so evil purposes; accordingly, yielding to his feeling of devotion,
orders were given that it be burned. Others showed a little house that
was dedicated to another idol, and requested that it should be burned
to the ground, which was done. The first to show their abhorrence
of idolatry (in Which they surpassed the others) were the people of
San Juan del Monte, where formerly this practice had reigned, and
where there were so many priestesses of the idols, that there was
hardly a street which did not contain three, four, or even more. But
they have now turned their false superstitions into true religion and
Christian piety, repairing to the church so regularly that on certain
week-days, while the bell is rung for mass, the church is entirely
filled with those who come to hear. They are wont to complain that,
as there are so few fathers, they are unable to attend, as often and
as regularly as they desire, confession and communion--which they seek
with loving eagerness, not once, but many times during the year, to
their own edification and profit. As a result, the sweet odor of this
Christianity and esteem for the labors of Ours, have, to the glory
of our Lord, reached other villages, so affecting and edifying them
that the vicar-general of the archbishop, as well as other priests and
religious, and even secular magistrates, have sent to that village for
a few months, to be restrained, reformed, and kept in safety, certain
persons who were sorely tempted. It has pleased our Lord that by good
example and suitable instruction these persons should be delivered from
danger and their lives reformed; they have made general confessions,
and given other satisfactory proofs of the change in their lives.

Among the mountains of this mission district, where the people are less
experienced in the faith, there had remained a notorious catalonan,
or priest, of a celebrated idol which had been hidden away, no one of
those who knew about it daring to disclose the idol. This root was
capable of producing many cursed shoots. But our Lord was pleased
that it should be discovered through the praiseworthy diligence of
Father Francisco Almerique, who obtained possession of the things
pertaining to the adoration of the idol, and had them all burned. He
was successful in converting the priest, and for greater security, made
him live in a village where Ours usually reside. The devil, the father
of lies, now that credence is no longer placed in him