Bringing Back Holiness in Halloween

Children at the March of Saints earlier at
the Santo Domingo Parish

I did not grow up getting dressed as a Disney princess to go knocking at doors to collect candies on All Hallows Eve. I have experienced trick-or-treating about twice, not as a child, but as a teenager; and have gone to several Halloween parties. 

The annual fright fest was not always part of the culture in the Philippines, at least as far as I remember my childhood. The current tech-savvy generation however is probably well acquainted now with the Sandman, Jack the Ripper, the Boogeyman, Jack-o-Lantern, and perhaps even the Grim Reaper. I wasn't when I was younger.

The contemporary celebration focuses too much on horror, violence and the culture of death. (and consumerism!) But it wasn't always so. It isn't what Allhallowtide is about.

All Saints' Eve is a precursor to the celebration of the solemnity of All Saints, which commemorates all the holy men and women enjoying the beatific vision in heaven. 

Saint Pedro Calungsod and
Saint Dominic de Guzman

Earlier today I participated in the March of Saints at the Santo Domingo Parish. I did not dress up as my favorite Saint, but I was there to show support to the parish in their effort to teach the faithful about why we celebrate Halloween. Rev. Fr. Ching Salibay, OP, the parish priest, said that it was the first time they have organized the activity, and hopes it becomes an annual affair. (It was my first time to witness one, too!)  

The aim of the activity was to make people aware that we do not celebrate ghosts, warlocks and the devils on this day, but remember in a special way the people who have gone before us~ the Church Triumphant. The saints and martyrs are our models of Faith and charity. We remember how they have lived and persevered in fighting the good fight till the end, and how by their good example we can draw inspiration from. It is not easy to be good; especially when beset with trials and temptations. Fr. Ching also said that we can look to the Saints for encouragement, because in them we find that the imperfect can become perfect. (Think of Saint Peter, Saint Paul. Saint Thomas, Saint Augustine and Saint Mary Magdalene, among many other awesome saints!)

(L-R) Saint Peter Verona, Blessed Margaret of Castello,
Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Therese of Lisieux
(Saint Joan of Arc is not in the picture)

There were 34 children who came dressed as saints. There was a procession around the neighboring streets of  Santo Domingo at around four in the afternoon, followed by a short program. The parents of the children expressed approval and appreciation for having an activity geared towards giving the little ones a catechism about the saints and heaven.

Five children were given recognition for being able to best portray their saints. They were all too happy to have received their prizes.  Everyone got candies and treats of course! Each child took home a bag full of goodies and gifts from generous donors.  One of the children said he looks forward to the March of Saints in 2015 and shall definitely take part in it again. 

I hope next year there will be less goblins, vampires, witches and devils come Halloween. As Christians, we should not be ashamed and afraid to express our Faith. It's about time we embrace Halloween as a festivity that will counter the Culture of Death. Through it, we can also share the Light of Christ and proclaim His victory over sin, death and the devil!

Do What You're Passionate About

In the morning when you wake up, have you ever felt like you wish you did not need to get up to go to work? And when you do get the courage to drag yourself out of bed, do you try to encourage yourself that you can make it through another day, after all, you'd survive?

I have felt that way in the past. There were days it felt like work was forced on me, but I had to do my best anyway because I was entrusted with something that needed to be accomplished. I did not want to disappoint anyone, especially myself. And besides, I didn't want the bills to start piling up. 

I have been working for almost two decades now. And I have had seven (7) different jobs so far. Looking back, I am grateful I got the opportunity to experience them all. I learned a lot along the way. Career-wise, I am sure the world will not applaud me. After all, in that long years in the work force, I am still far from being a board director or a CEO. Honestly, that has never been my goal. Power-driven people might express derision at my lack of drive for success, but that's not just the sort of "high" that will make me feel contented with life.

Answering the Call : Reflecting on the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi

O Master grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love with all my soul... 

"Happy those who endure in peace,
for by You, Most High, they will be crowned."
(From Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis)

These words from the song Make Me A Channel of Your Peace has been erroneously attributed to the founder of the mendicant religious order, Ordo Fratrum Minorum. It has been known as the Prayer of Saint Francis even though it could not be traced back to him. 

I learned the song by heart when I was about twelve. My parents sent me to an all-girls Catholic school run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. If I had it my way, I would have wanted to study in another school run by the Dominicans. But because all things are not mere coincidences in the designs of Divine Providence, I am now grateful for the influence Saint Francis has had in my life, in ways I have not noticed then but now have realized.

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, nicknamed Francesco by his father, was born in 1181/1182, in Assisi. I remember his story because of the movie Brother Sun and Sister Moon. He was boisterous, arrogant and spoiled, what with his father Pietro being a wealthy silk merchant, and his mother Pica de Bourlemont, a noblewoman from Provence. 

Basilica Papale di San Francesco d"Assisi

Prior to his conversion, Saint Francis was described as gallant and handsome. He was one who delighted in the pleasures of this world; he sang merrily, he was showy and loved fine clothes. 

He had a vision which made him lose his taste for earthly life when he went to war in 1204. When he returned to Assisi, while praying inside the forsaken San Damiano, he heard a voice telling him "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which you see is falling into ruin."  Taking this literally, he sold some colored cloth from his father's shop, and gave it to the priest of the ruined church.

Highly incensed and indignant, his father Pietro beat, bound and locked Francis in a dark closet to change his mind. He was even beaten and humiliated in the presence of the Biship of Assisi and the population. At that point, Saint Francis stripped off the clothes he was wearing, renounced  his worldly possessions and his noble family name Bernardone, saying to his father, "I have called you my father on earth; henceforth I desire to say only 'Our Father who art in Heaven.'"  He left Assisi naked and lived an ascetic simple life as a man of God.

A scene from the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon

I remember a scene from Brother Sun and Sister Moon where Saint Francis said that if the purpose of life is filling our days with loveless toil, then it is not for him. The words struck me then, but I did not realize a seed was planted in my heart. 

In Saint Francis, we find someone who loves God above all else. He wholeheartedly gave his yes to Jesus when He called him. He was a Christian witness to the core, in his words and his very life. He lived the words of the Gospels to the letter, to the point of living in extreme poverty, in almost severe personal mortifications, and austerity, trusting solely in God's providence. In our materialistic world now, Saint Francis is radical and crazy. He was crazy ~ for love of God! 

An image of Saint Francis inside the adobe structure of

Misión San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores) in San Francisco, CA

I did not have the same privileged life as Saint Francis did, but I was never deprived. My parents provided well for me and my siblings. As a child, I enjoyed good toys, pretty dresses and shoes, and lived comfortably. But I was also taught to share. Charity, and compassion for others, truly begin at home. 

In school I was instilled to have compassion for the poor. At a young age, I remember going to immersion trips, staying with families of farmers, eating what they had, sleeping where they slept, helping out even in chores. Little did I know that those experiences left a mark in my soul.  

A mosaic of Saint Francis in the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church
in San Giovanni Rotondo

Looking back, I am grateful for the Franciscan sisters who taught me to think of others, especially the underprivileged, and to take active participation in helping alleviate their sufferings. It does not have to be grand acts of kindness. Small ones done with great love would suffice. 

"Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." (St. Matthew 25:40)

A statue and relic of Saint Francis
at Saint Peter's Church in downtown Chicago

Saint Francis has been instrumental in my discernment process, and eventually in my decision to also say yes to God when he called me. I have to say it had not been an easy decision to leave my comfort zone and devote myself to the cause of sharing the Gospels. I have a long way to go; my journey has actually just begun. But I am thankful that Saint Francis prays for me.

In this humble man from Assisi, I have also learned to see God in everything; and to see with child-like wonder the entire Creation. He has given us all an example to follow as stewards of everything that God created. 

In the Canticle of the Sun, he wrote, "Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honour And all blessing." Through the intercession of Saint Francis, may we all be able to live the Gospels in our lives.

Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux and Her Little Way

“Even now I know it: Yes, all my hopes will be fulfilled... Yes... The Lord will work wonders for me which will surpass infinitely my immeasurable desires”, Saint Therese de l'Enfant-Jesus once said.

I keep this in mind whenever I feel extremely exhausted and overwhelmed with temporal concerns. When the world makes me feel so small and unworthy, I remember that it is not in grand things that we can bring joy to the heart of God, but in doing the smallest things with great love.

And when I long for a much needed repose and solitude, I remember Saint Therese' words: "The world's thy ship and not thy home." It reminds me to always keep my focus on Jesus Christ, and that one day I shall be welcomed lovingly in my eternal home by my Eternal Father.

Pictures on display at the museum and inside the 

Basilique Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux

Adorably precocious blue-eyed and blond Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin, my dear Saint Therese, was born on January 2, 1873, in Rue Saint-Blaise, Alencos, a quaint town in Normany, France. She was baptized two days later on January 4th. 

A painting of Saint Thérèse done by her sister, Céline
(displayed in one of the rooms of Les Buissonets)

Saint Marie-Azelie Guerin, a lace maker, and Saint Louis Martin, a jeweller and watchmaker, were the devout parents of La Petite Fleur (The Little Flower). They had nine children, but lost three infants and 5-and-a-half year old Helene. All five of their surviving daughters became nuns: Marie (Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, of Lisieux, Carmel), Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus, Lisieux, Carmel), Leonie (Sister Francoise-Therese of the Visitandine at Caen), Celine (also a Carmelite in Lisieux, and was known as Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face), and finally, Saint Therese (Therese de l'Enfant et de la Sainte Face ~Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face).

A family of Saints: Blessed Zélie, Blessed Louis,  
Saint Thérèse and her sisters 

Saint Zelie died of cancer at the age of 45, on August 28, 1877. Saint Therese wrote "Every detail of my mother's illness is still with me, specially her last weeks on earth." Three months after, Saint Louis moved his family from Alencon to Lisieux. They lived in Les Buissonets, a lovely spacious country house with a beautiful garden on the slope of a hill overlooking Lisieux.

22 Chemin des Buissonnets, 14100 Lisieux, France

Saint Therese was ofren sick and began to suffer from nervous tremors. She recovered after gazing at the statue of the Virgin Mary, Notre-Dame du Sourire; she reported that she saw the Blessed Virgin smile at her on May 13, 1883. "Mary's face radiated in kindness and love", she wrote in her autobiography, The Story of A Soul. "Our Blessed Lady has come to me, she has smiled upon me. How happy I am."

It was on Christmas Eve of 1886 that Saint Therese said she had her complete conversion. In her words, she said, "I felt, in a word, charity enter my heart, the need to forget myself to make others happy ~ Since this blessed night I was not defeated in any battle, but instead I went from victory to victory and began, so to speak, to run a giant's course."

A replica of Notre-Dame de Sourire (Our Lady of the Smile)
found in Saint Thérèse's room in Les Buissonnets

She started to read The Imitation of Christ at fourteen years old. For her, it was as if Thomas A Kempis wrote each sentence for her: "The Kingdom of God is within you... Turn thee with thy whole heart unto the Lord; and forsake this wretched world, and thy soul shall find rest."

One Sunday afternoon in May 1887, Saint Louis sat in their garden and was approached by his youngest daughter, Saint Therese, who asked permission that she be allowed to enter the Carmel monastery in Lisieux. Louis and Therese both broke down and cried, but Louis got up, gently picked a little white flower, root intact, and gave it to her, explaining the care with which God brought it into being and preserved it until that day. Saint Therese later wrote: "while I listened I believed I was hearing my own story." To Therese, the flower seemed a symbol of herself, destined to live in another soil."

The statue portrays Sainte Thérèse
asking her father to allow her to enter Carmel

To Therese, the flower seemed a symbol of herself, destined to live Saint Therese was welcomed into Carmel, Lisieux on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, on April 09, 1888. She received the Carmelite habit on January 10, 1889, and had her perpetual vows on September 08, 1890. Therese' names in religion were two ~ of he Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. The former was given to her at her entry into the convent; veneration of the Child Jesus was a Carmelite heritage of the seventeenth century. The latter was given to her when she received the veil, as she loved to contemplate on the disfigured face of Jesus during His Passion. In her reflections, she wrote, "I, too, wanted to be without comeliness and beauty... unknown to all creatures."

"Whoever is a little one, let him come to me." (Proverbs 9:4)

Saint Therese spent a discreet life as a Carmelite nun from September 1890 until her death. In her very short life of only 24 years, she realized and understood that it was only through littleness, simplicity, and humility, that she may approach God and ask for His help.

Inside the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Thérèse.
It is decorated with mosaics representing scenes of the saint's life.

"Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing." 

In the Little Way, Saint Therese reveals the simple truth of the message of Love. It is a way that seeks holiness of life in the everyday ordinariness of our existence. She reminds us that God, as our Father, always shows us mercy and forgiveness; and that we can never attain perfection alone without His grace. She teaches us that we express our Love to God when we humbly serve others ~ especially the least, the last, and the lost. "True charity consists in bearing with all the defects of our neighbor, in not being surprised at his failings, and in being edified by his least virtues; Charity must not remain shut up in the depths of the heart, for no man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. (Cf. St. Matthew 5:15). It seems to me that his candle represents the Charity which ought to enlighten and make joyful, not only those who are dearest to me, but all who are in the house."

(At the crypt) Sarah and Tobias : A lesson on prayer, fasting, filial piety, purity of marriage and the powerful intercession of angels!

Saint Therese inspires me: "On each fresh occasion of combat, when the enemy desires to challenge me, I conduct myself valiantly: knowing that to fight a duel is an unworthy act, I turn my back upon the adversary without ever looking him in the face; then I run to my Jesus, and tell Him I am ready to shed every drop of blood in testimony of my belief that there is a Heaven; I tell Him I am glad to be unable to contemplate, while on earth, with the eyes of the soul, the beautiful heaven that awaits me so he will deign to open it for eternity to poor unbelievers.

I make a conscious effort to pray that i may not commit grave sins. I choose to obey God's precepts even when convenience is often the easiest way to go. But I cannot do it alone. I rely on the strength of Christ, who conquered sin, and even death, for love of me.

Monastère du Carmel de Lisieux 

"Time is but a shadow, a dream: already God sees us in glory and takes joy in our eternal beatitude. How this thought helps my soul! I understand then why he lets us suffer..." 

This I remember when at the brink of despair and helplessness. If my dear Saint Therese was not spared from sufferings, she who lived a holy life, how much more for a sinner like myself still in the vale of tears. In Jesus my hope is found. And Saint Therese has been constantly present in my life ~ journeying with me, consoling me, reassuring me with roses, and this fulfilling her promise: "After my death, I will let a fall of roses. I will spend heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved..."

By the example of the Little Flower, I have been drawn to a deeper love of God through the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Interior of the Basilica in Lisiuex

Whenever I feel like I am not doing much to spread the Joy of the Gospels, I remember Saint Therese' mission while here on earth: "My vocation is Love", she declared.

I have embraced that vocation, too. It is not without trials and sufferings. I am imperfect and thus commit sin. I get easily irked; my patience always being tried. In my weakness I sometimes judge swiftly, even though only in my head.

"Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love." True love is expressed in the simplest yet purest ways.

"When one loves,one does not calculate." I have yet to reach that perfection in Love, but all is possible through Jesus Christ.

The wax statue of Sainte Thérese was fashioned after the saint at the moment of her death. Engraved along the top of the case are her words: Je veux passer mon ciel faire du bien sur la terre;
“I want to spend my Heaven doing good on earth.”

Rev. John F. Russell, O.Carm. of Seton Hall University, when speaking about the life of the Little Flower said, "In living out her life of faith she sensed that everything that she was able to accomplish came from a generous love of God in her life. She was convinced that at the end of her life she would go to God with empty hands. Why? Because all was accomplished in union with God.

Catholics and other Christians have been attracted to Saint Therese' style. Her little way seems to put holiness of life within the reach of ordinary people. Live out your days with confidence in God's love for you. Recognize that each day is a gift in which your life can make a difference by the way you choose to live it. Put hope in a future in which God will be all, and love will consume your spirit. Choose life, not the darkness of pettiness and greed. Saint Therese knew the difference love makes by allowing love to be the statement she made each day of her life."

A blessed second visit to the hometown of my beloved Saint in 2011!

Saint Therese de l'Enfant-Jesus, priez pour nous. Merci pour votre intercession!