Saint of the Month - April 2019: Saint Pedro Calungsod

St. Pedro Calungsod

Youthful Catechist & Martyr

Feast: April 2nd

Today the Church is celebrating the heroic life of a young lay-martyr - St. Pedro Calungsod - who hails from my homeland of the Philippines.  Usually, I blog about Saints and Blesseds whose relics are in my ministry's custody - to promote devotion to them - but there are no relics of this particular Saint.  However, being Filipino, myself, I have to admit I'm being a bit partial in selecting St. Pedro for my featured Saint of the Month.  This is his story of faith... and unfailing loyalty to God and friendship.

Our protagonist was born in one of the Visayas region of the Philippines on July 21, 1654.  According to biographies, Pedro was educated by Spanish Jesuit missionaries who taught the boy to read and write, not just in his native Visayan dialect, but also in their language.  He also learned to speak Chamorro and, because he was so intelligent and proficient in the other languages, the Jesuits further trained him as a lay-catechist and brought him with them to evangelize the Chamorros of Guam (then called the Mariana Islands) in 1668.  Pedro was just 14-years-old at the time he left the Philippines never to return.

Despite the danger and uncertainty that was involved in missionary fieldwork among the native populations, Pedro proved himself to be enthusiastic and loyal to his friends and spiritual mentors, in particular to the zealous Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores.

The missionary party was at first welcomed on Guam where they made many converts among the Chamorros, including the ruling class.  In early 1669, Fr. Diego Luis was able to build the first Catholic church in Guam, on land in the village of Hagatna, donated by a local chief; four other churches in other hamlets were soon constructed within a few years.  Without a doubt, Pedro was an instrumental participant in the establishment of the Catholic Faith on the small island, where his ability to speak the native tongue was put to good use, along with his skills in carpentry and artwork.

Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores,

missionary to Guam.

The success of the missionaries was soon followed by strife instigated by a group of jealous and resentful non-Christians, among whom were the proud warrior class and village shamans.  Their influence and meddling caused a growing strain between the foreigners and the locals, due mainly to conflicts between Christian teachings and the long-standing pagan practices and traditions of the Chamorro natives. Furthermore, an exiled criminal from the Philippines named Choco had spread a damaging rumor that the missionaries were killing children using poisoned baptismal water.

Things came to a head on April 2, 1672.  On that fateful day, Pedro accompanied Fr. Diego Luis to the village of Tumon where the priest baptised the newborn daughter of the local chieftain, Mata'pang. The chief was a lapsed believer who objected to the baptism, but his consort was a faithful convert who wanted the sacrament administered to her child.  Upon learning the baptism was performed while he was briefly away, Chief Mata'pang flew into a rage and attacked the two missionaries.

The chief first hurled a spear at Pedro but the agile youth dodged the weapon; he could have easily fled, at that point, but instead chose to remain with his priest in an effort to defend him.  A second spear hit the valiant teen in the chest and he fell mortally wounded at the side of Fr. Diego Luis, who hurriedly absolved him before falling to a spear, himself.  Pedro was only 17-years-old at the time of his death.

The bodies of the murdered missionaries were weighted with stones then cast into the shark-filled ocean where they were never recovered; hence, no relics.  Both men were eventually raised to the glory of the altar, as Martyrs - Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores reached Beatification in October 1985, while Pedro successfully reached Canonization on October 21, 2012.

Filipinos have a special pride and love for

their young Saint... and rightfully so.

The miracle recognized for the Canonization of St. Pedro was reported to have been the 2003 healing of a dying comatose woman who was oxygen-deprived for an extended period of time.  It was actually the patient's doctor who said a short prayer to Pedro before the unconscious woman unexpectedly revived within a few hours with no brain damage whatsoever - astounding!  May St. Pedro Calungsod pray for our individual needs, as well as, the needs of the entire Church.

A Prayer to Obtain

St. Pedro Calungsod's Help

   

   Saint Pedro Calungsod, young migrant, student, catechist, missionary, faithful friend, and martyr, you inspire us by your fidelity in time of trial and adversity; by your courage in teaching the Faith in the midst of hostility; by your love in shedding your blood for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus.

   We beg you, make our cares and troubles your own [here mention the special intention you are asking him to bring to the Lord] and intercede for us before the throne of Mercy and Grace, so that as we experience the help of Heaven, we may be encouraged and strengthened to proclaim and live the Gospel here on earth.  Amen.

* * * UPDATE: MAY 14th, 2019 * * *

Praise the Lord!  Through the help of a friend in Guam - Josephine - I was blessed to acquire a few stones gathered from the site of the martyrdom of both St. Pedro Calungsod and Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores.  A gated, fence-enclosed chapel now stands at the exact location where the two holy individuals met their deaths near the Tumon beach... but my friend was able to gain entry into the locked complex after providentially running into a cooperative security guard who let her in.

The chapel constructed at the site of St.

Pedro's death... and the decorated frame

(r) I created in which I mounted a stone

souvenir taken from the site.

Josephine took several photos to share with me before hand-picking the souvenir stones from within the shrine grounds.  In anticipation of their arrival I purchased a wooden shadow box with a stand, and decorated it with red velvet and a drawing I made of St. Pedro. I mounted one of the stones in the frame upon receiving the package from Guam.  It's not a relic... but it's the closest I'm gonna get to one of this Saint since his corpse was disposed of in the ocean.  Still, it's amazing how one small stone can make me feel so closely connected to the Saint.

The stone will be shared with the Filipino group at my parish who I hope will begin yearly novenas to St. Pedro Calungsod as they currently do for St. Lorenzo Ruiz during his September Feast Day.

Monthly Messages from the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje: March 2019

Our Lady's Monthly Message to the World on March 25th:

  "Dear children! This is a time of grace. As nature renews itself for a new life, you also are called to conversion. Decide for God. Little children, you are empty and do not have joy, because you do not have God. Therefore pray until prayer becomes your life. In nature seek God who created you, because nature speaks and fights for life and not for death. Wars are reigning in hearts and nations, because you do not have peace and you do not see, little children, a brother in your neighbor.  Therefore return to God and to prayer.  Thank you for having responded to my call."

Our Lady's Annual Apparition to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo on March 18th:

   "My children, as a mother, as the Queen of Peace, I am calling you to accept my Son so that He can grant you peace of soul - that He can grant you that which is just, which is good for you. My children, my Son knows you. He lived the life of man, and at the same time of God: a wondrous life-human flesh, divine Spirit. Therefore, my children, while my Son is looking at you with His eyes of God, He penetrates into your hearts. His tender, warm eyes are looking for Himself in your heart. My children, can He find Himself [there]? Accept Him, and then the moments of pain and suffering will become moments of tenderness. Accept Him, and you will have peace in [your] soul - you will spread it to all those around you - and this is what you now need the most. Heed me, my children. Pray for the shepherds, for those whose hands my Son has blessed.  Thank you."

Our Lady's Special Message to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo on March 2nd:

   "Dear children, I call you 'apostles of my love'. I am showing you my Son who is the true peace and the true love. As a mother, through the mercy of God, I desire to lead you to Him. My children, this is why I am calling you to reflect on yourselves, starting out from my Son, that you look to Him with the heart and that you may see with the heart where you are and where your life is going. My children, I am calling you to comprehend that it is, thanks to my Son, that you live - through His love and sacrifice. You are asking of my Son to be merciful to you and I am calling you to mercy. You are asking of Him to be good to you and to forgive you, and for how long am I imploring you, my children, to forgive and to love all the people whom you meet? When you comprehend my words with the heart, you will comprehend and come to know the true love and you will be able to be apostles of that love, my apostles, my dear children.  Thank you."

Saint of the Month - March 2019: Saint Rafqa Ar-Rayes

St. Rafqa Ar-Rayes

The Lily of Lebanon

Feast: March 23rd

For March 2019, I feature a Saint whose life is an enigma for many - she asked the Lord for suffering and he granted her prayer.  A lot of people may not be able to wrap their head around why she would do such a thing... but it's simple - St. Rafqa wanted to be as close to Christ as possible; comprehending and appreciating every aspect of his life on earth so as to deepen her mystical union with him... even if it also meant embracing and experiencing the mystery of the Cross in all its painful fullness.  In this sense, her life was quite courageous and her example teaches us that there is immense spiritual value in the acceptance and carrying of one's own cross. 

Born and named Boutrossieh (romanized as "Petra", which I will use in this blog) on June 29, 1832, she was the only child of a peasant couple from Himlaya, Lebanon, who were members of the Maronite branch of the Catholic Church. According to her biography, her parents were pious, especially the mother, named Rafqa, who passed on her deep love of God to Petra before her untimely passing when her little girl was just 7-years-old.

In a few years, the once-happy household was reduced to near-poverty and Petra's father was forced to send her to work as a domestic in the house of a well-to-do acquaintance in Damascus, Syria.  Four years later, the daughter returned home only to be surprised by a new stepmother who was somewhat overbearing. The woman began planning a marriage for Petra to her own brother (step-uncle), while a maternal aunt argued to have the maiden marry her son (Petra's first cousin).  The heated conflict over her personal future was too much for the young woman since, for some time now, she had growing aspirations to give herself completely to Jesus Christ.

One of the few surviving photos of St. Rafqa.
Her biographies describe her as attractive.

Before matters could progress any further, Petra abruptly left home to enter the recently founded congregation of the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the "Mariamettes", in Bikfaya. When her parents learned of her whereabouts, they went to the convent to fetch her, but Petra convinced her superiors to send her parents away without giving them the opportunity to speak with her; she never saw them again.  The time frame this all took place was between the end of 1852 and beginning of 1853.

For the next 19 years, Petra, now Sr. Annisa ("Agnes"), lived the life of an exemplary religious - devout, humble, obedient, and ever-joyful - while fulfilling several duties as kitchen worker, catechist and teaching nun in different convents of her congregation.  However, in 1871, the Mariamettes merged with another congregation and the sisters were given the choice to become members of the new congregation or to be released from their vows; Petra opted for the latter as she discerned the call to enter a contemplative institution.  She prayed and God answered...

Petra had a dream in which she was visited by three venerable men who later turned out to be St. Anthony the Abbot, St. George the Soldier-Martyr, and the last was assumed to be a Baladita monk-Saint because of the words spoken to her by St. Anthony: "Become a nun in the Baladita Order".  Petra left for the Baladita convent of St. Simon in Al-Qarn, where the nuns warmly welcomed her.  She took the religious name of Rafqa ("Rebecca") in honor of her dearly departed mother. 

For the next 14 years, Sr. Rafqa again impressed her peers with her evident piety and virtue, and lived in a relatively good state of health until 1885.  Sometime during that fateful year, while praying in a chapel on behalf of other sisters, she complained to the Lord with the following words: "Why, O my God, have you distanced yourself from me and have abandoned me? You have never visited me with sickness! Have you perhaps abandoned me?" That very night Rafqa was attacked by a mysterious and terrible pain in her head that slowly spread down to her eyes, which in due time became inflamed and discharged blood and pus. The right eye, in particular, began to swell until medical experts finally advised its removal, which was done by an American doctor without any anesthesia per Rafqa's request.   Her only response to the excruciating pain she endured was her habitual exclamation in times of extreme pain: "In communion with Christ's Passion." +++

Another rare photo of St. Rafqa showing

the Saint (laying down) at the peak of her

sufferings next to her Mother Superior.

Rafqa's health only continued to worsen in the coming years until she was eventually blind in her left eye and confined to bed as a permanent invalid; bleeding from her eyes and nose were frequent.  Furthermore, her hip bone became dislocated and her frame withered to practically skin and bones as she lay on her right side, immobile in a fetal position... and, as if things couldn't get any worse, she developed a wound on her shoulder that she referred to as the Lord's shoulder wound caused by the carrying of his cross.+++  The poor nun was able to move her hands so to keep herself useful, she spun wool and knitted... and, of course, she prayed constantly.  Despite the unfortunate predicament she was in, Rafqa was never heard to utter a word of complaint... rather, she manifested deep resignation to the will of God and an unearthly joy that edified all who came into contact with her.

It should be noted that for all the suffering Sr. Rafqa experienced, the Lord consoled her with divine favors.  Two instances stand out - in the first, she regained sight in her remaining eye for an hour.  The grace was received in direct response to a wish she made to look upon the face of her mother superior, who had shown her so much maternal kindness in her sufferings.  Shortly after, the second incident occurred, which was a visit to Heaven where she was mystically transported for a couple of hours during an ecstasy, and participated in a joyous feast with the Saints.  Upon awakening from the experience, she was offered food by her superior but declined saying that she had just partaken of a most delicious meal of lamb at the heavenly banquet.

Rafqa died peacefully on March 23, 1914 - she was 81-years-old.  After she was buried a brilliant light emanated over her tomb for three consecutive evenings, attracting many to the site.  Remarkable cures were soon reported through the intercession of the humble Maronite nun, escalating Rafqa's fame of sanctity among the locals then beyond.  The Church declared her a Saint on June 10, 2001.

May St. Rafqa intercede in Heaven for peace in war-torn regions of the Middle East... and may she watch over our persecuted Christian brethren there, protecting them and instilling in them hope in God's Divine Love.

"I am not afraid of death which I

have waited for for a long time.  God

will let me live through my death.”

- Words of St. Rafqa

A 1st Class Relic from the bones of St. Rafqa,

displayed for veneration at the First Saturday

Rosary at St. Anthony of Padua Church,

Kailua, on March 2, 2019.

A PRAYER TO ST. RAFQA

We ask you, Saint Rafqa, to spread true joy in our world, which is suffering; to comfort sad people and make them happy and caring; to teach us to pray with faith in Jesus Christ and to live our life peacefully.

Medicine was incapable of curing you, so you cured sick people by enduring pain and sharing with Jesus Christ the Mystery of Redemption. 

We ask you to wipe away tears; to cure sick people; to fill people’s hearts with joy and love; to help us follow your steps and virtues in order to glorify, with you, the Virgin Mary, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit forever.  Amen.

*** NOTE:  This author personally speculates that, based on the circumstances and nature of St. Rafqa's sufferings, she may actually have suffered the invisible stigmata of the crown of thorns although her biographies do not specifically mention this.  In addition, the wound on the shoulder seems to me to have been another form of stigmatization.