e most
holy Child was found, for that house was next to the cathedral. There
is a very poor hermitage there today. It must be venerated more
greatly, for as the devotion went on diminishing, so likewise did
the worship. Its roof is of nipa, or palm leaves, which are used as
roofing for houses. The sides are boards, and no care, so far as I
know; is taken to sweep it. Our convent is situated very far from it,
on the shore, which is swept by the vendaval. Between its rock wall
and the shore, which is but a short distance, is to be seen the first
cross erected there by our men. [31] Now it has a stone base, and
it is enough that it has not been destroyed, inasmuch as we take but
little care of antiquities. Although the convent should be the best
and most esteemed in the province, as it is, in short, the ancestral
house that declares very well our antiquity in the islands, it is,
I know not why, the poorest and neediest. It may have been that,
as all the wealth passed to Manila, and the capital of the province
was established there, this other city was neglected; or because,
as the city was declining, so likewise the convent declined. After
the above-mentioned acts, those first conquistadors were ordered
to make a solemn procession. The whole fleet took part in it, and
carried the best ornaments that they could. The most holy Child was
carried in this procession to our house, and placed on an altar as
decently adorned as was possible in that early period. The first mass
of those islands was celebrated there, with more spirit and devotion,
than music and splendor. At its conclusion, all took a vow to celebrate
annually the feast of the finding of that relic--the twenty-eighth of
April, when, as above stated, the feast of St. Vidal is observed. A
fraternity of the Most Sacred Name of Jesus was then established, with
the same rules as that of St. Augustine in the City of Mejico. This
was the beginning of that religious province, this its first stone,
and this the first foundation--which, beyond all doubt, began from
that very moment to promise very great increase. Because of this
rock being hewn out of the mountain of its eternity, it fell to the
earth with so small an appearance to the eyes, that it seemed a mere
pebble. But so great was it in its efficacy, that it has increased
so much, that it became a mountain, which occupied no less a space
than the whole earth. Hence did those holy religious trust that the
foundations of