Three Mantras

The alarm clock went off, signalling the start of a brand new day. Waking up these past few months - from late spring onto summer - is bliss. The sun, for most of the time, is already up. The birds are chirping in praise of the Creator. Sometimes, I could hear the little toddler across the street babbling happily. Rising from bed, I thank the good Lord for a new beginning and a renewed mission, and utter Keep me faithful, just for today.

Downstairs, as I open the blinds in the kitchen and the drapes in the living room, I sing in my head a la Easter Vigil rites Lumen Christi. Deo gratias. (Light of Christ. Thanks be to God). 

And as I open the windows, I tell myself what the Risen Lord breathed into His disciples that first Easter Sunday: Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

As I get on through the day, be it at home, work, or community, I keep on saying these three mantras. They serve as my compass. They keep me calm and positive. When I face some challenges, feel drained or stressed out, or clueless, I think of these three. Otherwise, if I have no faith then I would have just given up at the sight of what seems to be a mountain of trials when it's just a heap of tests. If I have not walked in the light of Christ, then I would lose focus and stumble. When I am not open to the Holy Spirit nor listening to His promptings, I would fall trap to other voices pretending to be His. 

Faith, light of Christ, Holy Spirit. Three important mantras to start the day, to keep you going throughout the day, to see you through and put you to a good night's sleep at the end of the day.

Have a blessed day!

Now a Shrine!

I am pleased to hear the good news that the Sto. Niño de Tondo Church has recently been proclaimed an archdiocesan shrine by Cardinal Chito Tagle. I think it's about time that the this ancient center of popular devotion to the Sto. Niño be recognized.  

My mother used to bring me to this church when I was a little boy. It was usually on a Friday, the day of devotion to the Holy Child. The church was full of people. Some would walk on their knees from the main door to the sanctuary where the centuries-old statue of the Christ Child is located.  Still others would make their way up to the Sto. Niño's niche. Still others would light a candle or two. 

Even in my youth, I have frequented this church: attending Mass, going to confession, and honouring the Sto. Niño. My brother Gio and I attended the Simbang Gabi there in 1995. The Masses were led by Msgr. Sabino Vengco, an eloquent preacher. The church was full of people, up to the steps leading to the sanctuary. And yet, there was a feeling among ourselves that we are all equal.

Many years ago, Nidz and I were invited by a friend to their house in Tondo to celebrate their parish fiesta. We decided to attend Mass in the church. There was an over spill of people up to the streets surrounding the church!

Through those years, the church has welcomed people from various walks of life, people touched by the tenderness of the Sto. Niño, people who open up themselves to the Infant Lord. 

Being an archdiocesan shrine does not mean resting on one's laurels. That is why Cardinal Tagle challenged the parish of Tondo to be ready for their new identity: “If that is your identity, that’s also your mission. Along with your identity is becoming a missionary for evangelization”.

Come 5th of February, this historic church will be formally declared as the Archdiocesan Shrine of Sto. Niño. I pray that as our sisters and brothers in Tondo take in their new identify and mission, they would take heart from the Sto. Niño's humility, obedience, and compassion. Humility in lifestyle and service. Obedience to the Father's will. Compassion to the least, the last, and the lost. Doing so, others would witness that Ang Tundo Man May Langit Din!

Viva Sto. Niño de Tondo!

The Great Ilocano

When this title is mentioned, who comes into your mind?  Perhaps it's either of 2 former Philippine Presidents who hailed from the North and whose contribution to the country is worthy of praise or derision whatever side of the political fence you belong to.  Way back in January, a late Ilocano prelate, was brought into the limelight when the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia (Vigan)  formally opened the cause for his beatification and canonization.  Is there another great Ilocano in the horizon? Read more!

Born to a wealthy family in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Alfredo Florentin Verzosa was a priest of that big archdiocese. It has been said that when he was parish priest of Bantay, he fought hard against the onslaught of  the Aglipayan schism in his parish.  According to the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart's website: "He (Verzosa) took it upon himself to protect, revive and strengthen the Catholic faith wherever he was assigned and devoted all his time to priestly duties. He converted barrio people to the faith, risking his own life in the process."

Appointed Bishop of Lipa in September 1916, he became the first Filipino bishop to be assigned in what was then a budding diocese.  He was also the first Ilocano bishop.  True to himself as a pastor and teacher of souls, Bishop Verzosa embarked in the formation of people by building seminaries, churches, and schools in his diocese. He invited missionary congregations to assist in spreading the faith.  His top agenda though was catechesis. Together with Mother Laura Mendoza, he founded the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart in 1920.  Apart from that he also had catechetical centers established across the diocese.  Fr. Manny Guazon wrote that “It would not be baseless to call Bishop Verzosa the ‘Father of Catechesis (of the Diocese of Lipa)’. His passion for catechetical apostolate must have planted and nourished the Catholic faith of Batangueños.”

A man known for practicing what he preached, Bishop Verzosa was a humble and holy man.  Story has it that he would pray 15 minutes before and after the Mass. Another story goes that when he heard that a priest was having an affair and was thus breaking his vow of celibacy, he would confront the priest - with tears in his eyes - and convince the erring man of the cloth to repent. Although unable to speak in Tagalog, he employed 2 priests to be his interpreters to ensure that his message reaches out to all members of his flock.

In the aftermath of World War II, he used the war damage reparations fund that Lipa received to reconstruct affected churches. It was said that he devoted all the income of the diocese to this project, plus what he inherited from his family.


The Virgin Mary's alleged apparition in the Carmel Monastery of Lipa links up with Bishop Verzosa's story.  Fr Ericson Josue, a priest from the Diocese of Laoag and Theology professor at the Vigan Seminary once said "“When the alleged miracle became a sensational issue, he had to go to the monastery to tell the nuns to turn down the issue but he was entering the monastery, he was greeted by the phenomenon, “the shower of rose petals,”.


In 1950, he was asked to vacate the bishopric of Lipa. Albeit a few accounts would say that the good obispo was removed from office due to fiscal mismanagement, some quarters maintain that politics was behind this.  Watching June Keithley's documentary entitled "The Woman Clothed with the Sun" on YouTube gave me an impression that indeed politics had the upper hand in Verzosa's retirement. One priest who worked with him even remarked "Church of Christ, governed by men" (or words to that effect). In the same video, another man of the cloth -this time a bishop - contested the mismanagement accusation saying that Verzosa even used his own personal money to defray costs in the diocese.

Four years after his retirement, he died in Vigan "practically a poor man, having exhausted all his inheritance for his Episcopal ministry, but rich in the sympathy and admiration of pious priests. Still, he died happily with the thought that he had served God and his Queen, the Blessed Virgin Mary and his Church with all his heart and might."

Bishop Verzosa seemed to have died in oblivion, but with the Archdiocese of Lipa's formal approval of the Lipa Apparition in 2009 and Fr Josue's research, his life has resurfaced.  Indeed as the Lord said in Isaiah 55:10-11:

For just as from the heavens, the rain, and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

For his missionary zeal, self-emptying love for his flock, and undaunted faith in the Lord, Apo Verzosa (as he would have been addressed by the Ilocano faithful) deserves to be raised to the altars. At a time when vocations to the priesthood is challenged, at a time when we put more importance on what we gain (e.g. wealth, power, prestige, etc.) rather than what we could give,  his example is worth emulating and celebrating.  In my book, he is the great Ilocano!

Bishop Verzosa, pray for us!

***

Speaking of Iluko greats, there's another Verzosa whose holiness I hope would be recognized by the Church soon - Sr Pilar Verzosa, founder of Pro-Life Philippines. Sr Pilar and Apo Verzosa belong to the same clan. During her life, Sr Pilar was a staunch Pro-Life campaigner.

Another Pinay that's on my list is Aurora Quezon, wife of President Manuel L Quezon.  A simple woman who preferred to stay in her bahay kubo than the presidential palace, she was the country's Queen Mother.  I am touched when she declined the pension that Congress proposed to be given to her. She couldn't accept it as it was against the memory of her husband AND it was not wise to do so in light of the many women who lost their husbands and sons during the war at that time.

Such self-emptying life and service which, frankly speaking, is lacking or absent in the lives of those whom this world consider as great!