The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-06-22
Respect for Parental Authority Character
istic and With 1t Goes Tendency
to Obey the Laws.
The Filipino Submits to the Authority of
God, Of the Parent, of the Priest
and of the State.

considered the fact that confirmation
had not been administered in the coun-
try dintricts for many years before my
arrival and that it Is. the custom among
he Filipinos to confirm children very
young. even in their infancy. But IL
you remember the number Of people In
the islands. and the size Of the fani-
| llies-averaging seven persons-30O, 900
is not so many to be confirmed in one
| diocese OF 100000 in three years
time. The people brought their chill
dren from far and near, and more than
| once in one church administered con-
f1rmation from early morning till late
at night. The Filipinos are very ZEAL
GUS about enrolling their children in
the Church. Usually the day of the
birth of child is the day of it's bap-
tism. This can be done without injury
to health, as the climate is SO temperate
that no evil effects follow from, ex;.
posure.
custom Instituted by the missior-
aries is the ecclesiiastical census Of the
Philippines Each child that is bap-
tized and confirmed is provided with
a. cedula, on which appear the name Of
the child and the names Of its parents,
These cedulae are kept in the cham
Gerry offices. a perfect system of regis-
tration. and in the archives also is pre-
served record Of the baptisms and Of
the burials. Thus we have the names
of 100000 Christians now in the ARCH
pelago.
The more know of these people the
more | love them; and the more know
OF their past history the greater is my
wonder and admiration now at the
heroic labors Of the ancient mission-
aries. now at the wonderful corresponl
dence of the people with these labors
and their extraordinary advance from,
savagery and even cannibalism to a
civilization as widespread through the
Islands as ours throughout our country.
Hence 1t is that the more convinced I
/
far back as $50 years ago. before they
were disorganized by civil war and cor
rupted by its anarchy, the natives
made excellent priests and bishops, and
were the means, under the European
missionaries. Of converting the islands,
So too. in time to come when the ef-
fects Of these demoralizing influences
shall have passed away, this people,
united by the faith, the sole unifying
influence among them. will be found to
have fitted themselves to stand alone
Even now many Of their churches and
other public edifices would honor any
American city. The standard of the
learned professions. manned by natives
mostly. is very high. The University
of Manila was a university many years
before our country had. any worthy Of
the name. This university now, in
spite Of the upheaval of the revolution
and the civil war, is Differed mainly
by natives. and has 900 students of
law. medicine, pharmacy and all the
university branches.
The people are as good as they ore
bright and clever. The women are re-
markably pure. The men. young and
old. possess remarkable sef-control.
Only those who have lived in the East
can realize what this means. Such OF
the church edif1ces as we have priests
for cannot hold the people who wish
to attend divine service This is why
we need outside clergy and must con-
tinue to need them until the native
clergy whom we are preparing are
ready.
In the seminary which have estab-
lished at Manila for the education Of
young Filipinos for the ministry, a
twelve-year course is arranged. under
the nine Jesuit Fathers who form the
i faculty, MethodC # agrjculturA-the