order to take
the necessary refreshment, which consisted only of beans [_frijoles_],
and at most a little rice, which they obtained but seldom. Then they
gave some rest and repose to their weakened and fatigued bodies. That
rest was, however, broken by three cruel disciplines, which all
took every two hours, in order to soften and mollify the diamond
hearts of those barbarians with their blood. With that efficacious
medicine and their tireless care, they continued gradually to soften
those rocks--although from the wretched life that they were living,
and their immense toil in going by day through those rough mountains,
seeking the sheep whom they desired to corral with the flock, within
the sheepfold of the Church, and from the worse sufferings in their
nights, they sickened and died.

[Accounts of the pious deaths of Fathers Miguel de Santa Maria,
and Pedro de San Joseph, and Brother Francisco de Santa Monica, the
three laborers in this first mission, follow in this same section. The
first named had long been renowned for his asceticism, both in Spain
and in the islands, having been one of the first to join the new
order. The second had been a calced Augustinian, but had transferred
his allegiance to the Recollects after their arrival in the islands,
and was very useful on this mission because of his thorough knowledge
of Tagal. The narrative continues:]

By the death of those three religious, the others might well fear
to go to complete the reduction of Marivelez, and to prosecute what
was already begun with the perfidious Zambales. But being full of the
love of God, and of zeal for souls, each of them offered himself, just
as if it were to obtain the greatest comfort and abundance that men
generally seek; and all demanded it anxiously, each as best he could,
as their most ambitious desire to go up there and be honored. The city
opposed it, for they thought that it meant to send those fathers to
their death--and all the more as they saw that, since Ours were so
few and so pious, they could serve more usefully in more secure and
healthful places. The holy obstinacy of those who would not consent
to abandon the post conquered. Accordingly, the first lot fell to
father Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel. He disposed the minds of those
heathen in such manner that, completing their reduction and leading
them to the yoke of the Lord, and to a civilized and Christian life,
he built a convent in a village called Bacag, adding to it