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University of San Carlos Publications

"TO LOVE AND TO SUFFER": THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS


FOR WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE SPANISH ERA (1565-1898)
Author(s): Luciano P. R. Santiago
Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 23, No. 2 (June 1995), pp. 151-195
Published by: University of San Carlos Publications
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29792184
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Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society
23 (1995):151-195

"TO LOVE AND TO SUFFER": THE DEVELOPMENT OF


THE RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN IN
THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE SPANISH ERA
(1565-1898)

Dr. Luciano P. R. Santiago

PART I

Viewed by the astonished world on television in 1986, diminutive Fili?


pino nuns, armed only with a rosary, stood at the forefront of the People's
Peaceful Revolt which halted military tanks and toppled a dictator!
What is the historical origin of these nuns and why do they seem so
quietly confident in the face of a national crisis?
There has never been an integrated account of the religious congrega?
tions for women in the Philippines. The present work hopes to help fill this
gap. The history of the religious congregations for women during the
Spanish Regime (1565-1898) unfolded in five overlapping stages: 1) The
Transitional Stage: From Priestesses to Beatas (1565-1650); 2) The Eremi?
tic Stage (1600-1800); 3) The Communal or Monastic Stage (1634-1898);
4) The Missionary Stage (1858-98); and 5) The Advent of the International
Congregations (1862-92). It is a long saga of courageous struggles and
commitment to their cause, great sacrifices, human failures and unique ac?
complishments, which invested them with moral authority and charisma in
the only Christian nation in Asia. The collective motto of Filipino nuns
might well have been: Aware et suffere (To love and to suffer). Behind
their development was the creative force of love and sacrifice.
All in all, fourteen religious communities for women were formed dur?
ing the three centuries of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Nine of them
were local foundations and five were foreign or international congrega?
tions (one Japanese and four Spanish) which transferred to or established
an autonomous branch in the Islands. Of the nine local communities, al?
most all beaterios, four were founded by native Filipinas, one by a Spanish
Sister and another four by a combination of Spanish and Filipino founders,

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152 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Filipino nuns praying the rosary at the forefront of the People's Peaceful Revolt
in 1986. (Photo by Mr. Pete Reyes.)

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 153

although, understandably, the Spanish founders are usually given exclu?


sive credit in the original narratives. Three of the five foreign congrega?
tions did not admit Filipinas and one local beaterio did not accept Filipinas
as full-fledged members. One foreign (Japanese) and two local houses be?
came completely extinct. One local community was supplanted by Filipina
recruits of a foreign congregation of the same religious order; another one
was absorbed by an international congregation; a third one survived only
as a college; and a fourth did not go beyond the planning stage. In general,
contrary to Church ideals, it appears that the foreign-dominated congrega?
tions had some difficulty relinquishing the reins of administration to their
Filipina members even long after the Spanish regime had ended in the
Philippines.

Two Filipino nuns praying over a slain security guard after a bank robbery in Manila.
(Phil. Daily Inquirer 25 April 1995.)

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154 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

The old edifices of two (Sta. Catalina and R.V.M.) of the three endur?
ing local congregations and three (Sta. Clara, Daughters of Charity and
Assumption) of the four international congregations were totally destroyed
in the Second World War.

I. THE TRANSITIONAL STAGE: FROM PRIESTESSES TO BEATAS


(1565-1650)

A. Catolonan and Babaylan

When the Spaniards began the twin processes of colonization and


Christianization of the Philippines in 1565, they found that the vast major?
ity of spiritual ministers in the Islands were priestesses. This was a relig?
ious genesis they shared in common with other Malay peoples.1 However,
the Filipinos had developed their own terms for priestesses. The Tagalogs
called them katuhmgan, which the Spaniards transcribed as catolonan and
sometimes, catalonan. (The latter sounded almost like Catalina, the name
of a dynamic woman saint, who was to be introduced as a model for Fili?
pino beatas). Katuhmgan signifies "one who assists or helps," referring to
the assistance they extended to the people in their spiritual and other
needs. The Visayans' term for priestess was babaylan, which obviously
came from "babai lang," meaning "for women only." The Bikols, in turn,
shortened it to balyan. Men who aspired to be priests had to dress and act
like their women counterparts. Hence, they were called asog by the Visay?
ans and the Bikols and bayog or bayogin by the Tagalogs and sometimes
also by the Visayans, both words meaning "effeminate or womanish." Be?
cause of their scarcity, the latter were much revered and sought after.
Many barangays in the Philippines are still called "bayog."2
The priestesses performed a variety of functions for the community,
which included healing, crafting amulets and charms, worship and ap?
peasement of, and special petitions and thanksgiving to the gods of the
spirit world as represented by their anitos or idolized ancestors. No formal
hierarchical structure developed among the ministers and no temples were
built by them. Their rituals, known as mag-anito, were held on an impres?
sive rock, in the supplicant's home, a cave or, most especially, a grove
which was lorded over by the balete, the sacred tree of the Malays. Soar?
ing as high as 25 meters; the balete has a huge cavernous trunk, robust

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 155

hanging roots, mighty limbs and awesome canopy. Its mystique is magni?
fied when it is located near a cave or a boulder. For the catolonan or the
babaylan, it was the natural cathedral, the center of the universe, the place
of encounter with the gods. Here the priestesses danced themselves gradu?
ally into a frenzied trance. And in this state, the catolonan was called taro
taro, literally meaning "voices," for it was believed that at this point, the
ancestral spirits were speaking inside her. When a catolonan held the gift
of prophecy, she was named masidhi ("the fervent one"). As remuneration
for their services, the ministers received a good part of the offerings of
food, wine, clothing and gold, the quality and quantity of which depended
on the social status of the supplicant. Thus, the priestesses filled a very
prestigious as well as lucrative role in society.3
The women ministers were married and had children. To love their
husbands and children was, for them, not in conflict with their calling.
They usually belonged to priestly families, which formed part of the nobil?
ity. Since they were attached to their families, they did not develop the
concept of hermitism (there is no original word for hermit in the Philippine
languages) or of a spiritual family or religious congregation. Wang Ta
yuan, the author of Tai-i-chin lueh (Brief Description of Island Barbarians;
1350 A.D.) made the following observations on the women of Mait in the
Philippines.4
"The people value fidelity... If the woman is bereft of her husband, she
shaves off her hair and, fasting for seven days, remains in bed with her
dead husband; most of them near the point of death. If she survives the
seven-day ordeal, the relatives advise her to take food and drink. Then she
may live on. In that case too, the widow never again marries in her life.
Some of them even go so far as to throw themselves into the funeral pyre
of their husbands to burn themselves to death."
"In Ma-li-lu (Manila),... the native custom values faithfulness. If a na?
tive chief dies, his widow never remarries a common man, but may choose
as her new husband a descendant of native chiefs of another country whose
family standing is equal to that of the deceased. If such a candidate is not
to be found, she shaves off her hair and devotes her remaining years to
chanting sutras." These observations obviously applied to priestesses as
well.
The younger functionaries trained by apprenticeship to a senior priest?
ess, who was usually a relative or friend whom they succeeded upon her

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156 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

death. The babaylan was laid to rest in a branch of the balete tree where
she had officiated in many a ceremony. It followed that priestly ances?
tresses were worshipped more assiduously than others, and the anitos
which represented them were probably the ones made of wood from hal?
lowed trees or gold or other precious materials. The oldest Marian image
in the Philippines, Nuestra Senora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance) in Er
mita, Manila, was apparently venerated as the anito of a priestess by an?
cient Manilenos. Upon exploration of the city in 1571, a soldier of the
conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, chanced upon the black statue en?
shrined on a pandan bush surrounded by ardent devotees near the shores of
Manila Bay. Soon the Spaniards too were astonished by her miracles and
thus they declared her "Protectress of the Galleons" and "Patroness of the
August and Ever Loyal City."5 It is possible that in the beginning the Fili?
pinos thought that the dark images of the Blessed Virgin May were the
anitos of paramount priestesses. This may explain the immense popularity
of the black Virgins of Ermita and Santa Ana, Manila (Our Lady of the
Abandoned), Antipolo and Penafrancia in Bikol.
The earliest eyewitness account of babaylan rituals is that of Pigafetta,
Magellan's scribe, in Ceb? in 1521. The Jesuit chronicler. Padre Francisco
Colin (1663), on the other hand, cited with awe a babaylan of Bohol who,
"with a voice choked with emotion," predicted the captivity of her people
by foreigners sometime before the advent of the white conquistadors. Re?
ports of amazing activities such as these led the missionaries to conclude
that the native ministers were possessed by the devil and hence, they were
promptly condemned and outlawed 6
It is obvious that the western monastic values of solitude, common life
which excluded one's family, male hierarchy, obedience, poverty, and celi?
bacy (except among widows), were almost entirely alien concepts to
priestesses and native women in general, which they had to adapt to with
the coming of Christianity. If ever in the future the Catholic Church would
revise her laws banning the ordination of women (which is not an Article
of Faith), this would certainly not be a novel idea in the collective mem?
ory-trace of the Filipinos.

B. The Suppression and Conversion of the Priestesses

Just as the priestesses favored the balete tree, the Spanish missionaries

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 157

became fascinated with it. In particular, the Jesuit writer, Padre Pedro
Chirino (1603) perceived one of the deepest Christian symbols in the peri?
odic renewal of its foliage. "A large balete stands in the inner court of our
house in Manila, near the regular entrance. In the year 1602, in the month
of April or May, I saw it all withered, with its leaves falling. Thinking that
it was dying, I was greatly grieved, for I did not wish to lose so fine a tree.
My sorrow was increased when I saw it the next day almost without a leaf.
But on the third day I beheld it covered with new leaves, tender and beau?
tiful, at which I was as rejoiced as I had previously been saddened; for it is
in truth a beautiful tree. In this I saw represented, as in a picture, the truth
of the Resurrection."7
Chirino learned of the Japanese art of bonsai which transformed the
balete into a miniature masterpiece worthy of adorning the altar of God.
Unwittingly, the process symbolized the transformation, whether sponta?
neous or forcible, of the catolonans and the babaylans into "exemplary
Christians." Chirino himself provides an account of the conversion of a
group of catolonans* The "band of worthless women" of San Juan del
Monte de Taytay (now part of Rizal Province) was led by a priestess who
was related to "the most prominent families" of the village. The catolonans
still held sway in the place at the turn of the 16th to the 17th century. In
defiance of the missionaries, the dominant priestess, who possessed a gold
anito, continued to perform healing rituals together with her assistants.
When found out, she refused to give up her idol by concealing it ingenu?
ously in an old bamboo pole in her house. Only after several attempts to
look into every hole and corner of the house did the zealous missionary
succeed in finding the precious anito. Whereupon he divested it of its gold
"for the service of the church" and consigned the rest to the fire!
"The demon was so insulted and hurt at this trick that, not being able to
wreak any other vengeance, he began (accompanied by many others) the
following night to torment the poor catolonan with visions and cruel
threats. Already undeceived as to the weakness of her idol, she sought for
conversion, and, hating the demon, begged for mercy. With the help of a
cross which was given her as a defense, although the terror continued, the
threats were not put in execution; and finally the demon abandoned her as
she had him. On one of the feastdays, all their errors were publicly refuted
in the church, and the priestesses remained convinced, repentant and rec?
onciled - by the authority of the bishop. They all betook themselves to a

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158 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

place where, removed from temptations, they could not relapse into their
evil ways. They were placed in charge of devout and Christian persons, in
whose company they lead Christian and exemplary lives."
A more drastic process of converting or suppressing the catolonans
was employed by the Franciscans in Laguna in 1596.9 "Fray Diego del
Villar, recently arrived in the Philippines, was appointed guardian of San
Francisco de Lumb?n... It happened that while there was an interment of a
native in the church, a quarrel ensued between the members of the family
of the dead and a catolonan or priestess of the devil... who was paid for the
purpose of asking the anito or idol to cure the sick man. But as he died,
they asked her to return the money that was given to her. The father guard?
ian was not able to understand a word of what was going on, so he scolded
the fiscal who in the belief that the guardian understood everything that
was said in the argument, to excuse himself replied: 'Father, that woman is
a wicked catolonan who has been punished by (other friars), and who yet
continues in her practices'. Upon listening to the fiscal, the father guardian
started inquiring if there were more catolonans and found out that there
were many of them in the town. He, thus, made it a point to eradicate these
cursed beings from the people of God... and with firm decision, he initiated
a series of moves, even at the risk of his life, to eliminate the wicked seed.
"He learned and discovered all the women in the town who were dedi?
cated to these idolatrous rites, also many artifacts, anitos and anting
antings, figures and images of these idols, with a hundred and sixty-three
evil names, some of them covered with gold leaves and others with silver,
and some encrusted with rings, stones or sticks, more esteemed and cared
for than their own selves. From these women, he took all the instruments
and artifacts and gathering them in the patio of the church ordered every?
thing burned. On another day, he ordered one of these women to be
whipped and the others to be unmasked, all the while destroying all the
places where they used to hold their idolatries, isolating them in a secluded
place, and that they should be dressed in yellow so that they will be imme?
diately recognized, also exposing to the town their sins, witcheries and
frauds. Some of these catolonans appealed to the governor-general in Ma?
nila and to the bishop with their complaint. The case was endorsed to a
dignitary of the cathedral, who upon listening to the complaint, ordered
that everything should continue as decided by the guardian..
"At this point, Fray Juan de Garrovillas, the provincial, who was on his

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 159

way to visit the province of Camarines, arrived. Upon learning of the


events in the town, he ordered Fray Miguel de Talavera to write a sermon
on a holiday, exposing the ugliness of their transgression, after having pro?
fessed their faith in God and being already Christians... The preacher was
not through with his sermon when the door of the church suddenly opened
and the provincial, with his companions, Fray Diego de Sta. Maria and
Fray Diego del Villar, came in half-naked, covered with ashes, lashing
their backs with cords, bathed with their own blood in penance for the
transgression committed by the town. After what the preacher said in his
sermon, and the scene that was displayed before their eyes, the whole mul?
titude in the church started to shed abundant tears, and one of these ca
tolonans moved by God, stood on a bench and shed abundant tears,
confessed publicly her sins and the fraud of the evils she had been doing,
and offered the gold she had on her to the priests to decide what to do with
it, as it had been ill gotten. But this event was ill received especially by
those who were supposed to help, finding the priest to have been overbold.
But on second thought... if the guardian was excessive in his method, it has
to be recognized that everything was necessary, and the effect was so great
that when the news spread to the whole Tagalog region, there was no
longer a trace of the catolonans. And if in the old times the catolonans
were held in high esteem and there were many who came from the upper
class, nowadays, it is an insult to be called catolonan and they loathe it..."

C. The Irrepressible Priestesses

Although eminently successful in their campaign against the catolonan


and the babay/an, the Spanish priests were unable to completely stamp out
their cult. Throughout the colonial period, the missionaries continued to
contend at least periodically with pockets of resistance offered by influen?
tial priestesses. In 1607, Caquenga, a female minister in Cagay?n, North?
ern Luzon, led an armed movement against the Dominican missionary to
her people, the Irrayas. Another religious revolt was instigated by a babay
lan of Bohol, albeit a male one, named Tamblot, in 1621-22. In yet another
uprising, in Tandag (Caraga District in Mindanao) in 1631, a Christian
woman, Maria Carnpan, took the role of priestess by celebrating "mass"
and sprinkling "holy water" on her followers. The apostate later repented
and returned to the Christian fold.10

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160 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Catolonans and their cohorts in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas


were investigated and arrested by officials of the Archdiocese of Manila in
1686 for holding mag-anito ceremonies inside a cave in Santo Tomas de
los Montes, which was then a part of Laguna. Their sphere of influence ex?
tended to the surrounding towns of San Pablo, Ti?ong, Lobo y Galv?n
(now Rosario), Lip?, Tan?uan and others. It was estimated that more than
200 persons were attending the clandestine meetings at any one time, and
the attention they attracted sealed the cult's doom. In the same year, an?
other inquiry was made into similar activities of a network of priestesses in
Zambales province and in Bolinao, Pangasin?n, which were held up to rep?
robation by the archbishop of Manila. The records of these cases were sent
directly to Rome.11
As late as 1739, a "sorcerer" priestess in G?bat (now Bag?bag, Nueva
Viscaya), who was believed to be an agent of the devil, was ferreted out by
Church authorities. When taken, she cried: "What is this that is taking
place in my land? What is this change in my people? What are these [men]
of white teeth doing here?"12

The Sacred Mountain

To the crater of Mount Ban?haw, the sacred volcano of the Tagalogs,


in the early 1800, withdrew seven priestesses to be able to perform mag
anito rituals undisturbed. Led by Hermana Kikay were Hermanas Matea
?guila, Nicolasa Alinea, Cleta, Ana, and Rosa. The seventh woman is not
named. They pioneered in the revival of the mountain as the center of na?
tive cults infused with Christian symbols. In the waning years of the Span?
ish era, for instance, Hermana Maria Bernarda Balit?an (1876-1925)
founded the Ciudad Mistica de Di?s (Mystic City of God), one of the most
influential groups in Ban?haw. It is presently headed by a woman-pope. So
are the other major cults in the holy mountain such as the Union Adora
dores Cristianos al Espiritu Divino (UNC AED - Union of Christian Ador?
ers of the Divine Spirit), Ama't Inang Santisima Trinidad (Father and
Mother, Most Holy Trinity) and Tres Personas Solo Di?s (Three Persons,
One God), whose core members are seven priestesses.lj

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 161

Babaylanism

By the 1870s, in the Visayas, the leadership of the babaylanes had


shifted mostly to the men due to its evolving militancy as a means of sur?
vival. A male hierarchy was one of the features of Christianity which had
crept into the native religion. The term babaylanes was now applied to the
movement itself as well as to its membership. In its hybrid form with its
Christian elements, it continued to pose a challenge to both the Spanish
and American colonial authorities. To this day, the native religion is prac?

ticed in isolated towns in the Visay^as and in Luzon, some of them still un?
der the aegis of women ministers. 4

Of Surnames and Place Names

When in 1849, the Governor-General Don Narciso Claveria, Count of


Manila, ordered the standardization of Filipino surnames, he called upon
the religious orders in Manila to compile indigenous words culled from the
different Philippine languages and dialects, in addition to Spanish names.
The resulting list was published as the Cat?logo de ApeUidos (Catalogue
of Surnames), from which natives could choose patronymics they could
pass on to their descendants. It shows that the friars suppressed "ca
tolonan" or "catalonan" as a family name. Perhaps, however, it was "sub?
limated" into "Cataluna" (the bustling Spanish region) by the many
Filipinos who adopted the latter surname because of the close resemblance
in sound. "Babaylan" and "Balidn" (pp. 10 and 12, respectively) eluded
the censors, who were mostly from the Tagalog-speaking region in and
around Manila. So did names like "?sog" and "Bayoguin" (pp. 9 and 16)
though these had probably deteriorated into terms of ridicule. Other appel?
lations such as "Anito," "Balete," and "Batongmalaqui" ("Big Rock")
were also let to stand in the catalogue (pp. 6, 12 and 16, respectively).
Thus, names which evoke the memory of priestesses have endured as Phil?
ippine patronymics.15
Many a barangay or barrio fiercely guards appellations devoted to
priestesses. At least two barrios of yore in Bulac?n Province - Catolonan
in Baliuag and Talamp?s ("Big Rock") in Quingu? (now Plaridel) - sur?
vived Spanish colonization name-wise. Talangpaz (old spelling of Talam?
p?s) is also one of the most ancient Filipino surnames, which originated

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162 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

from Calumpit, Bulac?n (the matrix of both Baliuag and Quingu?). More?
over, both Calumpit and Malolos (adjacent to each other) have barrios still
named Balite and another barangay of Calumpit, Gatbuca, is already men?
tioned in the earliest dated document (900 A.D.) in Philippine history - the
inscribed copper plate recently found in Laguna. There is reason to believe
that this region was a prehispanic religious center under the influence of a
group of priestesses from selected clans like the Talangpazes. The matri?
archs of this venerable clan may well have been catolonans who officiated
at spiritual rites held under a sacred banyan or on a hallowed rock - the
meaning of Talangpaz. Indeed, when put together, these pieces of evidence
offer a direct link between the priestesses and the beatas since two blood
sisters surnamed Talangpaz of Calumpit, Bulac?n, founded one of the
three enduring Philippine beaterios in the 18th century: the Beaterio de
San Sebasti?n de Calumpang, now the Congregation of the Augustinian
Recollect Sisters.16
A volcano rich in myths in the Bikol region is Mount ?sog. Curiously,
as noted earlier, there are still several barrios all over the archipelago bear?
ing the name "Bayog." None is called "Babaylan" but a few have names
probably derived from it such as "Babalayan," "Bayl?n," or "Baylanan."
There are also a few "Bali?n." At least two are known as "Anito." Not sur?
prisingly, the most common tree name of a town or barangay in the Philip?
pines is "Balete" and the most common name of an inanimate object,
"Bat?" with its various attributes such as "Poong Bat?" ("Sacred Stone"),
"Malaking Bat?" ("Boulder") and "Puting Bat?"
17 ("White Rock"), the fa
vorite haunts of Bathala and his priestesses.

D. The Brown Beatas

It took two to three generations of Filipino women to make the difficult


transition in religious life from the Pre-hispanic to the Hispanic Age. By
the beginning of the 17th century, the irrepressible spiritual energy of Fili?
pino women seemed to have found a deeper expression in the new relig?
ion. The most drastic difference between the Malayan and the European
religious principles they had to surmount was most probably this fact:
whereas the Filipino priestesses were married and bore children because
they integrated mystical and physical fulfillment together in a state called
kagamp?n, the Malay word for fulfillment - the Spaniards introduced the

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN

Filipina Eremite Beatas by Carlos Borromeo (1859), Filipino engraver.

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164 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Catholic ideal of spiritual perfection through "continence," the sacrifice of


physical needs. As noted earlier, the Malayan concept also precluded the
life of a solitary which is a prelude to the development of a religious com?
munity. Another great difference is the fact that the Catholic Church is
dominated by men which was the reverse of the prehispanic situation. This
is, however, counterposed by the preeminence accorded the Blessed Virgin
Mary as the Mother of God as well as the prominence of some women
saints in the Spanish sanctoral.

The Three Orders

The major religious orders of the Catholic Church had three branches
which were also called "orders." The monks or friars constituted the first
order; the nuns, the second: and affiliated laypersons, the third. The lay
women of the third order were generally known as hermanas (sisters) but
the more deeply involved ones were called beatas ("blessed women") with
the additional appellation, terciarias (tertiaries) or mantelatas ("veiled
women"). The general term for a male member of the third order was her
mano (brother). As a rule, Filipinos were not deemed fit for admission to
the first two orders. They were allowed to join only the third order.18
Members of the first two orders were required to live a common life,
wear their distinctive habit at all times and profess the solemn vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience. The third order consisted of three types of
members which also represented the development of their religious com?
mitment from personal and familial to collective sanctification; or from the
biological family to the spiritual family.19 The higher the rank of the order,
the greater were supposed to be the opportunities for divine blessing. But,
in reality, there was no direct correlation between the level of order one
belonged to and the degree of one's blessedness. This was basically an or?
ganizational classification.

The Third Order

The first type of tertiary was the secular member who still lived with
his or her family. The second type lived by himself or herself like a hermit.
Both types might don the religious habit in public only with the permission
of the order and the local bishop, and were not bound by any vows. The

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 165

third type pertained only to the beatas who lived in a community called
"beaterio," wore her habit at all times or for church services and took sim?
ple vows. (Solemn vows render contrary acts both illicit and invalid
whereas simple vows make contrary acts illicit but not invalid. For exam?
ple, the marriage of a religious with simple vows is illicit but not invalid.)
There is no exact English translation of the word beaterio because this was
not a popular institution in the English-speaking world. In Germany and
the Netherlands, the beatas were called beguines, their community, be
guinage; and their male counterparts, beghards. There was no beaterio for
men in the Hispanic world.20
While the nuns of the second order engaged almost entirely in contem?
plation, the beatas of the third order in the Philippines involved themselves
in both contemplation and action, the latter being typically in the form of
education of girls of all social classes, but especially orphaned and poor
girls. In the 19th century, however, some of the colegio-beaterios, like Sta.
Catalina and Sta. Rosa, became fashionable schools for the native women
elite. Frequently, the beatas also gave refuge to orphans and aged women
and nursed the sick in the hospitals. However, they firmly drew the line
when Church and government officials tried to turn their house into a re?
formatory for "incontinent women" because the latter tended to disrupt the
serenity of the community. The beatas were not always successful in this
regard.21
Not all beatas belonged to a third order. Since the Society of Jesus was
forbidden to establish a second or third order, the beatas they assisted were
housed in a diocesan institution, which was also designated a beaterio. Par?
ishes administered by secular priests, like those by the Jesuits, did not have
a third order. By canon law, a beaterio was not a religious congregation
unlike a monastery or a nunnery. For that matter, a beata was not a monja
or nun.22 As we shall see, however, in spirit and practice, a beaterio was a
true religious congregation. The Philippine institution of the beaterio was
the Filipino adaptation of Western monasticism.

Beatas and Beaterios

In the Philippines, the status of beaterios was complicated by the fact


that the Spanish king regarded them only as casas de recogimiento or
teaching institutions under the Laws of the Indies (law 19, book 1, title 3).

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166 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

This was the imperial realm in which Church and State were united, and
the monarch was the patron of the Church. His Majesty prohibited all the
Philippine beaterios from being religious houses or congregations. This
was the unique predicament of Philippine beaterios from which they suf?
fered much during the colonial period. Neither in Spain nor in Latin Amer?
ica were beaterios treated in this manner. The basic assumption in the
Spanish court was that Filipino women, including criollas (Spanish
women born and raised in the Islands), were neither worthy nor competent
to form religious communities. What the archbishop of Manila, Fray Fe?
lipe Pardo, O.P., as well as all the superiors of religious orders in the capi?
tal, reported to the king in 1680 regarding native priests no doubt also
reflected his thinking about the native beatas. (The prelate was then oppos?
ing the royal decree of 1677 ordering the establishment of a native semi?
nary in the Philippines.) "The archbishop stated the little inclination that
the Indians have for theological and moral studies, and that there was the
additional difficulty of their evil customs, their vices, and their pre-con
ceived ideas - which made it necessary to treat them as children even
when they were fifty or sixty years old. He considered even the sons of
Spaniards, born in the Islands, unsuitable for priests, since they were
reared by Indian or slave women, because of their defective training and
23
education in youth."
Although the religious orders or the prelate founded or recognized the
beaterios in the Philippines, they often disagreed with each other on who
had the right of jurisdiction over these foundations. Thus, the beatas had to
contend with three entities, united nominally yet fiercely independent of
each other and often with conflicting views on the nature of the beaterios:
1) the governor-general as the king's representative, who had the preroga?
tive of whether or not to implement the royal decrees; 2) the ordinary or
bishop of the diocese; and 3) the provincial of the religious order which
supervised the beatas' community. With charismatic zeal and determina?
tion, the beatas struggled as the "little sisters" in a male-dominated world.
In effect, the Philippine beatas were neither nuns nor beatas in the offi?
cial sense nor lay women in their spiritual way of life but somewhere in be?
tween. They presented the paradox of being "semi-nuns" or "semi-beatas"
who were not allowed to be regular nuns or beatas because of their race.
There is no denying the sad fact that they were victims of discrimination
and power play between the local prelate and the religious orders and the

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 167

government officials. But the beatas made the most spiritually of what was
made available to them. Some widowed criollas, recognizing the native
beaterios' unitive life, preferred to join them. Most of the beaterios' prob?
lems with the Church and state authorities arose from the ambiguity of
their official status which they could not help because it was imposed upon
them by the prevailing policies of these same authorities.
Filipinos later began to apply the term "beata" to any woman who lived
a saintly life. In the vernacular languages, the word which evolved for both
nun and beata is "madre" (the counterpart of "pare" or "padre " the word
for priest). Both are addressed as "Sor," or for the senior nun, prioress or
superior, "madre." The term "monja" is still reserved for a nun of a con?
templative order.
Knowing the previous religious role of Filipino women before the
Conquest, the Spanish missionaries apparently reached out to them and
their children comparatively more than to the men, who seemed less in?
clined to religious matters. As early as 1609, the Jesuit writer Padre Chir
ino reports: "(The Filipinos') love for books is so great that, not satisfied
with those printed in their language written by religious men, with the ser?
mons they hear, and with bible histories, lives of saints, prayers and sacred
poetry composed by themselves, there is hardly any - much less a woman
- who does not have one or more books in their language and script writ?
ten by themselves, a thing unknown among neophytes in any other nation
....I can bear witness to this because I was charged with the examination
of books this year, 1609, by the treasurer of the metropolitan see and vicar
general of the archdiocese who ordered these books to be censored in order
? 24
that what was erroneous might be corrected." The native women's spiri?
tual role and energy seemed to have been harnessed and redirected to the
new religion.
The most fervent among the early women converts eventually learned
of the third order and applied for admission to it. In the beginning, most of
them were evidently beatas of the first type, that is, those who lived with
their families. This was a necessary part of the religious transition of the
family-centered culture of the Philippines from the Pre-Christian to the
Christian Age. It is reflected in the catalogue of native women founders of
capellamas or chaplaincies, whether married, widowed or single, from the
17th to the 18th century. (Capel/an/as de misas were pious trust funds es?
tablished for the support of priests.) In 1605 alone, seventeen native

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168 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

women, together with their husbands, and only three widowed or single
women donated cape llamas in the province of Pampanga. Though they
were probably regarded as beatas, it was not clear if they had been for?
mally admitted as members of the third order.25
Some married or widowed beatas entered the realm of religious folk?
lore as well. Capitana Ines of Antipolo, for instance, was the wife or
widow of the mayor (addressed as "capitan") of the hilly town, which is
the pilgrimage center to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage since 1632.
Brimming with compassion, the "holy and renowned" capitana assisted
the sick and the poor during her lifetime. Thus, to her sickbed, the Black
Virgin of Antipolo, disguised as a beggar, came to nurse and comfort her.
A picture of this event used to hang in the Jesuit convent of the parish be?
fore its utter destruction in the last war. In his novel, Noli Me l?ngere
(1887), Rizal describes a carving of the same scene by the famous sculptor
Arevalo in the house of Capitan Tiago in Binondo, Manila 26

II. THE EREMITIC STAGE (1600-1800)

As the 17th century progressed, more and more Filipino beatas began
to live like ermitanas (hermits). They broke their seclusion at intervals to
assist the missionaries in their evangelical endeavor as well as to engage in
corporal works of mercy. The friars were so proud and appreciative of
these beatas terciarias that they included their spiritual biographies in their
chronicles. They were the fist group of Filipinos to be eulogized with pub?
lished biographies.
A typical appraisal of the early Filipino beatas was offered by the Rec?
ollect historian, Fray Luis de Jesus, O.A.R., in 1681: (Our missionaries)
had the special glory of numbering among those whom they directed some
privileged women endowed with the gifts of heaven and raised by the
Spirit of God to a height of Christian perfection which confounds our luke
warmness in His service."27

Religious Metamorphosis

A procession of Filipino beatas coming from various towns throughout


the archipelago emerged at the dawn of Philippine religious metamorpho?
sis in the 17th century. The Dominicans (Order of Preachers) lauded the

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 169

edifying examples of Cecilia Tangol (her surname signifies a "defender")


(1593-1673) of Bata?n Province; Melchora "La Beata" (1626-1680) of
Ab?cay, also in Bata?n; and Maria Guinita, a widow of Binalatongan, Pan
gasin?n (died 1673). The Augustinian Recollects marvelled at the pro?
found transformations of two widows of But?an in far away Mindanao:
Clara Caliman (ca. 1603-1639) and Isabel (died 1646); and the inherent
grace of Rossa de la Cruz (died 1647) of Surigao, Surigao; Madalena Hing
(died 1692) of Taytay, Palawan; and Juana de Jesus (died 1703) of Binan
gonan de Lamp?n in Tayabas (now Quezon Province)28
Both the Jesuits and the Recollects sang the praises of Dona Madalena
Bal?yot and her niece, Dona Maria ?ray, noble widows of Dapitan in
Mindanao for their pious examples and intrepid assistance in the conver?
sion of Moros in Caraga (1603-1604), Cagayan (1522-23) and Dapitan it?
self (1629-60s). The Jesuits extolled the uncommon virtues of Maria, la
Samaritana ("The Samaritan"), a Mangyan convert in Mindoro in 1665.
The Franciscans admired the moral courage of Marta de San Bernardo (ca.
1605-ca. 1650) and Madalena de la Conception (ca. 1610-1685), both of
Pampanga province who, as we shall see, despite great obstacles became
the first two Filipino nuns in 1635 and 1637, respectively.29 Only the Cal
ced Augustinians, the first religious order to arrive in the Philippines,
scarcely granted the third order to Filipino beatas until the 18th century.
The friar chroniclers penned not sketchy but usually detailed biogra?
phies of these blessed women which are worthy of citation in inquiries for
beatification. They traced three general directions in their spiritual devel?
opment which illustrate the range of personal and social transition the
beatas went through in the 17th century. These are, in fact, variations of
the universal experiences of women saints. Some, like Rossa de la Cruz,
"ever since she was a young girl... had walked the ways of a most heroic
sanctity." Others, like Dona Maria ?ray and Isabel of Butuan, found their
religious calling after widowhood when they were able to take the crucial
step of leaving their grown-up children. A third example, like Clara Cali?
man, had enormous difficulty conforming with the Catholic concept of
sexuality such that she was at first called "ramera" (Spanish for "prosti?
tute"). "But like another Magdalene, wounded by the arrows of Christ's
words, Caliman changed her heart after listening to our religious preaching
against their vicious customs... Clara was a rare example of virtue, how
ever deep satan had made her fall before."~ Indeed, Madalena or Mag

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170 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

dalena, the name of the repentant saint, was a frequently recurring name
among Filipino beatas. One of the beaterios founded by a Filipina in the
19th century was called "La Magdalena."

Aberrations

To be sure, the transition process from priestess to beata was not com?
pletely smooth. But the scandals were the exceptions rather than the rule.
As early as 1601, "certain beatas" (it was not specified if they were Span?
ish or Filipinas) were denounced by the Holy Office of the Inquisition in
Manila together with Fray Andres de Cordoba and Fray Francisco de Santa
Maria. It was alleged that the two friars solicited sexual favors from them
in the confessional, to which they gave in. A similar case occurred in 1665
involving a Tagalog beata, Luisa de los Reyes, who lived across the street
from the Jesuit College in Intramuros. The Inquisition accused her and two
Jesuits, Padres Francisco Manuel Fernandez and Javier Riquelme of Illu
minism. Padre Fernandez claimed that the native beata had died several
times but God had revived her each time so that she would continue to suf?
fer for the souls in Purgatory. The priest likened Luisa's holiness to that of
St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Agnes. He denied any
sexual feelings when he kissed, embraced and made passes at her. Padre
Riquelme corroborated his brethren's testimony adding that God resusci?
tated Luisa "so that the said Padre Fernandez would enjoy her spirit." Al?
though the beata appeared more to be the victim than the culprit, she was
the one prosecuted by the Holy Office whereas the Jesuits' cases were sus?
pended "owing to their activity in the islands."31

The 18th and 19th Centuries

Even when the Manila beaterios had been well established by the mid?
dle of the 18th century, some native beatas continued to serve in isolated
mission parishes. One such was the Dominican tertiary Rosa de Santa
Maria (1744-92) of Bambang, Ituy (now Nueva Vizcaya). The daughter of
Datu Sumirang and his Christian wife, Ana Ingangaron, Rosa was baptized
when the first mass was celebrated in her village in 1747. Marrying at 17,
she became the teacher for girls in the mission because of her great apti?
tude for learning and teaching. Devoted to a vain lifestyle, she suddenly

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 171

went through a spiritual change at the age of 29. Henceforth, she led a very
saintly life and the Dominicans rewarded her with the tertiary habit in
1790. During a famine in her region two years later, she offered her life to
God so that He might spare her people. She was eulogized in the Acts of
the provincial chapter of the Order of Preachers in 1794.32
In the 19th century, there was a decline in the status of "hermanas" of
the Venerable Orden Tercera (V.O.T.) of the different religious orders. Ri
zal presents their caricature in his novel Noli Me l?ngere (1887) as gossip?
ing and superstitious women, whose religious devotion was mechanical
and competitive. The people called them "Manangff (a contraction of Her
mana) rather than "beata," which term, as already noted, was reserved for
the more authentic or saintly type.33

III. THE COMMUNAL STAGE (1634-1898): MONASTERIOS AND


BEATERIOS

A. Prelude: The Beaterio of Miyako (1614-1656)

After the establishment of the five great religious orders for men in the
Philippines: the Augustinians (1565), the Franciscans (1578), the Domini?
cans (1582) and the Recollects (1606) as well as the Society of Jesus
(1581), it was a matter of course for the Spanish government to organize
the first monastery for women in the capital. But before this could be real?
ized, pending royal and ecclesiastical red tape, the first religious commu?
nity for women in the Philippines came not from Spain or Mexico, which
administered the colony, but from nearby Japan.

The First Asian Beaterio

The first beaterio in Asia, which was also the very first Catholic relig?
ious house set up by Asians, had been founded in Kyoto, the ancient capi?
tal of Japan, in 1602 by Sor Julia Nayto (1560-1627). Daughter of the
daimyo of Yagi, she was a widow and former Buddhist nun. Assisting her
in the foundation was the Italian Jesuit missionary, Father Organtino
Soldi-Gnecchi (1530-1609). As a result of the brutal persecution in 1614
during the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu, more than 300 Japanese Christians
were banished to Manila led by Don Justo Takayama Ukon (1552-1615),

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172 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

daimyo of Akashi, and Dr. Joan Nay to (Nay to Yukiyasu Tokuan) (1551
1626), former daimyo of Kameyama and brother of Sor Julia. It was Dr.
Nayto who had brought Sor Julia into the Catholic faith, which culminated
in her baptism in Kyoto in 1587.34
Sharing the sufferings of the exiled group were fifteen noble beatas of
Miyako (Kyoto), headed by the prioress, Sor Julia. Eight other members of
the beaterio are known by name: Sor Maria, Princess of Iga (1583-1635),
the co-foundress; Sor Madalena Nakajima (died 1620), first cousin of the
Naytos; Sor Mencia Otomo (1564-1641), daughter of the daimyo of
Bungo; Sor Maria Muni (d. 1640); Sor Maria Tsutsui, daughter of the
daimyo of Ueno; Sor Maria Park (1572-1636), the first Korean beata; Sor
Lucia de la Cruz (1580-1656); and Sor Tecla Ignazia (d. 1656), daughter
of Sor Maria Muni.35

The Beaterio as a "Spiritual Family"

The hapless exiles arrived in Manila on 21 December 1614 after more


than a month on the rough sea. They were hailed as Christian heroes and
near martyrs with great jubilation. The Spanish government gave them
quarters in the San Miguel district, which was then a part of Quiapo, Ma?
nila, under the spiritual administration of the Jesuits. The beatas were pro?
vided with a separate house next to Dr. Nayto's.36 Since the new Japanese
community was located outside Intramuros, the walled city reserved for
the Spanish colonialists, this was the first time Filipinos became aware of
the principle and practice of a beaterio: a group of pious women bound by
the vows of chastity, obedience and poverty and living together in har?
mony for their individual and collective sanctification. Prior to this, Filipi?
nos knew only of beatas living singly or with their family of origin.
Unwittingly, the Japanese beatas introduced the concept of the "spritual
family" as distinguished from the biological family in the family-oriented
culture of the Philippines; and that such entity can be formed not only by
Spaniards but also by Asians. The beatas gave witness to Christ's words
spoken to His disciples: "And everyone who has left house, or brothers, or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake,
shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting."
The saintly leader of the exiles, Don Justo Takayama, died barely three
weeks after their arrival on 5 February 1615. Attended by a big throng of

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 173

Filipinos and Spaniards, his funeral rites were held with solemnity and
pomp. The beatas of Miyako kept vigil over his mortal remains in the
church of San Miguel and the following day, in the church of Santa Ana of
the Jesuits in Intramuros, where he was laid to rest near the high altar. A
public inquiry for the beatification of Takayama, the first in the Philip?
pines, followed in 1630, in which the surviving beatas came forward as
witnesses. No series of events since the Conquest stirred the mind and soul
of the ancient city more profoundly.37

Nayto's Lineage

Nayto succeeded Takayama as the alderman of their community. He


survived Takayama by eleven years, during which he busied himself trans?
lating Chinese books on religion and medicine, which he had brought with
him, into Japanese. Practicing his profession for free, he cultivated and dis?
pensed herbal medicine for the benefit of poor Filipinos and Spaniards
who consulted him. Apparently he was assisted by the beatas in his minis?
trations of charity. Dr. Nayto died in 1626, followed by his sister the next
year. Sor Julia was succeeded by Sor Mencia Otomo as prioress of the
beaterio (1627-41). The Naytos were survived by the physician's widow,
Maria, three daughters and a son, Tomas, who also had four children. Two
descendants of Tomas, Padre Juan Nayto and Dr. Lucas Nayto, S.T.D.
(1657-1711) became prominent priests in the archdiocese of Manila. An
18th century scion, Don Juan Bautista Nayto, helped design the building
for the Monasterio de Santa Rosa de Lima for Chinese mestizas in 1787.
The foundation, however, did not materialize/
Due to financial limitations as well as cultural and language barriers,
the beaterio did not admit any new members, whether Japanese or Filipino.
When in 1628 Sor Julia's niece, Luzia de San Juan, daughter of Dr. Nayto,
decided to follow in her aunt's footsteps, she had to seek admission instead
at the newly established Monasterio de Santa Clara. She was clothed with
the habit of the Poor Clares by the Spanish foundress, Mother Jer?nima de
la Asuncion on 27 December 1628. She died seven months later on 25 July
1629.39
The Japanese beaterio quietly ended in 1656 when the last two beatas,
Sor Luzia de la Cruz and Sor Tecla Ignazia, died of old age in July and
November, respectively, after forty-two years in exile. Sor Tecla was the

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174 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

third and last prioress of the house. Famed for their saintly lives, which
their Jesuit confessors compelled them to put into writing, the last two
beatas shared the same sepulcher in the church of the Jesuit College of San
Ignazio in the walled city.40

The Blessed Ashes

The beatas' collective epitaph may be taken from Ephesians 2:19: "So
you are no longer strangers or foreign visitors: you are citizens with all the
saints, and part of God's household."
Sor Julia, the other beatas and the Nayto family were buried at the old
San Miguel Church. On the feast of St. Andrew, patron and titular of Ma?
nila, 30 November 1645, a monstrous earthquake toppled the Jesuit temple
and convent to the ground. The destruction was witnessed by the last two
Japanese beatas, Sor Luzia and Sor Tecla. The sacred structures were later
rebuilt by the Society of Jesus.41
In 1779, the San Miguel church was demolished again after "profana?
tion proceedings according to the rites of our Holy Mother Church." Over
the objections of the pastor, principal.es and ordinary citizens of San
Miguel, the archbishop of Manila had ordered the parish in 1777 to merge
with that of nearby San Fernando de Dilao (now Paco), which was the
older Japanese settlement. The parish priest of Dilao was instructed to "ex?
hume and transfer" the tombs in the church and cemetery of San Miguel to
those of Dilao. A long list of the treasured images, ornaments and other
properties of the parish was also turned over to that of Dilao. The church
of Paco had been severely damaged by the earthquakes of 1863 and 1880
and totally destroyed both during the Philippine-American War and World
War II. The ashes of the Japanese beatas and the Naytos now form part of
the foundation of the modern church of Paco reconstructed after the last
war. The old site of the San Miguel church, where the beatas used to wor?
ship, is renamed Isla de Provisor and now hosts a power plant of the
energy-strapped city of Manila 42

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 175

B. Real Monasterio de Santa Clara (1621-the present)

Early Ventures

As early as 1599, the growing Spanish community in Manila was pin?


ing for a nunnery to grace the spiritual landscape of the walled city. They
petitioned the viceroy of Mexico, under whose authority the Philippines
was administered, to delegate two holy women to lay its foundation. (At
that time, there were already forty-four religious congregations for women
in the Hispanic New World and two-thirds of them were in Mexico.) The
truth was, according to the official reply, "No one dares to go to those Is?
lands, on account of the difficulty of the journey and the inconvenience of
the ships." Even the king's subsequent command to the viceroy in 1602 to
grant this petition was respectfully shelved.43
A more direct approach was made by Fray Diego de Soria, O.P., for?
mer provincial of the Dominicans, who was to be the second bishop of
Nueva Segovia (1602-13). On an official trip to Spain in 1599, he visited
his sister who was a nun in the Monastery of Poor Clares of Santa Isabel la
Real in Toledo. (The order had been started by St. Clare in Assisi in 1212
as the female counterpart of the Franciscan Order.) Fray Diego broached to
his sister the need for a similar foundation in Manila. In the process, a nun
of the nobility, Mother Jer?nima de la Asuncion (1555-1630), already
famed for her sanctity, adopted the project as her personal mission. A year
later, Fray Pedro Matias, O.F.M., the Philippine delegate to the General
Chapter of the Franciscans in Toledo, whose order directed the Poor
Clares, followed up the plan with Mother Jer?nima. To their disappoint?
ment but not discouragement, they realized that it would demand several
years of enormous groundwork which would involve various levels of
Church and State in Manila and Madrid.44
True enough, it took Mother Jeronima and seven other volunteer nuns
a total of eleven years to obtain the necessary licenses to be able to embark
from Spain to the Philippines in 1620. By that time, she was already 66
years old but still strong and determined to start the first monastery for
women in Asia. Her companions were: from the Monastery of Santa Isabel
(1) Sor Ana de Christo, (1565-1636); (2) Sor Leonor de Sanct Francisco
(1583-1651), mistress of novices; and (3) Sor Juana de Sanct Anttonio,
novice and secretary of the group; from the Monastery of Santa Juana de la

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PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

The face of Madre Jeronima de la Asuncion, foundress of the Monaste?


ry de Sta. Clara in Manila. (Detail from the portrait by Diego
Vel?squez. Oil on canvas. Sevilla, 1620. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Foto
Llad?.)

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178 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Cruz near the town of Cubas (4) Sor Maria Madalena de la Cruz (1575
1653), vicaress; and (5) Sor Madalena de Christo; from the Monastery of
La Columna in Sevilla, (6) Sor Luysa de Jesus, novice and (7) Sor Maria
de la Trinidad (who unfortunately died at sea). In Sevilla, the Franciscan
provincial commanded Mother Jer?nima to pose for a full-sized portrait by
a budding artist named Diego Velasquez (1599-1660), who later turned out
to be one of the greatest Spanish masters. Velasquez painted not one but
two pictures of hers, which now hang at the Prado Museum in Madrid. In
Mexico City, they were joined by two more nuns from the Monastery of
the Visitation: (8) Sor Leonor de Sanct Buenaventura and (9) Sor Maria de
los Angeles.45

The First Monastery

After more than a year and three months of voyage on a galleon, the
religious pioneers arrived in Manila on 5 August 1621. Dona Ana de Vera,
the childless widow of the Master of Camp Don Pedro Chaves had deeded
to them her two houses in the walled city, which became the site of the
Royal Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of the Barefoot Nuns of
Saint Clare. It was called Monastery of Santa Clara for short. True to their
vow of poverty, the nuns returned the additional donation of Dona Ana in
the form of a ranch in Sampaloc with cows and horses and land for cultiva?
tion. They also turned down another house offered by Dona Maria de Jesus
as well as other donations of money and material things they did not
need.46
Within two months after its inauguration, the monastery attracted 20
Spanish maidens, and they vanished from view of the outside world. The
deprived bachelors of Manila lodged a formal complaint against the insti?
tution with Church and state authorities. The latter tried to restrict the num?
ber of applicants but Mother Jer?nima protested the move. She appealed
directly to the king, who ruled in her favor. On the other hand, in view of
the deteriorating health of some of the nuns, the Franciscan provincial tried
to pressure her to mitigate and adapt the monastic rules to the tropics. But
this too she resisted and she was eventually upheld by the general of the
Order in Rome. Notwithstanding her personal victory, she did not hesitate
to modify the strict statutes when she realized the havoc they wreaked on
the members of the congregation 47

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 179

The Repudiation of Filipinas

A more sensitive issue was the admission of native applicants to the


monastery. The royal foundation was specifically created for "pious (Span?
ish) women and daughters of the conquistadors who cannot marry prop?
erly" without mention of native women. Silence with regards to the latter
was conveniently interpreted as prohibition. Further, it was questioned in
this era whether Indios, like "Jews, Moros, Negroes and gypsies" pos?
sessed the "purity of blood" ^limpieza de sangre") necessary for admis?
sion to sublime Spanish institutions like monasteries. Nevertheless,
Mother Jer?nima was open to the idea of accommodating Indias who were
beginning to knock at the monastery gate begging for admission. Instinc?
tively, despite the legalistic controversy, the Filipino beatas knew they
were ready and able to move on from the third to the second order. Madre
Jer?nima was severely criticized for her liberal attitude. At one point, she
considered building a separate monastery for Filipino women in Pandacan,
which was then a rustic town. The Church and civil authorities, however,
48
turned a deaf ear to her proposal.
The differences between a monasterio of the second order and a beate
rio of the third order became clearer in the minds of Filipinos, in general

A Spanish-Filipina mestiza seeks admission to the Monasterio de Sta. Clara in


Manila, 1856. (Courtesy of the Ayala Museum.)

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180 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

and the local beatas, in particular. The former was contemplative and iso?
lated from the community whereas the latter combined contemplation and
interaction with the outside world. The former seemed impossible for them
to attain whereas the latter was more accessible to them, especially to Fili?
pino beatas who had been enrolled in the third order. As noted earlier, until
now, in Filipino, the particular word for a contemplative nun is "monja"
(Spanish for nun) whereas the world for a "regular" nun is "madre."
At some point in their simultaneous existence in the city of Manila and
its environs, the beatas of Miyako almost certainly met with the contem?
plative nuns of Santa Clara, who arrived in the seventh year of their exile.
This apparently reinforced their decision not to accept any new members
so as to give way to the new foundation in their host country. Furthermore,
the monastery was definitely not adverse to admitting Japanese applicants
in contrast to native beatas. As cited earlier, Sor Luzia de San Juan, niece
of the foundress of the beaterio and daughter of Dr. Nayto, was invested
with the habit of Poor Clares by Mother Jer?nima herself just before the
close of 1628. But she died seven months later the following year 49
The foundress of Santa Clara followed to the next life at the age of 75
on 22 October 1630. Her spiritual daughters petitioned the archbishop at
once to initiate the inquiry for her beatification, which was approved in the
beginning of the following year. The same process had just been started
for Justo Takayama in 1630. For three years (1631-33), the ecclesiastical
tribunal was also busy gathering materials about Mother Jer?nima's heroic
life and labors through intensive interviews of witnesses. Reflecting her
vast spiritual influence, a procession of witnesses of various racial back?
grounds (Spaniards, Indios, Chinese and mestizos) from all walks of life
participated
i r :>0 from as far as the provinces of Pampanga, Bata?n and Bu
lacan.

Sor Marta de San Bernardo, the First Filipino Nun

As a consequence, there was a resurgence of interest among native


women to apply for admission to the cloisters of Santa Clara despite their
repudiation during the term of Mother Jer?nima. For their part, the nuns,
now headed by Madre Ana de Christo, a farmer's daughter, were pro?
foundly impressed by the ardent support given them by the natives for the
beatification of their foundress. Thus the Spanish Clares decided to make

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 181

Facade of the Monastery of Sta. Clara in Macao (left). (George Gun?


nery, pencil on paper 1830-40. Toyo Bunko Collection.)

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182 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

an exception of an India applicant, probably a beata of the third order of


St. Francis, from the province of Pampanga. She took the name Marta de
San Bernardo. It should be noted that the Pampangos were then considered
"the Castilians of the Indios" because they seemed the most receptive to
the Spanish culture. Marta evidently belonged to the native nobility and
was a ladmci (Spanish-speaking native). Her devotional name suggests that
she entered the monastery on 20 August, the feast of St. Bernard of Clair
vaux, a radiant figure in the history of monasticism. This must have oc?
curred in 1631 or 1632, at the earliest, since Marta was not directly
involved in the beatification inquiry, which ended in June of 1633.51
Marta lived up to the lofty standards of the Spanish congregation. She
seemed quite at home in the cloisters where she was the only brown figure.
"She was so influential a woman and so moral and virtuous," wrote a con?
temporary Franciscan chronicler, "that all the convent urgently requested
that she be conferred the novitiate habit." Because she was an India, how?
ever, the Franciscan Provincial, Fray Anttonio de San Gregorio (1632-34)
disapproved the congregation's petition. Nevertheless, the sympathetic
nuns were determined to use all possible means to give justice to Malta's
vocation. Led by divine light, they soon found a technicality to help them
achieve their noble goal.52

The Monastery of Santa Clara in Macao

Four months before the death of Mother Jer?nima, the congregation


had agreed to start a monastery in the Portuguese colony of Macao at the
request of its citizenry. (At that time, Spain and Portugal were united under
the Spanish monarchy although Portugal had retained its autonomy.) Ma
dre Maria Madalena de la Cruz, vicaress of Santa Clara, had been desig?
nated its first abbess and she was to be accompanied by Mother Leon or de
Sanct Francisco and four Spanish Manilena nuns. The demise of their
foundress and the subsequent process for her beatification delayed their
departure for Macao. Sagaciously, the congregation decided to assign
Marta to the Macao foundation which would free her from the restrictive
policies governing the mother house in Manila. Impressed by this arrange?
ment, the Franciscan provincial finally gave permission for Marta to re?
ceive the holy habit - but on the sea where she would_ be outside the
domain and the laws and prejudices of the Spanish colony.53

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 183

The spiritual trailblazers embarked for Macao on 18 October 1633 ac?


companied by the Vicar Provincial Fray Jer?nimo del Espiritu Santo,
OFM. As stipulated by the Provincial, while at sea, at last Mother Maria
Madalena formally invested the worthy Marta with the habit of a novice of
St. Clare in the presence of her Spanish companions. They arrived in Ma?
cao on 4 November 1633. Here, Sor Marta must have pronounced monas?
tic vows in good time thus becoming the first Filipino nun and
missionary.54
When Portugal seceded from Spain in 1644, the Spaniards were or?
dered to leave Macao. Sor Marta apparently chose to remain in the Island
colony with the abbess, Madre Leonor de Sanct Francisco (called "La
Morenita" because of her dark complexion) and another Spanish nun from
Manila, Sor Melchora de la Trinidad. In virtual exile, they spent the rest of
their lives in Macao. It is not known when Sor Marta died.5'

Sor Madalena de la Conception, the Second Filipino Nun

Because of the luminous precedent of Sor Marta, the next Franciscan


Provincial, Fray Jer?nimo del Espiritu Santo (1635-37), who had con?
ducted Sor Marta and the Spanish nuns to Macao, approved the admission
of another India principal (noblewoman) from Pampanga, Sor Madalena
de la Conception, who was probably also a Franciscan tertiary. This time,
Sor Madalena was directly admitted to the Manila monastery. She received
the coveted habit of the Poor Clares from her namesake, the third abbess,
Madre Madalena de Christo, on 9 February 1636. (The second abbess, Ma?
dre Ana, had just died a week earlier on 1 February.) Sor Madalena pro?
fessed her solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience the next year.56
Sor Madalena's biographer writes: "She persevered (in the monastic
life) for 49 years in such an exemplary way and in the strict observance of
the Rule; in all those years, no deficiency whatsoever was noted in her
compliance with the policies of the convent, ever excelling with diligence
in the performance of the most humble and difficult tasks in the commu?
nity and always abhorring positions of honor. With this example of humil?
ity and regular observance, she persevered until her death on 5 April
1685."57

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184 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

The Banning Anew of Filipinas

Despite the remarkable examples of Sor Marta and Sor Madalena, as


far as we know, no other India after them was ever admitted again to the
monastery of Manila during the whole Spanish era. In the 1660s, Dona
Maria ?ray, the beata of Dapitan mentioned earlier, tried to follow in the
footsteps of Sor Marta and Sor Madalena (the latter was still alive then) by
applying for admission there. She was rejected because she was an "India,"
although clearly, this was no longer a valid reason by then whether in the?
ory or in practice. Undaunted, she re-applied as a "slave," although she
was of the native nobility, being the granddaughter of Datu Pagbuaya of
Dapitan, to whom the Adelantado Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was be?
holden. But no matter. Dona Maria was turned down anew. Her Jesuit ad?
vocates, asseverating that she had arrived at "the genuine science of the
soul," consoled her by pointing out the greater glory she would render God
by continuing her quasi-monastic life in Dapitan interspersed with corporal
works of mercy.58
Dona Maria's case hints at a possible relaxation of discipline in the
monastery at this stage. Records show that the nuns did not perceive any
discrepancy between their monastic vows and the possession of slaves of
both sexes to serve them. In 1652, for instance, a wealthy Spanish nun, Sor
Maria Thenorio de San Anttonio, wrote her last will leaving twenty thou?
sand pesos to her congregation. She also bequeathed to it her four-year-old
moro slave from Zamboanga, named Andres, with the stipulation that he
could not be sold. He was to serve as a sacristan in the monastery chapel.
The boy's mother, Juana, 22, was given to the nun's brother. Sor Maria
died the following year. Slavery continued to be legally practiced in the
Philippines up to the middle of the 18th century.59
The monastery had reached a low ebb in 1659, when Madre Sor Juana
de San Anttonio, one of its foundresses and companion of Madre
Jer?nima, was dragged to the Holy Office of the Inquisition to face trial for
a "causa criminal," the nature of which was not specified. The commissary
of the Inquisition was the Dominican priest Francisco de Paula. Attempts

were made to degort the accused to Mexico but by 1668, the case had not
been terminated.
The monastery became the wealthiest religious house for women in the
Philippines during the Spanish Regime. They were conferred the en

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 185

comienda of P?rac, Pampanga and later, choice lands in Sampaloc, Manila


as well as in Maril?o and Buenavista, Bulac?n. These lands were leased to
private individuals to develop and till 61

Some Barriers Breaking Down

On 6 May 1691, a royal decree was issued in Madrid ordering the pro?
motion of "Indios mestizos" to the priesthood and admission of mestizas
into the monasteries for nuns. This was provided for in the Recopilaci?n
de los Leyes de las Indias in the seventh law, title seven, book one. In
compliance with the decree, the Monastery of Santa Clara apparently
opened its doors to the first Spanish mestiza nuns. Two of them were
blood sisters, named Sor Maria de Santa Thereza and Sor Nicolasa de San
Augustin. They were the sisters of Bachiller Don Juan Chris?stomo, one of
the first Filipino secular priests, who was ordained in 1705.62

"Purity of Blood"

A more sweeping royal order followed on 12 March 1697 which fi?


nally clarified that all Indios possessed "purity of blood," elevating the In?
dios principales to noble status at par with that of Castilian nobles and the
non-principales or plebeians to commoner status like ordinary Spanish citi?
zens. This law officially abolished the artificial barrier to the ordination of
Filipinos to the priesthood and the admission of Indias to monasteries. Al?
though it was soon observed with respect to Filipino diocesan priests, the
edict affected neither the admission policies of the cloisters of Santa Clara
nor of the four religious orders for men and the Society of Jesus in the
Philippines.63
The only extant picture of a Filipina entering the threshold of a relig?
ious congregation was that of a "pretty light-complexioned (Spanish) mes?
tiza" in 1856. A British traveler, although a Protestant, describes the scene
in moving terms. Dressed in an exquisite white wedding gown and sur?
rounded by grieving bridesmaids and relatives, all attired in native cos?
tumes (except her father, who was apparently a Spaniard, garbed in a
western suit), the prospective nun engages the abbess of Sta. Clara in an
edifying dialogue for admission to the monastery. Leading a procession of

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186 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

fifteen nuns, draped in black, chanting "dolorous" hymns and bearing


lighted candles in the dim cloister, the abess inquires of the applicant:64

"My daughter, what seek ye here?"


"Mother, I seek admission to your sacred house."
"Thou, my child, art not of those to be admitted here. Thy gay attire bespeaks
thee too much a daughter of the world for this poor house of ours, where all is
penance and mortification of the flesh, and the sinful pleasures and gaieties of the
world are not so much as named among us. Go back to the world my child, it
ever loves its own!"
"Nay, Mother, it is but for the utter renunciation of these vanities and pleasures I
am a supplicant for admission, and quite prepared am I to give all for that holy
calmness and peace of mind I have faith to believe will be found among your sis?
terhood, and which I have sought for in the world in vain."
"If with true earnestness and contrition of heart thou art minded to become one of
us, far be it for me to thwart thy godly intention; freely mayst thou enter, and if,
after making trial for one year, thou again pinest for the world, as freely mayst
though depart; only binding thyself by a holy vow to obey our rules, and forever
keep secret whatever may transpire here. If at the end of thy novitiate, thou
shouldst still long for the peace thou now seekest, gladly will we receive thee to
be for ever one of us. Say, daughter, dost thou agree?"
"Mother, with heartfelt thankfulness, I do."

The Philippine beaterios apparently adopted the same dialogue in their


admission ceremonies.
In the meantime, an immense gulf had formed between the exclusive
monastery and the Filipino people. In their folklore, the Filipinos had "can?
onized" Sta. Clara in a totally different vein. Two Franciscan saints, Sta.
Clara and San Pascual Bayl?n, are venerated annually in fertility rites in
the popular town of Obando, Bulac?n. Since the 18th century up to the
present, childless couples dance and sing for two days in May around the
images of the two virgin saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary to the tune of
a folk song, "Santa Clara Pinung-pino" ("St. Clare, Quite Refined"). In the
hope that God will bless them with children, they perform the ritual, remi?
niscent of the ceremonies of ancient priestesses 65

EPILOGUE

When the Spaniards sold the Philippine colony to the Americans in


1898, and uneasy peace was restored, the Monastery of Sta. Clara began to

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 187

admit Filipina applicants. The Spanish membership had dwindled during


the long strife. The first Filipina Poor Clare in the 20th century was Madre
Sor Concordia de San Francisco, O.S.C. (1886-1959). She was born as
Concordia Lopez y Gonzales in San Nicolas, Ceb?. Receiving investiture
in 1906, she professed simple vows in 1907 and solemn vows in 1910.
During the war, in 1944, she was elected abbess. The next year, she wit?
nessed the total destruction of the 300 year-old monastery by American
bombers trying to dislodge the Japanese army in the walled city in a war
not of the Filipinos' making.66

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research for this article was made possible through part of grant
no. 88-1-037 of the Toyota Foundation International Division, Tokyo, Ja?
pan, for which the author is very thankful.
I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the following Filipino
nuns who provided me with primary sources regarding their respective
congregations: Sor Rosa de San Antonio, OSC, Abbess (Monasterio de
Sta. Clara); Sor Ma. Luisa Henson and Sor Ma. Caridad Brana, OP (Do?
minican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena); the late Sor Ma. Pureza
Jimenez, RVM (Religious of the Virgin Mary); Sor Eufemia Lauzon, Sor
Josefa Borces, and Sor Brigida, ARS (Augustinian Recollect Sisters); Sor
Teodomira Elorde, DC (Daughters of Charity); Sor Jesus Sobrevinas, Sor
Joaquina de la Sgda. Familia and Sor Genoveva de la Virgen, OSA
(Augustinian Sisters of O.L. of Consolation); and Mothers Maria Angela
Ansaldo and Margarita Amistoso, RA (Religious of the Assumption).

Paper presented at the 13th Conference of the International Association of Historians


of Asia (I AH A), Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan 7 Sept. 1994. A short version of this ar?
ticle was published at The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies. Special Issue on Christianity
in South and Southeast Asia, vol. 12 (1994) pp. 47-70. Institute of Asian Cultures,
Sophia University.

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188 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES


(1614-1892)

YEAR NAME FOUNDERS SUPERVISION

1614 Beaterio de Miy M.


akoJulia Nayto JS/Adcs
(1560-1627)
(fd. 1602;exting. 1656)
Fr. O. Soldi-Gnecchi, SJ
(1530-1609)

1621 Real MonasterioM.de Sta.(de la Fuente)


Jer?nima OFM
Clara (fd. 1212) de la Asuncion (1554-1630)

1682 Beaterio de Sta. M.


Catalina
Francisca (Fuentes) del OP
Espiritu Sto. (1647-1711)
de Sena (inaug. 1696)
(Cong, of Dom. Sis. Fr.
ofJuan
St. de Sto. Domingo, OP
Catherine of Siena) (1640-1726)

1684 Beaterio de la Compania


M. Ignacia del Espiritu SJ/Adcs
Sto. (Yucua)( 1663-1748)
de Jesus (inaug. ca.1703)
Fr. the
(Cong, of the Rel. of Paul Klein, SJ
Virgin Mary) (ca. 1649-1717)

1712 Beaterio de Babuyanes


15 Beatas of Babuyanes OP
(exting. ca.1725) Fr. Vicente Riesgo, OP
(1670-1724)

1719 Beaterio de San Sebastian de


M. Dionicia (Talangpaz) OAR
C alumpang (inaug. de1725)
Sta. Maria (1691-1732)
M. Sis.)
(Cong, of Aug. Ree. Cecilia Rossa (Talangpaz)
de Jesus (1693-1731)
Fr. Juan de Sto. Tomas de
Aquino, OAR (ca.1665-1728)

1740 Beaterio de Sta. Rita


14 Beatas de
of Pasig & suburbs OSA
Fr. Felix Trillo, OSA
P?sig (exting. 1898)
(1689-1754)

1750 Beaterio de Sta. Rosa de


M. Paula de la Sma. Trinidad OP
Lima (exting. 1866) (1713-1782)

1778 Monasterio de Sta. RosaDon


de Antonio Tnazon (d. 1794) OP
Lima (disappr. 1789) & Family

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 189

YEAR NAME FOUNDERS SUPERVISION

1862 Daughters of Charity M. Tiburcia Ayanz CM


(fd. 1633) (1822-98)

1877 Cong, of Little Sis. of the M. Apolonia Lasala (b. 1845) CM


Mother of God (fused w/ Fr. Fernando de la Canal, CM
DC, 1895) (1841-94)

1883 Beaterio de Mantelatas M. Rita Barcel? (1843-1904) OSA


Agustinas de Barcelona M. Consuelo Barcel?
(fd. 1677) (Cong, of Aug. (1857-1940)
Sis. of O.L. of Consolation) M. Teresa de Jesus Andrada
(1855-1940)

1887 Beaterio de la Magdalena M. Fidela Pineda y Domingo Des


(exting. ca.1900) (b. ca.1850)

1892 Cong, of the Rel. of the M. Maria del Perpetuo Socorro Adcs
Assumption (fd. 1839)

ABBREVIATIONS USED

Adcs - Archdiocese
Aug. - Augustinian
CM - Congregation of the Mission
Cong. - Congregation
DC - Daughters of Charity
Des - Diocese
disappr. - disapproved
Dom. - Dominican
exting. - extinguished
fd. - founded
Fr. - Father
inaug. - inaugurated
M. - Mother
OAR - Order of Augustinian Recollects
OFM - Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
O.L. -Our Lady
OP - Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
OSA - Order of St. Augustine
Ree. - Recolect
Rel. - Religious
Sis. - Sisters
SJ - Society of Jesus

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190 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

ENDNOTES

James Frazer. The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic & Religion. (London: MacMil
lan, 1955) 12 vols. 1:379; 3:53; 6:256; 9:260; 10:5.

Pedro de San Buevaventura, OFM. Vocahulario de la Lengua Tagala. (Pila: Pinpin


& Loag, 1613). passim; Antonio Pigafetta. First Voyage Around the World. (1521) trans,
in Emma Blair & James Robertson (BR). The Philippine Islands 1493-1898 (Cleveland:
Clark, 1903-09). 55 vols. 33: 167-187; Miguel de Loarca. Relaci?n de las Isias Filipinos.
(Iloilo, 1582) trans, in BR 5: 171-187; Juan de Plasencia, OFM. Customs of the Tagalogs.
(Manila, 1589) trans. inBR 7: 185-196; Pedro Chirino, SJ. Relaci?n de las Isias Filipinos.
(Rome, 1604) trans, in BR 12:262-275 & 302-3; Francisco Colin, SJ. Labor Evangelica
(Madrid, 1663) trans, in BR 40: 69-82; Carlos Quirino & Mauro Garcia, trans. "The Man?
ners, Customs and Beliefs of the Phil. Inhabitants of Long Ago." (ca.1598) Phil. Journal
of Science. 87:428-458; Francisco Ignacio Alcina, SJ. Historia de las Isias e Indios de
Bisayas. (1668) trans. Paid Lietz (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, Phil. Studies Program,
I960), p. 212; Ma. Lilia Realubit. Bikols of the Phil. (Naga: AMS Press, 1983) pp. 11, 59
& 150; Malcolm Mintz & Jose Britanico. Bikol-English Dictionary. (Quezon City: New
Day, 1985) p. 241; Jose Villa Panganiban. Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles. (Quezon
City: Manl?paz, 1972) p. 149; Commission on Elections. "Resolution no. 2758 on Dis?
tricts Listing." Phil. Daily Inquirer. 24-28 Jan. 1995.

Ibid; BR 12: 214-215; Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum (ASAV). "Ano


de 1686. Relazi?n de los Autos flios. sobre la idolatria de los naturales del Pueblo de
Sancto Thomas en las Isias Phil." Lettere de Vescovi 72: 318-392v; "Ano de 1686. Autos
sobre q. se determ.? en relaz.?n de las idolatrias de los Zambales." Ibid. 72: 394-407; Lu?
ciano P.R. Santiago. "Talangpaz: The Foundresses of the Beaterio de San Sebastian de
Calumpang." Phil. Quarterly of Culture & Society (POCS). 17(1989):212-251; Jose Rizal.
The Social Cancer (Noli Ale Tdngere). trans. C. Derbyshire. (Manila: Phil. Educ. Co.,
1912) pp. 72-75.

4Ibid.; QTen Ching-Ho. The Chinese Community in the 16th Century Phils. (Tokyo:
Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1968). pp. 7-10.

5Congregantes Marianos. La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imdgenes Filipinos.


(Manila: Santos y Bemal, 1904) pp. 1-11.

6Pigafetta. First Voyage, in BR 33: 167-171; Pedro Murillo Velarde. Geografia


Hist?rica. (Madrid, 1732) 8: 68 in Martin Noone. SSC. Discovery and Conquest of the
Phils. (1521-81) (Manila: Historical Cons. Soc, 1986) p. 311, n. 565.

7BR. 12:214-215.

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 191

Ibid. & 12: 271-275


Q

Manuel R. Pazos. "El P. Diego Villar extermina la idol


de Lumbang." Archivo Ibero-Americano. 7: 534-535 i
Town the Franciscans Built. (Manila: Historical Cons

10Gregorio F. Zaide. The Pageant of Phil. Histor


578; Peter Schreurs, MSC. Caraga Antigua. (Cebu Cit
pp. 148, 157 & 182.

nASAV. "Ano de 1686. Relazion." & "Autos."


12 '
Manuel
la Prov
Church
13
Vitaliano R. Gorospe, SJ. Bandhaw: Conversations with a Pilgrim to a Power
Mountain. (Makati: Bookmark, 1992) pp. 49-56; Vicente Marasigan, SJ. Old Bandhaw
Guru. (Quezon City: Ateneo, 1985) pp. 47, 51, 55-57.

14Ibid.; Evelyn Tan Cullamar. Babaylanism in Negros: 1896-1907. (Quezon City:


New Day, 1986) pp. 17-71; Andrea Hussar. "Interviews with a Priestess in Mt. Arayat."
MS. 1984 (USPC).

l5Cataiogo de Apellidos (1849). (Manila: The National Archives, 1973); PLDT.


Metro-Suburban Telephone Directory. (Manila: PLDT, June 1994-95). passim.; Luciano
P.R. Santiago. "Talangpaz." pp. 214-216. The first "Kundiman King" in 1992 was Fran?
cisco Bat?ngmalaque (First Kundiman Festival, Hotel Nikko Manila Garden. Makati,
Metro Manila. Nov. 1992).

16Ibid.; BR. 42: 93; Censo de las Isias Filipinos, 1903. (Wash., DC: Oficina del
Censo, 1905) 4 Tomos. 2: 157-158; The National Library (TNL). "Province of Bulac?n.
Barrio of Talampas." Historical Data Papers (HDP). MSS 1954. 20: 32-38; Archives of
the Archdiocese of Manila (AAM). "Ano de 1758. Fundacion de la Capellania de los Prin?
cipals del Barrio Talampas del Pueblo de Baliuag." Capellanias de Misas (CM) 1833-44
B; Antoon Postma. "The Laguna Copper Plate Inscription." National Museum Papers. 2
(1991): 1-25; Panganiban. Diksyimario. p. 216; Comelec. "Resolution no. 2758." (The old
barrio Catolonaa as recorded by the Spaniards, is now called Catulinan.)

17Ibid.; BR 35: 59 & 99; 40: 117, 313 & 314; Realubit. Bikols. pp. 125 & 150.

18S. Hartdegen. "Third Orders." New Catholic Encyclopedia (NCE). (Wash., DC:
Catholic Univ. of America, 1967) 14: 93-96; G.J. Reinmann. "Canon Law of Third Orders
Secular." NCE 14: 96-97; Ma. Rita Ferraris, RVM. The Beaterios for native Women in

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192 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Colonial Philippines. (Manila: RVM, 1987) pp. 61-128; Nick Joaquin. "The Beatas of
17th Century Manila." Phil. Free Press (9 Dec. 1967) pp. 6-7, 127-132 & 185-191; John
Schumacher, SJ. "Early Filipino Jesuits: 1593-1930." Phil. Studies 29 (1981): 271-308.

20Ibid.; E. W. McDonnell. "Beguines and Beghards." NCE 2: 224-226; Angel


Martinez Cuesta, OAR. "Monjas y Beatas en la America Colonial." Dizionario degli Isti
tuti di Perfezione. (Roma, 1991) 10: 1-33. KISS courtesy of the author.
21
Ferraris. Beaterios. pp. 139-140; Archivo General de Indias (AGI). "Expediente so
bre la fimdazicm q. la hermana Paula de la Ssma. Trinidad intenta en aquella capital de una
casa de recogimiento con el titulo de Ensenanza." (1766-69) Fi I. 621; Ma. Luisa Henson,
OP. The Birth and Growth of Santa Catalina College. (Manila: Sta. Catalina College,
1976).
22
Ferraris. Beaterios; Hartdegen. "Third Orders."
23
Ibid.; Henson. Sta. Catalina; Joaquin. "Beatas;" Martinez Cuesta. "Monjas;" Hora
cio de la Costa, SJ. "The Development of the Native Clergy in the Philippines." Theologi?
cal Studies (Baltimore) 8 (1947):219-50.
24
Ibid.; Francisco Colin. SJ. Lahor Evangelica. ed. Pablo Pastells. (Barcelon
02) 1: 448; Fidel Villarroel, OP. "Elementary Education in the Philippines (156
Boletin Ectco. de Fil. Jan-Feb. 1965. pp. 273-283; Luis de Jesus, OAR. Histori
de los Religiosos Descalzos del Orden de los Ermitahos del Gran Padre San Agu
Congregacwn de Espana y de las Indias. (Madrid, 1681) 2: 296-297 & 371-372
404. trans. inBR 35: 88, 36: 109-112, 28: 311, & 41: 99 & 195-196.

25Ibid.; Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The First Filipino Capellanias (1605-99)."


piniana Sacra. 21 (1987): 421-434; Archivo de los PP. Agustinos Filipinos en Va
Libro en q. se va asentado los bienes asi propios como de capellanias de los con
esta Prov. a del Ssmo. Nombre de Jesus de Fil. 20 Sept. 1697. no. 420/1.

26Rizal. The Social Cancer, p. 3.

27De Jesus. Historia General, trans, in BR 28: 311.

28
Francisco Gainza. OP. Milicia de Jesucristo, Manual de los Hermanosy Hermanas
de la Tercera Orden de la Penitencia de Sto. Domingo. (Manila: UST, 1859) pp. 275-280;
de Jesus. Historia General. 2: 296-297 & 371-372, 4: 35 & 404, trans, in BR 35: 88, 36:
109-112, 41: 99 & 195-196; Schreurs. Caraga. pp. 183-187, 188, 190 & 191.

29Ibid. pp. 111, 112, 115, & 182; Pedro Murillo Velarde. Historia de la Provincia de

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 193

Philipinas de la Compania de Jesus. (Manila, 1749) trans, in BR 44: 104; "Early Francis?
can Missions, (1649)." in BR 35: 298-299; Domingo Martinez, OFM. Compendio
Hist?rico de la Apost?lica Provincia de San Gregorio de Phil. (Madrid, 1756) p. 319.

30Ibid.; Schreurs. Caraga. pp. 183-187.

3 Barlos Quirino & Abraham Lay go. Regesto Gui?n Cat?logo de los Documentos
Existentes en Mexico Sobre Filipinos. (Manila: Comite de Amistad Filipino-Mexicana,
1965) p. 109; Jose Toribio Medina. El Tribunal delSto. Oficio de la Inquisici?n en las Is?
ias Filipinos. (Santiago de Chile: Medina, 1899) pp. 59-60; Henry Charles Lea. The Inqui?
sition in the Spanish Dependencies. (New York: MacMillan, 1908) pp. 304-305.

32Gainza. Milicia. pp. 269-274.

33Rizal. Social Cancer, pp. 226-230.

34Colin. Labor Evangelica. (Madrid, 1663). pp. 750-795; M. Steichen. Les Daimyo
Chretiennes (1549-1650). (Hong Kong: Soc. de Missions Etrangeres, 1904) pp. 250, 292,
353, 357, 359 & 438; Manila-Yagi Society. "Joan Nayto Tadatoshi & Julia Naito." MSS.
1987 (Phil. National Library Pennanent Exhibit).

35Ibid.

36Ibid.
37
Johannes Laures, SJ. Studies on Takayama Ukon. (Hong Kong: Institute Portugues,
1953) pp. 23, 24 & 54-56; Ernie de Pedro. "Lord Takayama, The Christian Daimyo." ?ni
tas. 63 (1990): 490-495.
38
Colin. Labor Evangelica. pp. 750-753; Steichen. Daimyo. p. 359; Laures. Studies.
pp. 72-79; Archives of the Archdiocese of Manila (AAM). Libro de Gobiemo Eccle
sidstico (LGE) (1656-74). Docs. 215, 759 & 864; LGE (1697-1706) f. 136; UST Alumni
Association. UST Graduate Listing (1611-1971). (Manila: UST, 1972) p. 1-A; BR 39:
292; AAM. Cartas escriptas al Dr. Dn. Francisco de la Cuesta, Abpo. de Manila (2 Feb.
1711); Luciano P.R. Santiago. "Paring Dilao: The Last Two Japanese Mestizo Priests in
the Archdiocese of Manila." Phil. Sacra. 24 (1989): 295-301; AGI. "Plan y elevaci?n de
la Casa 6 Monasterio con su Iglesia con el titulo de Sta. Rosa de Lima (1787)." Fi I. 1048.
39
Martinez. Compendio Hist?rico. pp. 198-200.

40Colin. Labor Evangelica. pp. 757-795.

41 Ibid.; Rene Javellana, SJ. Wood and Stone for God's Greater Glory. (Quezon City:
Ateneo, 1991) p. 198.

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194 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

42Ibid.; AAM. Terrenos de Cape Ilanias (1777-79). (This is a misplaced document.)

43BR 10; 251-252; 11:283.

44Pedro Ruano, OFM. Jer?niina de la Asuncion. (Quezon City: Mon. de Sta. Clara,
1991) pp. 26-30.

45Ibid. pp. 30-38; Lorenzo Perez. Compendio de la Vi da de la Ven. Madre Sor


Ger?nima de la Asuncion (Manila: St. Paul, 1963) pp. 38-43.

46Ibid.; Ruano. Jer?niina. pp. 39-43.

47Ibid.; Luciano P.R. Santiago. "Dona Jer?niina: A Cave in Search of a Saint." Filipi?
nos Journal. 4 (1982): 109-111.
48
Ibid.; Juan de la Conception, OAR. Historia General de Filipinos. (Manila, 1788)
5: 5-7; Perez. Compendio. p. 19; Fernandez. History, p. 72.
4Q
Martinez. Compendio. pp. 198-200.

50AAM. "Ano de 1631-33. Informaziones hechas sobre la maravillosa vida de la


Madre Sor Jer?nima de la Asuncion." KISS. 10 Cuademos; Perez. Compendio. pp. 52-5

51Luciano P.R. Santiago. "Sor Marta de San Bernardo: The first Filipino Nun."
tas. 64(1991): 568-574.
^2
" Ibid.; Martinez. Compendio. pp. 222-224; Eusebio G?mez Platero, OFM. Catdlogo
Biogr?fico de los Religiosos Franciscanos. (Manila: UST, 1880) p. 202; "Early Francis
canMissions (1649)." BR 35: 298-299.

53lbid.

54Ibid.; Manuel Texeira, SJ. "Os Franciscanos em Macau." Espana en Extremo Ori?
ente 1578-1978. (Madrid: Archivo Ibero-Americano, 1979) pp. 377-405.

55Ibid.

56Martinez. Compendio. pp. 224-228 & 319; Gomez Platero. Catdlogo. pp. 236-237;
Jose V. Torres. "The Filipinization of the Order of Poor Clares." POCS 21 (1993) 17-24.

57Ibid.

" Francisco Combes, SJ. Historia de las Isias de Mindanao, Jol? y sus adyacentes.
(Madrid, 1665) ed. W.E. Retana & P. Pastells. (Madrid, 1897) pp. 36-37.

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RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS FOR WOMEN 195

59
AGI. "Ano de 1699. Autos de Testamentaria seguidos por la Mesa y diputados de la
Sta. Misericordia de Manila sobre los bienes q. dej? Don Bartolome Thenorio." MSS. 2
Tomos. 1: 14-17v ("Ano de 1652. Testamento y codicilio de la Madre Maria de San
Anttonio.") Fil. 72; W.H. Scott. Slavery in the Spanish Philippines. (Manila: De La Salle,
1991).

60AGI. Fil. 9, doc. 75; Archivo Gral, de la Naci?n (Mexico). Ramo de la Inquisition,
tomo 614, doc. 1 cited in Zaide. Pageant. 1: 481; Quirino & Laygo. Regesto Guion. p.
152.

61Sinupang Pambansa (Phil. National Archives). Real Monasterio de Sta. Clara.


1820, ff. 27 et seq. (bound photocopies of docs.); Protocolos de Manila. Cobarrubias:
1826, no. 103; 1831, no. 103; 1834, no. Ill; Molina: 1846-50. ff. 15v-17v.
62
Constantino Bayle, SJ. "Espana y el clero indigena de America." Raz?n y Fe. 25
Mar. 1931. pp. 521-535; J. Hernaez. Colecci?n de Bulas. (Madrid) 1: 47; Luciano P.R.
Santiago. The Hidden Light. The First Fil. Priests (1698-1723). (Quezon City: New Day,
1987) pp. 36 & 83-87.

63Ibid.; Schumacher. "Fil. Jesuits."

64Henry T. Ellis, RN. Hong Kong to Manila and the Lakes of Luzon, the Phil. Isles in
the year 1856. (London: Smith. Elder, 1859) pp. 247-263.

65Nick Joaquin. Mary in the Phil. (Manila: L.M. Santos. 1982) p. 40; Rizal. The So?
cial Cancer, pp. 47-49. Rizal's heroine in this novel is christened Maria Clara because her
mother, after having been childless for six years, conceived after dancing in Obando. At
the age of 13, Maria Clara enters the Beaterio de Sta. Catalina as an interna (live-in stu?
dent) for the next seven years. Being a Spanish mestiza (her father turns out to be a Fran?
ciscan friar), she is later admitted as a nun to the Monasterio de Sta. Clara. Although
fictional, she is the most famous Clare in Philippine history.

66Monasterio de Sta. Clara. Libro de Profesiones. (Sigh XX) no. 5; "A Brief History
of the Monasterio de Sta. Clara." MS (Quezon City, ca. 1975); Libro de Difuntas (1945
presente) pp. 56-57. (All courtesy of the Mother Abbess, Sor Rosa de San Antonio, OSC.)

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