help him to carry his burden. His Majesty granted them to him, and they reached Mexico;⁵ but here there were so many who died or fell ill that he had left but one companion, father Fray Christobal de Salvatierra – who was a wonderfully helpful associate, and aided him greatly in the government of his bishopric, as well as in everything else which had to be done; and these additional duties were neither few nor pleasant. He went to the city of Manila and built in it his cathedral church, assigning prebends and arranging everything necessary for the service of the cathedral – although poorly, because he had no ecclesiastical income, and because the royal income in these islands was very small. He found his bishopric like sheep without a shepherd, and strove to gather them together and bring them to order; but, as they had learned to live without control, they took his efforts very ill. Some of them broke bounds entirely, one of them going so far that he dared to tell the bishop to his face that he would better moderate his enthusiasm; for that if he did not, the speaker could hit a mitre at fifty paces with his arquebus. But the good bishop in these and similar cases followed the commands of St. Paul to his disciple St. Timothy: Argue, obsecra, increpa, in omni patientia et doctrina.⁶ The good prelate put his shoulder and his breast to the wheel against all these difficulties, and with all his heart strove to reform the morals of the colony. By his example he animated the preachers and confessors to tell the truth with greater clearness and courage than before; and, that this might be the better and more effectively done, he called a conference, or quasi-synod, composed of the superiors from all the religious orders and of the learned men who were in the land, both theologians and jurists. This conference sat for a long time. In it there were also six captains who had had experience in that country, and in the conquests which had been made there. These officers were added to the conference that they might give information with regard to many matters of fact upon which the determination of justice and conscience in the case depended; and that the truth and righteousness of the proceedings of the conference might be more apparent. It was hoped that in this way the decisions of the conference would be better received. In this assembly the holy bishop showed his great capacity, his great knowledge and the clearness of his mind; and skilfully directed and disposed of a great variety of matters which were there very effectively decided. Many questions were there propounded and settled; and from the decrees of the conference there resulted a sort of general list or set of rules by which the confessors were to govern themselves in assigning penance to all sorts of people in that country. These rules affected the governor, the auditors, the royal officials, the alcaldes, the corregidors, those who had taken part in the conquest, the encomenderos, the collectors of tributes, and people of all ranks – in a word, all the inhabitants of the country. It had validity for what had been done as well as for what was to come. This was a very helpful matter, because it dealt with affairs which offered no precedents, did not regularly happen, and could not be understood by everyone because of their great difficulty. On this account those who understood them best, and desired to deal with them as truth and reason required, were not respected by those who were most concerned. The latter, in order that they might avoid their obligations, ordinarily tried to find confessors who would show leniency, to their own harm and to that of their penitents. But as soon as these decrees appeared, having been voted by so many learned and holy men, they were such that neither confessors nor penitents dared oppose them. This conference was accordingly a very important one; and in a few days it was possible to see the new light which had come to these islands and to perceive how thoughtful and careful, and how full of knowledge, was the new shepherd and spouse of this church. The holy bishop afforded much edification with his teaching, his addresses, and his sermons, for he was a learned theologian and an excellent preacher; but he did very much more by the example of his admirable life. The sermons which he preached in this way had great power over the souls of those who looked upon this noble example, and even hardened hearts could not resist them. He did not alter his habit, his bed, or his diet. His habit was of serge, as was customary in Nueva España. He wore a woolen shirt, and slept upon a bed which was even poorer than that of the poorest religious. His food was eggs and fish; his dwelling had no paintings or adornments in it. He rose at midnight to recite matins, and after this he offered his mental prayer. That he might not trouble anyone to give him a light, he always kept a tinder and flint, and struck and kindled his own light without having any servant to attend upon him when he went to bed or when he rose. He was especially devoted to our Lady of the Rosary, whose grace and favor he had many times experienced; and he desired to see this same devotion well established in all. When he spoke upon this matter, he seemed to surpass himself; and some believed that our Lady spoke in him, because of the grandeur of the heavenly ideas which he uttered on this subject. When our religious reached this country, he entertained them in his dwelling, as has been said; and he kept and cherished them there for many days, gave them extraordinary alms, and bought a site for their convent. He helped very much in the building of the convent, without ever feeling poor for this or for similar objects – though he was really in extreme poverty on account of the smallness of the salary which he received, without having any other source of income. Although the salary was small, it never failed him when the poor required it, to whom belonged everything that he acquired. Thus he was always consuming his income, without ever lacking something to give.

Chapter XLII
A more detailed account of the virtues of the servant of God, Don Fray Domingo de Salaçar

The conformity of the good bishop with the divine will, and his desire to be approved before the pure eyes of that heavenly Lord with whom he always desired most intimately to unite himself, and the knowledge that he could not attain this approval without striving with all his heart to imitate His virtues, and by means of them to acquire something of His likeness, made the bishop endeavor constantly with great solicitude to attain these virtues – although to attain them it was necessary for him to strive manfully to conquer his own nature; in so far as it was opposed to them; and to multiply, in order to attain this victory over himself, penances and austerities, to the end that his nature might surrender and be subjected. The virtue of patience, which is in all circumstances very desirable, and no less difficult to acquire and maintain, was that which the bishop most needed, for at every step occasions offered themselves for the exercise of this virtue. Since he was by nature wrathful and hot-tempered, and was always engaged in defending the right, it cost him much to control himself and to be patient. However, he had so restrained himself and so become lord of his nature, that he did not permit it to display itself. This was not only in cases where he had time for consideration and for preparation, but in those sudden and unexpected accidents in which those who are wronged are accustomed to lose control of themselves, if the virtue of patience is not well rooted within their souls or has not reached perfection. He was often obliged to hear many insulting words from soldiers who were angry because he had interfered with their excesses; but he kept silent, and walked on as if he had not heard them, attending to his business without taking any account of things which did not belong to it. Since the Indians suffered from the abuses which were inflicted upon them, he went in one day to speak on their behalf to the governor who was then in office. He was not permitted to proceed with his business without hearing many insulting words from the governor, who even put his hands upon his breast and gave him a push. The bishop did not change countenance; and, following the counsel of St. Paul, who bids us give place to wrath, he left the hall that he might not more inflame the wrath of this man. After a while, when he thought it was time, he went in again, and with great serenity of countenance and with gentleness of heart and words, he said to him: “Bend your knees, because my heart does not permit me to leave you under so heavy a condemnation;” and he added: “By virtue of a brief of the Supreme Pontiff which I have for this purpose, I absolve you from the most dreadful excommunication which you have incurred.” When he had done this, he went out again; and even commanded the cleric who accompanied him not to reveal to anyone what had happened, under penalty of excommunication. On another occasion another ecclesiastic whom he rebuked said to him, very angrily: “How badly you treat me, though you know that I am better than you are.” The bishop answered, with great calmness, that he was delighted to have in his bishopric so honorable a person. With this gentleness he suffered the blows of those who exercised his patience, leaving his cause to God, as God commands us. The Lord assumed the care of his cause, and rigorously chastised those who spoke evil of him. Some people wrote letters against him to España; and, before the answer came back, they were called upon to give their answer before the tribunal of God, ending their lives in sudden and dreadful death. He took great pains to preserve his chastity and the purity with which he was born, esteeming it highly like a precious jewel, and performing many penances to defend it from the assaults of the enemies who hated its beauty and ever strove to destroy it. Two priests have borne witness that he was a virgin: father Fray Diego de Soria, late bishop of Nueva Segovia, to whom he made a general confession in his old age, at the time when he was about to embark on the last voyage which he made to España. The other priest was a clergyman to whom he had confessed more than two hundred times, and who was well acquainted with the state of his conscience. This priest confirmed his testimony with an oath. In spite of this, the world is such that the chaste bishop found it necessary to defend himself against accusations in regard to this matter, and to bear testimony to the purity of his own conscience. At a public celebration of the holy sacrifice of the mass, with the divine sacrament in his hands, he affirmed, because necessity required it, that he hoped this celestial food might be his eternal damnation if he was conscious of any fault of such a kind. If those who spoke against him in this matter had been only laymen, angry because they had been corrected and forcibly drawn from such vices, and mad with passion – for such persons will not forgive those who are most holy – if this accusation had proceeded from such as these, it would have been matter for sorrow, but would not have been intolerable; but there were even some ecclesiastics who saw that the bishop took great pains to seclude abandoned women, and who ventured to make themselves defenders of these persons of disorderly life. They declared that a man who gathered in so many of these women of evil life (some of them handsome), shut them up, and heard them at their trials, would be sure to put out his hand and select those who pleased him. This reached the ears of the bishop; and the vengeance which he took was to commend them to the Lord in prayer with all his heart – pitying them as being persons who were really worthy of compassion; since, without comparison, the harm that one who speaks evil does to himself is greater than the harm done to him who is wronged. The Lord heard these pious prayers, and touched their hearts. They acknowledged the evil that they had spoken, and very repentantly came to beg his pardon, at the episcopal residence, in the presence of those who lived there. The bishop received them with open arms and with abundance of tears, and had them that day as companions at his table. The vengeance which the saints desire to take upon their enemies is, to have them repent for their faults when they become conscious of their errors.

He was very compassionate, and felt the utmost pity for the sufferings of his neighbor. Of this a marked example was given on the voyage from Nueva España to Manila. There were in the same ship more than twenty Augustinian religious, and, while they were at sea, their water gave out. This is one of the greatest hardships which may be suffered on a voyage. The bishop took pity upon them; and, although he had not enough to supply the necessity of so many, he preferred suffering with the others to seeing them suffer while he was comfortable. Accordingly he offered them the opportunity to drink from what he carried in his martabana, which is a large jar holding twenty cantaros⁷ of water. Their need would not permit them to refuse what was thus offered them voluntarily; and, though they all drank of it, the Lord was pleased that it should last until they landed on the islands, as the servant of God had prayed. It is no new or rare thing for the Lord to multiply food and drink, that it may not be lacking to those who bring themselves to need out of pity. This same virtue caused the bishop to watch over this municipality of Manila, by taking care that in the houses of the fathers of the Society [of Jesus] there should be religious to give instruction in profitable learning to those who desired to study it. That this might be made permanent, and that there might not be any failure in it, he brought it about that his Majesty gave command that the religious should receive an allowance to be spent upon the teachers. The answer of his Majesty is contained in the royal decree given at Barcelona the eighth [sic] of fifteen eighty-three. The document runs as follows: “To the reverend father in Christ, Fray Domingo de Salacar, bishop of the Philippinas Islands. Three letters from you have been received from my Council, etc. Considering the good report which you give of the great results which have followed and which are likely to follow from the maintenance of the Order of the Society of Jesus, and considering that to this end it is necessary that the Society should receive from me what is needed for the support of the religious who desire to teach and instruct in Latinity, sciences and good morals, those who come to them, I have, until some one shall come forward to undertake this business, granted the decree enclosed. In pursuance of this decree, the president of the Audiencia and you will together determine how this object may be carried out,” etc. From this same spirit of compassion arose the benevolence which he displayed toward all the natives by building a hospital in Manila in which sick Indians might be cared for. He gave so much energy to this that he not only was the chief person who concerned himself with it, but he gave the first and the chief contribution to establish and endow it. At the very beginning of the hospital he did something worthy of his virtue and prudence. The sick in this hospital were cared for by religious of the order of the seraphic father St. Francis, and particularly by a brother named Fray Juan Clemente. The infirmity for which they were ordinarily treated was buboes, which are very frequent on these poor Indians because they ordinarily have to walk in the water in their grain-fields.⁸ The brother had much to suffer with the Indian men, and still more with the Indian women, the care of whom was in general not very consonant with decency. On this account, the religious determined to give up this duty, and actually asked the bishop for permission to leave the hospital. The bishop, who was well acquainted with the conscience of Fray Juan, and who saw the reason for his unhappiness, encouraged and consoled him; and exhorted him not to give up, on account of these temptations, the good work and the service which he had begun there. He gave the brother holy and devout reasons for this, and finally said: “My son Fray Juan, fast for three days in the week; give yourself a discipline, and keep your hour of prayer. As for the rest, I will charge myself with it, and will take the responsibility upon myself.” The result was marvelous, for, because of the good advice which had been given him and the prayer which the bishop made for him, Fray Juan found himself so much consoled and changed that he no longer felt the least difficulty or disquiet in the world; and, as if he had cast all these difficulties upon another person, he no longer perceived them in himself. Yet before this he had found himself so much oppressed by them that, in order not to fall, he had desired to flee. In a case of this kind, to take flight is to conquer – but not so nobly as when the Lord puts forth His hand that His servants may handle such serpents as these without being harmed by them, which happened in this case as the result of the prayer of His servant the bishop.

The many virtues which this servant of God possessed were higher in degree as a result of the fire of charity which dwelt in his breast, which, as a queen of all the rest, held the highest place in his soul and governed all. He could not eat or drink in comfort without dividing with the poor; and therefore every day he set aside a part of his food, and, placing it on the corner of the table, said: “You know for whom this is” – namely, the poor, as his servants understood. This was given to them, and not only this, but other alms. That the matter might be the better attended to, they kept, by order of the bishop, a memorandum of the poor and needy of the city. He directed his servants that whenever the poor women who asked alms were Spaniards, they should indicate the fact by saying, “Here is a lady that asks alms;” if they were Indians or mestizas, they should say, “Here is a woman.” In this way, without seeing them, he would be able to tell their station, and to aid them conformably thereto. Still, when he was told about some such matter, he often went down with the servant; and, if it was the first time that she came, he used to say to her: “Come, good friend, what is the matter now? Beware not to offend God, nor to be tricked by the devil into doing any base act for need or for selfish interest. Trust in God, who will aid you; and I for my part will assist with all my heart.” In order that she might see that these were not merely good words, he used to give her some assistance and to write her name with the rest, so that he might aid her with the care required by her need, and by that of her children, if she had any. Every week he visited the prisons and the hospitals, generally assigning Fridays for that purpose. He encouraged and consoled the prisoners and the sick with kindly words and with alms, according to the need of each one. The money which he could get together from restitutions and confirmations he kept with the greatest care, that not a real might be lost; and, as if he were the most miserly man in the world, he took care of it for the poor alone, without permitting the members of his household or anyone else to take anything from the confirmations, as is customary. He used to say that this belonged to the poor, and that it was not proper that one who was not poor should share with them. From some of these alms, and from what he could add from his own poor income, he bought some lots near the Franciscan convent, and some cattle, with which he established a stock-farm, and gave it for the establishment of a hospital for the care of the natives. The hospital was built and still exists, having been very greatly increased by the care of the Franciscan fathers, who attend to it with the greatest charity. To exalt the hospital still more, the bishop obtained for it a liberal concession of plenary indulgence for the Sunday of Lazarus,⁹ as he did for the hospital of the Spaniards on Palm Sunday. So great was his charity and his desire to do good to the poor that once, when he was without money to give them, he sold his pectoral cross, which was worth one thousand eight hundred pesos, and gave it to them in alms. In the same way went his table silver; and his silver pontifical ornaments were almost always in pawn. His steward used to try to excuse himself when he was told to give alms, saying that he had not the means. The bishop, calling him to one side, would say to him, “Tell me the truth; how much money have you?” He commonly said that there was not in the house more than eight reals for the daily expense, and sometimes only four. The bishop then made him give half of what he had, saying that it was sufficient good-fortune to have some money in the house all the time, so long as the Lord would provide more; and the Lord to whom he gave took care that he should never lack, sending him what he needed for himself and for his poor from some source from which he had never expected it. When he got it, he would show it to the steward, or give it to him, and say: “Trust in God, father, and know that even if you had given me all that you had, the Lord would have sent us more.” It was a common saying among the people of his household that the Father of the poor provided money miraculously, in order that the bishop might give them alms. A person of rank was once obliged by necessity to ask alms from him. The bishop was much grieved, as this person seemed to be an honorable one; and he directed the steward to give him all the money there was in the house. As he found no more than eight reals, the bishop gave this to him, and asked the man to pardon him, saying that there was no more at that time, but that, as soon as he had any, he would be sure to come to his aid. The Lord did not delay assisting him who had not only given alms from his superfluity, but had given all that he had for the maintenance of himself and his household. For on that very night He touched the heart of a man who had laid upon him for ten years the duty of the restitution of four hundred pesos, and caused him, without waiting till morning, to embark at night and to come from Cavite to Manila; and in the morning he gave the money to the bishop without the bishop’s ever having spoken to him. The bishop had desired that his penniless condition should be cared for wholly by the Lord, who was called upon to relieve the urgent need of him who was in such need as a result of aiding the poor. When the bishop saw himself suddenly enriched with four hundred pesos, he gave thanks to the Lord, from whose hand he had received them rather than from the hand of him who had brought them hither. He instantly summoned the person to whom he had given only one peso the day before, because he had no more, and said to him: “For the little which I have given you and the much which you desired, the Lord has sent me some money. Take these fifty pesos and give me that one which I gave you yesterday; for it is that which attracted all this. Be sure that you spend well that which I give you; and, when you shall see yourself in prosperity, take care to be liberal to the poor.” The good man promised this; and in a short time God, in fulfilment of what the bishop had said to him, gave him so much money that he brought four hundred pesos, and gave them to the bishop to be distributed among the poor. The rest of what the bishop had received he did not spend on his household, though it was so poor; but published in the church that he had some money to distribute, and summoned the poor to his residence. Among them he distributed it (as he wished to) very quickly; and, showing them the eight-real piece which he had given in the first place, he said to them with much happiness and joy: “Just this peso is for me, because it is that which attracted so many.” When the bishop was at his meal, having with him at the table the first founders of this province, who had recently come to the city, a man came to beg alms. The bishop gave him a peso; and, as it seemed to the beggar too little, he showed it to the bishop, and said that he had not given him as much as he needed. This conduct appeared to those who were present bold, and even insolent; so they told the bishop that he ought to send the man away, because he had received sufficient alms, and that it was impossible at one time to succor every necessity. The bishop agreed; but before long his heart was moved to compassion at the thought that the poor man had gone away dissatisfied; and, with his eyes moist with tears, he said: “Call that poor fellow back again. His need must be very great, because it has forced him to be importunate.” The beggar came back; and the bishop, augmenting the alms so that the beggar should be contented, was contented himself, and sent him away with his blessing. Once it happened that he went to bed with fifteen pesos, which, though for persons of his dignity it was a mere nothing, for him who gave everything to the poor it was great riches; and in the morning before nine o’clock he had not a penny, because the poor had taken it all. He used to say: “The riches of bishops are in caring for the poor, who are their proper purses; and, so long as my money is not in them, they will suppose that I have appropriated it.” This did not appear only in his words, but he was so certain of the truth of it that he carried it out in practice; and it often resulted that he did not have money for the ordinary expenses of his household. He was obliged to set sail from Manila to España on important business; and one of the chief supplies which he ordered to be laid in was a provision of chickens and of conserves – things which he never tasted, and which were so foreign to his way of living that he ate nothing but fish, as if he had been in the refectory of an extremely austere convent. They got together three hundred chickens for him; but before he had left port two hundred of them were gone; while with the conserves and other things that he took he was all the time feasting and making presents to the poor and needy, so that nobody could even induce him to taste a chicken. [On the road from Mexico to San Juan de Ulua, though very ill, he charitably undertook the ordination of some candidates for the priesthood, who had been caught in a flood on their way to be ordained at Jalapa.]