OBSERVATIONS AND 1 SOLUTION: JESUS

New Filipino Saint Perdo Calungsod

Posted by Online on Dec 25th, 2011 // Comments off-http://www.tempo.com.ph/2011/new-filipino-saint-perdo-calungsod/#

MANILA, Philippines — Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed seven new saints for the Catholic Church on December 20, 2011, the final step before the saints’ official canonizations. The Filipino martyr, Blessed Pedro Calungsod, is the second saint in Philippines religious history. The first was St. Lorenzo Ruiz, who was beatified on February 18, 1981, by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Manila, the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican. St. Lorenzo Ruiz was canonized by Pope John Paul II in Vatican City on October 18, 1987, making him the first Filipino saint and martyr.

Born in Molo, Iloilo City in 1655, Blessed Calungsod was a skilled sacristan and teacher of catechism. At the age of 17, he was killed while on a mission in Guam on April 2, 1672. His faith in God at a young age, his missionary work, and miracles shown through his intercessions served as an inspiration to Filipinos. He was beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000.

Pope Benedict XVI signed a series of decrees by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, including decrees that testified to the authenticity of miracles attributed to the intercessions of the seven blessed. For Blessed Calungsod, the Archdiocese of Cebu submitted a case of an “unexplained healing” of a Cebuana, whose identity was not revealed to respect her privacy.

Apart from Blessed Calungsod, the six blessed whose canonizations were approved by the Pope were Italian priest Giovanni Battista Piamarta, founder of two religious orders – Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth for men and Humble Servants of the Lord for women; French martyr and Jesuit priest Jacques Berthieu, who was shot to death in Madagascar in 1896 for defending Christianity; Spanish nun Blessed Carmen Salles y Barangueras (Mary of Mount Carmel) who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in 1892; Marianne Cope, a nun who traveled to Hawaii in 1888 to help Father Damien of Molokai, who was himself canonized in 2009, and ministered to leprosy patients for 30 years; Katherine Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II; and Germany’s Anna Schafer, who suffered burns on her legs, was bedridden for 24 years, and offered her pain for the salvation of souls.

On this glorious season of Advent, let us seek the prayers and intercessions of the new saints for more spirituality, peace, and a better life for ourselves and our families in the coming year.