for San Pedro Calungsod

"Life that is offered,

Faith that is proclaimed."

San Pedro Calungsod

1654- 2 April 1672

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

Make our troubles your own 
(here mention your request)
and intercede for us
before the throne of Mercy and Grace
so that,
as we experience the help of heaven,
we may be encouraged to live
and proclaim the Gospel  here on earth.
Amen.
(With ecclesiastical approval)

        Pedro Calungsod may only have been in his early teens (between 12 and 15 years old) when he went with Padre Diego to Guam in 1668. He was one of the young catechists who went with some Spanish Jesuit missionaries to the Ladrones Islands to evangelize the Chamorros.  At that time, the Ladrones Islands were part of the  Diocese of Cebu.  

        Life in the Ladrones was hard.  Despite the hardships, the missionaries persevered, and the Mission was blessed with many conversions. The first mission residence and church were built in the town of Hagatña [Agadña; Agaña; Agana] in the island of Guam. Subsequently, the islands were renamed "Marianas" by the missionaries in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the then queen regent of Spain, Maria Ana, who was the benefactress of that Mission.  

        A man named Choco became envious of the prestige that the missionaries were gaining among the Chamorros.  He started to spread rumors that the baptismal water of the missionaries was poisonous. Because some sickly Chamorro infants who had been baptized died, many believed Choco and eventually apostatized. Choco found an ally in the local medicine man, Macanjas, and the Urritaos, young native men who were given to some immoral practices. These, along with the apostates, began to persecute the missionaries, many of whom were killed.

        Martyrdom came to Padre Diego and Pedro Calungsod on April 2, 1672 which was the Saturday before Passion Sunday of that year. 

        At around seven o'clock that morning, Padre Diego and Pedro Calungsod went to the village of Tomhon in Guam because they were told that a baby girl was just born in the village.  They went to ask Matapang, the child's father, to bring the baby out for baptism. Matapang had been a Christian and a friend of the missionaries but had apostatized. He angrily refused to have his baby christened.

    To give Matapang some time to cool down, Padre Diego and Pedro gathered the children and some adults of the village at the nearby shore and started chanting with them the truths of the Catholic Faith. They invited Matapang to join them, but the apostate shouted back that he was angry with God and was already fed up with the Christian teachings.

    Determined to kill the missionaries, Matapang went out to ask for the help of another villager, named Hirao, who was not a Christian.  At first, Hirao refused. He knew of the kindness of the missionaries towards the natives.  But Matapang chided him for being a coward.  Hirao changed his mind and decided to join Matapang.  

        While Matapang was away, Padre Diego and Pedro obtained to permission of Matapang's Christian mother and baptized the baby girl. 

        Matapang was enraged when he found out. He attacked the missionaries with spears.  He first went after Pedro who presumably tried to defend the priest.  Pedro was able to dodge the spears with remarkable dexterity. Witnesses said that Pedro had all the chances to escape because he was very agile, but he did not want to leave Padre Diego alone. 

        Those who personally knew Pedro believed that he would have defeated his aggressors and would have freed both himself and Padre Diego if only he had some weapon. But Padre Diego never allowed his companions to carry arms. 

        Finally, Pedro got hit by a spear in the chest and  fell to the ground, Hirao immediately charged towards him and finished him off with a blow of a cutlass to the head. Padre Diego could not do anything except to raise a crucifix and give Pedro the final sacramental absolution. After that, the assassins killed Padre Diego.

        Matapang took the crucifix of Padre Diego and crushed it with a stone while blaspheming God. Then, both assassins ripped the clothes off Pedro and Padre Diego. They  dragged them to the shore, tied large stones to their feet. They brought their bodies out to sea on a proa  and threw them into the deep. The remains of the martyrs were never to be found.

        The faith that was planted in the Marianas in 1668 did not die with Padre Diego, Pedro Calungsod and the first missionaries. It grew, thanks to the blood of the martyrs and the perseverance of the succeeding missionaries. 

Source:

Pedro Calungsod Bisaya, Prospects of a Teenage Filipino by  Msgr. Ildebrando Jesus Alino Leyson

The Canonization

I'm maybe one of the million Filipinos who watched yesterday the canonization of Pedro Calungsod, a young seminarian and martyr who was killed on the island of Guam when he visited with a Jesuit priest to baptize a young girl together with six other saints:

 Kateri Tekakwitha, North America's first aboriginal Catholic saint who was ostracized and persecuted by other natives for her faith, and she died in 1680 while serving the Catholic church at the age of 24.;

Jacques Berthieu, a French Jesuit who was executed as he had refused to renounce his faith; 

Mother Marianne Cope, a German-born Franciscan nun who  is known as “Mother Marianne of Molokai” because she looked after lepers on the island of Molokai in the Hawaii archipelago; 

Maria Schaeffer, a German laywoman who spent the rest of her life bedridden but was able to spread the word of God in local villages; 

Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest who in the late 19th century devoted his life to helping young people during the industrial revolution and founded a religious congregation; 

and Maria del Carmen, a Spanish nun who founded a congregation and worked to better the lot of poor women in the 19th century, defending their social rights and helping their children’s education.

On a personal note, I am fond of reading the lives of saints. Their lives always remind me of a path I so long to walk but had always failed to. Watching the canonization yesterday had left my heart with a gratitude for the lives they have lived, the miracles God has given through their intercession and most of all for the lives they have touched. I just recently know Pedro Calungsod though I hear his name a lot during my childhood. And as I went over the story of his martyrdom, I felt inspired and so wished that like him, though life can be that brief be spent at every breath proclaiming, defending and loving my faith for my God. 

The question that I have been asking myself these days is 'Am I able to face a spear for my faith?'

And the answer is I really don't know... there were times that I greatly felt I could die for God... though there were times I was in doubt I could not even stand for my faith, how much more, face a spear?

I know that there will come a time that my faith will be put into test. And once more, feeling so inspired, I prayed that if such time will come, I'll wrap my fate with my faith... and perhaps, see God waiting for me with His embrace.

Please watch this inspiring video as well:

sources: google.com

                www.angelfire.com

               yahoo news

               youtube.com