same time he did not neglect
the Indians with all their variety of tribes and tongues. It was a
providence of our Lord that he remained alive after the decease of
the governor; for with his good judgment and kindly disposition he not
only consoled and animated the army, but was of great service to them,
and gave them wise advice, in matters of importance which required
careful management. He scourged himself every morning when he arose for
prayer, and almost always wore a hair-cloth shirt. He never ate supper,
that he might be better prepared for his prolonged vigils, study, and
prayers. In fine, he employed so well the short time that he spent in
the religious life that I am sure that it was equivalent to a service
of many years. He lectured on rhetoric in our college of Avila and was
able to give instruction in theology. He fulfilled this office most
satisfactorily and profitably to his students, for his intellect and
erudition were very profound. On holidays and feast-days he rested
by going from village to village, preaching each day two, three,
or four sermons. His manner of treating persons was very gracious,
and consequently he aroused all Avila to fervor, ecclesiastics as
well as laymen. All regarded him as their apostle and teacher, and
so treated him, whether present or absent. Leaving that employment,
he went forth to the Filipinas, where he arrived, as we have said,
in June of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-five. During
the voyage he was not idle, but rather kindled the fervor of all on
the ship with discourses and sermons, as I was told in his praise
by the commander of the fleet, and by the father commissary of the
Holy Office in the province of Pintados, the associate of the right
reverend bishop of Sebu. I conducted him to Leite where I left him
with Father Cosme de Flores as foundation-stones of Christianity in
that region, where they accomplished the fruitful results that I have
described. In Mindanao his greatest affliction was to find himself
alone, foreseeing, from his great labors and little strength, that
he had not long to live, and knowing that at his death he had no one
who might aid and console him. He thus expressed himself a very few
days before he died, to a soldier to whom he had just administered
extreme unction: "Render thanks to God that you have had some one to
administer to you at this hour the holy sacraments; unhappy wretch
am I, who have no one to do as much for me."