nd than the seeking of God in prayer, and in
making Him known and loved in their talks and examples. There was
some opposition on the part of our calced fathers in regard to the
title that they gave to the new church, that of the miraculous Father
San Nicolas de Tolentino; for his devotion was practiced in a chapel
of the principal convent and was very popular, and they thought that
it would be lessened or be done away with altogether. Ours, being so
good men, disapproved greatly of litigation; and, although with great
grief, they talked of consenting to change the title, commending the
matter to our Lord very earnestly, with the intervention of peculiar
penances and exercises. The matter was left to be decided by lot,
in which many saints took part, not excluding their own dear one. He,
then, was chosen, the first, second, and third time; and the will of
God was thus made plain. Not only did they confirm what was already
done, but they also placed under his protection the province which was
now in its beginning, and gave it his name. In accordance with this
a very solemn feast was made, that venerable prelate and bishop of
bishops Don Fray Pedro de Agurto saying the first mass. He had come
to Manila from Zibu to be the rainbow [_Iris_] that announced peace
and true brotherhood to calced and discalced, whom we ought to hold
as sons of a good father. Father Fray Pedro Solier--a chosen shoot of
the convent of Salamanca, and afterward provincial of those islands,
bishop of Puerto Rico, and lastly archbishop of Santo Domingo and
primate of the Indias--preached in glowing terms in praise of the
Reform, in the presence of the royal Audiencia, the ecclesiastical
and secular cabildos, the orders, the nobility, and all the people
of Manila--who from that time made greater progress in the veneration
and worship of that saint. The good-will that the city began to have
for the new evangelical ministers was vast. Consequently, the city
desired to shelter them within the girdle of its walls, on noting the
discomfort that they were suffering; and that was done by moving the
convent of San Nicolas, as we shall see.

It seemed hard for the religious to leave their first foundation, not
so much for the material of the house as for the service that they
were performing for our Lord in that suburb, in administering the
holy sacraments to the not few persons who were living there. Those
people, especially at night, were deprived of spiritua