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| Church of Ormoc in 1906 |
THE station seemed to have been visited earlier by Augustinian missionaries judging
from the attitudes of the natives toward the Jesuit mission founders, Frs.
Alonso Rodriguez and Leonardo Scelsi. In
Chirino’s account, the natives were ‘friendly and docile’ and received the
missionaries with ‘much affection and pleasure.’ Chirino was also quick to
attribute the ‘gentleness and kindness’ of the missionaries as factors that
influenced the natives to behave thus. The governor of the place also received
them ‘with much joy,’ and made arrangements on the spot for his conversion. The
rest followed his example.[i]
But
it was the children that impressed the missionaries the most. They would later
serve as their bridge to their elders who refused conversion because they would
not abandon their polygamous relationships.
‘Some
of the youngest children were exceedingly bright; and it was indeed a marvel to
see the mass served, with grace and address, by a child who was scarcely able
to move the missal. Many of the children also helped us greatly in catechizing
and instructing their elders and in preparing them, and even urging them to
receive holy baptism. This was done by a little child of only four years old,
who seeing his father somewhat lukewarm
in this respect, had cause him to entreat us urgently for baptism. They not
only fulfilled this office with their parents but even interceded with us in
their behalf, urging that we should not delay in granting this favour…though so
young and recently planted. Nearly all of those people were converted to
Christianity without much difficulty.’ [ii]
The
missionaries’ creative approach to evangelization led them to develop certain principles
that later became the Jesuit ratio
studiorum or pedagogical code. The
catechism course was divided into grades, where each grade had to learn a part
of the catechism, progressively more difficult, and pass an examination on it
before going on to the next grade. Each student had to write down the lesson
from dictation on a piece of bamboo reed[iii],
repeat it orally, and then to commit it to memory. After the memory period, the strips were laid
aside and the lesson was recited either individually or in unison. Finally a
discussion period was devoted to getting the catechumens to put the lesson in
their own words by answering questions on it.[iv]
‘In
some places they are assigned on one Sunday the lesson they are to learn for
the next; in others without being assigned a lesson, they are questioned as to
what they know. In some districts as here in Ogmuc are formed as many classes
as there are divisions of the Christian doctrine, from making the sign of the
cross to the act of confession, and each student, whether child or old man,
continues to advance as he learns, until he takes his degree and is graduated –
that is, until he knows the doctrine…Not only do they as good students write
their lessons – mainly in their own characters, and using a piece of a reed as
a book of memorandum, and an iron point as a pen; but they always carry with
them these materials, and whenever one ceases his labors, whether at home or in
the field, by way of rest, he takes his book, and spends some time in study.
Such is the fervor and zeal of these eager students,’ wrote Chirino. [v]
He
called it a ‘school of celestial theology’ because of the eagerness and
enthusiasm that the students showed when they attended their classes and
recited their lessons. He said ‘it is a
cause for praise to God to see old men become again children and the chiefs
made humble – all learning with eagerness and delight and perseverance the
Christian doctrine, and writing, repeating, studying, reciting and singing it.’
The baptism which usually followed these instructions was received ‘with as
much joy, as do students the degree of doctor or master,’ he added.[vi]
One
of Rodriguez’s biggest challenges in this mission was how to convert to the
faith a principale who was keeping
three women. Rodriguez approached the problem from the principale’s point of weakness, and concentrated his efforts on
converting the woman he loved most. When the woman was baptized, and went to
live with another Christian woman, the principale
resolved to become a Christian himself. In time, he did and he took the
Christian woman as his wife and dismissed the others, giving each a piece of
land on which to live. Not long thereafter, his followers also became
Christians. From May 1597 to April 1598, Rodriguez counted 584 converts in Ormoc
alone. All the other natives, he said, were greatly inclined to join the faith.
[vii]
A
church was completed in this mission, ‘one of the finest in that island,
through the diligence and labors of Fr. Alonso Rodriguez who spent a long time
there.’ [viii]
[i] Of the
entrance into Ogmuc, “Chirino’s Relation,” Emma Helen Blair and James
Alexander Robertson, The Philippine
Islands, 1493 – 1803, Volume
XII, p 290.
[ii]
Ibid, p. 291
[iii]
Reed – the interior pellicle of bamboo, used in eastern lands as a substitute
for paper
[iv]
Op cit, de la Costa, p. 162
[v]
Op
cit, “Chirino’s …” Volume XIII, pp.
95-96
[vi]
Ibid
[vii]
“Ormoc: The cross in the land of good
signs,” Leyte 400 years of Evangelization, A souvenir program
published by the Archdiocese of Palo in July 1995
[viii]
Op cit, “Chirino’s …” Volume XIII, p.171
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