San Pablo Becomes a Parish PDF

San Pablo Becomes a Parish In 1586, the Augustinians Provincial Fray Diego Alvarez, together with his council, officially established San Pablo as a parish. A parish is an administrative district with a church and a priest in residence. The Spanish parish priest was the resident cura and addressed...

San Pablo Becomes a Parish In 1586, the Augustinians Provincial Fray Diego Alvarez, together with his council, officially established San Pablo as a parish. A parish is an administrative district with a church and a priest in residence. The Spanish parish priest was the resident cura and addressed as “Fray” (short for fraile). They chose the trading center of Sampalok for the site of their new mission. The Sampalok mission was given the Christian name, “San Pablo de los Montes.” It was the custom of Spanish missionaries to name a new parish according to the environment in which they would live. San Pablo being an upland area, they foresaw the isolation and sacrifices to be required of the resident missionary. Hence, they chose as their inspiration St. Paul, the first hermit saint. According to legend, St. Paul was rich young man who fled to the desert in Thebes, Egypt, to escape persecution from the Roman Empire around 250 AD. He consecrated his life in prayer and meditation and lived as a hermit in the mountains of this desert in a cave near a clear spring and a palm tree, which gave him food and shelter. He would remain there for the rest of his life. A monastery now stands in the site of his hermitage. The life of Paul the Hermit was meant to inspire those destined to serve in the isolated mountain mission. The first parish priest was Fray Ma”eo de Mendoza, an Augustinian monk. No doubt, Fray Mendoza found similarities in his life with that of St. Paul. The Fiesta Method of Conversion Fray Mendoza had a bright idea how to attract the natives to move closer to the cabezera of Sampalok where he wanted the church built. If he could not go to their homes to invite them, then he would attract them to go to him! The enticement was a medieval fair or “fiesta” (festival). Fray Mendoza was familiar with the history of medieval Europe, where the medieval trading fairs in feudal estates became the nucleus for towns and cities like Madrid, Paris, and London. At first, people lived in isolated feudal farms, far from each other. But the medieval fairs came and attracted them to come to a central place. After all, Sampalok was already the trading center of the upland realm. The markets and merchants of this barangay attracted a daily flow of visitors to the economic center. Noticing that the natives loved games, feasts, and religious rites, fray Mendoza realized that he could latch on to their traditions. The gatherings, music, dances, and rituals during fiesta would give them the outlet for their natural gregariousness, artistry, and religiosity. Holding frequent fiestas was a great way to attract the natives to move closer to the center where a church could be built. It was also during fiesta celebrations that Fray Mendoza commenced telling the story of Jesus. In order not to bore the villagers with the foreign rites (the mass was said in Latin then), he depended on sensory and visual experiences, in keeping with the fiesta spirit. The good cura made the chieftains’ children tell gospel story in pageants (Creation, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, etc.). Fray Mendoza made it priority to win the chieftains’ children to the new religion, in keeping with the history of evangelization in South America. Once the children were captivated, they help in converting their influential parents. Once the chiefs were won over, their baptism into the Roman Catholic faith followed. The chiefs brought along their entire clan, servants, and slaves into the new faith. The First Augustinian Church As anticipated by Fray Mendoza, the pagans were gradually converted to Christianity. Then, Fray Mendoza brought up the need for a new central place of worship. They had been using the chief’s hut for their old pagan meetings. Then they had used Fray Mendoza’s front yard for the fiesta shows and the Catholic meetings. They were asked to build a bigger hut for the regular meetings of their new faith. The building of the iglesia became a time for the bayanihan spirit to shine in the community. “Bayanihan” is a native custom of helping a friend to move or to build a home. Using only primitive tools, they gave voluntary service to their new religious leader. Fray Mateo de Mendoza did his part as he chanted and prayed to inspire the workers, moving with a rosary on hand. When finished, he installed metal belle that he rang now and then to summon the people to come to his place. Soon, the people got used to the regularity of the bells pealing at daybreak, at sunset, and on special occasions. The construction of the first wooden church in San Pablo de los Montes took two years (1590-1591). By the time it stood, almost all of the inhabitants had been baptized. Instead of pagan anitos, Christians images became the new central focus in the wooden church Fr. Mendoza placed three new images on the altar – the statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and St. Paul the Hermit, who was the new patron saint of the parish. The three statues represented the new persons they were to pray to. First of all, Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of all humanity. Jesus was the reason for the Christian religion, which was their new faith. Secondly, the statue of the Virgin Mary had a favored nook near the altar. She was the mother of Jesus. Augustinian missionaries were famous for spreading internationally the veneration of the Virgin Mary. Thirdly, at the other side of the altar was the image of St. Paul the Hermit. The natives had to know about him, too, because he was the patron saint chosen by the Augustinians for this upland realm. It was explained to the natives that they needed this saint as an inspiration for them. THE BARRIO AS A SPANISH COLONY The Priest as Vanguard of a New Civilization As the solerepresentative of the Cross and the Spanish Crown in the new parish, Fray Mendoza increasingly trained the natives of San Pablo to follow his lead. He declared that he would make other changes. He began to call their barangay a “barrio”. His pronouncements, much to his pleasant surprise, were received with laughing applause and shouting felicitations. Perhaps the natives were delighted with his attempts to speak in their language. He also pleased them in other ways. Cabeza de Barangay and the Tribute Now it was the time for the first act of a new colonial authority to establish representation and to require taxation. Fray Mendoza declared that the barrio chief would be called by new title, “Cabeza,” (Spanish for “head”), instead of “Gat.” As for the tribute, it was explained to the natives that this was nothing more than an additional collection to what the chieftains were already used to collecting for their share of farm and animal products and debt service. Now, it was time for them to collect a new tribute for the iglesia (church) and the Spanish Crown. With the barrio chiefs (cabesas) as tax collectors, the priest was assured of an easy collection. The new colonial tribute was acceptable to them because they were exempted and did not pay any tribute at all. The cabesas was too happy to collect more taxes (in which they would share) and indeed flattered because it added to their power. Land Distribution Another reason for the acceptance of the new tribute was the new colonial policy on land and slaves, which enlarged the economic pie for all. Fray Mendoza announced a new land policy in the colony. The Royal Decree of April 6, 1588 provided for the appointment of land in favor of landless individuals to turn them into small landowners. These lands were generally the agricultural farms situated in the lowlands leaving the mountains and dense forest of little use or interest to them, except for the kaingin slash-and-burn farming. To please the native chieftains, his principal aides in administering the affairs of the barrio, Fray Mendoza declared that they would retain their extensive land holdings and have them registered in the names of the members of their families. Fray Mendoza went further by providing that every man would also be given a piece of land registered in his name, if he would cultivate it within a year. This land-for-the-landless policy later applied to emancipated slaves. The suggestions made by the cabezas were approved. Gat Salakab proposed that outsiders interested in owning land within the territorial jurisdiction of San Pablo de los Montes should pay for it in terms of service to the church and the community, as might be decided by the parish priest. Gat Sungayan also made a suggestion, that no foreigner (except the Spaniards) like Chinese or the Bumbais (Indian) should not be allowed to own land in San Pablo. They might lease a piece of land or work as a tenant farmer, but they should never allow to own even a small piece of land. The Emancipation of Slaves Fray Mendoza declared that all those who were still under debt peonage should be released to enable them to work on their newly-acquired piece of land, and thus be able to pay for their indebtedness. However, should they prefer to work in the creditor’s household or farm under some mutually agreed upon conditions, they might do so. The compliance of the landed aristocracy resulted in the emancipation of slaves. Slavery was prevalent in 16th century in Asia, but the Philippines became the only Asian nation to abolish this inhumane practice because of the Spanish missionaries. Fund Raising for the Church At first, the parish had hardly a thousand domiciled inhabitants, and the church tax was insufficient for the support of the local parish. To augment the income of the church, the parish began to sale indulgences, masses, holy water blessings, marriages, baptisms, and burial fees. Donations and alms were also welcomed during mass, harvest, and other occasions. Colonial church reform turned out to be a modernizing force. San Pablo evolved from an isolated agricultural tribal community to a unit in a new political entity. The barrio was no longer an isolated group of families in the mountains, but a part of a new colonial nation.