Four Filipino Franciscan Sisters' First Profession on Feast of St Francis

St Francis Meditating, El Greco, c. 1595 [Web Gallery of Art]

This morning I attended the First Profession of four Religious Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, part of the Diocese of Bacolod and about an hour's drive south of Bacolod City. Srs Farrah B. Partol, Lisel T. Genes, Jelanie P. Gonzaels and Elsie M. Larrot are the first sisters to do all their formation in the Philippines. The Sisters, an Italian congregation, came here in the 1990s with a small group from El Salvador and Colombia. They've had many ups and downs over the years but, thanks be to God, now eleven or twelve young Filipino Sisters.

The Mass took place in the parish church and Bishop Vicente M. Navarra of Bacolod was the main celebrant. Mther Gaetana Maria Nicolaio RFSA, the Italian Superior General, received the vows of the young Sisters.

The Sisters have only two convents in the Philippines, that in Pontevedra and the novitiate in the Diocese of San Pablo, Laguna, south of Manila. They serve both children and old people and visit these in their homes in the areas near the convent in Pontevedra, which is three or four kilometres south of the town proper. We went there after Mass for lunch and most of the guests were the people the Sisters serve. We all shared in the simple lunch of chicken, pansit (noodles) and rice, with some roast pig added. I was touched by the fact that it was such a simple lunch,m very Franciscan.

Please pray for the Sisters.

The familiar words of St Francis in Italian and English, in a setting by contemporary Filipino composer Ryan Cayabyab and sung by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus directed by Leon Chu. St Francis is surely one of the most universal of all saints in his appeal.

Death of Sr Mary Pilar L. Verzosa RGS, founder of Pro-Life, Philippines

Sr Mary Pilar Lahoz Verzosa RGS (24 September 1944 - 9 September 2012)

Sister Pilar died yesterday morning. She suffered an aneurysm last Thursday afternoon while giving a seminar at De La Salle University – Dasmariñas, Cavite. She was the founder of Pro-Life Philippines. May she rest in peace. Please remember her in your prayers.

Sister Mary Pilar L. Verzosa RGS was one of the great Filipinos of our time. She founded Pro-Life Philippines and was tireless in her work for women and girls who found themselves in difficult situations. The Religious of the Good Shepherd for many years in the Philippines have provided home for unmarried women who find themselves pregnant. You can get a good idea of what Sister Pilar committed her life to here.

Last February Sister Pilar was one of the recipients of the Mystery of Life Award from the Archdiocese of Seoul.

I met her a number of times and, on occasion, exchanged emails with her. I went to see her in Manila a couple of months ago to talk with her about Rachel's Vineyard. She was involved in a number of ministries for women who had abortions. Despite her very busy schedule she gave me her full attention and encouragement for an hour or so.

Here is a clip from a rally in the Philippines where Sister Pilar leads the participants in The Angelus, in Tagalog. After the prayer she leads all in signing Happy Birthday in thanksgiving for the birth of each.

The name 'Pilar', quite common in the Philippines, is from the Spanish Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Our Lady of the Pillar. Under that title Mary is Patroness of Hispanics and also of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

Please remember Sister Pilar in your prayers.

Shrine of La Virgen del Pilar, Zamboanga City

Here is the death notice from the website of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, Philippines.

+ Sr. M. Pilar L. Verzosa RGS

“And she shall live in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23

SR. MARY PILAR L. VERZOSA RGS(Pilar Lahoz Verzosa) of Vigan, Ilocos Sur

September 24, 1944 – September 9, 2012

On September 9, 2012, our dear Sister Mary Pilar peacefully joined Jesus,
the Good Shepherd, after 45 years in religious life.

The Religious of the Good Shepherd, apostolic and contemplative,
her bereaved family and relatives
are grateful for your prayerful remembrances.

The wake is at the Good Shepherd Chapel, 1043 Aurora Boulevard,
Quezon City.
Masses at 8 p.m. on September 9, 10, 11, 2012
The Mass of the Resurrection is on Wednesday, September 12 at 3:00 p.m.

Inurnment follows at the Good Shepherd Columbary.

• My Vocation Story: A special charism for girls and women

'Let Auntie P drive around the Kingdom of Heaven in style'

I learned recently of the death of a dear friend of mine, Sister Perpetua, a Mercy Sister form Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland. My first contact with her was around 1979 when I read about her in a Catholic newspaper. She and some other Mercy Sisters had gone to work in Iceland, a country I had always been interested in. I wrote her a letter and, many months later, received a reply. This led to the first of three visits to that beautiful country. She was there from 1977 till 1987. My last visit was in 2000 when I gave a weekend retreat to Filipinos living in Reykjavík followed by a pastoral visit to Filipinos living in the coastal towns around the country. (I think there's only one town that's not on the coast).

'Harbour', Kilkeel, painting by Lucia Peka. Sr Perpetua grew up in Kilkeel

St Joseph's Church, Hafnarfjörður

Sister Perpetua worked in the Catholic hospital in Hafnarfjörður, near Reykjavík. The Sisters often went to Mass in the Carmelite Monastery in Hafnarfjörður. At the time of my first visit in 1981 the nuns were Dutch. They have since been replaced by Polish Carmelites. I celebrated the 'new' Mass, now called the Ordinary Form, in Latin with the Dutch Carmelites and they sang the Gregorian chants.

A view of Hafnarfjörður from the Carmelite Monastery

Blessed John Paul visits the Polish Carmelites in Hafnarfjörður in 1989

When Sister Perpetua went to Iceland in 1977 there were about 1,500 Catholics out of a population of 220,000. In 2004 there were more than 5,500 out of 290,000 or so. The majority of Catholics are foreigners and include significant numbers of Filipinos and Poles. The Diocese of Reykjavík covers the whole country which is slightly larger than Mindanao, Philippines, and larger than Ireland.

Downpatrick, with Convent of Mercy slightly to the left of St Patrick's church

Sister Perpetua, who had legions of friends, two of whom came from Iceland to visit her shortly before she died, loved to drive. Her eight-year-old grandniece caught this perfectly in the letter she wrote when her 'Little Auntie P' died.

I have two Auntie P’s in my life, one I call ‘Big P’ who lives in Manchester, and the other one I call ‘Little P’ who lives in the Convent of Mercy, Downpatrick. As you know, she was very special and I loved her very much. Recently she gave me a beautiful handmade doll of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which were attached to the front of her apron and when you turned her upside down and unfolded all her clothes there was the Wicked Witch on one side and the Handsome Prince on the other.

That I will cherish for ever and ever. No more little cards in the post or phone calls with a voice saying ‘Hello my little darling’. That’s gone too.
But even though we loved her very much God loved her more and decided it was time to call her home.

Because she loved to drive the car so much during her life, I especially asked God to please tax and insure the biggest most expensive Mercedes car he can find and let Auntie P drive around the Kingdom of Heaven in style so that she can visit all her friends and relations. That would make her very happy.

So Auntie P, don’t break the speed limit up there. Cause you’ll only get three points on your licence and then you would have to wear wings like all the other Angels.

God bless Little P


Love you always

Megan ♥

[Note: Driving licences in both parts of Ireland carry points and there are deductions for various offences, which can lead to your losing your licence.]

One glorious summer when I was at home Sister Perpetua drove me along a road I had always wanted to see, the Antrim Coast Road. We also visited one of the Glens of Antrim. Unfortunately, it was the one rainy day during my holiday.

The Antrim Coast Road

The Mountains of Mourne, County Down

County Down is one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland. There is a famous song by Percy French, Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea. It is a favourite of mine but, for some reason, Sister Perpetua didn't like it so I won't include it here!

I was in the middle of preparing this post on Thursday afternoon when the Blogspot system broke down, making it impossible to upload anything. The problem, which lasted for more than 24 hours, has now been fixed.

'. . . my clothes and teddy thrown away' 'They took my identity from me'

Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse set up by the Irish government nine years ago issued its report last Wednesday. The full report and the Executive Summary are available on the commission’s website.

Today’s Irish Times carries an article, The abused – in their own words.

The article begins: The voices of the abused emerge raw and bleak from pages 113 to 119 of Volume V of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. They told their stories to an interviewing team. In an introductory note to the section, the team acknowledged their courage: “We were deeply moved, inspired and humbled by our contact with you. Although we spent only a few hours with you, meeting you and listening to your stories was a moving and enriching experience for all of us. We felt privileged and honoured that you trusted us with such intensely personal and private experiences. . .” Here are sample extracts – unedited – of what the team heard.

Two statements of victims recounting the ‘worst thing’ that had happened to them and taken from the report and published in today’s Irish Times really hit me. One was, The night I entered the institution, my clothes and teddy thrown away.

Here in Bacolod I am involved with Holy Family Home and when a new girl arrives one of the first things she is given, no matter how young or old she is, is a teddy-bear or other soft toy. This was one of the first things I noticed when I first visited there late in 2002 and was shown around by a group of the girls. My Columban colleague, Fr Gary Walker, noticed the same thing when he visited and wrote about Holy Family Home.

The other statement that really hit me was, They made me change my surname and beat me until I accepted it. They took my identity from me. The put me through mental torture which is still with me now. They separated me from my sister and sent her to another institution.

This was precisely the aspect of the horror of the Holocaust that Pope Benedict spoke about last week at Yad Vashem. He took as his theme I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name … I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off (Is 56:5). He said, One can rob a neighbor of possessions, opportunity or freedom. One can weave an insidious web of lies to convince others that certain groups are undeserving of respect. Yet, try as one might, one can never take away the name of a fellow human being.

Yet that is what religious did to this young girl.

What Pope Benedict said in Jerusalem about the Jewish victims of the Holocaust could be said about all the victims in this awful report: Gazing upon the faces reflected in the pool that lies in stillness within this memorial, one cannot help but recall how each of them bears a name. I can only imagine the joyful expectation of their parents as they anxiously awaited the birth of their children. What name shall we give this child? What is to become of him or her? Who could have imagined that they would be condemned to such a deplorable fate!

As we stand here in silence, their cry still echoes in our hearts. It is a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence. It is a perpetual reproach against the spilling of innocent blood.

Nazism was godless. The people interviewed for the Ryan Report had their childhood stolen and were treated as dirt by people who had once dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ. How did those religious sisters and brothers become so corrupted?

I was educated by the Christian Brothers for ten years and am profoundly grateful to them. They had a reputation for being tough. My father used to tell me stories of brutal beatings he saw in school by some Brothers and by some lay teachers. I never saw anything like that, though corporal punishment was still legal in Ireland. I did get a few ‘biffs’ with a leather strap on the palm of the hand from time to time, as did most of us. But that was the norm and our parents supported it. I never saw a teacher punishing excessively.

But did the Brothers I knew and admired know what was going on in some of their own institutions? One of them was St Joseph’s, Artane. Artane is a district in the northeast of Dublin city. Parents in Dublin, including my own, sometimes threatened to send us to ‘Artane’. The message I got was to behave myself but I never took the threat itself as serious. I doubt if my parents were aware of any excessive cruelty there but clearly they saw it as a place where no boy would want to go.

It is impossible to equate what the Ryan Report tells us was done in the name of Jesus, of his Mother and of St Joseph with a living faith in a loving Redeemer who died for us on the Cross.

Benedictine Sister, environmentalists, harassed by Philippine soldiers

Benedictine Sister Stella Matutina (right) in a press conference on Feb. 19 in Davao City, Southern Philippines. She said armed soldiers wearing camouflaged uniforms harrassed her and two environmentalists after they organized a village forum on mining-related issues.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have a miserable record in the area of human rights. Most officers sold their souls to the dictatorship of President Marcos when he declared Martial Law in September 1972, the year after I arrived here. Many thousands died at the hands of soldiers, the excuse being that the victims were ‘Communists’, ‘leftists’ and ‘subversives’. No doubt, some victims were but it was never a capital crime to be such. Some of these too had blood on their hands, especially members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The military redeemed themselves to some degree after the ‘People Power’ revolt in Metro Manila in 1986 that toppled the Marcos regime after the rigged counting of votes in the election where the people voted for Cory Aquino to be president.

The AFP has far too many generals and quite a few of them get high-paying government jobs for which they’ve no qualifications, eg, ambassadorships, when they retire from the military.

About two years a general linked by a government report with many killings was singled out for praise by President Arroyo in her state-of-the-nation address. In an article about that same general in a widely read newspaper he was quoted as saying ‘I have no conscience’. Just last night in an article on conscience by Fr Vincent Twomey SVD, a former student of Pope Benedict, in the October issue of Inside the Vatican Hermann Goering is quoted as saying ‘I have no conscience, Hitler is my conscience’.

A story from UCANews shows the military, or at least some members of it, in bad light. A quote from the regional military spokesman shows an utterly idiotic understanding of the mission of the Church and of that of Sisters. The Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing – Tutzing is near Munich – aren’t nuns, despite the headline, but religious sisters. Nuns are contemplatives, living in monasteries and aren’t involved in pastoral work. The Tutzing Benedictines, among other things, run schools. They live in community, wear habits and pray the Liturgy of the Hours as part of their daily life. So they do have aspects of the life of nuns.

The AFP spokesman prefers ‘Hollywood nuns’, totally removed from the mission of the Church and from reality.

Many parts of the Philippines have been destroyed by mining companies and by loggers. Members of the military have been involved in illegal logging, as I know from the parish in Mindanao where I served in the early 1990s. Visiting students from Sweden discovered illegally-cut logs in the watershed in the mountains in the area. I met with some soldiers in the house of a parishioner involved with a group trying to protect the forests and to observe the laws of the Philippines. The soldiers wanted the group to take down a banner. The military men were polite with me but they were engaged in a form of harassment against ordinary people trying to have the laws of the land implemented.

On one occasion I celebrated Mass in the military camp where the soldiers, officers and men, lived in fairly primitive conditions. Before the Mass I read a statement condemning the illegal cutting of trees issued by the head of the AFP. The officer whom I knew to be involved in illegal logging in the area was present before I read the statement but not when Mass ended.

In the last couple of weeks the first reading in the weekday Masses was from the Book of Genesis and included both accounts of creation. God’s own Word demands that we respect what He has created and that we take good care of it, including all of God’s creatures, most of all man, made in God’s image and likeness.

Sister Stella and her companions are engaged in a mission of life. God hasn’t called her to be in the convent 24/7 but to engage in active ministry in the Church.

Below is the report.

PHILIPPINES Nun, environmentalists complain of harassment after forum

By Frinston Lim February 20, 2009

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- A Benedictine nun and two environmental activists said soldiers harassed them after they held a forum on mining and sustainable agriculture in a southern Mindanao village.

"Armed men barged in and roused all of us at gunpoint," Sister Stella Matutina, 40, said in a press conference in the southern Davao City on Feb. 19. "They demanded to see the documents and materials used during the forum."

The group, invited by local officials, had finished an "anti-mining forum" and talk on sustainable agriculture in Taytayan village on Feb. 15. They were sleeping in a village hall when the incident allegedly took place.

The Sisters' Association in Mindanao condemned the incident. "The Armed Forces of the Philippines is sending out the chilling message that no Religious can disrupt their plans of protecting the interests of logging, mining and big businesses," read their statement presented at the press conference.

Sister Matutina, together with Panalipdan, a broad alliance of environmentalists and peoples' organizations, has helped in documenting mining activities in Mindanao's Davao Oriental province, including those of the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton.

Panalipdan's Davao Oriental chairman Wenceslao Mapa and Councilor Maria Fe Matibo from the provincial capital of Mati joined Sister Matutina to conduct the forum.

However, masked gunmen wearing camouflaged military uniforms woke them up before 4 a.m. the next day.

Sister Matutina said the men introduced themselves as soldiers and told her she was not supposed to be there. The nun and the environmentalists were held for hours, until Mati diocese sent Father Edmundo Escobal to negotiate for their release.

Major Randolph Cabangbang, regional military spokesperson contacted by telephone, denied any harassment had taken place and described the incident as propaganda by groups linked to Maoist rebels.

He said soldiers went to the area "to check reports of suspicious-looking and armed men."

"Our soldiers did not know the nun was there," he said. "What was she doing there? She was supposed to stay in the convent. What she did there wasn't related to her Church work." (Comment: What an idiotic statement.)

At the news conference, Mapa told reporters that the gunmen had pointed two rifles at him and he felt "traumatized." Matibo said she felt embarrassed about the way the nun and Mapa were treated.

Sister Matutina said the incident infuriated her, but she was most concerned about how soldiers would treat "ordinary people who cannot defend their rights."

Panalipdan reported it documented more than 100 applications for mining exploration permits submitted to the provincial government as of December 2008.

END

Newest and oldest Filipino Sister in her congregation

Newly professed Sr Antonieta Navarro Napone TC

Yesterday, Sunday, Sr Antonieta N. Napone TC became both the newest and the oldest Filipino professed sister in the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family . At 57 she is also the oldest ever in the congregation to take her first vows. Sister Tonet, as she is known, came to Bacolod to work with the Sisters seven years ago as a house mother to the college students whom they look after in Holy Family Home. Most of the college girls live in a house in the city proper. You can read about this aspect of the Sisters’ work in Misyon, the Columban online magazine I edit, here and here .
Sister Antonieta’s experience with the girls prepared her for the great surprise of being asked directly by the Sisters if she would like to join them. And it happens that we have a mutual friend who took her first vows as a member of the contemplative branch of Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity on 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as Sister Mary Anthony MC. She too is in her 50s. So I was very happy to see three Missionaries of Charity at Sister Antonieta’s profession yesterday at Mater Dolorosa Formation House, Talisay City, just north of Bacolod City. (There’s another Talisay City just south of Cebu City.)
Sr Antonieta with her mother and other family members.
The Capuchin Tertiary Sisters came to the Philippines 27 years ago and on the occasion of their Silver Jubilee in March 2007 the delegation, as the unit was called, was raised to a vice-province that includes a community in Korea and one in India. There are now nearly 30 Filipino Sisters and more than twenty in formation as aspirants, postulants and novices.



With Sister Antonieta, center, Missionaries of Charity and Sr Reinalda Zapata, a Colombian, of the Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony.

As I have come to know them, the Sisters live a simple and joyful Franciscan life in community, give importance to both liturgical and personal prayer, wear a simple habit and get on with their work which, in the Philippines, is mainly with girls who are poor and many of whom have suffered deeply.

The choir consisted of girls from Holy Family Home and the lunch afterwards was prepared by some of the college students who are studying Hotel and Restaurant Management.

Sister Antonieta is from Medina, Misamis Oriental, Mindanao, a parish that was run by Columbans during her younger years.

The profession of Sister Tonet was a truly joyful event. In my homily I mentioned Fr Nicolaus Kao Se-tsien from China who, after 49 years as a diocesan priest joined the Trappists in Hong Kong, made his final vows at 100 and spent 35 years as a monk before peacefully passing on at the age of 110 in December 2007. I put before Sister Antonieta the hope of celebrating her Golden Jubilee!

Capuchin Terciary Sisters of the Holy Family with novices and aspirants after Sister Tonet's profession.

Holy Family Home: A Safe haven

The January-February issue of Misyon, which I edit, went online today.

My fellow-Columban, Fr Gary Walker, (on the left in the photo above) who edits The Far East, the magazine if the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand, visited Bacolod last May. As I do with every visitor I have, I brought him to visit Holy Family Home on the outskirts of the city where I’ve been going regularly for six years now and where I’ve become an unofficial chaplain to the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family who run it and to the girls who live there.

Father Gary wrote an article after his visit, A Safe Haven, which is in the new issue of Misyon.

Many of the girls come from very broken backgrounds but experience genuine love, care and Christian joy. They themselves help bring the healing love of Jesus to one another.

In our July-August 2008 issue we had an article by a young university student who is living there, Richelle Verdeprado. She has been involved in campus journalism since elementary school. You can read her article, ‘A Child Redeemed is a Generation Saved’ here. Every one who visits Holy Family Home reads that motto on the gate.

One thing that makes me particularly happy is that the girls know me first of all as a priest. Some of them remind me from time to time that it’s time to hear their confessions again. I usually celebrate Mass there on Sunday, though I’ve no commitment to do so, and I normally celebrate Mass with the Sisters on Monday morning, the one weekday when there’s no Mass in the chapel across the road from where I live.

But the girls also see me as a father/grandfather figure and like me to be there for their social events. The Sisters invited me for the noche buena, Spanish for ‘good night’, though very different in meaning from buenas noches, ‘goodnight’. The noche buena is the traditional family meal after the Christmas Midnight Mass, which in most places in the Philippines is now celebrated earlier. In our chapel it was at 8:30pm and I used the prayers of the Vigil Mass, the first of four different Masses that may be used at Christmas. However, as allowed, I used the readings from the Midnight Mass.

The Sisters and the girls in Holy Family Home attended a later Mass at the monastery of the Augustinian Recollect Nuns, contemplatives. After our Mass I joined a local family for their noche buena before going to Holy Family Home. After a simple meal the girls opened their Christmas gifts with squeals of delight. In every case they were clothes, received with gratitude.

Please keep the Sisters and the girls at Holy Family Home in your prayers. The Sisters live a simple, prayerful, Franciscan life and are attracting young women. On 8 December four made their first profession. There are more novices preparing for their vows, with eight or nine postulants and a similar number of aspirants behind them. The Sisters came to the Philippines as recently as 1982.Usually on the first Saturday of the month they have two hours of prayer for vocations to their way of lifebefore the Blessed Sacrament exposed. God is clearly responding to their prayers.

Seven new novices; the cost of discipleship

Today, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, is 'World Day of Consecrated Life / Religious Life. So it was fitting that I celebrated Mass this morning as six young women and one not quite so young, began their novitiate with the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family. The Sisters came from Spain to the Philippines in 1982 and include members from Central America and especially from Colombia, where the Congregation is strong. They now have many young Filipino Sisters.

Here's something I wrote about the work of the Sisters here in Bacolod City. It's on the website of the Columbans in the USA.

Please pray for the new novices; Rhea Lei, Willyn, Leslie, Irene, Franes Laraine, Mylah and Antonieta. They're in reverse chronological order, starting with a 19-year-old. Antonieta had been working with the Sisters for some years before hearing God's call.

Antonieta and I have a mutual friend, now on the 'Simeon and Anna' side of 50, who is a novice with the contemplative branch of the Missionaries of Charity. Sr Mary Anthony has a sister with the Siervas de San Jose, Sr Violeta, and a brother, Father Bert Layson OMI, who is working in Mindanao, where the family is from.

Father Bert was working at the Cathedral in Jolo when Bishop Benjamin de Jesus OMI was murdered in front to the church on 4 February 1997, 11 years ago come Monday. Ten days later Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno OMI, at the time a former auxiliary bishop of Cotabato in Mindanao, died immediately after the funeral of his confrere and brother bishop when the small plane he was in crashed just after take-off.

On 28 December 2000 Father Benjamin Inocencio OMI was murdered at the back of Jolo Cathedral and this year, on 15 January, Fr Jesus Reynaldo A. Roda OMI was murdered in a kidnap attempt on one of the most remote islands in the Vicariate of Jolo, which includes the most southerly islands of the Philippines. Please keep the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in your prayers.