preparation for receiving the sacrament, many of them, in all the villages, making their confessions.  Besides this, he had previously trained and examined them, all being assembled in the church, in the catechism, causing them to repeat aloud the principal mysteries of our faith.  A sermon was preached them wherein they were exhorted to feel much grief at having offended our Lord.  At the conclusion of the sermon, they all fell upon their knees, and offered audible acts of contrition and of love to God.  They were next asked if they desired to receive the sacrament of confirmation; and they answered aloud that they desired it, in order that our Lord might pardon their sins and strengthen them in the faith.  Then, his Lordship confirmed them, with a short exhortation at the end of the ceremony, by which they were all greatly consoled and fortified in the truth of our holy faith.  This result was greatly aided by the love and so paternal affection which the lord bishop manifested to them not only in the church but in their houses—­going to visit the sick, and confirming them in their very cabins; giving alms, ransoming slaves, and clothing the poor; and performing many other deeds of mercy.  His Lordship was especially delighted at beholding those new flocks of his so well instructed, when they were answering the questions on catechism, which was done in the presence of his Lordship.”  Such is the brief account given by the father.

All these are but flames of that celestial fire which we said had taken hold of this island, and with which even the little children are ablaze.  Thus in each of those villages nearly two hundred children assemble every day, uttering praises to the Divine Majesty, acknowledging His greatness, learning the Christian doctrine, and imparting it to their parents and elders.  The confessions cannot be enumerated, for they are as many as there are Christians.  No one fails to make his confession during Lent, even though he may have confessed many times during the year; and with like ardor the other exercises of piety and devotion are performed.  This was especially evident on Holy Friday of that year, one thousand six hundred and two, during the adoration of the cross, in which they displayed deep emotion; they even removed the rings from their fingers and the jewels from their ears, to make offerings of these.  As Father Gabriel Sanchez has been the usual laborer in that island, I shall here set down a part of one of his letters in which, with his usual simplicity, he gives some account of the island and of Christianity therein:  “Our Lord has been well served this year in the island of Bohol, with the fruits gathered from the conversion of those pagans, for in this barren waste we have set out a beautiful garden of new plants which our Lord has planted.  Many people have been brought together and induced to settle in villages, wherein they are instructed.  At the time when I am writing this, we are in a village on the coast, whither there