“The Recollect fathers of the Order of our father St. Augustine in these Philippinas Islands are faithfully cultivating, in most exemplary manner, the vineyard of the Lord, and are preaching His holy gospel with great hardship and danger to their lives; for those people whom they have in charge are so harsh and fierce that they killed four religious the past year.  But the others did not fear on that account to send new ministers to preserve the fruit that they were gathering among those souls, through their hope that, by their teaching, they will convert all of those people to the true knowledge.  They have also made much gain in Japon, as has been seen; since a great number of pagans, abandoning their errors, have embraced our holy faith through the preaching of the religious of this order who are in those kingdoms.  For their confession, six religious of that institute, accompanied by many, suffered martyrdom, after they had taken the habits of Mantellatos, or tertiaries of the same order, with other confriars, and others who wear the girdle.”

This prelate confirmed the same in two other letters to the Catholic monarch, in the following manner: 

“The Recollect fathers of the Order of our father St. Augustine, from their first arrival in these islands, have gathered a plentiful harvest in souls by their good example.  They have many convents and many missions in their charge.  In their care are the islands of Calamianes, and they have charge of a great part of the island of Mindanao, where they have convents and labor with great zeal for the salvation of souls.”

In the second letter he wrote these words: 

“The Recollect fathers of the Order of our father St. Augustine have many convents in these islands, where they administer, with great care, Christian instruction to the natives of the islands, to whom they furnish a good example and whom they treat with great gentleness.  Their missions are very dangerous and the people of some of them are harsh and fierce.  They have had very good success in Japon, and have given many martyrs to the Church, who fortified their lives by the confession of our holy faith, as will appear there [i.e., in Europe] by the report made here in regard to this.  They merit the aid and protection of your Majesty, so that they may be encouraged to serve our Lord.”

The ecclesiastical cabildo of Manila, occupying the vacant see, testified to the same king of Espana in another letter: 

“The discalced Augustinian religious are very austere in their institute, and in their ministrations to the natives in the missions under their charge—­who, as they are among the most untamable and fierce people in these regions, have killed and captured several of the religious.  Consequently, they are very short of men, but have not failed in the service of your Majesty on the occasions that have offered by land and sea.”

It would be an evident ingratitude not to record here three letters, which the unconquerable city of Manila wrote to their king and sovereign, giving him a definite relation of the condition of Ours.