ABSTRACT
Three Augustinian friars-Martin de Rada, Diego de Herrera and Pedro Gamboa-began systematic missionizing in Cebu in 1565. Their first job was to learn Visayan. Friar Martin de Rada is said to have learned to preach fluently in Visayan within five months, much to the
8 PRE-BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTION IN THE PHILIPPINES
to her marriage with a Greek sailor who was serving as a calker in Legazpi's fleet. Her marriage to Master Andres took place a few days after her baptism-the first Christian marriage between a European and a Philippine woman. Both the baptism and the marriage of dona Isabel (her Christian name) were performed with all possible solemnity. The friars' aim in granting these sacraments for the first time to a native was to impress the Cebuans with the beauty of the new religion's ritual.
