and gold lace.  Whenever these holy relics are exposed at their respective feast-days, the ceremony is conducted with great solemnity; and numbers of white candles are placed not only on the altar and steps, but all over the tabernacle from top to bottom, giving it dignity and distinction.  On the twelfth of January of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-seven, the holy relics were deposited there, with such rejoicings and festive show as had never been known before in the islands.  In all this was seen how it was God who solicited hearts, and moved them to honor the glorious soldiers whom he had brought again for the defense and protection of the earth.  They were borne in procession through the principal streets of the city, which, although handsome in themselves, were decorated so elegantly that their very elegance expressed the devotion of the people.  They had erected at intervals arches (a dozen in all)—­the greater number lofty, and with sculptured images; the others of silk and thin stuffs, so ingeniously knotted together and adorned with various compositions and characters that they presented a very pleasing sight.  They constructed with great skill several fountains, some of which gave forth water and others wine; two, in particular, issuing from a window, gave forth milk and Castilian wine, which were highly prized at that time in the islands.  The relics were borne on six platforms, no less splendid than costly, since they carried nearly all the gold, precious stones, and jewelry of the city, which had been offered with much readiness and good will.  Our Lord rewarded them for this, for there was not one accident, or a single piece lacking, of which there had previously been some fear, on account of the great gathering of all classes of people.  As for the decoration of the church, the edifice itself, recently completed, was so beautiful and pleasing that it sufficed for adornment, although not so elaborate as the tabernacle.  Its beauty was increased by elegant hangings of tapestry, and by many inscriptions—­written by Ours in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Castilian, and Tagalo—­extending in three rows along the great nave, besides others, corresponding to these, in various places.  As I have said, the holy relics were borne on six platforms, resting on the shoulders of men, most of whom were religious, and in fourteen reliquaries, which were carried by as many religious; and dignitaries of the cathedral, clothed in their official robes, accompanied these.  Add to this the salutes from the forts, and the standards of the confraternities carried in the van, and the effect was highly imposing.  The festivities lasted nine days, each order celebrating its special feast, preaching and saying mass with the greatest possible solemnity.  The Augustinian fathers began the festivities, considering the occasion especially theirs on account of their long residence there.  They assisted us by their good will and deeds, thereby showing themselves no less devoted to