Foreword

The essays contained in this volume are drawn from three areas of interest.
1. General Topics.
2. Topics from the Philippines.
3. Religious topics taken from Private Revelations.
Each topic contains a truth suitable for instruction. The general topics
have come from a variety of sources. Many of them are from newspaper
clippings. Some have no date attached to them. This was due to a lack of
care when the topics were cut and filed.
The topics from the Philippines were chosen for their historical value.
Many people, especially the young, are unaware of the origins of their
cultural heritage. The religious topics are meant to provide details of events
found in the Gospels. None of them contradict scripture. These topics are not
generally available to the Catholic population. The three texts used, had to
be purchased from America at substantial cost and took fifteen years to
collect. They are not available here in the Philippines.
In general, passages of dialogue are shortened, and not quoted ver
batim. This is the editors licence to reduce a topic to a reasonable length.
What information may take a number of pages in a text is shortened to a few
specific paragraphs.
The idea for a compendium of short stories came from the writings of
Rev. Fr. Frank Mihalic S.V.D., now deceased. He was known personally to the
editor while both he and the editor served as missionaries in Papua New
Guinea although on different mission stations.

General Topics
1. The Runner
38. The Healing Benefits of
Forgiving.
2. Nandam Gani.
39. The Long Wait.
3. Lord Takayama.
40. A Womans Compassion.
4. Terry Fox.
41. The Phoenix.
5. Planning Ahead.
42. True or False The Shroud of
Turin.
6. Forgiveness.
43. The History of the
Shroud.
7. Practice Makes Perfect.
44. Where is the Ark of the
Covenant?
8. A Drink of Water.
45. Sources.
9. A Glorious Failure.
10.
No Beer.
11.
The Acorn Man.
12.
Alfred Nobel.
13.
The Tunisian Fruit seller.
14.
Konishi.
15.
The Great Soul of India.
16.
Kibawe.
17.
The Place where the star shone.
18.
Greater Love than this no man has- -
19.
The Door to Heaven.
20.
The Gift of the Fourth Magi.
21.
Purity of thought and Deed.
22.
The True Cross.
23.
The Absence of God.
24.
All packed but nowhere to go.
25.
Midas.
26.
The Friar of Foggio.
27.
The Value of One Mass.
28.
The Stanfords.
29.
One Glass of Milk.
30.
Making the Best of the situation.
31.
Limbo
32.
The Patron of Parish Priests.
33.
Ordeal in the Andes.
34.
Fr. Jose Tarrago S.J.
35.
Its only Pain.
36.
Oscar Romero.
37.
Islam A Religion Divided.

Topics from the Philippines

1. Our Lady Of Casaysay

2. The Santo Nino.
3. The Basques.
4. The Sangleys.
5. Origins of Christmas.
6. The 12 days of Christmas.
7. The Red Flower of Christmas.
8. Carols.
9. Halloween.
10.
Lent.
11.
The Meeting of Cultures.
12.
The Trade in Spices.
13.
What we owe Mexico.
14.
Magellan Warrior and Navigator.
15.
The Aftermath.
16.
The Spaniards Return.
17.
Urdaneta.
18.
The Galleon Trade.
19.
The Coming of Islam to the Philippines.
20.
The Coming of Christianity to the Philippines.
21.
Christianity comes to Mindanao.
22.
Davao City.
23.
The Founding of Davao.
24.
Fiesta de la Naval.
25.
Rebellion.
26.
The Trial of Jose Rizal.
27.
The Jesuits in the Philippines.
28.
The Rising Sun in the Philippines.

Religious Topics from Private Revelations.

1.
2.
3.
4.

A Husband for Mary.

37. The Assumption of Mary.
The First Adorers of the Christ child.
38. Portents in Rome.
The Three Magi.
39. The Robbers Hut.
Mary teaches Jesus, James and Jude.
40. John The Baptist.

5. The Return to Bethlehem.

41. The Blessed Mother at
Ephesus.
6. The Call of Matthew.
42. The Fall of Adam and Eve.
7. The Cure of a Dying Boy.
43. King Abgarus.
8. Photinai.
44. The Foolish Vow.
9. The Centurions Servant.
45. Reconciliation at Succoth.
10.
The Man from Korazim.
46. The Beheading of John.
11.
The Demoniacs of Gamala.
47. Finding Johns
Head.
12.
Jesus Incinerates a Pagan Idol.
48. The Chalice.
13.
The Sacraments.
49. The Creation & Fall of the
Angels.
14.
Marys Balm.
50. The Way of the
Cross.
15.
The Farrier.
51. Satan Revenge.
16.
The Temple Tax.
52. Selected saying of Jesus
17.
Holy Milk.
53. Sources.
18.
The Banquet at Johannas House.
19.
Wings.
20.
Zacchaeus.
21.
Jesus Quells A Fire.
22.
The Ten Lepers.
23.
The Woman Taken in Adultery.
24.
The Pharisee and the Publican.
25.
Valeria.
26.
The Two Brothers.
27.
The Raising of Lazaruz.
28.
Philip of Cantata.
29.
The Widows Offering.
30.
The Scourging.
31.
The Crowning with Thorns.
32.
The Crucifixion.
33.
Jesus appears first to His Mother.
34.
At the Estate of Joseph of Arimathea.
35.
The Risen Jesus visits the Mother of Judas.
36.
The Two Shrouds.

General Topics

The Runner
Toril is a commuter suburb of Davao City. It is situated South East of
Davao and about eighteen kms. From the center of Davao. Part of Toril
hinterland is the barangay of Catigan. The road to Catigan is cemented.
Staying in Caqtigan is an ex-police officer. Each day, rain or shine, he leaves
his home, dressed in running shorts, sando and no shoes. He runs
barefooted. The soles of his feet are tough.

He has a grey beard and grey thinning hair on his head. Starting in the
morning he will run 30 kms from his home along the MacArthur highway and
on occasion back through the Toril Poblacion.
He is 67 years old (2013) and runs to keep fit. He carries no backpack or
water bottle, preferring to buy what he needs from a small amount of money
kept in the pocket of his shorts.
This former police officer was assigned in the Calinan district. He had to
appear each day on morning parade in regulation dress. This included
regulation boots.
He found that the boots were uncomfortable and hurt his feet, so he
regularly turned up in bare feet. This did not go down well with his superiors.
Nevertheless he was feared by the New Peoples Army rebels in the Calinan
district. He was a brave, very fit police officer.
Word of this bootless officer reached the police headquaters in Davao and he
was asked to resign. Which he did. To keep fit he ran in barefeet.
He is well known and well respected by the local people of Toril. He is no
buang (A crazy person.) He is very sociable and has a characteristic winning
smile.
There are many joggers and fitness runners in the early hours of each
day in Toril, but none of them can match him for persistance and endurance.
He is an icon. His name is Immanuel Besmanus.

Nandam Gani

The faith came to Japan through the brief visit of St. Francis Xavier who
landed in Kagoshima on August 15, 1549. Other missionaries followed him.
By 1614 the number of Christians had grown to 300,000.
The nation of Japan from about the year 1200 AD. was a land
controlled by feudal lords called daimyo who divided Japan among
themselves. Each daimyo commanded an army of professional warrios
called samurai.
Originally the native religion of the country was Shintoism. In the 6th
Century two new quasi religions entered Japan from China via the Korean
Peninsular. Confucianism, which was more a code of life than a religion and
Buddhism which was a philosophy based on the life and doctrines of
Siddharta Gautama. Buddhism grew to dominate all classes of Japanese
society. Buddhist monasteries flourished and the Buddhist monks came to
wield great influence.
Japan became unified under two great shoguns. The first great
shogun was Oda Nobunga who in 1573 broke the resistance of the
Buddhist monastries and subdued many of the local daimyos. Out of
hatred for the Buddhist monks he showed favour to the fledgeling Christian
community. Oda Nobunga was followed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1582.
At first he was also favourable to Christianity but suddenly he became
its persecutor. In 1597 he ordered twenty six christians detained at Kyoto, to
be transferred to Nagasaki where crosses had been prepared for their
execution. They were to be made an example of to other Christians. So as to
make all other christians to apostasize.
Their left ears were cut off and they were forced to walk through the
streets of Nagasaki until they reached the hill of execution. Seventeen of the
Christians were from the Franciscan third order. Three of them were young
boys under fifteen years of age. Six were Spanish priests (Franciscans) and
three were Japanese jesuit scholastics. The crucifixion was a brutal affair
which ended in the piercing of the crucified Christians with long bladed
spears in un upward direction through the trunks of their bodies causing
massive bleeding and internal injuries.
Hideyoshi died in 1598 and was succeeded by Tokugawa Yeyasu, a
dedicated Buddhist. On Jan 27, 1614, Shogun Yeyasu issued a Decree of
general persecution, claiming Christianity to be a wicked religion. All
missionaries and catechists were ordered out of the country. Churches were

demolished, cemeteries desecrated and all christian symbols such as crosses

and images were destroyed.
In 1622, fifty seven Christians were martyred at Nishizaka Hill ( the Mountain
of Martyrs) at Nagasaki. On Dec. 4 1623, fifty christians were burnt at the
stake in Yedo. (Tokyo)
Nagasaki christians suffered the heavist persecutions. In 1632 Tokugawa
Yemitsu became Shogun. He had a special hatred for Christianity. In 1636 he
issued the Sakoku Edict effectively closing Japan to the outside world.
During this period a huge group fishermen from Nagasaki rallied to
demand better conditions for themselves. Unfortunately they carried
christian religious slogans on banners and took over the castle of the local
daimyo at Shimabasa. The shogun acted swiftly. He sent a massive army of
samurai to the area and massacred 35,000 of the christian fishermen.
Christians went into hiding. Many pretended to be Buddhist. During the
day they offered incense to Buddhist statues in their homes. All former
christians were under constant surveillance. To outwit the authorities they
placed statues of the Buddhist Mother in their homes. These were statues
of a female whom the christians honoured as Mary.
In the same christian homes the family members would gather in the
quietness of night in front of a special cupboard. When the doors of the
cupboard were opened, a statue of a female holding a small child was
revealed. This was a christian image of the mother and child. The christians
honoured this statue with great reverence. This was the Nandam Gani.
The God in the cupboard.
A prophecy arose amongst the christians that after seven generations
a priest would come again to Japan. In 1853 an American naval commander
entered Japan. His name was Dewey. He forced the reigning shogun to open
up Japan to trade. The shogun reluctantly allowed foreign traders,
Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and British to occupy an island as a foreign
enclave. Priests came from Macau with the Portuguese traders. A church was
built.
One quiet day a farmer came to see the priest. He enquired as to
whether the priest was married or not. When he found that the priest was
celibate, he asked him did the priest honour the mother of God. The priest
took him to a side altar dedicated to Our Lady. The next day the priest was
surprised to see a group of families kneeling before the side altar of Our Lady

and praying. The leader informed the priest that they were christians whose
ancestors had passed down from generation to generation the doctrines of
the Roman church and whose members had in each generation been
baptised in the formula handed down from two brave fishermen, two
hundred years before. When the two fishermen died, their sons carried on in
secret the instruction and baptism of the christians. This continued from
father to son in each generation until the Priest arrived in the late 1850s.

1.

Lord Takayama.
Takayama Ukon was born in 1552 or 1553. His family was among the
early converts to the Jesuits missionary work in Japan. He was baptized a
Catholic in 1563 when he was just a boy. He became a daiymo (Lord),
being made a govenor of Takatsuki, a castle town between Osaka and Kyoto
the Japanese capital at that time.
He gained fame as a general and military engineer, at one time serving
as commander of shogun Hideyoshis body guard battalion. He became
famous as a builder of castles, a waka (Poet), a deotee of the tea ceremony
and an outstanding classical scholar, a builder of churches, chapels and
finally a seminary.
He was married but only his first born son reached adulthood and generated
for him five grandsons.
The shogun Hideyoshi assigned him to Akaski in 1585. The Shogun
tried to persuade him to renounce his Christian faith. He stood firm and for
this refusal to recant was reduced in rank from general to the position of an
ordinary samurai in 1587. He served in Kanazawa in this lowly position until
1614 when the new Shogun Yeyasu, issued a decree of general persecution
against Christians.
Because of Takayamas fame and reputation amongst the Jpanese, the
Shogun was unwilling to kill such a distinguished man. The geatest insult at
the time was to be banished by the shogun to some remote island in Japan.
However for Lord Takyama Ukon an even greater insult was prepared. He was

to be permanently exiled from his nativeland. Takayama together with his

family and 147 other noblemen were exiled to the Philippines. The party of
exiles reached Manila, after a rough journey by sea, on Dec. 21, 1614. In his
possessions Takayama had a statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
This was brought to Japan by Spanish missionaries. He returned it to the
Dominicans and it is revered to day in Santa Domingo Church, Quezon City.
After forty days in Manila, Takayama contracted a tropical disease, suffered a
high fever and passed away on Feb. 3 , 1615.
A statue of Lord Takayama stands in Plaza Dilao in Manila. His cause for
Beatification continues.

2.

Terry Fox
Terry Fox lost his right leg to cancer in 1977. He was 18 years old.
While in the hospital, the suffering of cancer patients touched him deeply. He
determined that somehting had to be done to raise the hope of cancer
patients. He was given a prosthetic leg to replace the one removed by the
doctors. When he had adjusted to using his artificial leg, he decided that he
could run with it and set himself the goal of running across his native country
Canada.
He designed a T Shirt. emblazoned with the Canadian flag and the
wording Marathon of Hope. With fierce determination he was able to run 26
miles every day. Some friends offered to help im. They provided food and
drink and they supplied a support vehicle. It was a van stocked with food and
drink which provided him a place to rest at night. The friends accompanied
Terry on his journey, following him in the van.
He was defiant in the face of the killer disease, cancer. As word spread
along the highway, people came out of towns and villages to cheer him on,
donate money to his cancer fund and even to run a few miles with him.
Some rode bicycles to accompany him.
Terry ran for 143 days. It was then that he felt quite unwell. He was
hospitalised. The cancer had invaded his lungs. His running came to an end.
He died in June 1981 but left behind an example that inspired other people in

over 50 different countires to run The Terry Fox Marathon of Hope annually
to raise funds for cancer research in their respective countries.

3.

Planning Ahead.
In 1921 American Jesuits took over the administration of Ateneo de
Manila. One of the changes that the Americans introduced was a periodic fire
drill. This was important. The Ateneo was located in Intramuros and was a
boarding school catering for some 300 boys from different parts of the
Philippines.
The boys were grouped in different dormitories called Brigades. One
brigade was composed of college undergraduates, one was for High School
students, while a third was for Grade school children. At Ateneo, the lower
storeys were built of stone but the upper floor, where the dormitories were
located was made of wood.
In the middle of the night several times a year, the bells would ring.
The boys were trained to get up from bed and move quickly down the many
flights of stairs to the ground floor and then out into the street where they
would assemble in their Brigades. Rolls would be called to see if anyone
was missing. From the ringing of bells to the roll call took exactly two
minutes. The whole exercise was supervised by prefects.

This exercise annoyed the students. They were aroused from their
sleep and rushed down to the street in their pyjamas or underwear in the
middle of a cold night.
One night in August of 1932, this exercise proved of vital importance. A
fire started in a government office in Intramuros and it spread to Ateneo. The
bells wer rung frantically. The boys, well trained, hurried downstairs as usual
and formed up. The were marched to the campus in Padre Faura. The
building they had just left burned to the ground. The boys lost everything
clothes, books, money but not themselves. All of them were safe.
The man in charge of fire drills at that time was Rev. Fr. John Hurley S.J.
When firemen arrived they trained their hoses on the burning building, which
was beyond hope. Fr. Hurley seized a hose from an astonished fireman and
trained it onto the residence of the priests
The
mission House.
He completely drenched its sides and roof with water. His actions saved the
mission house.
Fire drills and earthquake drills may be annyoing, but they can save lives.

4.

Forgiveness
A young man in his early twenties was arrested for drug possession. At
the court he was sentenced to eight years in the provincial penitentiary. His
whole family was present at the sentencing. His father was overwhelmed at
what had happened to his eldest son. As the courtroom emptied and two
policemen led the young man away hand cuffed, his father angrily
proclaimed,
You have brought shame to our family, I never want to see you in our house
again.

During his incarceration the mother visited him when regulations

permitted. He was paroled early for good behavior. His sentence had been
cut to six and a half years.
Before his release, he sent a message to his mother asking that a
white ribbon be tied to the big tree near the side of his home, if his father
had forgiven him. He would see it as the train went past their farm when he
was released.
He boarded the train when released and anxiously waited for it to draw
near his parents farm. He was too upset to look out the window of the train.
So he asked a fellow passenger to look and see if the tree had a single white
ribbon hanging from it. The fellow passenger looked and said ,No
Dejected, the young man asked his fellow passenger to look carefully again.
The fellow passenger remarked that he could not see a single ribbon
because the whole tree was covered in white ribons. Not only the tree, but
also the clothesline beside it.
Tears came to the young mans eyes as he scrambled from the slow
moving train, threw his duffle bag over the fence and climbed between the
barbed wires. He had been forgiven.

Practice makes Perfect

Towards the end of world war II, Stan Mason left his home and joined
the Royal Air Force. He was eighteen years old. After a few weeks of initial
training and inculcated into the regimen of young aircorps men, he was
assigned to a Bomber Command training facility.

The Air Force was not a democracy, so the new recruits were appointed
by higher command to their particular course and had no alternative but to
obey orders. Stan was shuffled along to a unit of young men to train as a
rear gunner.
Being a Rear gunner was a perilous occupation. In the early years of
the war, life expectancy as a rear gunner was limited to months. When
enemy fighters attacked a bomber formation they did so from behind or
underneath. Their first task was to reduce the rear pod of the Wellington and
Lancaster bombers to a bloody mess, then proceed to destroy the bombers
engines.
Each day of their training the rear gunner class reported to a blacked
out hall. Here they sat through each day for several hours a slide show of
enemy fighter aircraft shown at different positions. They had to identify
Focke Wulfs and Messerschmidts, from friendlies Spitfires and Hurricanes.
The young men became a bit annoyed with the continuing slide show. It went
on for several weeks. They were anxious to suit up and practice with the
double barrel 50 caliber machine guns, which were to be their tools in
trade.
Finally one brave classmate stood up and valiantly objected to the Air
Force Captain for the continuing daily picture show. The training Captain
stopped the projector and came to the front of the room. He said quietly,
This Slide show you are complaining about may well save your lives. When
you began three weeks ago, the exposure time for each frame was ten
seconds. Yesterday you were identifying successfully each fighter plane in
one tenth of a second.
No one complained anymore. Luckily, the war in Europe ended before
Stan Mason boarded his first bomber. After the war, the Australian
Government, desperate to increase its 8 million population, offered people
from the U.K. Italy and Greece, assisted passage by ship to emigrate to
Australia. The cost was 10 (English pounds) per person. Many immigrants
came. Stan was one of them. He found a job with an engineering firm and
eventually built himself a modern home at Rafting Ground Road Kenmore.
(An Outer suburb of Brisbane.)
He never forgot the three weeks of slide shows. He knew from experience
that Practice makes perfect.

A drink of Water
There was a woods man who had a beautiful wife, three little girls and
a big dog. He would leave every morning for the forest. At the same time the
mother would go marketing. There were no refrigerators in those days.
While the mother and the father were away, the three girls played
happily in the front yard. One day a very ugly old woman came to the gate.
The girls were afraid and let the big dog loose to run near the fence. The ugly
woman turned away.
The next day she came again. This time the father took the big dog to
the forest with him and the mother went to the market with the eldest girl.
When two remaining girls saw the ugly woman at the gate, they threw stones
at her. The ugly woman turned away.
It so happened that later in the week only the youngest child was left
to guard the house. All the other family members were away. The ugly old
woman came again. There was no big dog and no one to throw stones at her.
So she opened the gate and came down the walkway and sat on the front
steps.
The little girl inside the house was terrified. At the same time she felt
sorry for the ugly old woman and through a nearby window she asked what
the ugly old woman wanted. The woman replied.
I would like a drink of water.
The little girl lost her fear; she got an old tin dipper from the kitchen;
ran to the well at the back of house; hauled up a bucket of cool clear water
and filling the dipper hurried out the front door and handed the dipper to the
ugly old woman.
She drank the water. Then she shivered, stood up and turned into a beautiful
princess. A witch had put a spell on her and turned her into an ugly old
woman.
She told the little girl that she had to stay that way until someone was
kind to her. Everyone she had approached for help had chased her away until
the little girl had given her the drink of water. To show the little girl how
grateful the Princess was, she took the old dipper in her hands and changed
the edges into beautiful diamonds and threw it into the sky, then she

vanished. The dipper is still here in the night sky. Seven beautiful diamonds.
It forms the constellation called the Big Dipper.
Christ had promised that even a cup of cold water given to someone who is
thirsty would have its reward.

5.

A Glorious Failure
One of the great theologians of modern times was Karl Rahner S.J. He
was born in Freiburg Germany in 1904. In 1922 he entered the Jesuits. After
completing his seminary training, he was given two years to earn a doctorate
in Philosophy. His superiors wanted him to teach Philosophy in a Jesuit
seminary. Rahner had set his heart on teaching theology but being a
dedicated religious he obeyed his superiors and went to Freiburg University
to study Philosophy under Martin Honecker, an orthodox conventional doctor
of Catholic Philosophy.
Rahner chose for his dissertation a topic taken from the Summa
Theologica dealing with human knowledge. Rahner was a creative thinker
and built on the work of Thomas Aquinas. He submitted his research to
Honecker. Honecker flunked him.
His superiors now decided that Karl Rahner should teach Theology at
the Jesuit University in Innsbruck in Austria. He was delighted. He began to
publish works such as a dissertation on the church originating from the side
of Christ, a book of mediations and later a theological anthropology called
Hearers of the Word.
With the rise of the Nazis and the invasion of Poland, most priests in
religious orders, especially Franciscans and Jesuits, were rounded up and
sent to Dachau concentration camp never to return. Rahner was removed
from his University and the University itself abolished. He was exiled from
the Tyrol Region of Austria but luckily not sent to Dachau. He survived the
war as a lecturer in a pastoral institute in Vienna. Later he worked amid the
wreckage and debris left by the bombing of Munich, then in 1948 by giving
courses at the re established university in Innsbruck.
In the early 1960s he received a telephone call from Franz Konig,
Archbishop of Vienna, asking him to come as the archbishops theological
advisor during Vatican II. Rahner came to be regarded as the most powerful
exegete at the council. After the council he wrote hundreds of brief essays on
a broad range of subjects.

Former students tell of his love for ice cream, fast cars and toy shops.
He had an almost instable curiosity for learning how things work. He had a
human side to his intellect. Friends speak of his bringing groceries to a widow
and typing the thesis of a student in academic trouble.
This great giant of a theologian started with failure. He flunked Philosophy.

6.
No Beer
The little sisters of the Poor have several houses for disadvantaged
people in Brooklyn, New York. One of these homes cares for elderly men. The
elderly men living there had no beer to drink for some time. There was a
statue to St. Joseph in a prominent place in the home. The Sisters had
considerable devotion to St. Joseph.
The elderly men acquired some empty beer bottles and placed them
on the ledge in front of St. Josephs statue to remind the holy saint of their
need.
A priest visited the home and noticed the beer bottles in front of St.
Josephs statue. He enquired as to their significance. Having completed his
visit, he walked to the subway to catch a train. While riding the subway, he
remembered the beer bottles and was chuckling to himself.
A stranger sitting opposite the priest was intrigued by the mirth of the
cleric. He leaned over and asked the priest to share the joke with him. The
priest related the incident of the beer bottles in front of St. Josephs statue.
The stranger asked him where the home for the elderly was.
Then he leaned over again and told the priest that he was the vice
president of a brewing company and he said that as long as he lived, he
would see to it that the elderly men would receive a regular supply of beer. A
few days passed and the Sisters were surprised to see several crates of beer
delivered to the home. St. Joseph had not forgotten those who believed in
him.

7.

The Acorn Man

In 1913 in South Eastern France a Frenchman having lost his wife and
son, left the fertile plain where he had been raising sheep and moved to a
deserted area around Cevennen where the Alps thrust down in to the region
of Provence in the extreme South Eastern part of France.
He took with him 30 sheep selected from his flock and journeyed to an
abandoned village. All the houses and the village chapel were in ruins. He
selected one ruined house and rebuilt it with stones. His name was Eliaeard
Bouffier. He was 55 years old. Every day he took his sheep into the nearby
hills and while they grazed, he collected fallen acorns.
In the evening, he selected the best 100 from the acorns and soaked
them overnight in a bucket of water. The next day, using an iron rod 1
yards in length, he dug holes and planted the acorns. As he moved his flock,
he planted acorns. Within three years he had planted 100,000 acorns in an
area 11 kilometres by 3 kilometers. About 20,000 of the acorn seeds
sprouted.
He worked alone in this isolated place and almost lost the art of speech
in his solitude. Five years later he reduced his flock of sheep to only four. The
sheep had become a threat to the young acorn saplings. He began a nursery
of beech trees near his stone cottage and began also to raise bees. He
eventually had 100 beehives.

Some important things happened. Water came back to the little streams,
willows and rushes grew, flowers sprang up and natural vegetation grew
back.
He decided to move to the edge of his forest to set up a new stone cottage
and begin planting Beech trees.
In 1945 he was 87 years old. His rustic life had given him the strength
and vigour of younger men. In the old abandoned village near his first
cottage, several families took up residence, rebuilt houses, planted
vegetable and flower gardens and built farms. In 1945 there were 28
inhabitants in the new village. The farms were groves of maple trees. All the
trees that Eliaeard had planted were now big and tall. They trapped the
winter snows and the streams became rivers. Birds and wildlife abounded.
No one knows when the old Frenchman passed away but today over 10,000
people live in the area of his forest.
His life has shown how, with courage and persistence, one person can make
a difference.

8.
Alfred Nobel

Alfred was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct 21, 1833. His father was
a businessman, an inventor and an engineer, while his mother Andriette ran
a store. Alfred followed in the footsteps of his father. He too became an
inventor. His most famous invention was dynamite. This came about by the
influence of one of his professors who was a chemist. The professor showed
Alfred the value of nitrogylcerine and its uses. Nitro, for short, was a
volatile substance. Over time, Alfred discovered how to handle it safely by
mixing it with a powder. The combined chemicals he called dynamite. It
was small but powerful. He applied for and obtained a patent for his new
invention. In 1867 by the time he died his fertile brain had led him to 358
patens in many fields, including electro chemistry, optics, biology and
physiology.
This period of human history, was called the Industrial Revolution. It
was also a time of wars. The nobel family set up factories for producing
dynamite. There was a huge demand for it in construction, mining and the
military. Its use was so widespread in the military that Alfred became known

as the Merchant of death, an appellation that caused him great distress.

Despite this, he amassed a large fortune. When he died in San Remo at age
63, (1896) his personal worth was 31 million Kronor. In todays terms it would
be roughly equivalent to $110,000,000 U.S.
As he grew older he saw the need to do something significant for the
world. He was burdened by the suffering his invention of dynamite had
caused. He made a will that made sure that his personal wealth would be
used for peaceful purposes. When he wrote his will in 1895 he stipulated the
establishment of the Nobel Prize in the various sciences and for peace itself.
When his will was opened after his death, his family was upset and
opposed the establishment of such a cause. Those designated by law to
carry out his will, refused to do so. However foundations were set up to fund
Alfreds request and the first Nobel Prize was awarded in Stockholm in 1901.
Since then, Nobel Prizes have been awarded for outstanding research
in Medicine, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Economics and
other disciplines each year. The recipients receive a medal, a huge financial
gift and worldwide acclaim for their work. Among the prizes of course, is the
Nobel Prize for Peace. These prizes are awarded in December each year in
Sweden after suitable candidates are screened by eminent scholars.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel may have given the world dynamite, but he
left behind a tradition that elevates the spirit of humankind with his prizes for
outstanding human achievement. The Nobel Prize.

9.

The Tunisian Fruit Seller

Mohamed Bouazizi was a young fruit vendor in Tunisia, North Africa.
Government officials were harassing him over his business. He was 26 years
old and from a poor family. For three decades the president of Tunisia, Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali and the members of his family amassed riches for
themselves from Government funds while the people got poorer,
unemployment reached high levels and there was very little development.
Ben Ali and his relatives lived a life of untold luxury. Expensive villas,
fast cars, holidays abroad, very expensive paintings of world renowned
artists, rich clothes and accessories and food that poor people did now know
existed.

Any discontent among the people was brutally suppressed by the

police and military under Ben Alis orders. He was a total dictator.
Mohamed Bouazizi knew the justice system in Tunisia was controlled by
the President. In fact, the poor had no justice apart from their prayers to God.
So Mohamed poured a flamable liquid over himself and set himself alight in
protest at all the injustices in his country. He died from his injuries on Dec.
17, 2010.
Such a death was unheard of in the Arab world. Self immolation was
just not sanctioned in the Koran. As word spread of Mohameds act of
defiance, the whole population of Tunisia rose up against the government
and the President. Young men took to the streets in unprecedent numbers;
fought with the police, died for their desire for political freedom and as the
movement grew to a crescendo, President Ali and his family fled the country.
The corrupt dictatorship had been overthrown. Such an event was unknown
in the Arab World.
The fever spread in a ripple effect across North Africa. The people of
Egypt revolted against the corrupt rule of Hosni Mubarak and his cronies.
After weeks of protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo, the people reclaimed the
country and imprisoned Mubarak and his sons and senior officials who, like
Ben Ali, had ruled his country for four decades.
Then the people of Libya rose up against their leader, the dictator
Moammar Gadaffi. Libya was a tribal country. Gadaffi had a huge store of
tanks and missiles as well as many supporters, especially the tribesmen from
his own city of Sirte. He ordered the slaughter of the inhabitants of
Bengharzi. They were the first to rise up against him. International countires
led by America, France and Britain intervened. Their war planes pounded
Gadaffis armoured columns day and night. The tribepeople of the Western
mountains particularly around Zintain, rose up and confronted Gadaffis army.
They had been mistreated for many years by the dictator.
The stand and defence by the people of Misrata on the meditteranean
coast, has become the stuff of legends. They were heroic.
The battle for Libya raged on for weeks. Eventually the capital itself
was taken by the bravery of the mountain people. They used weapons
captured from Gadaffis army and mercenaries and calling themselvse the
Tripoli Brigade made rapid decisive inroads in to the Capital itself. Tripoli fell.

Two Gaddafi strongholds were the scenes of ferocious fighting. The loss
of life amongst the rebels was staggering. These were the cities of Sirte and
Beni Whalid. But they fell to the courage of the rebels and Gadaffi was
captured trying to escape from Beni Whalid. He was executed by his captors
and his body put on display for Jubilant rebels to file past and see that the
dictator who had ruled for so long with a bloody fist, was really gone.
In Jan of 2011 the people of Syria held peaceful demonstrations against
the Assad regime. It began in Daraa and Homs as oppressed Sunni arabs
rose up in protest against the Alawight led army and Shia Government of the
assad family. The army shot in cold blood thousands of protestors and their
Alawight militia carried out horrendous massacres of Sunni villagers.
The Syrian Army is very large and the best equipped among the Arab
nations. They are supported by Russia and Iran. Russia has a huge naval
base in the north west of Syria and economic interests there as well. Iran is a
Shia nation and is constantly sending arms and soldiers to support the Shia
Regime of Assad. Assads forces have complete control of the air. Jets and
helicopters supplied by Russia wreak devastation on rebel strongholds and
even have destryoed large parts of the biggest cities, Aleppo and the capital
of Damascus.
As of this writing, Jan 2013, much of Syria is in ruins and well over
60,000 civilians have been killed. The war there seems endless. Russia and
China have consistently vetoed any resolution in the United Nations Security
Council that would permit international intervention to stop the killing.
The whole wave of revolt across the Arab world has been called the
Arab Spring. It started with the confiscation of a fruit vendors weiging
scales by Goernment inspectors because the struggling vendor was
unlicensed. A female official also confiscated all his fruit and slapped him
across the face. This was an unforgiveable insult to an Arab man. That slap
on the face cost Mohammed Bouazizi his life and many thousands of others
across the region of the Middle East. Bouazizi will go down in history as a
hero and a martyr. In 2012, the British newspaper, The Times named the
Tunisian fruit seller, the Person of the year in 2011. The Arab Spring has
not led to democracy and peace, there is a lot of discontent still in the Arab
Countries.

Konishi

During World War II many foreingers were rounded up from Luzon and
interned in Los Banos. The commander of the Japanese guards was called
Knoishi by the prisoners. The religious were set up in one section of the
camp. This section was called Vatican City. Konishi informed the
prisoners that he would allow them the right to govern themselves. For this
purpose. They were to elect 15 people for a Central Committee. Only men
were elected. No Women. Eight were British Nationals, the rest a mixture of
nationalities including a Jesuit, Fr. Frank Burns. The Committee assembled
before Konishi to listen to their rights and obligations. There were no rights
and obligations. Konishi made one statement only to the Central
Committee. If anyone escapes from the camp, you fifteen will be executed.
Fr. Frank rushed back in horror telling the other prisoners Dont try to
escape! On the nearby slopes of Mount Makiling, Filipino Guerilleros would
from time to time ambush Japanese patrols. This enraged Konishi. The
prisoners were already on starvation diet. He would reduce the rice ration as
a pay back, making conditions worse.
The prisoners resorted to gardening. Women traded jewellery with the
guards just to obtain a small amount of rice. Prisoners ate bananas and fried
the skins. They consumed them also as well as chewed up corn cobs. Salt
was a luxury. Konishi believed that if the prisoners were too weak, they would
not have the strength to escape. One morning just before dawn, there was a
rifle shot. Outside the first row of barbed wire, (there were three rows) was a
young prisoner. He was rolling on the ground with a wound in his shoulder.
Beside him was a small bundle. The guards dragged him outside the camp
and executed him with a pistol shot to the head. They returned his body for
burial and also the bundle. He was not trying to escape. He was trying to
get back in!
He had started at 11:00 pm crawling on his belly and got out, past the
rows of barbed wire and the guards. He had met the guerrilleros. They had
fed him. He thought of his wife and baby inside the camp, asked for some
food and tied it up in a bundle. Rice, bananas and a coconut. The bundle
was given to his wife with his blood on it. When the American troops arrived,
the Japanese guards who had fled were captured. Among them was
Konishi. He was tried for his war crimes. They were many. Starving the
prisoners; executing some and massacring the villagers of Calamba whom he
thought were helping the prisoners. While most prisoners hated Konishi,
the religious sisters had consistently offered prayers for him. During his trial
he asked to become a Catholic. At four in the morning as he was led to be
executed, he knelt and was baptized at the foot of the gallows. A hood was

placed over his head and he was hanged. While he was kicking in his death
throes, a priest annointed with the holy oils, his hands tied behind his back.
The prayers of the Sisters had been answered. We should pray for our
enemies.

10.
The Great Soul of India

He was a most unlikely leader. Born in India, he trained as a lawyer in

London and moved to South Africa. He was appalled at the effects of
Aparheit there. He led marches, was beaten many times and spent several
hundred days in jail. He was kicked off trains, ejected from hotels and
restaurants for demonstrating for civil rights. His protests had little effect on
the people who made and enforced laws. So he returned of India.
There, he found his own countrymen ruled by Britain with a series of
harsh laws. He decided on a philosophy of non-violence- a technique of quiet
civil disobedience. He called for a day of no activity. Shops closed. Traffic
ceased. The whole nation shut down right under the noses of the colonial
administration. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Britain was growing raw cotton in India, transporting it to England for
milling and shipping manufactured products back to India for sale at high
prices and huge profits. Gandhi urged every Indian to spend at least an hour
a day spinning cotton. He set the example himself, digging up an old
spinning wheel that he used for the rest of his life.
Salt was a staple requirement for every family. Britain controlled the
production and sale of salt. Gandhi countered this with his famous Salt
March. This was a 384 km. walk to the sea. As he walked along, a million
peasants eventually joined his entourage. He waded into the salt gathering
pools when he arrived at the coast. He scooped up a handful of salt and
urged his countrymen to make their own salt. The British salt monopoly
collapsed.
When policemen tried to stop demonstrators with clubs, the protestors
lined up in orderly rows to receive the blows. The Government was
bewildered. The officials took Gandhi to court believing that this would
intimidate him.
He calmly stood in court and asked to be given the maximum
sentence. This would give him time for reflection and writing. In all, he spent

2,338 days in British Jails. He had become a real thorn in the side of the
colonial administrators.
At Amritsar, a detachment of Indian troops under British officers fired
on an illegal demonstration. Over 700 people were killed and about 800
wounded. This incident enraged all of India and spurred on the desire for
independence.
Gandhi identified with the poor. In particular he took up the cause of
the Untouchables. This was the lowest caste in the Hindu Caste system. He
called them the children of God. Today there are more than 100 million
Children of God. Due to his efforts the social stigma associated with this
group has been greatly reduced.
In 1947 as momentum for independence swept India, Hindus and
Moslems turned on one another with unbelievable ferocity. Increasingly it
appeared that the whole country would burst into flames. Gandhi went on an
Ointment Crusade. He visited 47 of the most volatile villages, walking 185
kms barefooted. In each village he persuaded one Hindu and one Muslim
leader to share the same house. This example would serve as a guarantor of
peace. The leaders were to fast to the death if anyone was attacked.
Incredibly it worked.
However the unrest came to a head with a massive migration of
Moslems into areas now known as Pakistan and Bangladesh and Hindus
moving back into Hindu areas of India.
Lord Mountbatten, the British Viceroy, had committed all his troops to
the dangerous Western border between India and the newly proclaimed
Pakistan. The area known as Kashmir saw killings with violence even in the
21st Century.
He had no reserves to send to the Eastern Border, with the newly
proclaimed Eastern Pakistan. (Bangladesh)
Mountbatten pleaded with Gandhi to go to Calcutta to ease the tension
there. Gandhi approached a corrupt Moslem politician there and persuaded
him to let Gandhi live in the same house with him. Gandhi vowed that if a
single Hindu was killed by a Moslem, then he would fast to the death. Peace
came to Calcutta.
In 1948 India declared formal independence. For the sixteen days that
followed, Gandhi held a prayer meeting in the front of his slum house. Using

loudspeakers he spoke of peace and love and brotherhood. Calcutta listened.

At first a few hundred people attended then several thousands and finally a
million people crammed into the slum area to listen to the Soul of India.
The next day two Muslims were murdered. Gandhi began a fast to the
death. Within 24 hrs. his already weak heart started to miss beats. His blood
pressure fell dramatically. Reports of Gandhis condition were reported on the
radio. Soon he was too weak to move. The violence stopped. No one was
willing to be the cause of this great mans death.
One by one the gang members responsible for the death of the two
Moslems came to beg forgiveness from Gandhi. They laid their guns at his
feet. A truck arrived filled with grenades and weapons. The leaders of every
religious group in the city of Calcutta signed a declaration guaranteeing that
no more killing would take place.
Who was this frail old man who weighed only 114 pounds who was
barely five feet tall? His head was shaved, he had a large nose and big ears.
His little spectacles made him look a funny sight. Yet he persuaded people,
not by force but by his belief in non violence.
He rose each day at 2:00 am to pray and read. Among his few
possessions were the Hindu scriptures, the New Testament and the Koran. He
knew well the Tenets of Christianity. He admired Jesus. However he confessed
that he did not like Christians. They did not live up to the lofty doctrines
proclaimed by their founder.
When he travelled on trains he travelled third class in the
compartments full of crowded unwashed peasants and with the noise and
smell of their farm animals.
When one day a train official asked him why he travelled with all this dirt and
noise, he replied.
Because there was no fourth class.
When he was invited to England, important government officials waited
at the dock as his ship berthed. They were all in regulation attire. When
Gandhi appeared tottering down the gang plank, they were shocked. Here
was the great dignity from India dressed only in a loin cloth and leading a
goat, his milk supply. He declined the governments offer of accommodation
in the best hotels and took up residence in one of Londons notorious East
End Slums.

He was taken to meet the King of England. He arrived half naked as

usual and stopped by an official who questioned him on his lack of clothes.
Looking down the hall where the king waited to greet him, he replied with a
smile,
The king is wearing enough clothes for both of us.
Such was Mahatma Gandhi The Soul of India.

11.

Kibawe
During Martial law (1972-1986) in the little town of Kibawe, in the
Mountains of Mindanao, Fr. Godofredo Alingal was parish priest. People from
Manila came to the natives of his area and told them that they had to leave
the land as it was not theirs. The natives looked at the document in the
hands of the visitors and could not comprehend it. The land was the land of
their forefathers. The natives could not read or write.
Backed by the military because of martial law, the business men from
Manila insisted that the native people relinquish the land. They had the
support also of interested politicians. They wanted the land for its logs.
Fr. Ling, as he was called, put the news up on his parish blackboard
outside the parish church. Each day the news was carried by boys to the 25
barrio blackboards that Fr. Ling had also put up. He took the case to Manila,
but the judge rejected it after only a few days. The natives lost their land.

Then two girls were raped and murdered by the military. Witnesses came to
Fr. Ling with all the details then fled, fearing for their lives. Fr. Ling wrote on
account of the incident on his parish blackboard. It was transferred the same
day to the barrio blackboards. People were shocked. The military came and
destryoed the parish noticeboard and all the ones set up in the barrios. The
people rebuilt the blackboards. The peoples resentment against the military
escalated. The friends of Fr.Ling warned him that the military considered him
a subversive. He received a warning from the soldiers.
If you dont keep quiet, we will kill you.
27 men had been killed by the soldiers in the previous ten months. As
Fr.Ling was preparing for bed, the house boy called the priest to the front
door. He was shot through the heart at close range. The bullet entered his
body at the center of the very symbol of the society of Jesus printed on his
T Shirt. The Bishop, Francisco Claver S.J. took the case to court in Manila. It
did not prosper. The government Judge declared, that Fr.Alingal had been
shot by the New Peoples Army rebel group. This was false. The N.P.A. did not
kill civilians. They fought against the soldiers and the police. In fact at least
one priest had joined the rebel group in Mindanao and become a group
leader. He himself died in an encounter with the army.
When reporters came to Bishop Claver they asked him,
You have one priest dead and three others have been threatened. What will
you do?
The bishop looked very calmly at the reporters and
replied,
We will send another priest to Kibawe - - - and if he is killed - - we will send
another priest to Kibawe - - - and if he is killed, we will send another priest to
Kibawe.

12.
The Place where the Star Shone

When St.Peter appointed the apostles to their mission areas, James,

the brother of John the Evangelist, was assigned to Spain. While he was
there, he had a difficult time converting the barbarian Visogoths to the
Christian faith. The Blessed Mother appeared to him standing on a pillar of
jasper. The apparition occurred at Saragossa. Mary asked him to build a
chapel there in her honour. Today there is a huge church there under the
name of Mary del Pilar. He was told to return to Jerusalem.

After he had completed the chapel, he put dedicated leaders in charge

of the community he had founded, then abiding by the mother of Gods
request, left Spain for Asia Minor. He stayed with his brother, John, in
Ephesus for a short time.
He took a boat for Palestine and arrived in Jerusalem where Mary had
told him, he would give his life for the faith. He was fearless, preaching Christ
daily to the people. Herod Agrippa heard of his activities. Herod had James,
the cousin of Jesus, thrown down from the temple and stoned to death. Now
to ingratiate himself with the Jews he plotted to kill James the Son of
Zebedee. James the Great was betrayed by a fellow Jew and captured by
Herod Agrippas soldiers. On his way to his execution he healed many by the
wayside. The one who betrayed him was so overcome by the saints
demenour, he approached James the Great and begged the saints
forgiveness. James forgave him moved by the Saints magnanimity, he chose
to acknowledge Christ and join James as a martyr. Both men were beheaded.
The disciples of James carried the remains of his body to the part of
Jaffa. There they were taken aboard a ship and borne west through the
mediterranean to the northern coast of Spain. His body was brought ashore
at the port of Iria Flavia now known as Padron in the province of Galicia. The
local pagan queen refused to allow James remains to be buried there. She
later relented and allowed the remains to be taken inland and buried in an
old Roman cemetery. Overtime, the place of his interrment was forgotten.
In the year 812 A.D., a hermit named Gil saw a brilliant star hovering
above a field. He hurried to the local priest and informed him of this peculiar
happening. The priest ordered an excavation of the area. The body of James
the Great was discovered. It was incorrupt after eight centuries and the head
found to be reattached to the body.
James was reburied with honours. A church was built on the spot which
later became the basilica of Compestella The Place where the Star Shone.
For centuries Santiago de Compestella has been a site of pilgrimamge.
Christians start across the pyrenees in France and walk (or today ride by
bicycle) across the plains of Galicia to this most sacred and holy site. St.
James the Great is the patron saint of Spain.

13.

Greater love than this no man has - - - (John 15:13)

Ernest Gordon was an officer in the British Army. At the fall of

Singapore he was interned by the Japanese. He was 24 years old.
The Japanese planned to attack India. To carry supplies they had to
build a railroad from Thailand through Burma to as close to India as possible.
For labour they used prisoners of war and the inhabitants of Malaysia. Many
indians and Bangladeshi were labourers in the Malaysian tin mines and
rubber plantations. They were forced into the rail line construction.
Ernest was among several thousand captured troops, including many
Australians, who were transported to the jungle of Burma to construct the
infamous Thailand Burma railway.
Conditions were horrific. Very little food; heavy rain; no medical
supplies; many tropical diseases especially Malaria; only the basic of hand
tools to cut and excavate sidings through the Mountains; little protection
from the elements.
Thousands of soldiers died from the harsh conditions and even
harsher treatment by the Japanese guards. The film Bridge on the River
Kwai romanticized a situation that was far from the real events taking place
in the jungle. The number of Indian families, Malaysian and Bangledeshi
families that perished is estimated in all to be 95,000 people. They were
buried in unmarked graves beside the rail line.
If a prisoner appeared to be lagging, a Japanese guard would beat him
to death, bayonet him, or decapitate him in full view of the other prisoners.
Roughly 400 people died for every mile of track.
Ernest Gordon could feel himself gradually wasting away from a
combination of beriberi, worms, malaria, dysentery, and typhoid. Diptheria
ravaged his throat. As a result he could not eat properly. His legs lost all
sensation.
Paralyzed and unable to eat, Gordon asked to be laid in the Death
House. In this place dying prisoners were laid out in rows unable to fight
bedbugs, lice and flies. The stench was unbearable.
Outside in the food lines, prisoners fought over the few scraps of
vegetables floating in the greasy broth that was their food. Officers were
better treated by the Japanese but because of the desperate effort to
survive, refused to share their extra rations with the rank and file soldiers.
Theft was common. Men lived like animals.

Then a change came. Fellow officers in Gordon Scottish regiment built

him a shelter away from the Death House and constructed a bed out of
bush materials to keep him raised above the mud and rain. One officer
dressed his ulcers each day and massaged his useless atrophied leg
muscles. Another brought him food and cleaned his waste. One prisoner
sacrificed his watch to obtain precious medicine from the guards to help fight
Gordons fever and infections. What happened?
A single event shook all the prisoners in the camp. At the end of each
day, the Japanese Guards carefully counted the tools at the end of the days
work. One day, a guard shouted that a shovel was missing. He walked up and
down the ranks demanding to know who had stolen it. When no one
confessed, he screamed All die! All die! and raised his rifle to shoot the first
man in the line. An enlisted man stepped forward, stood to attention and
said, I did it.
The guard kicked and beat the prisoner. He remained standing.
Enraged, the guard struck the prisoners skull with the butt of his rifle. It was
a death blow. The other prisoners picked up his body and marched back to
their camp.
That evening, when the tools were counted again, the work crew
discovered that a mistake had been made: no shovel was missing.
Attitudes in the camp changed. Prisoners began to treat the dying with
respect. Proper funerals and burials took place and each mans grave was
marked with a cross. Prisoners began to look after one another.
Study groups were formed. As Ernest recovered he was invited to be
the camp chaplain. A tiny church was built and each evening the able
prisoners came and prayed for those with the greatest needs. A jungle
university began to form. Soon there were courses in history, philosophy,
economics, mathematics, natural sciences and at least nine languages,
including. Latin, Greek, Russian and Sanskrit.
A few prisoners smuggled in musical instruments or made them out of
jungle materials. One man blessed with a photographic memory wrote out
complete scores to symphonies. Soon the camp was staging concerts ballets
and musical theater performances.
Two botanists set up a medicinal garden to help sick patients and some
prisoners with an artistic bent used simple materials, including charcoal, to
set up an exhibition of artwork.

All this because of one mans sacrifice.

14.

The Door to Heaven

We are living on the edge of eternity but it is easier to glimpse the face
of hell on this earth than the face of heaven. A French poet, Jean Coeteau
was once asked what he thought of heaven and hell.
He replied, Excuse me for not answering, I have friends in both places.
It is a fact of life that while St. Paul urges us to think of the things of
heaven, we rarely take his advice. He should know, because he was granted
a vision of heaven and wrote in his letter to the Corinthians,
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it dawned on the mind, what God
has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor.2:9)
If we look closely at the earth we can in fact see astounding beauty
there and be spellbound at the wonders of nature. The earth can give us a
glimpse of heaven. The earth is crammed with heaven.
There is a story told about ancient monks who searched earth looking
for the door to heaven. Finally they found it, the place where heaven meets
earth. When they opened the door, they were back in their monastery, where
they lived their daily lives.

The Gift of the Fourth Magi

Artaban was a Persian priest of the Magi and a king. He was also an
historian and an astronomer. He saw the same star that Gaspar, Melchior and
Balthazar had seen. They were all motivated to follow that star because they
knew that it would lead them to a new king who would rule the world.
Artaban sold many of his possessions to buy gifts for presents that he
would bring to this King of Kings. He bought a sapphire as blue as the night
sky, a ruby as red as the rays of the setting sun, and a pearl as white as the
snow on the mountain top.
He was to meet up with his fellow kings on the tenth day at the Temple
of the Seven Spheres. He set out on his journey. Just a few hours before
reaching the meeting place he came across a dying stranger. In his heart he
felt that he could not ignore this poor man. He stopped and spent several
hours giving water and food to the man and remedies for his sicknesses.
The stranger thanked Artaban and told him that the King he sought
would be born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem. He said that he would offer
prayers for Artaban in gratitude for his compassion towards him.
This delay meant that Artaban would not meet up with the other Kings.
He had to use the Sapphire to purchase his own caravan to cross the desert.
After days of crossing the desert, he finally reached Bethlehem. He learned
that his friends had presented their gifts to the new born king and returned
home. Not only that, the family of the new born king had taken him to Egypt.
As he was eating food in a house in Bethlehem, a woman rushed in shouting,
The soldiers of Herod are going house to house in the village and others
nearby, killing the young children!
Artaban rose from the table and stood in the doorway as a group of
soldiers approached with bloodied hands and bloodied swords. He quickly
drew the Ruby from his pouch and as the Captain approached, he blocked

the doorway to prevent the soldiers from entering. There was a new born
child in side. He bribed the captain with the ruby to leave the house in
peace. The soldiers moved away to search more houses.
He knew now that two of his gifts had gone. How would he ever be
worthy to see the face of the King.
The young mother whose child had been spared, came up to him and said
the blessing of Moses,
May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give
you peace.
Artaban collected his caravan and journeyed to Egypt. He tried
searching the whole country for the Holy Family, to no avail. Finally after
many years he returned to Jerusalem. Always he had stopped to help the sick
and the needy. He kept his last great gift for the King he knew by now would
have grown to manhood.
He heard the news that a great miracle worker was being led through
the city streets to be crucified on the hill of Golgotha. A boy led the
procession bearing a placard with these words on it. The King of the Jews in
three languages. He rushed to join the noisy throng of people. He hoped to
rush to the place of execution and ransom the King of the Jews.
Just as he reached the crowd shouting and throwing things in the
direction of the condemned man bearing a heavy cross; he came across a
group of soldiers dragging a young girl along a street. Her dress was torn and
she looked pitiful. Artaban stopped. The girl broke free from the soldiers and
ran to Artaban. As she clutched his rich clothing she cried out.
Help me, I am a daughter of the true religion of the Magi and I am now
being sold as a slave to pay my Fathers debts.
Artaban reached for his last gift, the pearl. And cried out.
This is your ransom daughter.
The soldiers released the girl. Then Artaban realized that all those
years he had spent looking for the King had ended in defeat. He had no gift
left. As he stood by the edge of the road the gruesome procession passed
him by and the condemned man carrying his cross looked at him. This look
filled his heart with peace. In an instant that face told him that all his gifts

had been received. The great King had been present in all the people he had
helped.

15.

Purity of thought and Deed.

King Arthur is a Celtic hero. He alone could pull the famous sword
Excalibur from a stone in a church yard. He was the son of Uther
Pendragon, king of England.
Arthur ruled his kingdom with justice and honour. He had a huge round
table built with spaces for 150 chairs. Whenever a knight of the realm was
worthy to sit at the table, his name would appear on a chair, through Merlins
magic.
For many years, one seat remained empty. No one could sit on it and
live. For this reason it was called the Siege Perilous, the seat of danger.
Merlin had predicted that the day it was occupied, the days of the round
table would be drawing to a close.
One day a knight appeared in court dressed in red armour and without
any weapons. He sat down in the seat designated the Siege Perilous.
Everyone gasped. But on the front of the chair appeared the name Galahad,
the High Prince. He was in fact truly Sir Galahad, the son of Sir Lancelot.
That night as the knights feasted, a tremendous storm arose. A sudden
clap of thunder and a lightning flash silenced the knights. A strange light
entered the hall and with it a maiden bearing a large drinking vessel covered
with a white cloth. The maiden lifted the cloth and invited each knight to
drink form the vessel, then when they were finished, the maiden, the vessel
and the strange light vanished.
What did this mean the knights all wondered. Sir Galahad spoke up,

The vessel was the Holy Grail, I will not rest till I have seen it uncovered.
All the knights agreed. They would search for this holy chalice. King
Arthur then knew that Merlins prediction would come true.
The knights would set out in all directions in their quest. Few would
return. The Round Table had seen its last gathering.
Three knights rode off together. There was no rivalry, greed or
ambition in their hearts. They were Sir Perceval, Sir Bors, and Sir Galahad.
Some distance behind rode Sir Lancelot. The three men, without guile or
deceit in them, rode to the sea, stepped on board a ship and the ship set sail.
It took them to the castle of Carbonek where the land was ruled by King
Pelles, the grandfather of Sir Galahad.
King Pelles was on his sick bed. The kingdom was blighted by a curse.
Suddenly two maidens appeared in the midst of the same strange light the
knights had witnessed before. One Maiden carried the Holy Grail uncovered.
This was the source of the light. The other Maiden carried a bloodied spear,
dripping drops of blood from its tip.
One of the maidens spoke up,
The spear is the weapon that pierced Christs side as he hung on the cross.
The vessel is the Holy Grail which caught the drops of blood that fell from
Christs wound.
Sir Galahad took the spear from the maiden and touched its tip to the
body of the stricken King Pelles. Immediately he recovered and the kingdom
bloomed again, its curse lifted.
They proceeded to the castle Chapel to hear mass. This time only Sir
Galahad saw the Holy Grail, for he was utterly pure in thought and deed. He
was filled with the light of the Holy Grail. Then with the maidens, the spear
and the Holy Grail, he vanished.
Sir Perceval and Sir Bors left the chapel astonished at what had
happened and found Sir Lancelot lying exhausted on the grounds outside. His
strength had gone. Despite repenting of his love affair with Queen
Guinevere, he was not worthy to see the Holy Grail uncovered. Only the
three saintly knights.

16.

The True Cross

The story of the True Cross is replete with myths and legends.
However there are some facts that seem to be correct. The origin of the
wood of the cross is shrouded in what is called the Golden Legend. There
are several stories handed down in the early centuries. One such story
relates how Seth, the son of Adam, took a piece of the tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil probably given to him by Adam and is reputed
to have planted it above the grave of his father, near Jerusalem.
In King Solomons time the tree was cut to make a bridge across a
stream outside Jerusalem. When the Queen of Sheba arrived to visit King
Solomon, she came to the footbridge and became aware of its importance.
How we are not told. She knelt and reverenced it and told King Solomon that
it would bring about the replacement of Gods covenant. King Solomon
believed that this prophecy would mean the destruction of the Jewish people,
so he had it removed and buried. After 14 Generations it was uncovered. The
wood was used to furnish the Cross of Christ. After the Crucifixion, the three
crosses were removed from Golgotha and thrown into a dry cistern nearby.

When St. Helena became a Christian, at an advanced age, in her 70s,

she journeyed to the Holy Land. She established the churches of the Nativity
and the Ascension. On the mount of Golgotha stood a Roman temple to the
Goddess Venus built after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. She
destroyed the temple and excavated the site of Christs burial and built the
Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre on it. This was completed in 334 A.D. after her
death. Prior to its completion, she is reputed to have found the dry cistern
containing the three crosses of execution. She found them in 326 A.D. To find
out which cross was the cross of the saviour, the saintly bishop of Jerusalem,
Macarius, suggested testing each cross by resting it on a sick person of high
nobility, a woman. When the true cross was placed on the woman, she was
miraculously healed. St. Helena placed the true cross in the Basilica of the
Holy Sepulchre. She took part of the titular (The Head board) to Rome to her
residence near the Lateran.
In 614 A.D> the Sassanid Emperor of Persia Khosrau II conquered
Jerusalem and took part of the Cross. In 628 A.D. the Christian Emperor of
Constantinople, Heraclius, pursued the Persians and regained the relic at
Shahrbaraz. He took it to Constantinople, but on 21st March 630 A.D. He
returned it to Jerusalem.
In 1009 A.D. Christians hid part of the cross. It was in the possession of
the Greek Orthodox. The Holy Land was overrun by the Moslems. The
Christian Nations raised a crusade in 1096 to recapture the Holy Land. They
took Jerusalem and set up the Latin Kingdom. When the crusaders were
informed about the part of the True Cross in the hands of the Orthodox, they
tortured Orthodox prelates to find its hiding place and then restored it to the
Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. However, important crusaders returning to
France and Germany took parts of the true cross with them the part that
remained was in cased in a silver reliquary. Some pieces were reported to be
taken to Constantinople.
In 1187, in the decisive battle of Hittim, the bishop of Jerusalem led the
crusaders out to face Salhadin and his Moslem army. The bishop of Jerusalem
carried the reliquary of the remaining parts of the true cross in front of the
crusader battle lines. The battle was a disaster for the crusaders. They were
annihilated, including the bishop. When Salhadin found the Sacred reliquary
he is believed to have ordered it destroyed in a fire. It has never been seen
since.

Other crusades followed to retake Jerusalem. Most of them came to

nothing. The crusaders of the fourth crusade arrived at Constantinople in
April of 1204. They were not well received by the inhabitants of the city. So
they sacked the city. This was a terrible blot on the history of the church. The
Basilica of Santa Sophia was robbed of many precious relics by the
Crusaders. Amongst the relics stolen were the parts of the True Cross that
had been deposited there. These were taken back to Europe.
Today, many Christian churches claim to have pieces of the true cross.
Reliquaries can be found in Santa Croce in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, Risa
(Pisa) and Florence Cathedrals in Italy. Others can be found Brussels, Venice,
Ghent, Santo Toribia in Spain (has the largest piece) and the Greek Orthodox
monastery of Koutoumousiou on the Island of Mt. Athos. A piece is also
reported to be in the Ethiopian Orthodox monastery of Gishen Marian.
In 2005 Fr. Archie Cortez of the Monastery of San Jose in Tarlac, Luzon,
attended the World Youth Day in Cologne Germany. While there, he met Msgr.
Volker Bauer of the Diocese of Essen. When he found that Fr. Cotez belonged
to the monastic order of the Servants of the Risen Christ he offered Fr
Cortez a relic of the true cross. Fr Cortez accepted it. He returned with it to
Tarlac and built a new chapel to house the relic. The chapel is open to the
public on Saturdays and Sundays. On Sept. 14 each year, the relic is exposed
for veneration. This is the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.
Although the monastery is located in a remote area, increasing
numbers of pilgrims are journeying to the site to pay homage to the relic.
As a postscript, St. Helena, who made all this possible, died in 330 A.D.
at the age of 80 yrs. She was buried in Constantinople, but her remains were
removed to the Abbey of Hautvillers in the Archdiocese of Rheims in France
in 849 A.D.

17.

The Absence of God

St. John of the Cross tells us that in the Dark Night of the Spirit,

The most acute suffering is that the soul is quite convinced that God has
abandoned it - - - - it feels forsaken and despised by all, especially big
friends.
God purifies and annihilates it, consuming all its imperfections and
affections as fire consumes rust on metal. This is the very purification of
Purgatory itself and the Soul that passes through this purgation either does
not go to Purgatory at all or stays there a very short time.
The soul is unable to feel any affection for God, or even raise the mind to
Him on prayer. This suffering may occur for many years or intermittently.
Likewise, the Great Tempter will try to discourage a person from even
believing in the existence of God. God is spirit and therefore difficult to be
understood through the senses. Satan will attack a persons mind with one of
his lethal weapons doubt.
The withdrawal of God from the spiritual life of a person is a test. As a
young child Mary, the Mother of God, was granted extraordinary revelations
and visions beyond our comprehension. Yet when she was presented to the
temple as a very young girl, for most of her stay there of more than ten
years, God withdrew not only the daily visions and revelations He granted
her from her conception but he also took from her the sight of the Army of
Angels (1,000) sent to protect her and converse with her. She was left
completely alone without any spiritual consolations. Likewise at the
crucifixion, Christ felt the painful withdrawal of the presence of the Heavenly
Father. In his agony, Christ called out My God My God, why have you
abandoned me. In a book recently published, Mother Teresa : Come be my
Light by Rev. Fr. Brian Kolodiychuk M.C, the author brings to the public some
40 letters that up to now have been unpublished. Mother Teresa devoted
most of her life to working with the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Most of us
did not know of the darkness, loneliness and Torture she endured for
many years.
Where is my faith even deep down right in there, there is nothing but
emptiness and darkness.
I call , I cling I want and there is no one to answer No one on whom I
can cling to no one- alone. This same shriveled up little woman who
doubted Gods existence and his love for her was beatified by Pope John Paul
II in Rome in 2003.

Anyone who tries to serve God and rise to the heights of sanctity, will sooner
or later experience the Absence of God.

18.

All packed but Nowhere to go.

Citro Beltran and his family were packed for a trip to Holland, Belgium
and France. Citos wife is from Holland. The family was going to stay with her
father. Arrangements and bookings had been made. Quiet unexpectedly the
agent handling the bookings rang Cito to say there had been a mandatory
delay, that would affect their whole trip.
A Filipino had been appointed in Europe to oversee incoming O.F.W.s
(Overseas Filipino Workers) and group bookings. The Filipino stationed in
Europe found that his salary did not cover his living costs. To augment his
income he became involved in the illegal immigration of Filipinos into Europe
at a price. He was discovered, and the European Union treated all incoming
Filipinos, especially groups, to a mandatory processing period of several
weeks while all Filipino documents were investigated by European Union
Immigration authorities. Cito and his family were all packed to go. The delay
was a disappointment to the family who had been granted leave from
business establishments and schools. As an alternative, Citos sister, Marissa,
was a flight attendant in a domestic airline and she set about arranging a trip
to Baguio for the family. Their hopes were high as Marissa negotiated for
space on the airline she was working for. Finally when the plane was ready to
leave Manila word came through that no space was available for a whole
family. Again disappointment all around.
That afternoon, news came over the radio that the very flight to Baguio
they had hoped to be on, crashed. Cito was stunned. He and his family could
have all been killed. They unpacked their bags and stayed home. A second
story in the same vein. Leo Buri was a student at Wewak Teachers College in
Papua New Guinea. Prior to receiving a scholarship to the Teachers College,
he had been a high school student at De La Salle College Bomana near Port
Moresby. Leo was a tall fair skinned Papuan with fuzzy hair.
At De La Salle, there was an army cadet unit supervised by personnel
from the regular Australia Army. Leo was a proud member of the cadet unit.
About 20 young lads were selected for a special training unit. They were to
fly to Lae on the East Coast of Papua New Guinea then be air lifted up over
the Owen Stanley Ranges to the Highlands. The Australian army supplied a
Caribou aircraft from its transport squadron.

On the day appointed, Leo contacted diarrhea. He was unable to join

the contingent of fellow cadets. The plane left Port Moresby Jacksons Airport
without him. It flew to Lae where it refueled and the young cadets had a
break in their journey. They were all excited.
The loaded Caribou lifted off from Lae and flew up into the Owen
Stanley Ranges. It literally smashed into the mountains in dense jungle. The
pilots were killed and also most of the cadets. A small handful of cadets
survived. Some were seriously wounded. The able bodied survivors hiked
through the dense jungle to a village and raised the alarm in order to get
help for their injured companions. This was a marvellous feat in itself.
If Leo had been on the plane he could have been killed.
The Two stories illustrate how sometimes in life when we face
disappointments, the disappointments are for a purpose. Nothing is a
coincidence. All that happnes is part of Divine Providence.

19.

Midas
People who are successful in one or two enterprises are sometimes
said to have the Midas Touch. Everything they get involved in becomes a
success. This term has entered the English language from Greek mythology.
Midas was the King of Phrygia, the land of roses, had great rose
gardens near his palace. One day a drunken old satyr called Silenus strayed
into the rose gardens of Midas and fell asleep. Satyrs were woodland gods.
There upper body was human but their lower body was the body of a horse
or goat. Silenus was a companion of Dionysus a lesser God.
Midas entertained Silenus for ten days then brought him to the home
of Dionysus on the banks of the River Pactolus. In gratitude for bringing back
his companion Silenus, Dionysus said to Midas, I will Grant you any single
wish you want to make.
Midas was delighted. He was an avaricious man.
He replied to Dionysus,
Grant me that whatever I touch will turn to gold.
The god granted Midas wish and the king went away rejoicing at his good
fortune.

Midas broke a twig from a low growing branch of oak, and it turned to
gold. He touched a stone and it turned to gold. He picked an apple and it
turned to gold. He touched the pillars of his palace doorway and they turned
to gold.
He called to his servants for food and wine. When he reached for a
piece of bread it turned to gold. He picked up a piece of meat but it also
turned to gold. In desperation he reached for a goblet of wine. The goblet
turned to gold and the wine into a golden liquid.
Midas could neither eat nor drink and was tormented by hunger and
thirst. He was forced to hurry back to Dionysus and implore him to take away
the favour he had granted Midas. Dionysus told midas to go and wash in the
source of the river Pactolus. He hurried to do so. As he bathed, the waters
ran with gold and even today the soil along the riverbank has a golden
gleam. The desire to be infinitely rich was also washed away from the mind
of Midas.
However, Midas did not rid himself of his foolishness. Apollo was the
God of music. Pan was another woodland satyr who loved to play his Pan
Pipes. He challenged Apollo to a musical contest. The river God Timolus was
to be a judge of the contest as well as Midas. Apollo played delightful music
on his lyre and Pan piped a merry tune that charmed everyone. Timolus gave
the prize to Apollo. Midas, objected and said Pans music was better.
Apollo was furious. He turned to Midas and changed the ears of Midas
into the long ears of an ass. Midas ran away and tried to hide his asss ears
under a hat. His barber was the only one who knew of Midas misfortune. He
was sworn to secrecy.
The Barber struggled to say nothing but could not contain himself. So
he went out into the country, dug a hole and whispered the secret into the
ground. Then he filled the hole. A clump of reeds grew where the secret had
been whispered. When the wind whistled through the reeds they seemed to
sing.
Midas has asss ears! Midas has asss ears!
The secret was out.

Two lessons come to us from the story of Midas. We should not be greedy
and we should realize that secrets are always discovered sooner or later.

20.

The Friar of Foggio

Francnesco II Forgione was born in Pietrelcina on Sept. 15, 1889. This
was a village about six miles northeast of the town of Benevento in a region
of Southern Italy known as Campania. The people in the village of Pietrelcina
were poor. They subsisted largely on a vegetarian diet.
For the children, classes were held at night so that the children could
work on the farms during the day. Francesco went to a private school. At 16
years of age he was granted an intellectual Vision from which he realized
that his life would be one of prolonged combat with the devil and his cohorts.
In 1903 Francesco joined the Order of Friars Minor, Capuchin. He spent
his entire religious life in the province of Foggia. When he received the
tonsure, he received also the religious name of Pio. The Capuchins
traditionally lived a life of prayer and contemplation in contrast to the other
Franciscan order who engaged in active service to the community outside
the monastery.
Padre Pio had numerous bodily visions of celestial and infernal beings.
He told his confrere Padre Agostino that even from his childhood he spoke to

the Blessed Mother, Christ and his guardian angel. He considered this normal
for religious. When he questioned Padre Agostino about his visions, he asked
him,
Dont you see the Madonna?
When Padre Agostino replied that he never had visions of heavenly
bodies, Padre Pio just shrugged his shoulders and said,
surely, youre saying this out of humility.
His health was never good. He suffered from frequent vomiting, violent
coughing, asthma, headaches and high fevers. Frequently he was given a
special dispensation to return to his village Pietrelcina and live on his familys
farm or in the residence of the parish priest, a saintly man named Pannullo.
He later suffered from eye problems and was granted special permission to
say by heart either the Mass of Our Lady or the Mass of the dead. As he
could not read the Divine Office he was allowed to substitute the rosary
instead.
On September 20th 1919 he sat to make his thanksgiving after celebrating
mass and a great light surrounded him. In the midst of the light there
appeared the wounded Christ. He states,
the crucifixion in the choir transformed itself into a great exalted being,
from whom came forth beams of light and shafts of flame that wounded me
in my hands and feet. My side had already been wounded on the fifth of
August of the same year.
When the ecstasy ended, Pio was on the floor, his hands feet and side
dripping blood. The stigmata stayed with him, until shortly before his death
in 1968, the sacred wounds disappeared. He endured the pain and bleeding
for almost 50 years. The wounds never became infected.
Padre Agostino observed that while Padre Pio stayed in the monastery
he went into ecstasy two or three times a day. When forced to stay in
Pietrelcina because of ill health, he continued to experience ecstasies. After
mass one day at Pietrelcina while making thanksgiving, he went into ecstasy.
The parish priest Pannullo was used to seeing this one day the sacristan was
checking the church and found Pio in ecstasy. He was alarmed. He thought
Padre Pio was dead and went and reported to Pannullo. No, hes not dead,
said the parish Priest, just ring the bell at midday and go home. Later in

the afternoon, the sacristan returned to find Pio had not moved. He rushed to
Fr. Pannullo crying out,
This time the monk is really dead, He is not moving. Pannullo was
unconcerned. I told you dont worry, he will revive.
To pacify the sacristan he went to the church and commanded Pio on his vow
of obedience to revive. Pio came back to normal immediately. Padre Pio had
a keen sense of humour. He loved to tell jokes and play an occasional prank.
Within the walls of the monastery was a garden where the Friars could sit
and talk. One day two visitors sat down with Padre Pio. One was Joe Petersen
from America and the other an Italian physician, Pietruccio Cugino. The
doctor said to Joe Peterson, Giuseppe (Joseph) do your imitation of a
chicken.
Joe was up to the task and gave a good rendition of a chicken. Then the
doctor turned to Padre Pio,
Giuseppe is from New York. They dont have chickens there only
skyscrapers. You are a farm boy. Lets hear your chicken. Padre Pio made a
feeble imitation.
Whats the matter with your chicken! exclaimed Cugino. Pio replied,
Giuseppe does a chicken who is well. My chicken is convalescing after
paying the doctors bills!
In November 1945 the whole community lined up to be vaccinated
against cholera. Pio was first to be inoculated. He turned to another friar and
said, When Padre Benardo comes, pretend the vaccination is really painful.
The Friar next in line gave a big scream just as Padre Bernardo joined
the line. Another friar waiting in line and unaware of the joke actually fainted.
Padre Bernardo turned to go claiming that he was too old for this, but Pio
grabbed him and forced him, terrified as he was, to be the next to be
vaccinated. After it was over he went to Padre Pio mystified and said
Piuccio (Pio) I didnt feel anything!
Of course, said Pio, seeing your fear, the vaccination itself was afraid to
hurt you. The old friar still could not understand. One of the most curious
charisms of Padre Pio was his ability to bilocate. He did this often without
telling his confreres.

In 1953 there was a concert in the hall adjoining the friary. Padre Pio
went with the other friars. At the interval, he rested his head on the back of
the chair in front of him. His companions left him undisturbed.
The next day when Padre Carmelo was visiting a sick man in town, the
invalid thanked Padre Carmelo for allowing Padre Pio to visit him. Padre
Carmelo had been with Padre Pio the whole evening and they even returned
together to the Friary when the concert was over. So he inquired of the sick
man when Padre Pio had visited him. The invalid gave the time of the visit. It
corresponded exactly to the time of the converts interval when Pio had
rested his head on the chair in front of him. However his masses were what
held people spellbound. They took two hours or more but people who
attended were overcome with the reverence Padre Pio displayed during the
whole ceremony. At the consecration he was seen to move very slowly and
seemed in great pain. When his alb was removed it was seen to be
patchwork of blood. He suffered the pain of the crucifixion. Worshippers felt
that they were at the foot of the cross.
He was rotund man who ate very little. He never ate breakfast. Occasionally
he nibbled a few cookies and drank a glass or two of cold beer or fruit juice in
the evening.
Padre Giovanni of the Baggio friary insisted that Pio ate perhaps a fifth of
the amount eaten by a normal man. Yet Pios size was substantial. On one
occasion he was ill with a stomach virus and took nothing for several days
but a few sips of water. Yet he gained weight. Doctor Sanguinetti could not
believe that after eight days of illness during which he could only hold down
a small amount of water, Pio was not malnourished. He asked the friar, How
is that possible? the Friar had gained six pounds in weight. Assimilation!
answered Pio. Every morning I take communion.
On June 16, 2002 before a crowd of over 300,000 people in St. Peters
square, Pope John Paul II raised the humble Capuchin Friar to the altars of the
church. His feast day is on September 23, the day on which he died.

21.

The Value of One Mass

One day in Luxumburg, a principality between Belgium and Germany, a
captain of the Forest guards was holding a conversation with the butcher in
his shop. An elderly woman walked in. the butcher turned to serve her. He

asked her what she wanted. She had come to beg for a little meat. She had
no money.
The captain was amused and asked the butcher,
How much are you going to give her?
The woman spoke up.
I am sorry that I have no money, but I will hear Mass for you.
The Butcher and the Captain were indifferent about religion so both of them
chuckled and scoffed at the idea.
All right then, said the butcher, you go and hear mass for me, and when
you come back, Ill give you as much, as the Mass is worth. The women left
the shop and went to hear Mass. When she returned the butcher said in the
presence of the Captain
I will write on a piece of paper, `I heard mass for you, and place it on
one side of the scales. He proceeded to do so. On the other scale she placed
a meatless bone. The scale with the bone on it did not go down. So he took
away the bone and placed a large piece of meat on the scale. The side with
the meat still did not go down. He examined the scales. They were in good
order.
What do you want woman? Must I give you a whole leg of mutton?
Having said that he placed a whole leg of mutton on the scales. The
scales did not move. The butcher stood there amazed. The Captain too was
bewildered. The butcher was so impressed that he said to the woman
If you come each day, I will give you what you need.
The Captain left the shop. From that day on he went to daily mass. Two of his
sons became priests, one became a Jesuit the other a religious of the sacred
Heart.
The one who became the religious of the Sacred Heart, Fr. Stanislaus
S.S.C.C., told this story to Fr.James Reuter S.J. his father was the Captain of
the Forest Guards who witnessed the event in the butchers shop.

The Stanfords

22.

In the early 20th Century,

A lady in faded gingham dress and her husband dressed in a
homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked
timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvards outer office.
The secretary could tell in a moment that such backward country hicks had
no business at Harvard University.
We want to see the president, the man said softly. Hell be busy all day,
the secretary snapped. Well wait, the lady replied.
For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would
finally become discouraged and leave. They didnt, the secretary grew
frustrated and finally went to the president.
Sir, if you see them for a few minutes they will probably leave.
The president of Harvard University sighed in exasperation, come out
of his office and approached the elderly couple. The lady spoke up.
We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard.
He was happy here. About a year ago he died in an accident. My husband
and I would like to erect a memorial to him somewhere on the campus. The
president wasnt touched. He was shocked.
Madam, He said gruffly, We cant put up a statue for every person who
attended Harvard and died. The campus would look like a cemetery.
Oh no, the lady explained quickly, we dont want to erect a statue. We
thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.
A building! Do you have any idea how much a building would cost? We
have over seven and a half million dollars worth of buildings at Harvard. The
lady remained silent. The president was happy. The elderly couple will go
now he thought. The lady turned towards her husband and said quietly, If
that is all it costs to set up a University, why dont we just start one of our
own? Her husband agreed. The presidents face showed confusion and
bewilderment. The elderly couple stood up and walked away.
They went back to Palo Alto in California and established a University of
renown. They named it after their family name Stanford University, as a
memorial to their son.

One Glass of Milk.

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay
his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was
hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However he
lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked
hungry, so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly.
How much do I owe you?
You dont owe me anything, she replied.
Mother has taught us never to accept payment for kindness.
The boy said, then I thank you from my heart.
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but
his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and
quit.
Years later, the young woman became critically ill. The local doctors
were baffled. They finally sent her to a big city where they called in a
specialist to study her rare disease.
Doctor Howard Kelly was called for consultation. When he heard the
name of the town where the patient came from, a strange light filled his
eyes.
Immediately, he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to the patients
room.
Dressed in his doctors gown, he went into her room. He recognized her
at once. He went back to his consultation room determined to his best to
save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the
business office to have the final bill sent to him for approval. He looked at it,
then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life
to pay it all. Finally, she looked and something caught her attention on the
side of the bill. She read these words: -

Paid in full with one glass of milk. (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.

Making the Best of the Situation.

On November 18, 1955, Itzhak Perlman, a violinist, came on stage at
the Avery Fisher Hall in the Lincoln center in New York City. He was stricken
with polio as a child. He had braces on both legs and walked with the aid of
two crutches.
To see him walk across the stage, one step at a time, painfully and
slowly was an unforgettable sight. When he reached his chair he sat down
slowly, put his crutches on the floor, undid the clasps on his legs, then bent
over and picked up his violin.
He nodded to the conductor, then proceeded to play. The audience had
seen him perform before so they remained silent waiting for him to begin.
But this time, it was different. Just as he had finished the opening bars of his
recital, one of the strings on his violin broke. Everybody heard it.
The audience believed that he would have to go through the slow
painful procedure of getting up, leaving the stage and finding another violin
or at least another string.
He did not move. He signaled to the conductor to begin again.
Everyone knows that it is next to impossible to play a symphonic work on a
violin with only three strings. Itzhak knew that but he was undeterred. He
modulated, changed notes and recomposed the piece in his head. He played
with passion, power and purity of sound. At one point it seemed that he was
tuning his violin to get new sounds.

When he had finished his recital, there was an awesome silence in the
auditorium. Then the people rose as one and cheered the courage of this
maestros performance. When the cheering had subsided, Itzhak smiled,
wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised his bow and said in a quiet
reverent tone.
You know, sometimes it is the artists task to find out how much music you
can make with what you have left.

It was a performance to remind us that in life we have to play with the cards
we are dealt with.

Limbo
Traditionally, the Catholic Church held the belief that babies who die
unbaptized go to limbo. It was a place of eternal happiness but not the
same as heaven. They committed no actual sin but bore on their souls the
mark of the fall of our first parents. They lived on the fringe of heaven.
This place was not the same as the Limbo of the Fathers. That was
another region where the souls of all those who had died in Gods favour
before the resurrection of Christ, also dwelt in happiness. These souls
included the Patriarchs and all those holy men and women whose souls had
been cleansed of sin through the mercy of God. With Christs resurrection
this Limbo of the Fathers was emptied of its occupants and ceased to exist.
Another name for this place was the word Paradise. It was to Paradise
that Christ promised the good thief would go for his repentance and defense
of Christ.
Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.
Truly, Christ replied, This day you will be with me in Paradise. (Luke
23:42)
We know that Christs last mission was to preach to the imprisoned
souls in Purgatory.
In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and it
was then that he went to preach to the imprisoned spirits. (1 Pet. 3:18-19)
When Mary Magdalen finally recognized Jesus in the garden of the Sepulchre,
she moved to clasp His feet. But he forbade her.
Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. (John
20:17)

When he did, he emptied Paradise and for the first time Purgatory. What then
of still born babies, miscarried babies and babies who have been aborted?
These children bear the stain of original sin. Are they to be denied the
excellence of heaven through no fault of their own?
The gates of heaven have always been open to the souls of these children.
Are they enlightened in any way by God and tested as we are and even the
angels were?
We have no idea. We can speculate all we like but in our ignorance we have
one shining light the Mercy of God. We can be sure that these children will
be provided for.

The Patron of Parish Priests

Jean Marie Vianney was born in France on May 8, 1786. It was a time
of violent upheaval. Churches had been closed; Priests imprisoned or exiled,
crucifixes that had been erected on rural roads were torn down and
discarded. Under cover of darkness, faithful catholics took their children to
secret places where brave priests celebrated mass.
From an early age he like to listen to stories from the bible told by his big
sister Catherine who had learnt them by heart.
His work was in the fields tending cattle. Jean had very little formal
education but He was filled with an ardent desire to be a priest. In 1800 the
persecution of the church ended. Priests returned from exile to fill the vacant
parishes.
Abbe Balley set up a school for Catholic children. Jeans mother asked
the Abbe to take Jean as a pupil even though he was much older than the
other pupils. The Abbe agreed. However Jean was a poor student. At Twenty
one years of age his memory was next to hopeless.
Finally at the age of twenty six he was admitted to the junior seminary
of Verrieres. There was only one class of 200 pupils. As soon as Jean was
questioned in Latin, the language of instruction, he was lost. He had to leave
the seminary.

Abbe Balley came to his aid and persuaded Abbe Courbon and Abbe
Bochard to reinstate Jean. The young man finally received the minor orders
and was made a deacon in the Cathedral at Lyons on June 23, 1815. In
August of the following year he was ordained a priest in the chapel of the
seminary at Grenoble. It had been a struggle of heroic proportions for him to
become a priest.
Abbe Vianney was appointed to Ecully as assistant priest. He would be
working with a holy priest who had been the greatest asset in Jeans efforts
to become a priest, Abbe Balley.
Abbe Balley ate almost no meat. Jean Vianney was happy to follow his
example. The boiled beef that was served to them on Sunday stayed on the
table uneaten until Thursday. Both priests were content to eat only
vegetables.
Both men decided that in future any meat dishes prepared by the cook
should be given directly to the poor. Jean Vianney was not a good preacher,
nevertheless people flocked to church to hear him. Abbe Balley instructed
Jean in the art of hearing confessions. This was something that combined
with natural insight into penitents souls, was to be the outstanding hallmark
of his lifes work.
In Feb. 1817, his beloved pastor Abbe Balley developed an infected
ulcer. He died from the infection on December 17th of that year. A new priest,
Abbe Tripier was appointed to replace Abbe Balley. In February 1818, Abbe
Jean Marie Vianny was reassigned to a remote village in a rural area the
village of Ars.
He set out on foot followed by a carter bringing his clothes, his books
and Abbe Balleys bed. No one was in Ars to greet him. He came to the
deserted church and rang the Angelus bell. A few devout women came to the
church. Hardly anyone else showed an interest in religious matters. In his
first year there he carried out six baptisms, two marriages and three burials.
He rose early after a short sleep of one or two hours, walked to the
church and prostrated himself before the tabernacle, praying for the
conversion of the indifferent villagers. He lived a life of austerity, sleeping on
the cold ground floor of the presbytery using a thin layer of straw or on some
planks with a log under his head for a pillow. He would flagellate his thin
body until blood flowed. This was the price of souls. Using the limited

allowance given by the diocese and with the generosity of a few villages, he
repaired the church and bought vestments for the services.
Dances were held on Sunday afternoons near the church. Abbe
Vianney saw very quickly that they were the occasion of serious sin for
young people. He refused absolution to anyone who was not willing to forego
the dances. It took him ten years to eradicate dancing from the village
especially for young people.
As religious life returned to the village, the devil struck back, filling the
presbytery with piercing cries, groans and roars, swarms of bees, swarms of
bats and ants. Jean could hear at night the continuous trot of sheep and the
hooves of a cavalry charge in the presbytery. The devil would mock him. Yet
from where he lay trying to sleep, the Abbe would speak quietly,
Im not afraid of you. His trust in God was so great. He confided in
Marguerite his sister,
Sometimes he takes me by the feet and drags me into my room. Its
because Ive been converting souls to God.
Stories of miracles started to spread amongst the villagers. People
flocked to his confessional. They estimated that there was an average of 400
travelers a day coming to Ars from all over France and even other countries.
He was the prisoner of sinners, being rarely able to leave his confessional.
Special coach services were set up to cope with the influx of travelers
of all ages and all social classes. Bishops, priests, monks and nuns, nobility
and commoners, scholars and illiterates. The vilalge of Ars became a site of
pilgrimage.
Even in the very cold nights of May as many as fifty or sixty pilgrims
would camp out at night in the fields, waiting for the church doors to open.
He would start hearing confessions at one oclock in the morning. At seven
a.m. he would say mass and then return to the confessional. At 11 Oclock he
would give a catechism class then eat a modest meal of a glass of milk and a
few cold potatoes, have a brief rest and continue confessions till eight in the
evening. Then he would say his rosary, give advice to a few more people and
retire to his room to pray.
Each day was the same. In the forty years he lived in the parish he
never had so much as half a day to himself. Several times he tried to run

away from the parish, but the parishioners always had look outs for this and
would block his escape.
Several important people in the region nominated Jean Vianney for
Frances highest award, The Legion of Honour. It was approved.
When the medal arrived, an excited assistant to the aging Parish Priest,
Abbe Toccanier, presented himself one lunchtime at the door to Jean
Vianneys room. He was accompanied by several close friends of the Cure.
Holding in his hand the box sealed with red sealing wax, Abe Toccanier
handed the box to Jean Vianney. Nervous he exclaimed, Perhaps its a
precious relic someone has sent you.
Knowing full well that it was Frances greatest honour, the Cure broke
the seal and opened the box. He saw the dazzling medal and cord; bent and
kissed the cross that was part of the medal and said, Oh! Its only that.
Then without a moments concern he presented it as a gift to the stunned
Abbe Toccanier, his assistant. On July 18, 1859 he declared quite plainly the
day of his death. On the 4th of August 1859 at two oclock in the morning he
passed peacefully away fulfilling his prediction.

23

Ordeal in the Andes

On Friday the 13th of December 1972 a college rugby team, with some
friends and relatives, left Montevideo in Uruguay to fly to Santiago in Chile.
In the final part of their journey they would be flying over one of the most
dangerous mountain ranges in the world the Andes.
The passengers were mainly young men. They came from a catholic
college. South America is the most Catholic continent in the world.
Twenty minutes away from Santiago, the plane went into very bad
weather. It was over the rugged Andes range. The plane had difficulty

reaching a high enough altitude to cross the mountains. Visibility was poor.
The plane cannoned into a ridge breaking off its tail section. The sudden
decompression sucked some of the passengers out of the rear section.
Others were flung out of the tail by the impact. Both wings sheared off and
the fuselage burrowed to a halt in deep snow. Both pilots were crushed to
death in the flight deck. Many seats broke from their mountings and
propelled forward, breaking the legs of a number of passengers and killing
some outright. Most of the survivors were injured, some seriously.
At night the temperature in the Andes falls to 40 degrees centigrade
below. It was the middle of winter. At the rear of the fuselage there was a
gaping hole the ex Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild was becoming a frozen
tomb. The plane, designated flight 571, had crashed at a height of nearly
12,000 ft. To combat the cold air filling the fuselage, the survivors packed up
luggage to plug the gap where the tail section had been.
When dawn broke, the survivors removed the bodies of the dead and
left them in the snow. Then they attended as best they could to the injured.
The only food they could find were some bars of chocolate and a few bottles
of wine. However there was a large supply of cigarettes.
Antonio Balbi, the Rugby Captain, took charge. He rationed the little
food they had. Four days later a light plane flew overhead but did not see the
crashed aircraft. As it was covered in snow it blended into its surroundings.
That night, while Antonio slept, several of the young men ate all the rations.
When he awoke, he was furious and became so depressed he refused to help
anymore.
After four more days with no rescue and other wounded survivors
dying, one young man, Nando Parrado, proposed eating the flesh of the
dead. This was something unheard of in civilized Uruguay and against the
Catholic belief in respect for the deceased. Such a proposal caused a heated
discussion. The survivors were starving. A few days later several of them
decided to do so. Others followed. Until all of them were cutting flesh from
frozen bodies and heating it on aluminum strips taken from the aircraft. The
morning sun was utilized and proved partly successful.
One group walked back over the mountains to find the tail section of
the plane. They were looking for batteries for the emergency radio in the
cockpit. It did not work but they could receive news from a small radio found
in a suitcase but could not transmit. By chance they heard that all rescue
attempts had been called off. Then disaster struck again. An avalanche hit

the fuselage at night almost filling the craft. Some of the survivors
suffocated, buried under the snow. Those that were able dug themselves out.
They were becoming desperate. Each night the survivors prayed the rosary,
many were losing the will to live.
In the heat of battle or in some crisis, it often happens that a person
steps up to assume leadership from the ranks of the ordinary people. Such a
one was Nando Parrado. He stitched together a sleeping bag for three
persons, from materials he found inside the fuselage. Filling a knapsack with
flesh taken from cadavers, he set off with two companions to walk across the
snow covered mountains to get help. He took with him Roberto Canessa and
the rugby captain, Antonio Balbi.
The going was difficult. None of them had climbed mountains before,
let alone mountains covered in snow. After two days where the mountains
just seemed to be endless, Antonio became depressed, so Nando sent him
back to the plane. The sleeping bag helped Nando and Roberto survive the
freezing temperatures at night.
After ten days climbing up and down mountains, Nando and Roberto
climbed down into a valley with green trees and a flowing stream. In the
distance they could see a person. They were jubilant. They hailed the person
and found him to be a farmer named Sergio Catalan. He listened to their
story and led them to the Chilean Authorities. They had some difficulty
explaining the human flesh, including an arm, that they carried in their
knapsack.
An Armed Forces helicopter flew Nando back to the crash site. The
strong winds and rarefied air made travel for the helicopter difficult. There
was great rejoicing from the survivors. Eventually the Chilean Air Force
rescued them all. Of the 45 people who had set out from Montevideo in
Uruguay, 16 survived. When the survivors had recovered from their ordeal,
they returned to the crash site, buried the dead, recited prayers and erected
a large cross to mark the burial site. From then on each man cherished
everyday of his life. The ordeal in the Andes had lasted 70 days.

Fr. Jose Tarrago S.J

24

Culion is an island in the North of the Philippines. It is a leper colony it

was established to cater for people suffering from Hansens disease.
(Leprosy) This disease attacks the nerves in the extremities of the body
leaving terrible disfigurement and the loss of such parts of the body as
fingers and toes. The legs and arms can also be affected.
Culion is a place of great natural beauty. The surrounding islands, like Culion,
are beautiful mountains.
The Jesuits have served this colony of Marginalized people for over one
hundred years. Perhaps 60 Jesuits have worked there, priests and brothers,
but mainly priests. The Jesuit residence is high up on a slope overlooking the
splendid bay of Culion. The medical staff and the Jesuits live in
accommodation a little away from the housing for the lepers.
In 1911, Fr. Jose Tarrago from Aragon in Spain, was assigned there. He
was 32 years old. During the first four years of his apostolate he had great
success among the young. He formed a Sodality, and organized a brass
band. In time, this band became the official band of the colony, giving
musical concerts every Sunday.
One day he noticed a growth on his hand and presented himself to the
medical staff. The head physician diagnosed leprosy. Because the disease
was considered contagious, he was directed to leave the Jesuit residence.
That night after supper, Fr. Tarrago told his companions,
I have joyful news. God has given me the grace to be a leper. Tomorrow I
must leave you and go to live among the lepers.
Early next morning he left the Jesuit house and walked down along the
seashore to the segregated area. He had no place to live, so one of the
lepers, a Cebuano, vacated his own house and gave it to the priest. He
continued his work among the lepers, but had to wait some time for the
Jesuit Society to provide him with a full mass kit and vestments.
He lived there among the lepers for four years. Then one day a medical
team arrived from Manila to examine the people in the colony. Fr. Tarrago
was also examined. The doctors pronounced him free of leprosy. The original
diagnosis had been a mistake. He was released by the Society from his work
in Culion. But people were afraid that he might give them leprosy, so he was
required to leave the Philippines. He volunteered to work in China. He stayed

there many years until he was old and infirm. He retired to his native country
Spain after a life as a missionary in two countries. He died in Spain.

25

Its Only Pain

A young boy had polio. He was crippled, living in a wheel chair in
Kansas. A fire broke out in the barn. Everyone ran out of the house to fight
the fire, save the horses and cows. He was left alone.
The fire from the barn swept towards the house. It came into the
kitchen where he was. He could not escape. He suffered terrible burns,
especially to his legs. He spent two years in hospital with third degree burns.
One day he heard a conversation between his mother and the physician.
Alright, he has polio, but it is not the kind of polio that will keep him in
that wheelchair for life. He will never be normal, but if he tries to exercise
everyday - - - the day will come when he will be able to walk.
His parents bought parallel bars into the kitchen and everyday he
pulled himself up on the bars and tried to walk. The cries of agony he uttered
forced his mother out of the kitchen. Outside she would weep.
At the age of ten he could move around the house hanging onto things.
At eleven years of age he would leave the house, put his hand on the
wooden railing of the fence skirting the familys farm and walk, following the
railing. At twelve years of age he let go of the railing and began to jog.
At 21 years of age he became the world champion for the mile. His
name was Glen Cunningham. At 24 years of age he sprained an ankle. He
was scheduled to run that night in Madison, Square Garden. The doctors said
he could not run, there would be too much pain.
The pain would shoot up from the ankle into his leg and finally affect
his whole body. He would not be able to bear it.
He told the doctor treating him,
Well - - if its only pain - - -Id like to give it a try.
And he ran.
That night he broke the world record for the mile. His life had been a
life of pain. He knew all about pain. When the pain grew worse, it had only

one effect on Glen. - - - he ran faster. Polio and fire had made him a
champion.

26
Oscar Romero

Oscar Romero was consecrated an Archbishop in El Salvador, Central

America. He was an intelligent man and despite his position he led a simple
life. He was a capable administrator. At that time the president of the country
was a dictator. His most powerful weapon was the army, which he sued to
subjugate the people. The poor were oppressed by the military.
Oscar Romero began his ministry by being a rich mans Archbishop.
Government officials were his friends. Wealthy patrons supported his
projects. The rich were wary of the Jesuits. They were speaking out against
the injustices done to the poor. The Archbishop listened to his wealthy
friends and considered the Jesuits as irresponsible. He removed them from
the administration of the seminary. He did not want the young students to be
influenced by the subversive attitudes of the Jesuits.
The Jesuits were denouncing the government and in particular the
army. Many peasants had been killed. The Jesuits informed the Archbishop
that they had been murdered by the military. Oscar Romero refused to listen
to them.
Then one day that all changed. Fr. Rutilio Grande, a Jesuit working
among the poor, was confronted by an army detachment. Fr. Rutilio was
walking along a country road with two peasants. The three of them were
riddled with bullets. People in the area took the three bodies to the barrio
church and held a wake for them.
Word reached Oscar Romero. In the middle of the night he came to the
barrio church and sat with the peasants until morning. He could see the
bullet ridden bodies in their open coffins. When morning came, he celebrated
the Mass of the Dead for the three martyrs to social injustice.
From that time on, he was a changed man. Rutilio Grandes murder by
soldiers finally convinced him that the poor were being oppressed. From then
on, he delivered sermons that fearlessly denounced the injustice being done
to the poor. Total identification with the poor was his new aim.

He argued that the fight was not between the Church and the
Government but between the Government and the people. The church was
with the people. He preached faith and hope.
His rich and powerful friends disassociated themselves from him. He
began to get death threats. He is reported to have said,
May the death bring about the liberation of the people.
The higher ecclesiastical authorities became displeased with his
condemnation of the Government and the army. He was told that a bishop
should be conciliatory like Jesus Christ. But Christ spoke out vehemently
against the practices of the Pharisees. He was a threat to them. So they
manipulated the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, to have him Crucified.
On the 24th March 1980, Oscar was celebrating mass. At the most solemn
part of the liturgy, he pronounced the words of consecration,
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke the
bread and gave it to His disciples saying, `take and eat, this is my body
which will be given up for you.
He lifted up the host for the people to see, and at that moment a
government soldier stood up and shot him. His blood mingled on the altar
with the newly consecrated host.
Pope John Paul II visited his tomb when he came to El Salvador and the
Anglicans in England placed a statue of Archbishop Romero in Westminster
Abbey. An unusual honour for a Catholic prelate.

27.

Islam A Religion Divided.

Like Christianity, Islam is a divided religion. However it has a combined
number of adherents of 1.4 billion believers. Christianity on the other hand
has a host of mainline churches and a myriad of independent congregations
that number in the many thousands in America alone.
In contrast to Christianity, Islam has two Major divisions, Sunnis and
the Shiites, with a third smaller extremist group called the Wahabi. The
Sunnis are found in many places as an absolute majority of the population.
These countries include the Arab states of North Africa, the Arabian
Peninsular, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia
and Indonesia. They have a minority of the population in Iraq, Lebanon, and
Bahrain.
The Shiites are fewer in number. Their main stronghold is Iran, the
central Asian states, Iraq and Bahrain. The Wahabis are dominant in Saudi
Arabia. There is great animosity between the Sunnis and the Shiites. How did
this come about? The feud that has divided Moslems began in Mecca in the
year 632 A.D. at the death of Muhammad. Who should succeed the Prophet?
Should it be a blood descendent or the most suitable disciple among the
followers of Muhammad?
Those who favoured the former, elevated Muhammads Nephew and
son in law Ali, as the fourth Caliph. However with the fifth Caliph, Muawiya,
power shifted from Ali and even Mecca, to the Syrian city of Damascus. The
followers of Ali were Shiite, after the phrase Shiat Ali or Party of Ali.
They were dispossessed and gathered around the successors of Ali- the
Imams or religious leaders. The Caliph Yazid, set out to eradicate this
rebellious group, the followers of Ali. On October 2 680 A.D. a small group

of Alis followers who had moved into present day Iraq, were trapped in the
town of Karbala. (South of Baghdad today)
The prophets grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali, told his trapped followers to
escape, releasing them from their oath of fidelity to him. However 72 of them
pledged to remain with him to the death. Together they made one final
charge against Caliph Yazids army of several thousand and died to the last
man. Since then, Kabala in Iraq has been the holy city of the Shiites. It is the
city of Martyrs. A city symbolizing Self sacrifice.
Husseins younger son carried on and there were nine Imams after
him. The twelth Imam, according to Shiite belief vanished. But he remains
alive and will come back as the Mahdi the returning Saviour of the
Shiites. He will appear from a sacred well in Qom, one of the Southern cities
of Iran. The prophet Jesus will be his companion.

Iran today is ruled by Ayatollahs. In 1979 the people rose up against

the corrupt Shar, Palavi. It was an Islamic revolution. Ayatollah (Reflection of
Allah) Khomeni instituted a theocratic rule based on the Koran with the right
to pass judgement on the ideas, thoughts and behaviour of humans. The
Iranians are not Arabs. The Arab nations retained the Sunni traditions
stemming from the split after Muhammads death.
Saddam Hussein was a Sunni of the Arab tribe centered around Tikrit,
North of Baghdad. When he declared war on Iran in order to grab its oilfields,
Khonemi utilized the attack to unite the Iranians in what was the first Jihad
or Holy War. A million men died in the war and Saddam achieved nothing
except to increase the hatred of the Shiites against the Infidel Sunnis.

The Healing Benefits of Forgiving.

About 150 years ago, a Frenchman, Victor Hugo, wrote a story called
Les Miserables that depicted the state of the French people about 30 years
after the storming of the Bastille. It was a time of misery, evil, darkness,
suffering and hopelessness that engulfed the people of France. Most were
desperately poor.
The main character in the story is a man, Jean Valjean, who was
sentenced to nineteen years hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread to give
to a drying niece. The overseer of the convicts was a dedicated police officer,
Inspector Javert. The conditions for the prisoners was deplorable.

Recently Victor Hugos story was set to music. In Jan. 2013, the musical
version of les Miserables came to theatres throughout the world. It is a
marvellous production, directed by Tom Hooper. The main characters are
portrayed by a very competent cast of singer actors and actresses including
Anne Hathaway, as a Fontein, Russel Crow as a Javert and Hugh Jackman as
Jean Valjean.
Jean Valjean is a released from prison and given a document freeing
him but putting him on permanent parole. That is, he must frequently report
as an ex convict, he finds employment difficult to obtain. Everywhere he is
rejected and his heart already full of hatred for the injustice of 19 years of
incarceration, bursts with fury.
In the incessant rain of Paris, he finds himself completely destitute and
without shelter. He collapses near the door of a church. The parish priest, a
bishop, comes to open the church door in the evening in order to access his
residence. Seeing the destitute Jean Valjean his heart fills with compassion
and he wakes the ex convict and invites him into the presbytery. Here he
directs the servants to provide Valjean with a meal. Valjean gulps the meal
like a starved animal.
Later, after the meal is finished, the kindly Bishop finds a place for
Valjean to sleep. But Valjean does not sleep. He waits until all in the
presbytery are asleep, then he quickly fills a sack with any silverware he can
find and escapes.
As morning breaks he is apprehended roughly by local gendarmes
(Police). He protests his innocence, claiming the bishop gave him the silver
ware. The police drag him back to the presbytery and confront the bishop in
the dining room. Valjean has been caught red handed. The police tell the
bishop,
He claims, you gave him the silverware. Is that correct.
The bishop sizes up the situation instantly. He is a man filled with pity
and compassion for his downtrodden fellow Frenchman.
Yes, I gave him the silverware, but I am puzzled that he did not take these.
With that he turns to the dining table and removes two very valuable
candle sticks. He carries them to the sack Valjean is holding and adds them
to the items Valjean has stolen. He turns to the two policemen and says,

Release this unfortunate man. He is innocent.

The police leave. Valjean is overcome. The bishop turns to him,
Now your soul is mine, you are forgiven.
That one word forgiven alters the mind and heart of Jean Valjean and hate
that filled his heart is transformed into compassion for his fellow men.
He breaks his parole; rises from his degradation, becomes a
respectable gentleman; starts a garment factory that employs a host of poor
women. He rises to the post of mayor. He is pursued by his old overseer
Inspector Javert because he has broken his parole.
He manages to help many people including the prostitute Fontein who
is dying. He gets her to a hospital where she dies. Before she dies she asks
Jean Valjean to find and care for her daughter. Couisette, enslaved by the
owners of a tavern.
Javert appears at the hospital relentlessly tracking Valjean. Valjean
jumps into a river and escapes. Eventually he finds the daughter of the
prostitute Fontein and raises her to young adulthood, as his own child.
The revolution breaks out. Javert is captured as a spy. Valjean poses as
a revolutionary and acquires Javert as a prisoner. The man who sought to
capture Valjean is now a prisoner of the very man he was chasing. Valjean
pretends to kill Javert but in fact lets him escape.
Javert is overcome that Valjean, his enemy, has forgiven him for the
years of tracking Valjean in order to imprison him again. He cannot cope with
the fact that his enemy, Valjean, has spared his life and so he throws himself
in to the river and drowns.
The revolution fails; Couisette marries one of the survivors of the revolution
and Jean Valjean dies peacefully in the very church he found refuge in after
his release from prison.
For those who have read the story or seen the musical, they will be
surprised at the sadness that the story portrays. However there is something
uplifting about the human spirit to be found in it. In the midst of tears,
viewers should be conscious of the search for love and the transforming
power of forgiveness that the story portrays.

The Long Wait

After the Spanish American War, (1898), the United States took over
the Spanish colonies of Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba. It was decided by
church authorities to make an American the auxiliary bishop of Havanna. Fr.
Bonaventure Brodrick was chosen to fill the post. He proceeded to Cuba.
After a short while, the Cubans decided that they did not want an
American as bishop. Bishop Brodrick returned to New York. The Archdiocese
did not need an auxiliary bishop, so a job had to be found for him. He was
put in charge of the annual Peters Pence collection for the Holy See. But
nobody wanted a bishop in charge of this simple matter, so he lost his job
again.
He had nothing to do. He was not assigned to a parish. After sometime
he wrote to the New York Chancery asking for clarification of his position or
non position. He suggested that it was scandalous for a bishop to be
without an assignment. The answer came back telling him to wait. So he
waited. Without a posting, he had no financial support. So he left New York

and headed into a rural area where he took over the management of a
gasoline station.
Several decades later, Archbishop Francis Spellman was appointed to
New York. Pope Pius XII asked him to find out what had happened to bishop
Brodrick. No one in the Archdiocese had the foggiest idea where he was.
However by diligent inquiries, Spellman came across an old address in
upstate New York. Archbishop Spellman drove up to the address. It was a
gasoline station. He got out of his vehicle and asked the boy serving
gasoline,
Who owns this gas station? Doc Brodrick, came the reply.
The Archbishop asked where the owner lived. The boy indicated a house
nearby. The soon to be Cardinal Spellman went over and rang the door bell.
An old man in overalls came to the door.
Bishop Brodrick? asked the Archbishop. Yes. He answered.
I am Archbishop Spellman, and I have come to see if there is anything I can
do for you.
Come in, replied bishop Brodrick. Ive been waiting thirty years. Cardinal
Spellman was installed in New York and made bishop Broderick the auxiliary
bishop of New York and vicar for religious.

29.

A Womans Compassion
Once there was a great lord who built a church in his realm as a lasting
memorial of his liberality. On the day of the grand dedication, this
sovereigns name and the name of his family could be clearly seen, carved in
bold letters on one of the prominent stones of the building.
The next day, however, the only name to be seen on the stone was
that of some unknown woman. Needless to say, the original inscription,
which had been completely obliterated, was restored at once, but the same
phenomenon again took place.

After several attempts to bypass the miracle were similarly frustrated,

the irate lord began an investigation. He had at the outset forbidden his
subjects to contribute, even in a small way, to the project. He was to be the
sole donor. Now he began to suspect that somebody had secretly interfered
with his plan. The unknown name was, therefore, duly identified and the
guilty woman summoned to justice. Denying at first all responsibility in the
matter, she suddenly remembered - - - During the building operations, she
had noticed how difficult it was for the horses to drag along the heavy
cartloads of stone, and with her last coin she had bought some hay for them.
These dumb animals are in a certain way, participating in this great
work, she had reasoned, and as I have been deprived of the privilege of
contributing directly to this temple, perhaps God will accept the offering I am
making through them. That was the extent of her guilt.
The humbled soverign fully understood - - - and there was no further
interference with the miraculous inscription. This proves, that the most trivial
work, the least action when inspired by love, is often of greater merit than
the most outstanding achievement.

30

The Phoenix
The Egyptians believed in a bird called the Phoenix. They believed
there was only one. When it grew old, the Phoenix built itself a nest of cassia
twigs and frankinsense and flapping its wings, caused the nest to burst into
flames. The Phoenix and its nest were reduced to ashes. Yet from these
ashes the Phoenix was reborn.

The Greeks had a similar legend, but there were significant differences
to the Egyptian legend. The colours of the plumage of the Phoenix were red
and purple. For this reason it was called the Royal Bird. Their was a definite
cycle of demise by fire and then rebirth. The historian Tacitus wrote that this
cycle was 500 years. The reborn Phoenix was not the same as its
predecessor. It arose from the ashes of its predecessor as a new individual
but with the same plumage and spiritual qualities.
For the Chinese, they believed that the Phoenix was born in the sun. Its
plummage is a blend of colours and its call is a sweet harmony of five notes.
It bathes only in the purest water that flows from the Kun lun mountains
and it passes the night in the cave of Tan. It can raise its beautiful tail higher
than a tall mans head. Wherever it goes the 360 varieties of birds gather to
pay it homage. Wherever it appears it is an omen of good luck and prosperity
but when it leaves bad luck will follow.
To the Chinese the Phoenix represented beauty and harmony. For this
reason, the Phoenix was especially associated with weddings. In the middle
ages, the Phoenix was adopted as a sign over the shops of chemists. The
bird was associated with the practice of alchemy. This was a perennial quest
to transform other base metals into gold.
It was also used by early christians as a symbol of the resurrection. It
portrayed the belief in the rebirth of the Christian at the general resurrection
and final judgement. Such a symbol has long fallen into disuse.
For modern people the phase rising from the ashes is a reference to
this mythical creature. It refers to any enterprise or project that has fallen on
hard times or may have even collapsed completely. Yet within the human
spirit there is the drive to start again, to rebuild from the failure. It is a
willingness to regenerate perhaps in a new direction. At some point in
everyones life there is this spiritual test after defeat. It is part of human
nature to lift oneself up and try again.

31

True or False The Shroud of Turin

In 1988 three laboratories were chosen for the radiocarbon dating of
the Shroud of Turin. The laboratories were located in Oxford England, Arizona

in the U.S.A., and Zurich in Switzerland. In April, samples of the Shroud were
taken from the same area, by the Cardinal Ballestrero of Turin and professor
Michael Tite of the Oxford laboratory. The samples were sealed in canisters
and given to representatives from the three laboratories.
The samples were tested. The Arizona laboratory run by Drs. Damon
and Donahue registered a reading of 1350 A.D. The Oxford laboratory run by
Dr. Edward Hall, Dr. Michael Tite and Dr. Robert Hedges gave a reading
between 1290 and 1390 A.D. Similar findings come from the Zurich
laboratories.
Catholics who are staunch believers in the Shrouds authenticity were
shocked. The Shroud was declared a Medieval fake. But was it?
Belief that the winding sheet called the Shroud of Turin is authentic, grows.
In 1998 and 2000 A.D. the Shroud was again put on display for public
veneration.
What evidence can believers put forward?
1. The weave is Herring Bone in design. A weave from pre Christian times
or roughly the time of Christ.
2. The image displays certain clear aspects of torture and Crucifixion.
The person crucified, is approx 510 in height.
It is the image of a well built male in the prime of his life.
The blood on the head and face show a man pierced by a helmet
of sharp objects.
The front and back show the horrendous lacerations of a person
stripped naked, with both hands held stretched above his head,
and whipped with two kinds of instruments over his whole body,
by at least two executioners.
The nose is disfigured from a blow to the face.
The right hand has been pierced in the area of the wrist. There is
no thumb imprint. This would indicate a reflex action brought
about by the rupture of the median nerve.
The right shoulder shows extensive contusion caused by carrying
a heavy movable object.
The left leg is shorter than the right leg. Rigor mortis has set in.
this indicates that the left foot rested on top of the right foot.
Both feet seem to have been pierced by one sharp object.

There is a substantial cut in the right side and a small opening on

the left side of the trunk of the body. Some sharp object was
driven through the exposed chest of the person.
Both knees show contusions consistent with contact with a hard
surface.

No other known example of the crucifixion in this manner has been found in
the annals of human history. Only one man is reputed to have suffered all
these injuries. These injuries could have not been fabricated by a medieval
artist.
3. Dr. Max Frei, a Zurich Botanist and criminologist in 1978 during the
official investigation of the Shroud by the STURP team of scientists,
used dozens of pieces of sticky tape to press onto the Shrouds
surface. He obtained, by this primitive method, many hundreds of
pollen samples. When studied, he identified 58 of these pollen to have
come from the Mediterranean area and particularly the Holy Land. His
untimely death in 1983 left the book he was preparing on his findings,
unfinished. In July of 1988, Dr. Walter McCrone and Dr. Alan Adler of the
U.S.A. used Max Freis collection for further study and determined that
on the Shroud, apart from pollen, there were substantial portions of
plant parts and floral debris. Such a finding is consistent with Jewish
burial procedures in the first century of placing flowers and olive twigs
beside the trunk of a person being buried. The absence of blood or
serum on the sides of the shroud indicate that this procedure could
have been followed. The winding sheet was not fastened to the trunk
or limbs of the crucified man, but hung loosely at the sides, allowing
for the placement of plant material.
4. In reply to the findings of the radio carbon dating, One American
microbiologist,
Dr. Leoncio Garza- Valdes put forward the
theory that the segment of the Shroud used in the experiments had
been contaminated. This would alter the date of the radio carbon
dating process. Records showed that the segment was cut from the
edge of the shroud and this place had been frequently held by human
hands in the course of several centuries of expositions. Secondly,
Garza- Valdez believed that the whole shroud had been subject to
contamination by bacteria and fungi that formed a bio plastic coating
on both sides back and front of the winding sheet. Subsequent
microscopic testing of some shroud fibers showed this to be true. This
testing was performed on the 2nd and 3rd of September 1994 by
Professor Harry Gove an American Nuclear physicist.

How was the imprint on the shroud made?

Skeptics claimed that the figure of the crucified man was painted on
the winding sheet. There is no evidence of paint pigment on the
shroud.
There are areas where human blood was transferred by direct contact
with a human body but the penetration of such blood into the fibers of
the shroud is minimal.
There is a rusty almost burnt colour to much of the human imprint on
the shroud. Scientists are baffled by it. The imprint seems to have been
burnt in by a sudden burst of radiant energy.
We gain some insight in to the process of imprinting of the image, by words
spoken to the Italian mystic Maria Valtorta during the 2nd World War by Christ
in a vision,
Bless God who has granted you an indisputable proof of my crucifixion and
of the tortures preceding it. - - -The cruel bruises of my kidneys have been
the most powerful agent in the miracle of the shroud. - - -the urea
accumulated and spread in my blood, in my body, bringing about the
sufferings of Uraemic intoxication and the reagent oozed out of my corpse
and fixed the impression on the cloth. (Poem of the Man God- Maria
Valtorta Bk.5 P.669)
Pope Pius XII described the shroud as The greatest relic the church
possesses.
What do you think?

32

The History of the Shroud of Turin.

When Nicodemus provided a winding sheet for the burial of Christ, he
provided two pieces. One was used to take Christ down from the cross, the
other was used to cover the naked body of Christ once it was briefly washed
and hastily anointed with Myrrh and Aloes. The first winding sheet,
Nicodemus kept. Being a sculptor, he planned to make a sculpture of Christ,
hollow out the back of it and enclose the first winding sheet inside the
sculpture, then close it up. If he in fact did this, then there is no record of
such a sculpture being found. The first Winding Sheet then, has been lost.
The second winding sheet is still with us. It is kept in a special reliquary in
the Church of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
How did it come to be there?
Its history is shrouded in mystery. In particular the first thousand years
of its existence. What little evidence we have starts with the tradition
concerning the Cloth of Edessa. Put briefly, this tradition relates how the
ruler of Edessa, (Today Urfa in Eastern Turkey), was suffering from a serious
disease. His name was Abgar V and was known to Jesus. One of Christs
disciples, Thaddeus or Addai by name, is recorded as bringing the Shroud of
Christ to Edessa and healing the King, Agbar V, of his illness. This in turn led
to the conversion of many of Edessas populace.
Later, a persecution of Christians breaks out and the Christians hide
the Cloth of Edessa above the city gates. Over several centuries, 2nd and to
the 6th, Edessa suffered heavy flooding. In 525 A.D, the flooding was so
severe that one third of the population died.
(30,000 people) and
some of the finest buildings including the Cathedral are destroyed. The
Christian Emperor, Justinian orders the reconstruction of Edessa. It is during
this reconstruction period that the miraculous cloth of Edessa is
rediscovered.

In 544 the Persians attack Edessa but are repulsed. In a vision, the
Bishop of Edessa, is reported to have found again the Cloth of Edessa and
it is displayed for prayers to be offered. The Persians were repulsed by the
divinely worked likeness (of Christ) which human hands have not made. (I
Wilson The Blood and the Shroud P.312)
In 692 the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian II issued a gold coin, with the
first known image of Christs face on a coin. The remarkable feature of this
coin is that the face of Christ shows a divided beard. This is a distinctive
feature of the majestic face that can be seen on the Shroud of Turin. Many
Mosaics and paintings of the Byzantine era depicting the face of the Panto
erator (Christ), exhibit facial features that uncannily seem to resemble the
face on the Shroud of Turin. These include, two strands of hair on the high
forehead, a transverse streak across the middle forehead, a distinctive space
at the bridge of the nose; a raised right eye brow and among other marks, a
separated beard.
During the 10th Century, Edessa is again overrun by the Moslems. The
Emperor Romanus sends an army to surround Edessa. The General of the
Christian army, Curcuas, makes the unprecedented promise in 944, not to
harm Edessa if the Cloth of Edessa is handed over to a bishop
accompanying the Christian Army. Curcuas also promises to pay 12,000
pieces of silver and release 200 Moslem prisoners. That is how much value is
placed on the sacred relic. Negotiations are successful and the Cloth of
Edessa is taken to Constantinople, the Capital of Romes Eastern Empire.
Initially it resides in the Church of St. Mary at Blachernae, then transferred to
the Hagia Sophia church. Later in the 10th Century (c. 990 A.D) the Cloth of
Edessa was called the Holy Mandylion.
In 1203 the fourth Crusade breaches the Walls of Constantinople.
Robert de Clari, a crusader from Picardy, describes seeing the church of St.
Mary at Blachernae,
On every Friday the Cloth is raised so that one could see the figure of the
Lord on it.
(I Wilson, the Blood and the Shroud. P.321)
Unfortunately, the Crusaders sacked Constantinople and the Cloth of
Edessa/ Shroud of Turin, disappears. In 1205, a list of relics is noted as being
in the control of the Crusader, Otho de la Roche in Athens. Among the relics
is the linen in which our Lord Jesus was wrapped after his death. In 1225,
Otho de la Roche becomes a Preceptor of the Knights Templar.

Rumours circulate in the next 75 years of the leaders of the Knights

Templars secretly worshipping Some kind of Bearded Head. A reference to
a folded winding sheet kept in a special reliquary wherein the face of Christ is
exposed only.
In 1337, there is evidence of the Shroud being in the possession of
Geoffrey I de Charny. In 1349 land is donated to Geoffrey I de Charmy for his
many feats of valour on behalf of the French Throne. The revenue from this
land was sufficient to support the expenses for Canons entrusted with the
shroud in the Church at Lirey. On September 19 1356 A.D. Geoffrey de
Charny dies a heros death at the battle of Poitiers.
In 1418, due to danger from marauding bands, the canons of Lirey
hand the Shroud to Humbert of Villersexel, for safe keeping. He dies in 1438,
and records show that the Shroud is passed to his wife Margaret de Charny,
the daughter of Geoffrey de Charny I.
In 1453, Margaret de Charny receives the Castle of Varambon from
Duke Louis I of Savoy in exchange for the Shroud. It eventually resides in the
Chapel at Chambery. In 1471 it is transferred to Vercelli. On July 2nd 1473 it is
transferred to Turin in Italy, later to Ivrea, Montcalieri and finally back to
Chambery in the possession of the Dukes of Savoy.
In 1532, a fire breaks out in the Chapel at Chambery. The Shroud is
damaged by molten silver and water thrown to douse the fire. Because the
relic has been folded, the molten silver burns 16 holes in the Shroud but
fortunately the front and back figures of Christ, are not seriously damaged. In
April of 1534, the Nuns of the Poor Clare convent in Chambery are
commissioned to repair the damaged Shroud.
In 1535, Savoy is invaded by French troops. The Duke and his family
take the Shroud to Piedmont, Turin, Besancon, Milan, Vercelli, Nice, Aosta,
Chambery, Annecy and finally back to Turin to save the elderly St. Charles
Borromeo from journeying over the Alps. He had vowed to walk from his
diocese in Milan, to Chambery to venerate the Shroud. Here it has remained.
There were many expositions of it, private and public during the 17th, 18th
and 19th centuries.
In May of 1898, Italian photographer Secondo Pia made the remarkable
discovery that the imprints on the shroud are negatives. For the first time
ordinary people as well as scientists were able to see with their own eyes the
horror of Christs crucifixion.

One the 18th March 1983 Ex King Umberto II, owner of the relic, the
Shroud of Turin, dies in Cascais. His will discloses that he has bequeathed the
Shroud to the Pope and his successors, with the proviso that the cloth
remains in Turin. It has remained there ever since in the Cathedral of Saint
John the Baptist.

Where is the Ark of the Covenant?

In the 2nd book of Maccabees we have this entry, it is also said in
these writings of the past, that the prophet Jeremiah, fulfilling orders from
heaven, commanded that the Ark of the Covenant with its text be brought
with him. And he went to the mountain which Moses had climbed and from
where he had seen the promised land. There Jeremiah found a cave; and he
brought in the Ark, the tent that covered it and the altar of incense. Then he
closed up the entrance with stones. (2 Macc.2:4-5)
Jeremiah lived through one of the most troubled periods of the Ancient
near East. He witnessed the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the rising of one
greater, the Babylonian empire. He received his call to the role of prophet in
626 BC in a dramatic fashion (Jer.1:9-10)
The mountain in which he is supposed to have hidden the Ark, is Mt.
Nebo. It lies on the East Bank of the Jordan river, almost in line with

Jerusalem. The mountain has been excavated but the Ark was not found.
Where then is the Ark of the Covenant?
An interesting legend concerning the ark has come from the highlands
of Ethiopia. The legend is contained in a manuscript called the Kebra
Nagast. In this legend, the Queen of Sheba is an Ethiopian. She journeys to
Jerusalem to listen to the Wisdom of Solomon. She has intimate relations
with Solomon and after her return to her regency, bore a son named Menelik.
When the son grew to manhood, he went to Jerusalem and stayed with
Solomon for a year. On leaving Jerusalem, he and his companions secretly
removed the Ark from Solomons temple and took the Ark back to Ethiopia.
Solomon reigned between 961 to 922 B.C.
The Bible does not make any mention of the loss of the Ark during this
period. But it is clear that with the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC to the
Babylonians, no mention is made of the precious Ark when Cyrus I grants the
Jews permission to return to Jerusalem and gives them back the treasures
taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC. (Ezra 1:7-11) So, the Ark was definitely
not in the Temple in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 6th Century BC.
This brings us to the conclusion, that the Ark was removed sometime
between the 10th and 6th Centuries BC.
The Ark of the covenant seemed to be vested with miraculous powers.
When two of the Sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu presented unlawful fire and
incense before the Ark, fire leapt out of the Ark and incinerated them. (Lev.
10:1-2)

King Uzziah ruled Judah between 783 and 742 BC. He went into the
house of God and burnt incense on the altar of incense outside the Holy of
Holies. Azariah the priest tried to stop this sacrilege. Only priests could do
this. Immediately Uzziah was struck with leprosy and from then on he lived in
an isolated house as a leper to his dying day. (2 Chron. 26:16-21)
So it appears that the Ark was still in the Temple to the end of the 8th Century
BC. This would negate the claim made by the Ethiopian legend that Menelik
stole the ark in the 10th Century.
A more plausible argument for the removal of the Ark occurs during the
reign of Manasseh King of Judah, who reigned between 687 and 632 BC. He
did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh.
(2 Chron. 33:2-6) He made an

idol and placed it in the temple and worshipped it. It was believed to be a
statue of the goddess Asherah.
Without a doubt, the priests were alarmed at the desecration of the
Temple, the soothsaying and witchcraft and the altars built in the high places
to the Canaanite God, Baal. Secretly they removed the Ark of the Covenant
and fled with it down to Egypt. This argument bears weight because 40 years
after the death of Manasseh, the Ark is not mentioned when Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed Jerusalem.
What happened then to the Ark of the Covenant?
The Jewish people had settlements in Egypt even in the days of
Solomon. One of his many wives was the daughter of the Pharoah. (2
Chron.8:11) This was a political alliance that had trading benefits for Israel.
These Jewish settlements also grew up along the Nile River. It is believed that
during the 7th Cent. BC. Jews migrated along the Blue Nile to Lake Tana in the
Ethiopian highlands. As late as the 1990s there were remnants of the Jewish
religion in the Simien Mountains to the South of the present city of Axum and
around the shores of Lake Tana. These people were the Falashas, the
Black Jews of Ethiopia. They had no synagogues or rabbis but had priests.
The people observed the Sabbath, the food proscriptions of Leviticus; and
the priests offered animal sacrifices. This practice of animal sacrifices is
strong proof for these Jewish converts being in Ethiopia before the reign of
King Josiah of Judah (640-609 A.D) He was the king who restored the temple
and in doing so the book of the Law was discovered. All the priests and
people listened to the book of the Law and Josiah rededicated the Jewish
people to Yahweh.
He destroyed all the sacrificial altars throughout the land of Judah. (2
Kings 23:10-15) The only place of sacrifice was the temple in Jerusalem. This
message never seems to have reached the Jewish colonies along the Nile
River and in Ethiopia. The Falashas numbered in the several hundred
thousands. However the last remnants of them were airlifted to Israel in the
1990s.
Christianity came to Ethiopia in 331 A.D. it was brought there by Abuna
Salama. Half the inhabitants of Ethiopia were Jews, the other half were
worshippers of the dragon god Sando. Every year the Jews had celebrated
the Timkat ceremony. This was a religious procession where in priests
carried Tabotats, stone replicas of the 10 commandments deposited in the
Ark of the Covenant. The Christians absorbed and continued this ritual.

Where was the real Ark?

It seems that the priests who had fled with it to Egypt, travelled up the
Nile to a Jewish colony on Elephantine island in the middle of the Nile. There
a temple was built and animal sacrifices carried out for 200 years. Egypt was
invaded and the temple of the Jews destroyed. Its remains can be seen there
today.
The Jews fled up the Blue Nile with the Ark bringing it to Ethiopia.
Eventually it was deposited on the island of Tana Kirkos in Lake Tana. There it
remained in Jewish hands until the coming of Christianity. Christians built a
monastery on the island and continued the legend that the Ark had rested
there for 800 years. King Ezana, newly converted to Christianity in 331 AD,
removed the Ark to a newly built church in honour of Mary the Mother of
Christ in Axum.
It has remained there with the exception of two periods when it was in
danger. The first was the attempt by a tribal chiefteness called Gudit to
obliterate Christianity in 980 AD and the second time in 1535 AD when
Moslems under Ahmed Gragn invaded Ethiopia and destroyed the city of
Axum.
The city was rebuilt. So was the church to Our Lady. A special chapel
was built to house the Ark and a Christian monk assigned to guard it. He
alone offers incense and prays daily before it. When he dies another monk is
assigned to the same task for life.
No one is allowed into the chapel of the Ark. It has never been seen
except by the order of Monks commissioned to guard it.
So where is the Ark today?
The best answer is that it is in Ethiopia in the city of Axum.

Sources

34.

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EWTN Documentary on Christianity in Japan.
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James Reuter S.J. God draws Straight With Crooked lines.
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Philip Yancey, Soul Survivor, Chapter 7, O.M.F. Literature Inc.
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James Reuter S.J., Stand Up and Die, Philippine Star, Sat.,
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Cito Beltran, I lost my Quest Philippine Star, Wed. December
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Google: Wikepedia The True Cross. For St. Helena
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Philippine Star, Tuesday, August 28, 2007.
19.
Cito Beltran, All packed but nowhere to go. Philippine Star,
Monday June 18, 2007.
20.
Neil Philip Myths and Fairy Tails Pgs. 102-105 Dorling
Kindersley Ltd, 1999.
21.
C. Bernard Ruffin, Padre Pio the True Story. Our Sunday Visitor
Publishing Division, 1991.
22.
James Reuter S.J., Amazing Story. Philippine Star, Saturday
March 9,2002.

23.
Francis Trochu, Cure D Ars, Sinag-Tala Publishers Inc. Manila
nd
2 printing. 1998.
24.
Wikipedia 1972 Andes Flight Disaster.
25.
Miguel Bernard S.J., Reflections from the Veranda. Philippine
Star, Monday, Oct.10, 2005.
26.
James Reuter S.J. The Good Side. Philippine Star, Saturday Feb.
9, 2008.
27.
Miguel Bernard S.J. Oscar Romero 25 years after.
Philippines Star, Monday September 19, 2005
28.
Mylene Mendoza- Dayrit, The Healthy Healing Benefits of
Forgiving.
Philippine Star, Tuesday January 29,2013.
29.
Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., Arise from the Darkness Ignatius
Press. Pgs. 68-69, 1995.
30.
St. Therese of Lisieux, Way of Confidence and Love
Mother of Life Center Inc. P. 101-102, 1998.
31.
B.Kirk patrick, Brewers concise Phase and Fable. P.787-788,
Cassell and Co, 2000.
N. Philip, Myths and Fairy Tales
collection. P.151, Dorling Kingsly Ltd., 1999.
32.
I Wilson, The Blood and the Shroud P.307-381, Orion Books,
1998.
33.
I Wilson The Blood and the Shroud. P.307-381 Orion Books,
1998.
34.
G. Hancock The Sign and the Seal Arrow Books reprint 1997.
(One has to read the whole book)

Topics from the

Philippines

Our Lady Of Caysasay

In 1603 An image of the Blessed Virgin was found by a fisherman, Juan

Maningcad, in the Pansipit River in barrio Caysasay in the town of Taal,
Batangas. It was a village filled with kingfishers, known in the local dialect as
Casay-Casay. The Spaniards pronounced this: Caysasay.
Juan carried the image home. It was a little statue of the Immaculate
Conception, about six inches tall. The image was taken to the town of Taal
and placed in a special urn.
Then strange things began to happen. On day the urn was found
empty. The next day it was back in the urn. This puzzled the parish priest, so
he asked for volunteers to keep vigil on the urn. As they watched the door to
the urn it opened and the image came out and disappeared. Later it came
back. The parish priest could not explain how this coming and going was
happening. He decided that the villagers should follow the image with lighted
candles. The image led the villagers to the spot where it had been found at
Caysasay. The priest decided to put the image in the church at Taal. But the
image disappeared from the church.
In 1611, two women gathering firewood found the statue again in
Caysasay. The parish priest and the people concluded that it was the Blessed
Virgins wish to stay in Caysasay. So they built a chapel there. In 1639, the
chapel was replaced with a coral stone structure that was completed in 1640.
20 Chinese stone masons had taken part in its construction. They were
massacred along with 20,000 other chinese in the terrible Sangley
revolution. Which took place in Manila in 1603. They rose up against the
Spaniards and initially they won but were finally defeated. In 1754, a violent
eruption in Taal lake lasting eight months, almost closed the Pansipit River. It
flooded out the lake towns of Tanauan, Lipa, Sala, Bauan and Taal. The
townspeople of Taal fled to the Shrine of Our Lady at Caysasay. The present
beautiful town of Taal was built on the hillside of the caldera, overlooking the
shrine and Balayan bay. From the time of the eruption Taal Lake was
transformed from a salt water lake to a fresh water lake.
The chinese have built a Christian/Taoist temple at Caysasay. They
believe the virgin of Caysasay is a reincarnation of the Chinese Sea
Goddess Ma Tzu. Each year Chinese devotees from Luzon come to the
temple to honour the Virgin of Caysasay. It was built in 1976. These Filipino
Chinese are also Catholics. So on the day of the feast they first hear Mass in
the church of St. Martin in Taal where the statue of Our Lady of Caysasay is
enshrined. Then they return to the Taoist temple of Ma-Tzu for a series of

cultural activities after taking part in a dragon parade around the city of
Taal. The chinese have been here for almost a thousand years as traders and
crafts men. Their traditions remain very much engrained in their
descendents.

1.
The Santo Nino

In the Philippines, the Spaniards had a program of gathering scattered

populations together into compact towns. This had the side effect of making
them attractive targets for Moro raiders from the parts of South Western
Mindanao. Churches served the dual purpose as a house of worship and a
fortress. In the harbor of Capiz in Panay there was a spanish cannon fort
named Santo Nino. One day shortly before dawn, a fleet of Moro ships was
sighted in Batan Bay. The cry went up.
There are Moros on the Coast! Christians to the Church!
The Moros attacked. The defenders invoking the name of the Cannon
fort Santo Nino retaliated and fought off the Moros. The whole town came
together and the people shouted Viva Santo Nino! Viva Santo Nino! This
victory led to the now famous Ati Atihan festival. Every year the people of
Kalibo of Panay gather in the streets to dance. It is a dance of participants
not on lookers. The people paint themselves black or don colourful costumes.
The Painting of bodies black is to represent the Aeta people who were the
original inhabitants of Panay island. As part of the dancing, the people shout
Hala Bira!. This means to strike a blow. A week after the Ati-Atihan
festival in Kalibo, the people of the islands capital, Iloilo, stage a much more
controlled festival than that at Kalibo, with lavish and highly choreographed
dance routines. This is the Dinagyang festival. Tourists and parade goers
are more spectators rather than participants. These two festivals, the AtiAtihan and the Dinagyang, both honour the Santo Nino.
Now to Cebu,
When Ferdinand Magelland arrived in the Philippines in 1521, he
presented a wooden statue of the Santo Nino from Spain to the wife of Rajah
Humabon. It was not particularly beautiful and it was quite small. He gave it
to the wife of Rajah Humabon, as a baptismal gift. She took the baptismal
name of Juana in honour of Queen Juana, the mother of King Carlos I of
Spain. Upon being presented with the wooden statue, she spontaneously
began to dance the first Sinulog. With the death of Magellan at the hands of

Lapu Lapu, the Spaniards fled on their ships back to Mexico. In 1565 a
second Spanish expedition under Don Miguel de Legazpi returned to Cebu.
The Spaniards built a fort near the entrance to Cebu harbour, naming it fort
St. Pedro. Two men in the expedition went ashore searching the vacated
villages and were surprised to find the statue of the Sto. Nino. They were the
expedition leader, Legazpi, and an Augustinian Monk and famous navigator,
Friar Andres de Urdaneta O.S.A.
The statue was enshrined in a chapel in Cebu and later in the Minor
Basilica built in its honour. The Statue is today enclosed in a glass case and
the shrine is a site of pilgrimmage. Filipinos from all parts of the country and
even foreign tourists visit the Basilica all year round. In 1980 the fiesta
celebrations in honour of the Santo Nino took on another dimension. A street
parade of dancing groups passed through the main streets of Cebu,
emulating the first Sinulog dance by the wife of Rajah Humabon. It was a
spectacular spectacle and continues each year in Cebu during the third week
of January. The statue of the Santo Nino is the oldest Christian relic in the
Philippines. The Santo Nino of the Philippines is often compared to the
miraculous statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague. This statue is a small
figure, 19 inches tall and made of wax. Like the Santo Nino of Cebu, it is of
Spanish origin. It is clothed in a royal mantle, and has a beautiful jewelled
crown on its head. Its right hand is raised in blessing and its left hand holds a
globe signifying sovereignty of the world.
The wax figure was brought by a Spanish princess to Bohemia. Her
mother had given it to her as a wedding gift. Later, the princess in turn
presented it to her daughter. When the husband of the daughter of the
princess died in 1623, she resovled to spend her widowhood in works of
charity. She was particularly generous to the Carmelites of Prague and
presented them with the wax statue. The statue was set up in the Carmelite
chapel and twice a day special devotions were performed before it. A thirty
years war broke out. The Carmelite Novitiate was transferred to Munich in
Germany in 1630. Some of the Carmelites remained in Prague. On November
15,1631 over eighty Protestant preachers took possession of the churches of
the city. Statues and altars were destroyed. The Carmelite Monastery was
plundered and the waxen statue of the Infant of Prague was thrown down
amidst the rubble behind the high altar. Both hands were broken off.
After the Protestants had moved out of Prague, the Carmelites
returned. The statue was forgotten. Then on the feast of Pentecost in 1637,
Fr. Cyrillus a Matre Dei, a carmelite, returned to Prague. He remembered

praying before the image of the Infant Jesus and being delivered of a spiritual
dryness he was experiencing. With the superiors consent he searched the
ruins of the Carmelite nuns monastery and found the broken statue. It was
restored and placed in its original chapel were it remained for sometime until
in 1642 a noble lady had an elegant chapel built for the divine infant at her
expense. The first mass was offered in 1644 with the image placed in a
magnificent gold plated shrine. It is a site of pilgrammage since that time,
(approx. 370 years) Both devotions, the Santo Nino of Cebu and the Infant
Jesus of Prague, venerate the Son of God, who, in the form of an infant,
chose a stable for a palace, a manager for a cradle, and shepherds for
worshippers. Christ grants special favours to all who venerate has sacred
infancy and childhood. It is diffifult to ascertain the age of both of these
relics. Apart from the fact that they both came from Spain, there are no
records of where they were orginally made or venerated in Spain.

2.

The Basques
The Kastilas occupied and ruled the Philippines for nearly 350 years.
In reality these are the Basques from Northern Spain near the border with
France. They have always been different to the other Spaniards. They have a
distinct culture, history and language (Eushera). While they are part of Spain,
they have fought for several decades to become an independent country,
even resorting to violent means. They do have in 2013 a degree of political
autonomy. They are a distinct people with a deal of agression, adventurism
and independence not found in the ordinary Spaniards. St. Francis Xavier is a
classic example. As a people, they resisted the Moors for seven centuries
and were not conquered.
The first person to command an expedition that circumnavigated the
world, was a basque named Juan Sebastian Elcano. He was from the province
of Guipozcoa. Most of Magellans crew were Basques. The Augustinian Monk,
Urdaneta and Don Miguel Legazpi were both Basques. A good number of
govenor-generals who ruled during the Spanish occupation were Basques.
For example, Luis Lardizabal, a govenor general, set up the province of
Nueva Viscaya, naming it after his Basque province, Biscay.
Today, there still exists a group of Basque remnants in the Philippines.
One of these families is the Ynchausti family. This family is involved in
many enterprises including the world famous Tanduay Distilleria and Rizal
Cement. If one looks at the label on a bottle of Tanduay rum, you will find the

insignia of a shield. The shield is divided into four parts. In the upper left
corner is a walnut tree. The same symbol occurs on the lower right corner
also. The lower left and upper right quadrants have a chevron. This is the
true coat of arms of the Ynchausti fmaily. The name Tanduay also is based
on the site along the Pasig River in Manila that was the centre for the
Ynchausti factories and head offices. To the left of the shield is the emblem of
a castle. This is the Tower of Castile. It was a prominent part of the Coat of
Arms of Old Manila.
Other important successful commercial companies are still Spanish, although
not necessarily Basque. They include the Ayala family of enterprises and the
Aboitiz group, which is involved in shipping and power generation to name a
couple.

The Sangleys.
The Chinese are an important component of the commerce and
industry of the Philippines. In general, they are astute business people and
are willing to support fellow Chinese who suffer an economic setback e.g. a
fire that destroys a business. The native Filipino population are not so
generous, being more inclined to leave a fellow Filipino to his fate unless he
is part of the extended family.
Every major center in the Philippines has a China town. In fact many
Western Countries have similar commercial and restaurant centers in the
Chinese diaspora. There are upwards of 60 million Chinese living outside
China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. They are truly a dispersed people. In the
Philippines, many Chinese have inter-married with the native population.
These Filipino-Chinese are call Mestizos or more colloquilly Chinoys. The
National hero of the Philippines Jose Rizal was of mixed Chinese Filipino
lineage. He was a Mestizo and a very intelligent man. The Chinese have
played a major role in our history. In general they tend to be law abiding.
Very few are incarcerated in Filipino prisons. However, recent arrivals are

heavily involved in drug production and trafficking. They do have one

dominant cultural drawback. They are, by and large, inveterate gamblers.
When the Spaniards arrived in Manila in 1571, they had already encountered
Chinese merchant ships in Manila harbour and a number of resident Chinese.
They village of Binondo along the banks of the Pasig River was once called
Ysla de Binondo, because it was an island between two estuaries. Estero
de la Reina and Estero de Binondo.
When the Spaniards asked where they had come from, they replied
Seng-Li (Xang Lai) which really meant traders. The Spaniards
misinterpreted this as Sangleys. Hence we have as part of Manila today,
Sangley Point and Chinese were called Sangleys during the Spanish
occupation. The Chinese and Spaniards set up the Galleon Trade. Mexican
silver was traded for Chinese silk and porcelain in Acapulco, Mexico. This
trade flourished until the early nineteenth century. A Frenchman, Jean Mallat,
visiting Binondo in 1846 wrote,
The place is full of Chinese, indigenous people, and industrious halfbreeds, they are confectioners, merchants of oil and soap, jewelers, painters,
goldsmiths, glazers; they maintain gambling houses and pansiterias. A
king of hash house where one goes to eat pansit. This is a Chinese dish
which is the craze among the Ninas (young girls) of Manila. To this day,
Chinese are active in Binondo. They sell their wares at a minimal profit with
the belief that the cheaper their products, the more they sell the greater
their revenues and income. Some of the Chinese and mestizo Chinese have
become very good Catholics. It was a mestizo Chinese from Binondo, Lorenzo
Ruiz, who became a Christian martyr and the Philippines first saint.

4.

Origins of Christmas
The Summer Solstice was important in Ancient times. It is the time that
the sun reaches its extreme Southern point. For the Romans this rising of the
sun again was called the Natalis Solis Invicti, the birth day of the
Unconquered Sun. The winter would soon be gone.
The pagan festival honouring this event began on December 19. The
feast was called Saturnalia after the Roman god Saturn. The feast lasted
for seven days and was highlighted by freedom from restraint. Slaves took
the place of their masters and the continuing feast often ended in riots and
debauchery. No crimes were punished. The feast culminated on December 25

with a great celebration known as Brumalia. This was the occasion on

which gifts were exchanged.
The early Christians turned this festival into a celebration of the birth
of Christ rather than take part in questionable behavior. We do not know the
exact date of Christs birth, only December 25 seemed a reasonable date for
Christians to recall the Incarnation.
Unquestionably, Christmas is the most loved nationwide festival in the
Philippines. It begins with a nine day novena of dawn masses called
Simbang Gabi and ends with the midnight mass known as Missa de
Gallo, the mass of the cock or in polite terms, the mass of the rooster.
The midnight mass is followed by the Noche Buena, a modest meal,
and the opening of presents. It is really a great time for the members of the
family to come together. While the adults can enjoy banter and good fun,
Christmas day really belongs to the children.
The nine day novena leading up to Christmas day draws enormous
crowds to the dawn masses. People who are not particularly religious turn up
because they realize it is something special. Many unmarried young adults
and teenagers attend in the belief that they will find true love. The custom of
a novena of early masses originated in Mexico.

5.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Several hundreds of years ago during the Reformation, a custom arose
in the church of celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas in Song. These
twelve days ended with the feast of the Epiphany, or more commonly
known as the feast of the Three Kings which is the day for giving presents.
Not Christmas day. That was the case also in the Philippines prior to the
coming of the Americans. There is a remnant of this custom in Manila. One

institution that has consistently kept this tradition is the Casino Espanol.
Every Three Kings day, three staff members of the Casino dress up in
costumes and ride on horseback around Manila to distribute Aguinaldos to
the children. (i.e. gifts)
The eve of the Epiphany was known as the Twelfth Night.
Shakespears play of the same name was written for acting on the Twelfth
Night revelry. As to the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, its origins lay
in the religious oppression that English Catholics endured from 1558 to 1829.
It was really not a song as such but a secret Catechism. It could be sung
without risk of persecution because the Protestant authorities were oblivious
to its meaning.
Everything in the carol had a double meaning. Here is the secret
interpretation.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ.

The two turtledoves are the Old and New Testaments.
The Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.
The four calling birds are the four gospels.
The five gold rings recall the Torah (The Pentateuch).
The six geese a laying stand for the six days of creation.
The Seven swans a swimming represent the seven fold gifts of the
spirit.
8. The eight maids a milking are the eight beatitudes.
9. The nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the spirit.
10.
The ten lords a leaping are the Ten Commandments.
11.
The eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful Apostles.
12.
The twelve drummers drumming symbolize the 12 points of
belief in the Apostles Creed.
Hymns and songs have always been compendiums of Christian belief. They
somehow raise the soul to express mysteries that form much of our faith.
One lesson we should draw from this Carol is to value our religious freedom.

6.

The Red Flower of Christmas

President Andrew Jackson of the United States in 1820 appointed Joel

Roberts Poinsett as the first American ambassador to Mexico. Pointsett was
an amateur botanist and was responsible for introducing the American elm
tree into Mexico.
Eight years after his appointment to Mexico, he was wandering in the
countryside searching for new plant species. To his surprise, he saw a hillside
that was dark the day before and now was covered in red flowers.
His Mexican guide told him the flowers were popularly known as
pascuas. Because they seemed to bloom around Christmas time the
Spaniards knew them as Flor de la Noche Buena. (The Flower of the Good
Night) Referring of course to Christmas Eve.
The Mexicans have a legend concerning the red flower. It was
Christmas Eve and the people were going to the cathedral with gifts for the
Holy Infant. One little poor girl also wanted to attend, but she had no gift to
bring with her. Outside the Cathedral she prayed for God to help her. To her
surprise a miracle happened. There before her eyes a green plant emerged
from the soil and its leaves at the top turned red. Happily, the child broke off
the top of the flower containing the red leaves and presented it before the
child Jesus in the Christmas Belen.
Ambassador Poinsett was intrigued with the red flower and sent
samples back to the United States to his plantation in South Carolina. From
his plantation cuttings of the flower were sent to other botanists for
classification. The flower was not known in the U.S.A. so the scientists named
this new plant Poinsettia in honour of the American Ambassador to Mexico.
This plant that the Aztecs of Mexico called Cuetlaxochitle became
widespread in America. It was introduced into the Philippines via the Galleon
trade. Now it is found in many of the warmer countries of the world. It is one
of the many gifts that Mexico has given to the Philippines.

7.

What we owe Mexico

The culture that Most resembles Philippine culture is that of Mexico. We
have a lot in common because of the Spaniards. Let us mention some of
these aspects. At Christmas we have the Panluluyan, the Mexican
equivalent of the Pasadas. In 1580 St. John of the Cross, a Spanish
Carmelite, prepared a pagaent in Spain depicting the Holy Couple, Mary and
Joseph, looking for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The actors representing
Mary and Joseph stop and sing in front of several homes requesting a place
to stay. A choir representing the innkeepers sing in reply that the inns are
already full to capacity. The Holy Couple continue their quest and eventually
end up in the parish church. The Spanish Friars brought us this custom from
Mexico.
The most popular Philippine symbol of Christmas is the Parol, our
Christmas star lantern. No home is complete without one. Some these days
are enormous in size. Our Parol is the local version of the Mexican
Luminaria. The Mexican luminaria is a clay pot containing a lighted candle
that glows at night through holes. In Mexico, they are placed outside homes
to let Mary and St. Joseph know that they are welcome to stay in the home
and do not have to search for an inn.
In January of each year the Filipino people celebrate The Black
Nazarene. This black statue of Jesus carrying his cross is carried on a big flat
wagon hauled by devotees, in procession around Quiapo in Manila. People
strive to touch the statue or have clothes touch it. They throw the cloths up
to the men who touched the miraculous statue with the cloths and throw
them back to the owners.
The Quiapo plaza is full of an immense crowd of devotees dressed in
red and yellow. They are so pressed together that it requires considerable
strength on the part of the individual to avoid physical injury. Eventually the
Black Nazarene is hauled back to its point of origin inside the Quiapo
church.
Where did this custom come from?
The truth is that the Black Nazarene was a cult in Mexico. It is
believed to have arisen from a disagreement between a parish priest and a
man asking the priests permission to marry the priests sister. The priest
was aware of the very bad reputation of his sisters suitor. He refused
permission.

The suitor knew that the priest began his day by kissing the feet of the
statue of the Nazarene carrying his cross. So in revenge, he went inside the
church and placed a deadly poison on the feet of the Nazarene. The next day
the priest kissed the feet of the statue but suffered no ill effects. During the
evening the wooden statue had absorbed the poison. In the process the
wooden statue turned black.
We have other connections with Mexico. In Mexico it was a priest Fr.
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla who launched the cry for independence from the
Spanish. In the Philippines, three Filipino priests were unjustly imprisoned
and executed for formenting the call for independence. They were Fathers
Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora. There deaths were one of
the final steps leading to the Spanish-Filipino war in 1898.
Leaving aside politics, Filipinos should remember that many important
vegetables grown here in the Philippines came from Mexico. These include:
Sugar, tobacco, cacao, camote, chico, avocado, mani, sincamas- to name a
few.

Carols
You know the Christmas season has started when you hear Christmas
carols being sung on T.V. on the radio and in department stores. The tradition
of Christmas carols goes as far back as the 13th Century when they were
sung in Europe. The word Carol or Carole is a medieval word that actually
means dance or song of praise and joy. They are communal songs.
Originally songs in Carol form were sung at harvest time.
St. Francis in the 13th century proposed a pageant that depicted the
birth of Christ. This pagaent crystallized into what is called the Belen. A
group of statues representing the Holy Family, the shepherds and later the
three kings. Eventually carols were composed to be sung in churches at
Christmas tide.
Over the following centuries, they went into decline. Some Protestant
denominations practically banned them. Yet in the past three hundred years
there has been a revival in carol singing at Christmas. First in Europe, then in
America and finally in Oceania and the Philippines.
The Repertoire of carols is limited. Popular usage has designated some
as classics. Many of these are written in English and have become part of the
Filipino Christmas tradition because of the American occupation. Yet being

creative, Filipino musicians and composers have produced beautiful carols in

our National language. Some of these are the following: - Pasko Na Naman
Sa May bahay ang Aming Bati and Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit.
We must keep in mind that Carols today are meant to remind us of the
coming of Christ into the world and the honour we should show him in his
infant humanity. Generally they are simple to sing and very much suited to
family or communal singing either inside churches or outside of churches.

8.

Halloween
The original Halloween was part of the Roman harvest festival of
Pomona and had roots also in the ancient religion of the Druids. Druidism
was particularly widespread in pre Christian Scotland and Ireland. For the
Druids, the year ended on October 31, the eve of the Samhain. It was a
festival recognizing the end of summer and honouring the dead.
On the eve of Samhain bonfires were lit on hilltops to guide the
spirits of the dead to the homes of their kinsmen or to kill or ward off
witches. This ceremony persisted in Scotland until the 19th Century.
The early Protestant settlers in America did not entertain the Catholic
tradition of honouring the dead. They did however believe in witches. In the
province of New England, witch hunts reached particularly ugly levels in the
late seventeenth century. Many innocent men and women were hanged
supposedly for withcraft. The famous play the Crucible is set in those
times.
The actual term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve. To hallow is
to make holy. All Hallows eve was the night before All Saints Day in the
Catholic Liturgical calendar. It is the feast of all Holy people or Saints in
Catholic belief. It was Pope Gregory III (731-741) who assigned this date for
celebrating all Saints day. He consecrated a chapel in St. Peters to all the
Saints i.e. all those unknown and known people through the centuries who
died in the grace of God. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the feast to
the whole church. The Halloween customs of Great Britain and Ireland were
brought to America in the 18th Century when large numbers of Irish
emigrated to America to avoid the poverty of their country and the
oppression of the British. They brought also their beliefs in Leprecaurns (little
evil dwarfs) and spookey beings.

The game Trick or Treat also came with the immigrants. In the time
of the Druids, the spirits of the dead were believed to visit their kinsmen in
search of warmth and good cheer as the winter approached. It was an
occasion also when fairies and witches roamed about. If the people were not
watchful then their chickens and other farm animals as well as little children
would disappear. The custom has grown up in the United States of children
dressed in ghoulish garments and face masks going from house to house
playing a modern version of trick or treat. If the house owners do not give
the children something, then they will play a trick on them. Halloween (the
American brand) has not really caught on in the Philippines. This is for two
reasons. Firstly the poor cannot afford the elaborate costumes and the
decorations and secondly, most families are preparing to go to the cemetery
to celebrate All Saints day, (Nov.1) and All Souls day. (Nov.2) For Filipinos
these two days are special and sacred. They dont want to be distracted by a
fun celebration for kids.
Yet surprisingly a somewhat similar custom to Trick or Treat used to
be found in the rural areas of Luzon before the arrival of the Americans. It
was called Mangaluluwa. Children portraying departed souls went from
house to house asking for alms. Those people who did not give alms had
their chickens or potted plants stolen. Thankfully, Halloween for present day
Filipinos means preparation to go the cemetery for remembrance of loved
ones who have passed away.

9.
Lent

The word Lent was derived from the old English word Leneten
which meant springtime. Lent lasts for 40 days. This is to remind us of the
40 days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness. It begins with Ash Wednesday.
This is the day when the foreheads of those who attend mass are marked
with the ashes of palms used the previous year on Palm Sunday.
The ashes are symbolic. When a fire burns out, its residue is ashes. So
it is with a persons life. Our bodies reduce to their simplest components
when we die. So the ashes remind us that we are mortal. (Our bodies that is)
The priest, deacon or Eucharistic minister will utter these words while
marking a cross of ash on our foreheads, Remember man that you are dust
and unto dust you shall return.
We are created beings. Yet our souls are immortal. Death is really the start of
a new phase in our existence.

Marriages are generally not solemnized during Lent. The Gloria and
Alleluia are omitted from the liturgy. We are expected to do some act of
mortification during the 40 days. On Ash Wednesday, Catholics are expected
to fast. If you are between 16 and 59 years of age you are permitted one full
meal and two minor repasts during the day. The same applies for Good
Friday. Meat (i.e. red and white meat) is forbidden on both those days and
on each Friday during lent. There was a time prior to Vatican II when
Catholics ate fish only, on every Friday of their lives. Red meat and white
meat were not allowed. Good Friday is a sacred day. We remember the
crucifixion and death of our Saviour. It is the only day of the year when mass
is not celebrated. The altar is laid bare. Candles and crosses are removed.
Statues are covered with a purple cloth and the Blessed Sacrament is
removed from the tabernacle. It is a time of mourning. Here in the Philippines
the stores are closed. Then there follows the joy of Easter Sunday. This is the
greatest liturgical celebration of the churchs year. We commemorate the
Resurrection of Christ and look forward to our own. It is truly a celebration of
Spring Time or a new beginning.

10.

The Meeting of Cultures.

When Magallanes came to Cebu he was surprised to find that there
was no central government or one dominant leader for the island tribes.
When he asked Humabon who would succeed him, Humabon explained that
since he had no son, his nephew, who was also his son-in-law was expected
to succeed him. The Cebuano chief added that the old were not respected or
given any authority over the settlement.
This gave Magallanes the chance to explain to Humabon that among
Christians, the old and the weak were respected and loved. The Christian
God commanded them to love and honour the old, especially their parents.
Also into their old age.
These beautiful words, Humabon assured Magallanes (Magellan) had
conviced him to embrace the Christian religion.
When Don Miguel de Legazpi arrived in Cebu in 1567, Humabon was
gone. Those indigenous natives who confronted him were no match for
Spanish weaponry. In a short time, the Spaniards were masters of Cebu. One

day, a Spanish soldier, sauntering out of the Spanish camp, alone and
without any weapon was immediately speared to death.
In retaliation, Legazpi sent out a squad of soldiers which returned with
40 captives. Among them was the niece of Tupas, the Cebuano chieftain.
When Legazpi found out, he sent word to Tupas to come for a parley. Tupas
refused. However, his brother, the father of the girl did come. When Legazpi
and the brother of Tupas met, the brother told Legazpi that he had come to
be a slave just as his daughter would now be.
Legazpi answered him that there was no need for him to become a
slave. In fact he told the father of the girl that both of them were free to go.
The girl was brought to the father. She was decked out in the finery of a
princess.
The father was bewildered. People caught in inter tribal Cebuano
warfare were kept as slaves. Here, not only was his daughter treated with
respect, but she was free to go. The brother of Tupas was so overcome that
he left his daughter with Legazpi and said he was going back to tell Tupas to
accept peace with the Spaniards. If Tupas would not, then the brother had
enough warriors to depose and kill Tupas.
These two encounters between the Spaniards and the Cebuanos
explains in some way why the Spaniards found it easier to conquest the
Philippines than they had done in Central and South America.

11

The Trade in Spices

Spices were highly prized in Europe during the 15 th, 16th Centuries.
The spices were Pepper, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon and cloves. Cinnamon
came from Ceylon, pepper from India and Sumatra; nutmeg and mace from
Ambon in the Banda sea; Cloves from the tiny islands north of Ambon called
the Spice Islands, The largest of these were Tidore and Ternate. These
islands were also called the Moluccas. They were situated between present
day Sulawesi and West Papua (Irian taya). All of them are part of Indonesia
today.
Why were spices so important to the Europeans?
Because of the long winters, little feed was available for livestock.
Livestock had to be slaughtered and pickled. As winter approached pepper
and other spices were used to preserve the meat. These also enhanced the

flavor of the pickled meat. Malacca, on the tip of the Malaysian peninsular
was the hub for the trade in spices. It was controlled by a Moslem Sultan
favourable to the Chinese, Arab and Indian traders. From Malacca, spices
were transported to Conchin China, Colicut and Indian Goa from Goa, Arabian
dhows transported the spices across the Arabian Sea, up the Persian Gulf
and thence by camel across land to Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and
Constantinople. Some was taken by Arabs up the Red sea to Suez and
distributed to Cairo and Alexandria. Rich shipping familys in Italys Venice
and Genoa, monopolized the spice trade in the Mediterranean sea and made
huge profits. Portugal wished to break this monopoly. At this stage, towards
the end of the 15th century, the two Iberian Nations of Portugal and Spain,
were expanding rapidly as naval powers and competing against one another
in the race to gain colonies.
A New Pope was elected to the See of Peter. He chose the name
Alexander VI. He was one of the 40 or so bad popes. He was perhaps the
worst. He was totally immoral and brought the reputation of the Papacy to its
lowest ebb. He reigned from 1492-1503. Yet he did one thing that had a
tremendous influence on the colonization of Africa and the Americas. He
drew an imaginary line down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 370
kms off the Cape Verde Islands near West Africa. The Portuguese could
colonize to the East of this line and the Spaniards to the West. This
demarcation forced Spain to find a westward route to the East Indies which
were controlled basically by the Arabs.
The Portuguese considered the spice Islands as part of their territory
and set about attacking the Arabs and Indians involved in the spice trade.
Over the space of twenty years they systematically attacked and conquered
the Arab trading posts in East Africa and Malacca as well as the Indians in the
Malabar Coast.

12

Magellan Warrior Navigator.

Fernao de Magalhas was born in the Portuguese province of Minho c.
1480. The French called him Magellan and the Spanish called him Hernando
de Magallanes.
In 1492 he became a page in the royal court of Queen Leonor. He
served there for 10 years. Part of the time he was a clerk in the Casa da India
with the rank of squire. The Casa da India in Lisbon (Portugals Capital)
organized expeditions and controlled trade to the East.

In 1505 King Manoel I sent a military fleet of 22 ships under the

command of Francisco de Almedia to quell the Arabs and their allies in
Eastern Africa and Southern India. The 25 year old Magellan was given
permission to join the punitive expedition. He was signed on as a gentleman
adventurer without pay. He slept on the crowded deck and ate the same
distasteful food as the sailors ate.
The expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South
Africa and sacked and burned the Arab trading posts along Africas Eastern
seaboard, taking control of the important centers of Kilwa and Mombasa.
One of the captains, Nuno Pereira, appointed Magellan to the post of pilots
assistant to blow up Arab shippers and smugglers in the Coastal waters of
East Africa. Over 15 months Magellan sank more than 200 Arab dhows (small
Cargo vessels).
Nuno Pereira was transferred to the Malabar Coast of Southern India in
1507. So impressed was he with this small statue of a man Magellan, that he
took Magellan with him to the new assignment. When the Admiral, Francisco
de Almeida lost his son in an attack on the port of Dabul in 1509, the war
escalated. Almeida sailed on Dabul and razed the town to the ground,
slaughtering every man, woman and child within its walls. He then attacked
the main Arab fleet of 200 ships. Though grossly outnumbered he attacked
the Arab fleet at Diu. He had only 19 ships and 1,800 men. The Portuguese
fought so fiercely that they destroyed half the Arab fleet. However, as one
would expect, they suffered heavy casualties. Nuno Pereira was killed and
Magellan so seriously wounded that he was not expected to live. But he did,
and rejoined the fleet.
Almeida now decided to eliminate the Malayan middle men in the spice trade
by capturing Malacca, the great trade center on the tip of the Malaysian
peninsular. When the Portuguese arrived they were given a friendly welcome
by the Moslem Rajah. The Portuguese were invited ashore. It was a trick.
Very quickly the Rajahs Malay ships surrounded the almost deserted
Portuguese ships to seize them. A captain Garcia de Sousa, noticed the
proliferation of Malay ships full of men armed with sharp knives and raised
the alarm. The Portuguese fought off the Malays. Magellan took a boat
ashore to rescue the Portuguese sailors being mercilessly butchered on the
pier. He saved as many as he could but 60 of the ships crews were killed.
The fleet returned to India. Magellan had again proved a brave warrior under
difficult circumstances.

A new viceroy, Alfonso de Albuquerque replaced Almeida. One of the

first things he did was to give Magellan command of his own ship.
Albuquerque turned his attention to the Indian cities of Calicut and Goa.
Magellan took part in both battles. However he was wounded in the attack on
Calicut. Both ports fell to the Portuguese. So decisive was the bloody battle
for Goa, that it remained in Portuguese hands until 1961.
In 1511 Albuqueque attacked Malacca and took control of the city. He
used a fleet of 19 ships one of which was commanded by Magellan. The
Portuguese by force of Arms had within 20 years taken control of the spice
trade.
Magellan returned to Portugal. He approached King Manoel for three
things. A promotion in the Kings service; an increase in pay and a ship of his
own. The King refused all three requests. Bad blood had developed between
the two men. Disgusted and frustrated he enlisted in the Portuguese army
fighting the Arabs in Morocco, in Northern Africa.
During the campaign he was accused of selling horses to the Moslems
for personal profit. He was to be court martialed but left for Lisbon before the
date of the trial. Magellan again approached the king for a raise. The king
was furious and denied Magellan any service in his court.
Magellan firmly believed there was a fortune to be made in the Spice
Islands. He never gave up hope of going there. He believed they could be
reached by sailing west around South America.
A Spaniard, Diego Barbosa encouraged the jobless Magellan to seek his
fortune in the service of Charles I of Spain. To this end he crossed the
Mountains into Spain. There he lodged with Barbosas family and ended up
marrying Beatriz, Barbosas daughter.
Putting together cogent plans and reasons, he approached the Spanish
Casa de Antillas with his explanations for an expedition to find a westward
passage to the spice Islands. King Charles I agreed to fund a fleet of old
ships. However the Captains on three of the five ships in the fleet were to be
captained by Spanish Captains. On March 22, 1518 an agreement was signed
between the King and Magallanes to proceed with the expedition. The
outfitting of the ships was delayed by Portuguese agents on the orders of
King Manoel of Portugal. It was because of these agents that Magellan was
victimized by many of his suppliers demanding bribes.

Eventually in 1519 the fleet set out from Seville with fewer provisions
than had been paid for. Documents were falsified. There were 277 men in the
5 small ships. The names of the ships were as follows :The Trinidad (flagship), The San Antonio, The Concepcion, The Victoria and
the Santiago.
On Dec. 13, 1519 the fleet reached the beautiful harbor of Rio de
Janeiro, The river of January. They moved down the coast of South America
and made anchorage at Port Julian. The people here were quite tall and
Magellan named them Patagonians because they wore skins of guanaco
(related to llamas) on their feet that made them look like large feet or
clumsy feet.
It took 2 months to travel the 1,600 kms down the coast of Argentina.
The fleet experienced some of the roughest and most treacherous seas on
earth. The weather turned bitterly cold. The sails had been ripped and torn
by screaming winds. The ships were leaking. The men were in need of a rest.
It was at Port Julian that the three Spanish Captains of the Victoria, San
Antonio and Concepcion mutineed. Only the Captain of the smallest ship, the
Santiago, remained loyal to Magellan. With subterfuge and tactics, Magellan
took control of the San Antonio and the Victoria Juan de Cartegena,
Captain of the Concepcion and one of the ring leaders of the rebellion,
capitulated.
The Spanish Captains had disliked the fact that a Portuguese was given
command of the fleet and after the trials of navigating the Argentinian coast
wished to return to Spain. On shore at Port Julian, Magellan tried the rebels.
Quesada was beheaded at his request; Cartegena was sentenced to live in a
small hut on shore. Rebel sailors were manacled and set to harsh work
repairing the ships. Their rations were minimal. Loyal officers and crew were
given the task of hunting for food in the region of Port Julian and gathering
firewood.
Magellan sent the Santiago South Ward to find the elusive passage
around the heel of South America. The ship endured Atrocious storms and
finally ran aground. Two brave crew crossed the Santa Cruz river and walked
11 days through the inhospitable land to seek help. Magellan rescued the
beleaguered crew of the Santiago.
In August of 1520 the four remaining ships of the fleet set sail
southward. They rounded a cape that Magellan took to be large bay. He

ordered the Antonio and Concepcion to explore the bay. Both ships were
almost lost being blown by strong winds against a rock face. By chance they
took refuge in a small channel. They retraced their steps and reported the
joyful news that a passage had been found. It was indeed the passage
Magellan had been seeking. Magellan called it the Strait of All Saints. But
mapmakers called it the Strait of Magellan.
The channel led to numerous islands, fiords and bays that were difficult
to navigate. There were high tides strong currents and abrupt winds. It took
the fleet one month to traverse the 534 kms of the passage.
In the meantime, Gomes, the pilot on board the Victoria, overpowered
the Captain, turned the ship around and sailed back to Spain. Once through
the passage the fleet, now of three ships, came out in to the broad calm
waters of a vast sea. Magellan named it mar Pacifica, (The Pacific Sea)
because of its peacefulness compared to the many months of treacherous
waters they had just traversed.
The fleet now moved north to escape the bitter cold. It travelled for 98
days without citing land. Scurvy ravaged the crew. Quite a number died.
Their mouths were so swollen, they could not eat the rotting food in their
storerooms.
The fleet continued northwest, missing the islands of Hawaii and Tahiti.
Finally they crossed the Equator and reached the islands of Guam, Saipan
and Rota. The inhabitants of Guam were scavengers. They came to the
Spanish ships clamboured aboard without permission and stole anything that
was moveable. Finally they stole a longboat. Magellan sent raiding parties
ashore. Villages were destroyed but the sailors found food. They were
delighted to feast on fish, coconuts, bananas and sweet potatoes.
Magellan now set a Southward course. They made land fall at an island
called Homohon. The sick were taken ashore. The natives seemed friendly
and provided food for all the sailors. Several days later a chief arrived and
relations were cordial. The fleet continued a short distance South and
anchored at the Island of Limasawa. The leader here, named Rajah Columbu
welcomed the strangers. Columbu gave permission for the fleets priests to
hold an Easter Mass and for Magellan to set up a cross on a nearby hill.
Columbu offered to guide Magellan to Cebu. There Magellan was introduced
to Rajah Humabon.

On April 14, the fleet chaplains held a large mass ashore. The local
natives were so impressed with the ritual that Rajah Humabon asked to be
baptized a Christian. The other local leaders also lined up to be baptized.
More than 500 men followed suit. The Rajahs wife and her 50 ladies in
waiting were baptized also. Magellan gave her the famous Sto. Nino statue
that was one of his few personal possessions. It can be seen today in the
Basilica in Cebu.

13

The Aftermath
Lapu Lapu, a chieftain on the nearly island of Mactan was not a friend
of Rajah Humabon. Hoping to gain control of Mactan, Humabon asked
Magellan to take the island by force. He was impressed with the Spanish fire
power and relied on the force of the new found relationship with Magellan
through their now mutual religion. Reluctantly, Magellan agreed. He asked
for volunteers among his men to carry out the task. About 50 to 60 men
stepped forward. They clambered into long boats and moved towards the
island. Each longboat had a small cannon in its prow. Their range was
limited.
According to the record of the Venetian Pigafetta, the long boats were
struck in coral about 180 meters from shore. The invaders wearing body
armour had to wade in waist deep water to reach land, in front of them on
the beach was a vast number of native men armed with spears and long
knives. Pigafetta says there were 3,500 of them. This could be an
exaggeration but the Spanish were outnumbered many times over.
The natives retreated as the Spanish advanced. Magellan sent two
men to set fire to a nearby village. This enraged the natives. They rushed the
two men and killed them. Then throwing shower after shower of spears they
drove the Spaniards back into the water. The natives realized the Spaniards
legs were not covered with armour and targeted their legs. Magellans men
began to fall. Magellan was struck in his sword arm with a bamboo spear.
Another struck one of his legs. The commander fell face down ward and the
surviving Spaniards fled back to the long boats. Only a handful escaped.

Serrao and Barbosa took command of the fleet and returned across the
water to Cebu. Meanwhile, Rajah Humabon, frustrated at the failure of
Magellan to rout Lapu Lapu and his men hatched a plot to kill the other
Spaniards. He invited them ashore to partake in a feast and enjoy the
company of the native women. About 30 men went ashore. After a while two
of the Spanish leaders grew suspicious. And fled back to the ships. The rest
were not so lucky. They were all killed.
Carvaho and Espinosa took command. The expedition now had only
120 men. Just enough to man two ships. They sank the Concepcion and
Victoria. They then embarked on a spree of piracy, looting and ransacking
the other Visayan islands before moving down the Sulu sea to Borneo and
then on to Tidore in the Spice islands. The Sultan of Tidore welcomed the
Spanish and gave them a valuable cargo of spices. The two remaining ships
parted company. The Trinidad went North but encountered crippling storms
in the cold waters off Japan. It returned to the Moluccas where the ship was
captured by the Portuguese. Eventually only four men returned to Spain.
The Victorias crew left Tidore on December 21, 1521, sailed across
the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Seville in
Spain in July. This voyage in itself was an epic. It was the longest sea voyage
undertaken up to then. The leader Elcano and his 17 starving crewmen went
barefooted and with burning torches to visit the Shrines of Santa Maria de la
Victoria and that of Santa Maria de Antigua. They were grateful that they had
survived the expedition. 14

The Spaniards Return

With the death of Magellan and most of his men, only 18 in the small
ship Victoria managed to return to Spain. These survivors were the first
men to circum navigate the globe. It had been a truly heroic feat of sailing.
Between 1525 and 1542, the Spanish Government sent several expeditions
to claim the Philippines. Loaisa sailed from Spain and Saavedra and Villabos
from Mexico. None of these expeditions could find a way back across the
Pacific to Mexico.
The Portuguese in the Moluccas claimed the Philippine Islands as part
of their possessions. This partly came about because the Spanish King
Charles V, had ceded all rights to the Moluccas to the Portuguese for the sum
of 350,000 Ducats. However, it was Villabos who while exploring the Visayan
Islands had named the numerous islands Las Philipinas. In honour of Prince

Philip of Spain. When Prince Philip became king, he was determined to

colonize the group of islands claimed in his name. He had no desire to let the
Portuguese add them to the Moluccas. To this end he sent an expedition of
350 men in four ships from Mexico. The expedition was under the command
of an unlikely Government Official in Mexico, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. He
had little experience as a mariner. The four ships left Navidad in Mexico on
Nov. 20, 1564.
Legazpis fleet arrived in Cebu on the 27th of April 1565. The Cebuanos
resisted. However they were no match for the Spanish guns. Legazpi took the
town and sacked it. While searching through the houses, one Spanish soldier
came across the image of the Sto. Nino given by Magellan to the wife of
Rajah Humabon in 1521. The land around Cebu was mainly coral. The
hinterland did not provide much in the line of provisions, so Legazpi
transferred to the island of Panay nearby. There he received reports of an
excellent sea port to the North called Manila. He sent his second in
command, Goiti, to reconnoiter the area. Goiti made a blood compact with
the Moslem leader there called Rajah Soliman. However the Spaniards did
not trust the Moslems and vice versa. Hostilities broke out and Goitis men
were ordered to sack the fort town of Rajah Soliman. Having pacified the
area, Goiti reported back to Legazpi that Manila was an ideal place for a
settlement. Legazpi arrived and on 19th May 1571 he took possession of
Rajah Solimans town. He drew up a grid pattern for the streets of Manila and
declared Manila the Capital of the Philippines. 15

Urdaneta
Andres de Urdaneta was only 17 years of age when he first set out to
sea as a page. Following the return of Elcano and the 17 crewmen in the
Victoria in 1522, King Charles V of Spain fitted out several expeditions to
claim the Philippines for Spain. One of these was commanded by Garcia Jofre
de Loaisa. Andres de Urdaneta was assigned to the fleets second in
command, Elcano. The fleet of six ships left Spain on July 24th 1525. As it
approached the Coast of Brazil a severe storm separated the ships of the
fleet. Elcanos ship reached the Strait of Magellan but it was destroyed by a
severe storm. Ten days later Loaisa sailed into the area and rescued the
crew. Another storm dispersed the fleet again. Fed up, one of the Captains
deserted the expedition. This left four ships in the fleet. The fleet was
dispersed again. Only one ship remained, the ship under command of Loaisa
and his second in command Elcano. Loaisa fell ill and died. Elcano himself
died a few days later. The third officer, Torilio Salazar guided the ship to the

Marianas. Here Salazar died and was replaced by Martin Corquisano. He

guided the ship to Mindanao then onto the Moluccas islands arriving with
only 105 men out of the expeditions original 450 men. Among the survivors
was Andres Urdaneta. The chief of Tidore island welcomed the Spaniards
warmly. Unexpectedly, on March 30th 1528, Saavedra arrived aboard the
Florida having set out from Mexico with his own fleet. He set out to return
to Spain via the Americas but was twice turned back by strong westward
currents of the Pacific Ocean.
The Spaniards sailed to India but Andres Urdaneta chose to remain in
the Spice Islands. By 1535 Urdaneta had become familiar with the Spice
Islands, even learning some of the indigenous languages. Learning that the
Moluccas had been sold to the Portuguese by the king of Spain he took a
boat to India. By accepting a modest payment for the Islands, the King of
Spain had officially ceded any claim to them, to the Portuguese. Urdaneta
took a boat for Europe via the Cape of Good Hope and reached Lisbon in
Portugal in 1536. He had been away for 11 years. He was one of the few to
circumnavigate the world after Elcanos feat in the Victoria. The
Portuguese in Lisbon confiscated all his manuscripts and records of his
journeys. He managed to leave Lisbon and travel overland into Spain. Here
he rewrote his experiences and submitted his report to the Spanish court.
Urdaneta sailed to Mexico where he received the title of Admiral and a
fleet to fight Peruvian rebels. In 1553 he decided to join the Augustinian
order and after a short while was ordained a priest. In 1564 the Mexican
Audiencia outfitted a fleet led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Urdaneta was
named by the King as Chief cosmographer. Legazpi and Urdaneta thought
the expedition was to sail towards Papua New Guinea. When Legazpi opened
his sealed that they were to head back to the Philippines. The fleet arrived at
Ibabao in Leyte on February 13th 1565 and at Cebu on April 25th 1565. The
rest is history. 16

The Galleon Trade

Navigators say the best harbours in the world are San Francisco in
California, Acupulco in Mexico, Manila in the Philippines and Sydney in
Australia. Acapulco was very important to Spain. It was chosen by Fray
Andres Urdaneta as the Western terminal for the trans-Pacific route that
linked the Philippines with Mexico in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries
with Spain. Not only is the port deep, it is surrounded by granite cliffs that
make it safe.

Legazpi had sent Urdaneta back to Mexico specifically to find a way

across the Pacific Ocean. When this was achieved, he recognized that for the
settlement in Manila to have a constant flow of goods and new personnel, he
would have to set up a regular service to and from Mexico.
In 1572, two Chinese junks sailed into Manila harbor to trade with the
new arrivals, the Spaniards. They brought the coveted Chinese silks and
other goods that the Spaniards transshipped immediately to Mexico, gaining
an immense profit.
This was the start of the Galleon Trade. To have ships Legazpi knew
that they had to be built in Manila. The local people had been building small
ships for centuries, so they were quite competent. Most of the Galleon ships
were built at Cavite by native labour, under Spanish supervision. The builders
used Filipino hardwoods. The labourers in the shipyards and in the forests
were paid a daily wage and given food rations.
There were 107 successful round trips of the Galleons from 1572 up
to the early 19th Century. Four ships were captured at sea by English
Buccaneers. The Santa Ana in 1584, The Encarnacion in 1709, the
Covadonga in 1743 and the Sanctisima Trinidad in 1762. The last Galleon
sailed from Manila in 1811. During the 250 years of the shipping service only
26 ships were lost or sunk. Most of the losses were due to overloading or
delays in departure.
Ideally, the ships leaving Manila did so by the end of June or mid July.
The ships would sail down the Western coast of Luzon to the San Bernadino
strait between Sorsogon and Samar, then turn North until they reached the
35th parallel near the Korean Peninsular. From then on the sailing was good.
When they reached the coast of Upper California they sailed down the
Californian coast to Acapulco. There the Chinese goods were exchanged for
Mexican Silver. (Pesos).
On the return trip the ships left Acapulco and sailed North until in line
with Manila, then with the help of the prevailing North West winds, would sail
direct to the San Bernadino Strait and up the Western side of Luzon to
Manila. To avoid the storms in the Pacific, the ships would leave Acapulco
during the last weeks of February or early March.
To ship goods, a person needed the Boleta. This was a license
distributed by a special committee which was susceptible to bribes. Only
Spanish residents in Manila could obtain this licence which allotted a certain

space on board ship for a persons trade cargo. Boletas themselves were
traded amongst the Spaniards for a profit. In time it became easier to trade
ones Boleta than ship actual goods. In 1586, Cargo shipped aboard the
San Martin belonged to 194 traders. 200 years later in 1780, only 28
traders exported goods aboard the San Andreas. The Galleon trade
became a monopoly for a few wealthy Manila Spaniards.
The Galleon trade had its positive side and its negative side. On its
positive side it carried the Friars and Government officials from Mexico to
work in the Philippines. It also carried finance from the Spanish Government
to pay officials, at least initially, and administrative correspondence. It was a
source of new flora and fauna in to the colony. From Mexico came Cacao,
Corn, Tobacco, dates; from Central America came papaya, pineapples,
avocado and squash; Coffee came from Africa traded through Mexico;
decorative plants eg poinsettia, flowers, birds, cattle from Mexico; religious
statues from the Americas and horses from China.
Its main drawbacks were that only a few wealthy Manila Spaniards
profited by the trade. Spaniards in the provinces received nothing. Nor did
the Filipinos themselves benefit. The biggest weakness was that because of
the Galleon trade, few wealthy Spaniards invested in developing the
countrys agriculture or mining. The Spaniards were great conquistadores but
hopeless economists. 17

The Coming of Islam to the Philippines

Arabs had been trading in South East Asia since the mid 19th Century.
In 878 A.D. China expelled the Arab traders. They established new trading
centers in the Malay Peninsular at Kalak and at Palembang in Sumatra.
However trade with China resumed about the year 1000 A.D. In the 10th and
11th Centuries the Arab traders rose to prominence in S.E. Asia. In 1258 A.D.
Baghdad, the center of the Islamic World for learning and trade, fell to the
marauding Mongols. Muslim Theologians dispersed to India and other parts
of Asia. In 1414 A.D. the ruler of Malacca converted to Islam. When Malacca
was taken by force by the Portuguese in 1511 A.D., many Islamic scholars
fled to Sumatra and Java. Aceh in Northern Sumatra became the new center
for Islam. From there, it spread to nearby Borneo. Islam came to the
Philippines even earlier than Malaysia and Sumatra. In 1310 A.D. an Arab
trader, Tuan Mashaiha came to the island of Sulu. He married a daughter of
the ruling Rajah. In 1380 A.D., Karim ul-MAkdum followed him. He was a
trader but also a Sufi missionary. The Sufis were the spiritual arm of Islam.
They practiced spiritual development, meditation and prayer. They were
noted for their holiness much like the contemplatives in Catholic religious
orders.
When Karim ul-Makdim came to Sulu in 1380 A.D. he settled in Buansa
and built the first mosque. Some 70 years later, in 1450 A.D. an Arab arrived
from Mecca. His name was Abu Bakr. He was a religious leader (Imam) and
a judge (Quadi). At that time Sulu was controlled by Rajah Baguinda. Abu
Bakr married one of his daughters. He instituted the Sultunate as a form of
political government and set up Quaranic schools as well as mosques. He
became the first Sultan of Sulu, unifying the diverse barangays into the
Bangsa Sug, the Sulu nation. The Tausug tribe that occupied much of Sulu
were actually emigrants from Butuan in Northern Mindanao. Mindanao saw
the arrival of Moslems from Malacca when it was conquered by the
Portuguese in 1515 A.D. One of those who evaded the Portuguese was a
Moslem Malaccan prince, Sharif Kabungsuwan. He came with a group of
warriors and settled on the bank of the Pulangi river in Maguindanao and
built the town of Cotabato. He subdued the chiefs and tribes in the local
area. These original inhabitants such as the Manobo tribe who would not
accept the religion of Islam, were driven into the mountains.
These Islamic migrants from Malaya, Borneo and the Moluccas set up
the Datu form of government within the peoples they conquered. The
Datus were political and military leaders with full judicial authority. They
became exceedingly wealthy. No matters of importance took place without
their knowledge and consent. In return they were obligated to help those

who came to them seeking help. They sponsored celebrations, rituals and
weddings. In the time of war or plunder raids the men were expected to obey
the Datu. Prisoners taken in war or raids became slaves. Those also who
could not pay their debts became slaves as well.

The Coming of Christianity to the Philippines

After the defeat of Magellan, the Spanish King Charles I sent four more
expeditions to claim the Western Isles. Only one expedition reached the
Philippines. The one led by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. His fleet reached the
southern tip of Mindanao. Villalabos establish a colony on Sarangani island
but abandoned it after only seven months. It was Villabos who named the
Archipeligo The Philippines.
When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reached the Philippines, he landed at
several places on what is now Leyte. Strong winds drove his fleet to Bohol.
Here the Spaniards met with hostility. Two years before, the Portuguese
pretending to be Spaniards, befriended the people then assaulted and
robbed them, killing some and taking many captives. Legazpi had to erase
the bad impressions given about Spaniards. He won the friendship of two
chiefs of Bohol, called Sikatuna and Sigala. He entered into a blood compact
with Sikutana. Both chiefs told Legazpi about Cebu. He arrived there on April
27, 1565. He established the first Christian settlement there. Later, he
transferred to the island of Panay and then to Manila.
The first missionaries to reach the Philippines were the Augustinians.
They came with Legazpi in 1565. They were followed by the Franciscans
(1577), the Jesuits (1581), the Dominicans (1587), and the Recollects,
(1606). The vast majority were Spanish. The Crown gave free passage and a
stipend to each missionary, but claimed the right to assign each missionary
group to a specific territory. The Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans
were assigned to Luzon. The Visayas and Mindanao were allotted to the
Jesuits and the Recollects.
Having conquered the Visayas and Luzon, the Spaniards tried to
impose their rule on Mindanao and Sulu. In 1578, Governor Sande sent an
expeditionary force to Sulu. The Rajah in Sulu chose to fight but was
defeated. He signed an agreement that he was a vassal of Spain. However,
the Spaniards could not garrison the island. When the Spaniards departed,
the Moslems reverted to their old ways. In 1596, the Maguindanaos beat

back another Spanish force and continued their plundering raids on the
Visayas and Northern Mindanao.
It was not until 1637-1638 that the Moslem strongholds of Sulu and
Maguindanao were overrun. Governor Corcuera destroyed the Moslem forts
and set up a Spanish one in Iligan. This curbed the raids of the
Maguindanaos and Maranaos.
A threatened attack on Manila by the Chinese Warlord Chen Cheng
Kung in 1662 caused Governor Manrique de Lara, to recall all the garrisons
dispersed throughout the Philippines. They were never returned. The
Moslems in Mindanao took possession of the abandoned forts and destroyed
them.
The Moslem corsairs continued on their plundering ways and this time
for almost one hundred years. Their main plunder was human beings. The
Moslems became the slave traders of South East Asia. It was not until 18981900 that the Moslems were beaten by the Americans.
The first Spaniards to come to the Philippines were men of mettle.
Those who followed from Mexico tended to be very much second class and
transient. They used their brief service here to enhance their promotion
back in Mexico or Spain.
Not so for the clergy. These men came with the intent to evangelize.
Not only did they stamp the country with Christianity but they brought peace
and order as well as modest commerce to the rural areas. They built the
towns, organized health services, set up schools and brought stability to
everyday life. Their influence was extraordinary.
Many of these missionaries gave their lives. In Mindanao some were
lost at sea, many were murdered by rebel tribesmen or Moslems. Others died
of sickness. From 1623 to 1883, fifty one Recollects died in the Old Caraga
district in what are now known as the provinces of Agusan, Surigao and
Davao Oriental. It was a high price to pay.

Christianity came to Mindanao

In 1595 Mindanao-Sulu was part of the diocese of Cebu. The first
mission station was established by the Jesuits at Butuan in 1596. Other
missions stations were soon opened in Lanao, Jabonga, Gingoog and
Cagayan de Oro. The Recollects moved down the Eastern Coast of Mindanao
as far as Cateel.
In 1625 the then bishop of Cebu settled a dispute between the Jesuits
and the Recollects by drawing a demarcation line through Mindanao. West of
Cagayan de Oro was Jesuit territory. East of Cagayan de Oro was Recollect
territory down to Punta San Agustin, (Davao).
The Jesuits were founded by the Spanish Ignatius de Loyola. On the
feast of the Assumption 1534 in Montmamre in France, seven men led by
Ignatius vowed perpetual poverty and chastity and to labour in the Holy Land
for the Salvation of the Moslems. They first went to Rome to offer their
services to the Holy Father. In 1540, Pope Paul III approved the New Order
and placed it under his direct command. He changed the Jesuits apostolate
to the defense of the faith at home in Europe and abroad in the new mission
areas.
The Recollects arose as a reform arm of the Augustinians. They
pledged themselves to a strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Augustine. This
reformist group arose in Spain in the 16th Century. In June 1621, they became

an Autonomous religious order. In 1912 the order was officially declared the
last mendicant order in the Church. In 1997, there were 1,258 members in
19 countries. The biggest provinces are Colombia, Mexico and the
Philippines.
When the diocese of Jaro (Iloilo in Panay) was created in 1865, Most of
Mindanao-Sulu became part of the diocese. However, the North Eastern part
of Mindanao remained with the diocese of Cebu. In 1910 the area of
Mindanao-Sulu under the diocese of Jaro became the diocese of Zamboanga.
Prior to the coming of the Spaniards to Mindanao with Villalobos at
Sarangani, the Portuguese had already circumnavigated Mindanao. This
happened in 1536, when Francisco de Castro landed in Northern Mindanao.
He had with him two priests who preached and baptized at Surigao, Butuan
and Caraga. However, they did not stay. According to the records of de
Castro, the King of Butuan became a Christian at this time.
In 1609, the Spanish established the first permanent settlement in
Mindanao at Tandag in Surigao. In 1622, eight Augustinian Recollects landed
in Butuan and fanned out across Northern Mindanao from Lanao down to
Caraga. In 1624, Fray Augustin de San Pedro arrived at Cagayan de Oro. He
had military training and organized a system of scouts and spies who
informed him when the Moslems from Western Mindanao planned to attack.
Sultan Corralat led a raid on the new Spanish settlements but Fray Augustin,
nicknamed El Padre Capitan called for reinforcements from Tandag and led
a daring raid near lake Lanao that routed the Moslem forces of Sultan
Corralat. However this was not the end. Skirmishes continued right up to the
latter part of the 19th Century.
The church expanded on Mindanao with many Christian settlers
coming from the Visayan Islands, especially Bohol. There are strong pockets
of Christians in most areas. The population of Mindanao is about 20 million
people. 4 million are Moslems and there are a number of Animist tribes
called Lumads, but the vast majority of the inhabitants are Christians,
thanks to the efforts of the Catholic missionaries. These include, since World
War II, the PME fathers (Canadian), The P.I.M.E (American) The Sacred Heart
Fathers (Dutch) as well as the Oblates of Mary, the Passionists, and the
Jesuits.

Davao City
Davao is an important commercial, educational and cultural center of
Eastern Mindanao. It has one of the largest seaports in the Philippines and is
adequately protected from rough swells by the island of Samal. It is a melting
pot of many Lumad tribes and Visayan immigrants.
The word Davao actually originated from the Bagobo Word Dabadaba, referring to the sacred Brass of the tribes legendary chieftain, Datu
Duli, who lived on Mt. Apo. The letter O was added to the word, making it
dabao-dabao. To the Bagobos, this meant Justice and fairness to the
people. As time passed the word was shortened to Dab-o and eventually
became Davao.
The region around Davao is home to a magnificent array of flora and
fauna. It boasts the Philippines highest Mountain, Mt. Apo. (9,000 ft). It
produces in the Calinan district the king of fruits, the Durian. This fruit has

a large spiked shell and inside it big seeds covered in a delectable flesh with
a distinctive smell. For this reason Davao is sometimes called Durian City
even though the fruit itself is believed to have originated in Indonesia.
It is home to a beautiful orchid specific only to the region. This is the
Vanda sanderiana or Waling Waling. The Philippines national bird the
Philippine Eagle is found in its forests. Although it is rare, there is a breeding
program at Malagos that has had moderate success in breeding this
extraordinary raptor in captivity.
In 1986 a festival sponsored by the government was initiated to
showcase the beautiful harvest in the region of agricultural products. It was
called the Unlad Proyekto Davao and was hoped to unite the people of
Davao after the tumultuous years of Martial Law.
In 1988 the long standing no nonsense Mayor of Davao, Rodrigo
Duterte, changed the festivals name to Kadayawan sa Davao. In the
Mandayan language, Kadayawan refers to anything that celebrates life and
brings good fortune. It highlights the tribal diversity of the people and the
gifts of a bountiful nature.
Since then, this feast in August each year has truly become a spectacle
of floats and dancing groups that has attracted tourists from both the
Philippines and overseas. The dancing groups in their colourful costumes and
energetic dance routines all vie for substantial monetary prizes given by the
city Government. So important has this cultural festival become that many
school children and teenagers take part in it, coming as they do, not only
from around Davao but also from central Mindanao. 18

The Founding of Davao

The main street in the commercial district of Davao was originally
called Uyanguren St. Later it came to bear the name of one of the Philippines
most loved presidents. Ramon Magsaysay. To the people of Davao, to
mention either name, locates the same street right down what is colloquially
called China Town. It is the area of the city where most of the commercial
enterprises are owned and run by Chinese or Filipino Chinese.
Why was the street called by the name Uyanguren? By a decree of Feb,
22, 1847 the Governor of the Philippines, Narciso Claveria, gave Don Jose de

Uranguren, the authority to undertake an expedition to free Davao and the

surrounding Gulf of troublesome Moslem pirates and some native rebels.
There had been an attack on the small Spanish vessel the San Rufo in
Davao Gulf in 1844.
Uranguren was a lawyer in Manila who had turned to trading. He was
operating in the Caraga region of North Eastern Mindanao. He handpicked his
men and was allotted some artillery, rifles and ammunition. The Governor
gave Uyanguren the full administrative control of the Region from Cape San
Agustin down to Sarangani Point for ten years and exclusive trading rights for
six years.
The new province was to be called Nueva Quipuzcoa after
Uyangurens home province in Spain. The settlement he was to establish he
would call Nueva Vergara, in honour of his home town.
Uyanguren landed near the present St. Ana Wharf. There he fought a
short fierce battle with the Moslems under a brave leader, Datu Bago. These
Moslems had migrated to this area in 1830. They had come from
Maguindanao. When they arrived, they drove the local Lumads into the
hills around Davao and settled on the banks of the Tagloc river. (Later called
Davao river.) With his superior fire power, Uyanguren scattered Datu Bagos
Moslems. He then built a new settlement on what is now Bolton riverside.
Frequent flooding caused him to move it to higher ground.
The Moslems who would not accept his rule. Moved to Sarangani and
Cotabato. The Mandayas of Samal island willingly joined Uyangurens force
and rounded up the Moslems on their island. For their help, Uyanguren
promised the Mandayas exemption from taxes and forced labour.
The settlement was dedicated to St. Peter for is was on the feast of St.
Peter (June 29) that Uyanguren had decisively beaten the Moslems. The
Cathedral in Davao still bears the name San Pedro and the main street
leading from the Cathedral to the Bankerohan market bears the name San
Pedro also.
At the request of Don Jose de Uyanguren, a Recollect priest working at
Tandag, Surigao, came to the new settlement. This was Fray Francesco Lopez
de San Antonio. He was old and only stayed a short time. However, he
planned the development of the poblacion along the banks of Davao river
and constructed a small church. Seven other Recollects followed Fray Lopez
and began converting the local people to Christianity.

The coming of Uyanguren and the Recollects on the North Eastern

Coast of Mindanao, effectively blocked Moslem raiding parties to Cebu and
Leyte. Don Jose died in 1858 a penniless man. A Recollect buried him on the
present site of the University of the Immaculate Conception. It did not take
long for the name of the new settlement to change from Nueva Vergara to
Davao.

Fiesta de la Naval.
In 1646, A Dutch fleet consisting of 18 Warships, heavily armed and
manned by more than 800 men, was threatening an invasion of the
Philippines. The Protestant Dutch had recently expelled the Spaniards from
the Netherlands. Their presence in Philippine waters was an extension of that
war.
The Spaniards in Manila harbor had only two ships available to defend
the colony. Both of these ships were merchant galleons. The Spaniards
hastily converted the galleons to large warships. Cargo holds were cleared;
extra cannons installed and the crews readied. What the Spaniards lacked in
firepower and manpower they more than made up for with their faith. The
odds against the Spanish were overwhelming. Realizing the enormous task
ahead of them, the Spanish and Filipino sailors and soldiers, continuously
prayed the rosary and did penance. No doubt the miracle of the battle of
Lepanto in 1571 was still fresh in their minds. They entrusted their men and
ships to the protection of the Blessed Virgin. They surrendered their fate
completely to God and placed their endeavour under the patronage of
Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario.
Five battles were fought from Aparri to Mindoro between March 15 and
October 1646, and each battle had the same result: - Victory for the two
galleons. Prior to the commencement of hostilities, the sailors and soldiers
defending the Philippines had vowed to walk barefooted to the Sto Domingo
Church in Binondo, if they won the war. They fulfilled the promise they had
made. Word of the success of the naval encounter reached Rome. The
Vatican proclaimed the victory as another instance of the intervention of
Christ and his Blessed Mother. Each October, the faithful in the Philippines,
especially in Luzon celebrate the La Naval de Manila, to remember the
intercession of the Blessed Mother under the tile of Our Lady of the Most
Holy Rosary. The battles of La Naval not only ensured the continuation of
Spanish rule at that time, but also the survival of the Catholic Religion in a
region of the World devoid of Christianity. 19

Rebellion
While Jose Rizal was in Spain he joined the Lodge Solidaridad of the
Free Masons. This lodge (No.53) unified many Filipinos residing in Spain and
gave them a venue to focus their nationalistic aspirations. All of the Filipinos
desired reform in the Philippines. Rizal himself wanted the Philippines to
become a province of Spain, not a colony.
In 1887, shortly after the printing in Germany of his novel, Noli Me
Tangere, Rizal returned to the Philippines. Prior to returning, he had drawn
up the statutes for a Liga Filipina, a society aimed at bringing development
and reform to the Philippines. This he did in Hong Kong and gave them to
Jose Ma. Basa. In 1892, a society called the Katipunan ng mga Anak ng
Bayan (Society of the Sons of the People) was established. When the society
(Katipunan for short), was founded, its members were mainly a group of
respectable wealthy middle class intellectuals living outside the Philippines.
In 1893, Bonifcaio, secretary of the Katipunan he had founded,
deposed its president, Deodato Arellano, in favour of Ramon Basa. A series of
misunderstandings, between these two forced Basa to resign and the
leadership of the Katipunan was left entirely in the hands of Andres
Bonifacio. Bonifacio had informed Rizal of his plans to rise up against the
Spaniards. In 1894 and 1895 the plot of rebellion thickened. By 1896 the
Katipunans were set for action. In the meantime, Jose Rizal had distanced
himself from the revolutionaries saying the time was not right for an uprising.
Though many Spanish residents in Manila had a foreboding of the outbreak
of revolution, no one clearly knew why except in general terms. Jose Rizal
had been exiled to Dapitan in North Western Mindanao by the Governor of
the Philippines.
The Katipunan was discovered when Teodoro Patino, typesetter of the
Manila daily, El Diario de Manila, revealed the existence of the secret
society to his sister who was living at a girls orphanage in Mandaluyong.
Alarmed, she reported the information to the superior of the orphanage, who
convinced Patino to report the plot to the parish priest of Tondo, the
Augustinian Fr. Mariano Gil. Patino told Fr. Gil that the members of the secret
society were masons. They were burning scapulars of the Virgin Mary. Fr. Gil
went to the commandant of the Veterana, denouncing the Katipunan.
Accompanied by several artillery men, he went to the printing press of the
El Diario de Manila, and discovered printed proclamations, and a cabinet

full of daggers. One of the documents Fr. Gil showed to Gov. Blanco was title,
Passwords Against the Spaniards in the Islands.
Each brother will carry out his duty this Grand Regional Lodge
(Masons) has imposed on him to kill all the Spaniards, their wives and
children - - - Following the attack on the Governor General and the other
Spanish officials, the faithful will attack all the parish houses and massacre
their infamous inmates - - - the brothers so named will bury all the corpses of
the hated oppressors in Bagumbayan field, as well as those of their wives
and children - - -The Friars corpses should not be interred but burned, in just
vindication of the felonies they had committed - - -
Once the plot was discovered, those involved in the rebellion had no
option but to leave their homes and join the rebellion. Bonifacio decided to
rise up on the 21st August 1896. It was not until the 28th of August that a
band of 800 men appeared in San Juan and parts of Manila. However they
were beaten back. The next day new groups attacked Santa Mesa,
Balintawak, Caloocan, and Novaliches. Again, they were defeated. No sooner
had the fighting started, than the Katipunan split into two. One group,
Magdalo, was headed y Emilio Aguinaldo and the other called
Magdiwang headed by Mariano Alvarez. After the failure at Zapote, the
members of Katipunan called a meeting and elected Aguinaldo its president.
Bonifacio was elected secretary of the Interior but some members objected
to this. Taking offense, Bonifacio withdrew from the assembly declaring
himself head of the Katipunan. He had been its founder.
Bonifacio was arrested on Aguinaldos orders and tried for sedition. On
the 6 May 1897 the rebel court sentenced Bonifacio and his brother
Procopio to death. Aguinaldo at first commuted the sentence to solitary
confinement. However under pressure from the other Katipunan officers,
Aguinaldo withdrew his pardon and on May 10th 1897, Andres Bonifacio and
his brother Procopio were executed. The uprising had gone badly for the
Filipinos. The Spanish forces led by the new Governor, General Polavieja
captured one after another the towns taken by the rebels. The death of
Bonifacio affected the morale of the rebels. They were forced to retreat to
the mountains of Biak-na-bato in Bulacan. The Spaniards did not pursue
them. General Primo de Rivera was sent from Spain to replace General
Polavieja as governor.
th

The new Governor, General Primo de Rivera wanted a negotiated

peace with the rebels. To this end he offered the rebel leaders safe passage

to Hong Kong and a substantial amount of money. They accepted. However,

the money was used to purchase rifles. Aguinaldo was determined to
continue the war against the Spaniards. One of the biggest weaknesses in
the first rebellion was the lack of weapons. At this critical point war had
broken out between Spain and America. An American Armada under Admiral
Dewey entered Manila harbor and sank the Spanish squadron there. He also
supplied the rebels with additional rifles.
Aguinaldo landed back in the Philippines and beat the Spaniards in battle
after battle until he declared Filipino Independence. Meanwhile the United
Sates decided to claim the Philippines from Spain. An expeditionary force
arrived from America in June/July 1898. At a treaty in Paris on the 10th
December 1898, The United Sates bought the Philippines for 20 million
dollars. The Filipinos objected, and a bitter war with the American forces
followed, leaving 100,000 Filipinos dead throughout the Archipeligo.
Aguinaldo was captured on 23rd March 1901 and the war with America was
over. 20

The Trial of Jose Rizal

When the 1896 rebellion began, Jose Rizal had no part in it. The Liga
Filipina he set up disbanded when he was exiled to Dapitan. The Katipunan
group in Manila proudly displayed his portrait in their headquarters and
proclaimed him as honary president of the secret society. Jose Rizal knew
nothing of this and certainly did not give permission for his name to be
connected to the Katipunan. He had been exiled to Dapitan in 1892.
When hostilities broke out, he was in fact aboard a ship sailing to
Spain. From there he intended to sail to Cuba where he would join the
Spanish medical corps as a surgeon. When he arrived in Barcelona, he was
immediately arrested by the Spanish authorities and taken to Montjuich
Castle. On October 1, 1896 he was remanded back to Manila.
Rizal arrived back in Manila on 3rd November 1896 and confined in Fort
Santiago. Three weeks later he was subjected to a preliminary investigation.
On the 2nd of December, Governor Ramon Blanco endorsed the case for trial.
A few days later Blanco appointed Enrique de Alcocer as prosecutor.
To give some credibility to the case, Rizal was given a list of Spanish
Officers from which to choose his defense counsel. All of them were either
serving 1st lieutenants or 2nd Lieutenants. They were well below the rank of
the appointed officer judges. Not only would this be intimidating for the

defense counsel, but none of the serving officers were lawyers. Rizal chose
Luis de Taviel.
Before Rizal was arraigned, the court began the confiscation of all his
properties and assets in order to reimburse the Government for the damage
he had inflicted on the Nation. The penalty set was One Million pesos. After
his death, this was reduced to 100,000 pesos. This was an enormous
amount. Rizal had not even been formally allowed to plead guilty or not
guilty to the charge of treason. It was clear that the trial would not be a fair
one. He was already condemned before the trial proper got underway. The
trial got under way on the 12th of December.
The witnesses who signed confessions were confined to prison. They
were co accused. Their statements were hearsay. None of the witnesses
were allowed to be heard in court to verify their remarks. None of them were
presented for Cross examination by Taviel, the defense Counsel of Rizal.
Jose Rizals trial was in fact a court Martial. All presiding officers were
military. Yet Rizal was not a soldier. He never fired a weapon. He was a
civilian doctor. At this point, Governor Blanco was replaced by General
Camilo do Palavieja, former Governor of Cuba. The change of governors did
not break the speed with which Rizals case was pushed through.
On December 26th, the judges presiding, listened to the prosecutor,
Enrique de Alcocers, brief, summing up the evidence. The judges
pronounced the sentence of death , on the same day.Governor Polavieja
ordered the sentence to be carried out. He specified the day, the hour and
the place as well as the manner of execution death by firing squad.
On the 30th December, Filipino troops under the command of a Spanish
Officer executed Rizal at 7am at the Bagumbayan field. Today, his remains
are contained in a striking monument in Luneta park. The remains are
honoured each day by a squad of Filipino Marines in full ceremonial dress.
Jose Rizal died a hero. 21

The Jesuits in the Philippines

The first three Jesuits arrived in Manila with the first bishop of Manila,
the Dominican, Domingo de Salazar, in March of 1581. One of the Jesuits,
Antonio Sedeno, was a talented person. He had been a diplomat, soldier and
engineer. He introduced to the Philippines the cultivation of Mulberry trees
for the production of silk, taught Chinese artisans basic Christian

iconography and introduced the manufacture of bricks, tiles and lime as well
as how to work in stone.
Bishop Salazar wrote to the King of Spain suggesting that the Jesuits
open a school in Manila. Money for this enterprise would have to come from
Mexico. Without waiting, a military officer, Capt. Esteban de Figueroa
provided personal funds to start up a school. In 1589 the school was called
the Collegium and Fr. Sedeno S.J. became its first rector, although the
initial school was started by Fr. Prado S.J. Capt. Figueroa, allocated P.1,500 a
year for its upkeep and assumed a debt of P.6,000, that the school had
incurred. It was to serve Spanish boys only, but the government committed
P.1,000 to the school for the education of native boys also. In 1610, the same
generous Spanish Captain Figueroa, provided a grant to the Jesuits for a real
College for Spanish boys. It became the College of San Jose.
In 1590 the Jesuits had founded a College/ Seminary called San
Ignacio. In 1621 Pope Gregory made it a papal University. It was then named
The Universidad de San Ignatcio. In 1623 King Philip IV named it a royal
University.
Then disaster struck the Jesuits. In 1756 Portugal handed over to Spain
a South American colony at the mouth of the Uruguay river. In return they
were to receive seven Jesuits Reduction settlements in Paraguay. The
Native Guarani people were to relocate across the river Uruguay into
Uruguay itself. The Gaudani refused to move. This started a war with the
Portuguese that went badly for the Portuguese. The Portuguese accused the
Jesuits of siding with the Guadani tribal people and instigating the rebellion.
The Portuguese Government was furious. Pamphlets of an
inflammatory nature were distributed in Portugal against the Jesuits. Then to
make matters worse, two years later on September 3rd 1758, an
assassination attempt was made on the life of the King of Portugal. The
Jesuits were accused of having knowledge of this deed but not reporting it to
the authorities. Animosity grew and the civil authorities in Portugal ordered
the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal in 1759. A few years later suspicion
grew in Spain that the Jesuits in Spain were also a serious political group of
seditious activists. In 1769, Charles III of Spain ordered the expulsion of all
Jesuits in Spain and its colonies. 6000 Jesuits were deported first to the Papal
states in Italy, then to the Island of Corsica. Many moved to Germany and
other countries.

On the 21st July, Pope Clement XIV, concerned for the rising
condemnation of the Jesuits and their methods issued the Papal Brief,
Dominus ac Redemptor, ordering the suppression of the Company of
Jesus, the Jesuits. This was a devastating blow to Jesuit missionary activity
in Asia and the Americas. In 1768, the suppression order reached the
Philippines. But on May 19 1767, Governor Jose Raon complying with orders
from Madrid, surrounded the Jesuit premises in Manila and to the beating of
Martial drums the Jesuit religious were marched to the quay where a ship
was waiting to take them to Cadiz in Spain.
Some 158 Jesuits had served in the Philippines by the time they were
expelled. Through their missionary endeavours apart from running schools
they had founded 93 towns. The Universidad de San Ignatio was taken over
by the Dominicans and became a college of Medicine and Pharmacy attacked
to the University of Santo Thomas. This university was given a pontifical
charter by Pope Innocent X in 1645. It has often been called the Oldest
University in the Philippines. However records will show that this title
belongs to the University of St. Ignacio which only closed with the
suppression of the Jesuits in 1768.
In 1852, following the recinding of the suppression order issued by
Pope Clement XIV, the government of Madrid permitted the return of the
Jesuits to the Philippines. This time they were allocated to the mission fields
of Mindanao. The Pope who had recindered Pope Clement XIV suppression
order was Pope Pius VII. (1800-1823) He did this in 1814. In 1859, Six Jesuit
priests and four Jesuit brothers arrived in Manila prepared to journey to
Mindanao, but the Governor General asked them to take over a public school
that had been created by the Municipal council of Manila. In 1865 the
government in Madrid recognized the Escuela Pia as a college. The school
was renamed the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.
Radical changes took place in the Ateneo with the arrival of American
Jesuits in 1921. The Spanish affiliated with the Jesuit province of Maryland
New York. In 2008 there were 326 Jesuits serving in the Philippines. Quite a
number were over 60 years of age (134) but they kept on going. In Mindanao
they run two important tertiary institutions. Xavier University in Cagayan de
Oro and Ateneo de Davao. Both are highly respected academically. 22

The Rising Sun in the Philippines

On December 7th 1941, the Japanese made an infamous dawn attack

on the United States Pacific fleet stationed in the Hawaiian Islands. Almost
simultaneously similar attacks were made on Manila. 200,00 Japanese troops
occupied Manila on 2nd January 1942.
Most of the Philippine Army retreated to the Bataan Peninsula. The
American component became holed up in the island of Corregidor to await
reinforcements from America. Reinforcements never came. Field Marshall
Douglas MacArthur was ordered out of Corregidor by the President of the
U.S., Theodore Rooseveldt. He and his family made a daring escape by motor
torpedo boat down the Western side of the Philippines to Mindanao. From
there, they were air lifted to Australia.
On Bataan, Japanese infantry swept up against the stubborn resistance
of the Filipino and American units. The defenders were outgunned and
outnumbered. On the 9th April 1942, 76,000 officers and men under the
command of General Edward King, lay down their weapons and surrendered
to General Homma. The surrendering troops were then force marched 150
kms to concentration camps. They were given no food or water. Those who
collapsed or were wounded were bayoneted to death. Many died. This march
of prisoners included 65,000 Filipinos and 10,000 Americans. It was called
the infamous Bataan Death March.
Resistance in the rest of the Philippines was minimal. However, in the
three years that followed, brave Filipinos formed guerrilla bands, carrying out
hit and run ambushes against Japanese troops and convoys.
Life in the Philippines became very difficult. In many parts of the
country, especially Luzon, the Japanese showed very little respect for the
Filipino people. The Japanese conducted systematic purges among the
civilian population calculated to ferret out members and supporters of the
guerrilla bands. These searches were known as the dreaded Zona. A
neighborhood would be condoned off by soldiers and all residents forced out
of their homes. They were then lined up and subjected to the gaze of the
secret eye. This was a Filipino whose head was covered by a small sack or
straw bag with slits for the eyes. With a nod or a gesture the secret eye
would indicate alleged guerrillas or their supporters. These were then taken
off, shot, bayoneted or beheaded.
On Oct. 20th 1944 an American force of four army divisions aboard a
fleet of 650 warships landed in the Leyte gulf. The Japanese were caught off
guard. As a diversion, the Americans had bombed Japanese installations in

Davao on August 9th. The Japanese commander, Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita
rushed reinforcements to Mindanao by air and by sea.
Japanese naval units sailed into Leyte Gulf to trap Mac Arthur. In four
days, 23rd of Oct. to 26th of October they were devastated. Japanese high
command ordered Yamashita to take over the 14th Area Army defending
Luzon. Yamashita did not intend to defend Manila. On December the 26th he
moved his headquarters from Fort McKinley into the foothills of the Sierra
Madre Mountains. He had under his command 275,000 men hurriedly formed
into three Army Corps. The protection of Manila was given to Maj. Gen.
Takahasi Kobayashi with the Shimbu Group of 80,000 men who were busy
evacuating the city and blowing up bridges.
However, as the Army units were pulling out of Manila, Japanese naval
units were moving in. By late January there were 14,000 naval troops in
Manila under the command of General Yokoyama. On the 9th of January the
U.S. Sixth Army under Gen Walter Kruger landed in Lingayen gulf and pushed
inland. The 1st Cavalry division landed at the Mabilao area of Lingayan gulf
on the 27th January 1945 and was ordered by General Mac Arthur to go
quickly to Manila and free the internees in Santo Tomas.
Manila was defended by 17,000 Japanese, most of whom were naval
units under the command of Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi. The battle for
Manila lasted 30 days from February 3rd to March 3rd. The Japanese started
torching warehouses in the North Harbour then moved inland near the Tondo
church burning down factories and industrial plants. Civilian homes also
caught fire. As residents ran to fight the raging fires, the Japanese machine
gunned them.
All Japanese civilians in Manila were drafted into military service 1500
American prisoners of war and allied civilians were interned in Bilibid prison.
At Tondo church, Japanese guards allowed people into the church but would
not let them leave. Then they set up a field gun on the front steps and
started firing towards Galangin. A reconnaissance plane flew overhead. A
short time later, American artillery responded. Fifteen shells landed inside
the church wreaking and terror casualties amongst the civilians.
Men, women and children from homes in Intramuros were rounded up,
so that by nightfall on Monday the 5th February, there were almost 2,000
people inside the Manila Cathedral. They were given no food, water or toilet
facilities. Later on the men were led out to Fort Santiago. There was a large
pit dug in the fort grounds. The men were tied in pairs, ordered to kneel and

then bayoneted and pushed into the pit. One of the men, Juan Palada, late in
the night, loosened his bonds, managed to scale a wall and swim across the
Pasig river despite being wounded.
The director of the Philippine General Hospital Dr. Antonio G. Sison
estimated that 9,000 patients and refugees were sheltered in the P.G.H. This
increased to 16,000 people when refugees from Ermita and Malate flooded
in. In front of the main dispensary, 50 Japanese troops moved in and dug
trenches, piled up sand bags and strung barbed wire across the entrances.
Then American artillery began bombarding the P.G.H with heavy cannons and
civilians hiding there. La Concordia College on Herran St. in Paco was full of
hundreds of refugees from the surrounding stronghold. It was pounded with
shells for 24 hrs. The carnage was terrible.
The Christian brothers were assembled by the Japanese on the second
floor of their de la Salle residence. A search of all rooms was made for
guerrillas and weapons. None were found. A Filipino with a hood on his face
(Makapili) pointed to Br. Eglert Xavier and Judge Jose Carlos. Their hands
were tied behind their backs. They were led away and never seen again. The
Japanese returned again on Monday the 12th of February. The Chaplain, Fr.
Cosgrave C.S.R.R and all the brothers were bayoneted. Some died instantly
other died slowly, painfully.
In the Don Carlos Perez-Rubio mansion at 150 Vito Cruz St in Malate,
the Japanese assembled his family and servants. People from the
neighborhood swelled the numbers to 40 persons. They were all ordered into
the hall. Furniture, rugs and curtains were piled up near the prisoners and
doused with gasoline and the soldiers set fire to the furniture. The doors of
the hall were barred. The hall became a roaring blaze. The whole house went
up in flames. Some people managed to exit the house right into Japanese
machine guns.
At Ermita 1500 men women and children were assembled in Plaza
Fergusson. The young women herded into the Bay View Hotel. They were
from many nationalities. Bay View hotel became a Joro house, a brothel for
the Japanese military. The women were continuously assaulted and abused.
At 1151 Singalong Street in Paco, 200 men were assembled, hands tied
behind their backs and blindfolded. One by one they were led inside a house.
A hole had been knocked through one wall. A Japanese officer would put his
arm around the blindfolded man and say

The Japanese and Filipinos are good friends Then he would be

chopped across the neck with a sword and pushed through the hole in the
wall into a big pit outside the wall. The Brutality of the Japanese Naval forces
was horrendous. Across the whole of Manila groups of Filipinos were burnt
alive, machine gunned or bayoneted. Men women and children were
callously slaughtered. The men in particular were wiped out in huge
numbers. Women were molested and killed.
There was an apparent system in the mass murders. The three hotels,
Bay View, Alhambra and Miramar were designated as Joro houses and
implemented with precision and care. The Japanese knew they were bottled
up by the American forces and took their revenge on the Filipino civilian
population. The Americans for their part had complete disregard for the city
of Manila and its inhabitants. American lives were to be saved, so the whole
city was pounded from end to end. The Americans were responsible for
reducing Manila to rubble and a goodly portion of the blood running in its
gutters. 1,010 American soldiers died in the battle for Manila but over
100,000 civilians were killed. Many more wounded. Many traumatized.
Gen. Yamashita had ordered Rear Admiral Iwabuchi to take his troops
out of Manila. He did not obey the order but instead followed Naval orders
issued by Yokoyama. Iwabuchi believed Manila was a natural fortress and
could be easily defended. The onus for the carnage that ensued in Manila,
weighed heavily on Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi.
A file was found in Manila Naval headquarters dated 23rd December
1944 to 14 February 1945. In the file was found this document.
When Filipinos are to be killed, they must be gathered into one place
and disposed of with the consideration that ammunition and manpower must
not be used in excess. Because the disposal of dead bodies is a troublesome
task, they should be gathered in houses which are scheduled to be burned or
demolished. They should also be thrown into the river. (P.321 of By Sword
and Fire. Alfonso J. Aluit)
General Douglas MacArthur bears as much responsibility as Sanji
Iwabuchi for the cruel fate inflicted on the property and population of Manila.
It is a good thing that Iwaguchi died in the battle. A direct result of the
violence of this battle, was the breakdown of public order. The Filipinos have
never been the same again. The whole population has retreated into
survival mode. It has become very much self-centered on the individual
and his immediate family. There is little in the way of community service or

for that, matter genuine nationalism. i.e. striving for the good of the
community and the nation. Graft and corrupt have replaced the values of
honesty and integrity portrayed by pre World War II generations of Filipinos.
The present generation has no idea of the horrors that Filipinos faced
from 1941 to 1945. That is a pity. They do not value their freedom, won at
great cost. 23

Sources
1. James Reuter S.J. Lady of the Lake.
Philippine Star, Saturday December 27, 2003.
2. Alejandro R. Roces, Dancing for the Santo Nino.
Philippine Star, Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
The Infant of Prague. Booklet St.Pauls Publications,
Strathfield, N.S.W, Australia. 7th printing, March, 1999.
3. Alejandro R. Roces, Of Basques, emblems and history.
Philippine Star, Thursday, January 29,2009.
4. Alejandro R. Roces, Chinese trade then and now.
Philippine Star, Tuesday, August 28, 2007.
5. Alejandro R. Roces Origins of Christmas. Philippine
Star, Tuesday, Date unknown.
6. Alejandro R. Roces, Nine Days Before Christmas.
Philippine Star, Tuesday, December 20, 2005
7. Alejandro R. Roces, Mexicos Christmas gift to the
World. Philippine Star, Tuesday, December 23, 2003.
8. Alejandro R. Roces. The Carols of Christmas.
Philippine Star, December 18, 2008.

9. Jose C. Sison, More meaningful celebration. Philippine

Star, Monday, Octoer 31, 2011.
10.
Alejandro R. Roces. Ash Wednesday tomorrow is
first of 40 days of Lent. Philippine Star, Tuesday,
February 24, 2004.
11.
Jose S. Arcilla S.J. The Fine Print of Philippine
History. St. Paul Publications, P.33-34, 1992.
12.
R. Stefoff, Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery
of the World Ocean. Chelsea House Publishers, Chapter
2, 1990.
13.
R. Stefoff, Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery
of the World Ocean. Chealsea House Publishers, Chps.
3,4,5 & 6. 1990.
14.
R. Stefoff, Ferdinand Magelland and the World
Ocean. Chapter 7. Chealsea House Publishers. 1990.
15.
Horacio de la Costa S.J., Readings in Philippine
History. Chapter 2, Book mark Inc. 1965.
16.
Jose S. Arcilla, S.J. The Fine Print of Philippine
History. Chp.15 St. Pauls Publications 1992.
17.
Jose S. Arcilla S.J. The Fine Print of Philippine
History Chp. 13 St. Paul Publications 1992.
18.
Alejandro R. Roces, Davao and the Kadayawan
Festival. Philippine Star, Tuesday, August 14, 2007.
19.
Alejandro R. Roces, Fiesta de la Naval. Philippine
Star, Tuesday, Ocotber 9, 2007.
20.
Jose Arcilla S.J. Unknown Aspects of the Philippine
Revolution Chp.3 St. Pauls 2006.
21.
Isagani Cruz, The First University Philippine Star,
Thursday December 17, 2009.
Alfonso J. Aluit, By Sword and Fire. Bookmark Inc. P.
55-58, 1995.
22.
Alfonso J. Aluit, By Sword and Fire. Book mark
Inc. Chapters. 4,5 and Epilogue, 1995.

Religious Topics
Taken From

Private Revelation

A husband for Mary

The priests go through the scrolls listing the unmarried men in Davids
line. The young temple maiden Mary has reached the age when she is
required to leave the temple. She was fourteen years old. It is not clear when
this tradition concerning young girls to serve in the temple arose. Her mother
Anne had been a temple maiden also.
Both of Marys parents, the holy couple Joachim and Anne, had died while
Mary was dedicated to temple service since the age of 3 years. It was
incumbent upon the high priest to find her a suitable husband.
As the unmarried men assembled, the high priest received in a vision
the method to be followed in the selection process. He presented to each
suitor a dry branch on which each man inscribed his name. Each man then
held up his branch as the High Priest offered a sacrifice and invoked
Yahwehs guidance. The branches were collected and taken into the Holy of
Holies where they were placed on an Altar before the Holy of Holies.
A short time later, the branches were brought back by a Levite. One
branch had blossomed. It was the branch of Joseph of Jacob of Bethlehem, a
carpenter in Nazareth in Galilee. The pontiff addressed the assembly and
then called the bewildered Joseph forward. Then all the men were asked to
redeem their branches to make sure there was no deception. Many were

disappointed. The Pontiff then asked Zacharia, the relative of Mary to present
her to the assembly.
Anne Catherine Emmerich describes Mary in this fashion; She had
abundant hair, reddish-gold in colour. Her high delicate eyebrows were black;
she had a high forehead, large eyes, a rather long straight nose, a noble and
lovely mouth and a pointed chin. She was of middle height.
She is stunningly beautiful. The high priest places the hand of Mary
into the hand of Joseph. Mary and Joseph are both embarrassed. Both are red
in the face. Joseph fights to find words. Finally he says.
I welcome you, Mary. I saw you when you were a little baby a few days
old - - - I was a friend of your father - - - I remember the day you were born - - we all remember it because of the prodigy of heavy rain that saved the
country and of a violent storm during which the thunderbolts did not damage
even a stem of heather and it ended with such a large beautiful rainbow that
the like has never been seen again. - - - I made a cradle for you. A tiny little
cradle, with roses carved all over it, because your Mother wanted it like
that.
Mary is silent.
Joseph continues, As you know, your house is still intact, with the
exception of the part that was demolished by order of the Consul, to build a
road for the wagons of the Romans. But the fields, what is left of them- you
know that because of your fathers illness, much of the property had to be
disposed of (the rest) have been rather neglected.
I obeyed the order of the priest. I did not wish to be married. I am a
Nazerite.
Mary speaks for the first time.
Since my childhood I have consecrated Myself to the Lord.
Joseph gazes at her and answers,
I will join my sacrifice to yours and we shall love the eternal Father so
much with our chastity that he will send His savior to the world earlier. - - let us go before His house and take on oath that we shall love each other as
the angels do.
Both Mary and Joseph were faithful to their vow of chastity.

Joseph is described by Maria Valtorta as,

About thirty years old. He is a handsome man with short and rather curly
hair, dark brown like his beard and his moustache. He has rosy brown
cheeks. His eyes are kindly and deep.
Statues often portray him as a middle aged or elderly man. In fact, he is a
well built young man in the prime of life. Statues often portray him holding a
lily. This does not reflect his muscular frame or his strong mind. The lily is
meant to symbolize the extraordinary process of his selection by God to be
the protector of the Holy Family. 1.

The First Adorers of the Christ Child.

Everything is calm but the bright moonlight is surprising. The youngest
shepherd Levi calls his companions. Some are teen agers, some are already
white haired. The young one points. There he says, It is an Angel!
The Angel stops mid air,
Do not fear, I am not bringing you misfortune. I announce to you a
great joy for the people of Israel and for all the people of the world. - - today in the city of David, the people of the world. - - - today in the city of
David, the Saviour is born. - - - You will recognize him from the following
signs: in a poor stable, behind Bethlehem, you will find a baby in swaddling
clothes, in a manger for animals, because no roof was found for the Messiah
in the City of David.

There is singing of most wonderful voices as many angels appear. To

hear this melody is to know Paradise. Then the light and singing fade away.
One shepherd exclaims, I know where he is. I saw the woman and told her
were to go.
They go into the shed where they have been staying and come out
shortly carrying flasks of milk, round cheeses some tanned hides and some
baskets containing little bleating lambs. They set out along country paths.
When they arrive at the stable they are hesitant to go in. finally the older
ones coerce Levi, the youngest shepherd to look in. when he pulls back the
rough curtain, he is enraptured.
Joseph hears the noise and invites them into the stable. Mary also
invites them with a gesture of her hand and a smile. The child Jesus sucks on
a rag dipped in warm milk and then falls asleep on one of the woolly tanned
hides.
But you cant stay here, says Elias, Its cold and damp - - - there is
too strong a smell of animals. - - -I will look for a house for you. My mistress
will receive you even if she has to give up her own room.
Have you no relatives?
Yes I have, answers Mary, But they are far away. They are at Hebron.
Zacharias is a priest.
I will go says Elias, I know him well.
May God reward you, says Mary.
Then the shepherds give their names.
Elias, Levi, Samuel, Jonah, Isaac, Tobias, Jonathan, Daniel, Simeon, John,
Joseph and Benjamin (twins).
One by one they kiss the little feet of the Saviour wrapped in linen. Almost
everyone is crying. When they have to go they walk out backwards, leaving
their hearts there.
Why were they so favoured to be the first to worship the Man-God child?
Because of
Firm faith: they believed the angel promptly and unquestioningly.
Generosity: They give all their wealth to the Lord.

Humility: They approach people with a modest attitude and profess

themselves their servants.
Desire: What they are unable to offer, they endeavour to attain by charitable
work.
Prompt Obedience: Mary wishes to inform Zacharius, and Elias goes at once.
Love: They suffer in departing from the grotto.
The shepherds gave the good news to the people of Bethlehem, and
many of them brought gifts. When Zacharias arrives he brings gifts also. A
handmade woollen blanket, some linens and dresses. Also some honey,
butter, flour, apples for Mary and cakes baked by Elizabeth. Elizabeth cannot
come. She is looking after her new born son, John, and the weather is too
cold. 2.

The Three Magi.

Among so many people who studied the stars only three men
understood the sign. They have each seen the strange new star in the sky.
They are moved to act. Each of them prepares a caravan and departs from
his home. They are unknown to one another.
One comes from the Northern region of the Middle East where Turkey,
Afghanistan and Persia meet. Another comes from further afield from the

Mongolian chain of Mountains. The third one comes from the land where the
Nile rises. So they have come from the North, the East and the South. All of
them enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Not one of them seeks any personal
advantage. They have to face hardships and meet expenses without seeking
any human reward.
Coming from three different points on the earth, by Gods providence
they meet beyond the Dead Sea. Gods will has gathered them there and
they then proceed together. They understand one another despite the fact
that each speaks the language of each country. In thirty three years time a
similar phenomenon would occur on the first Christian Pentecost Sunday.
The star guides them to the Holy City Jerusalem then conceals itself. As
important visitors they are presented to King Herod. They enquire of him
where this new King of the Jews has been born. Herod is full of fear. His
throne is under threat. Hurriedly he consults the chief priests and scribes and
they assure him that the scriptures indicate Bethlehem. He bids the three
Magi to search for the child and return to inform him so that he too may
worship this new king of the Jews.
As the Magi leave Jerusalem, the bright star that has been leading
them reappears. They are delighted. Then the star stops above the house of
Anne to which the shepherds have brought the Holy Family after the
circumcision of the Christ child in the cave where He was born.
When they arrive before the poor house, they do not shake their heads
and say Impossible, but bend their hearts and knees, grateful that they
have found the cause of their quest. There in that house is the God they
have always sought but never seen.
To prepare themselves, they settle their caravans of animals and
servants in nearby shelters and spend the whole night in prayer. They forget
to eat and sleep. From their caravans they retrieve their most beautiful
robes, not for human ostentation but to honour the King of Kings. They
prepare their gifts. Each gift is a symbol of the greatness of the New King of
Jews.
Now they enter the house. Mary receives then with modesty and
charm. The Holy Spirit had enlightened her beforehand of their arrival. The
eldest one speaks for the group. Then one by one they present their gifts.

Gold for the King of Kings, the most prized symbol of wealth;
Frankincense to honour His divinity and Myrrh to prepare the new born king
for the hour of His death that His holy flesh may not suffer putrefaction.
Mary offers the child. She lays him in the arms of the oldest one, who
kisses Him and receives His caress and then he hands the child to the other
two. Tears shine in their eyes. Kneeling down they once again kiss the feet of
Jesus. Mary bending down over the child, takes his hand and guides it, in a
blessing gesture over each of the Magi.
At last they move towards the door. The three wise men go down the
steps. Their caravan is waiting for them. Joseph helps them to mount their
horses and the camel. Jesus laughs clapping his hands. Mary is holding him
against her breast. The three Magi bow in a final gesture of homage and the
caravan moves off. Jesus watches them go. He is about one year old with
beautiful rosy cheeks and fair hair.
Anne Catherine Emmerich states that in a vision she saw the Magi
settle together to the East of the Holy Land. A footnote in her book The Life
of the Blessed Virgin Mary on P. 229 mentions that St. Helena found their
remains and took them firstly to Constantinople, then later they were moved
to Milan. Finally their relics resided in a church in Cologne.
Maria Valtorta does not mention any names for the three Magi.
However according to the Ramsgate Book of Saints the names Melchior,
Kaspar and Balthasar were attributed to the Magi in the eight century. These
names have persisted as a Christian tradition up to the present time. One
other tradition has persisted also and that is that one of the Magi was black
skinned. There is no record to support this but people from the head waters
of the Nile, (Ethiopia) were indeed very dark skinned. 3.

Mary teaches Jesus, James and Jude

Mary is sewing strips of wool she has woven herself. Jesus is playing
under the trees with two little children who are about His own age. They are
playing shops. Jesus buys things for his mother. Mary accepts all the
purchases with a smile. Then the children go down to the bottom of the
Orchard. From there, singing psalms they process like the Chosen people.
Jesus leads. Behind him come James and Jude holding up a small cart that
represents the Ark of the covenant. They proceed very seriously as though
they are real actors.
There is a knock at the door. It is Alphaeus the brother of Joseph and
his wife Mary Cleophas. The two sisters in law Mary and Mary Cleophas kiss.
The children run to their respective mothers. Joseph goes to the cart of
Alphaeus and retrieves a basket. He lays it on the floor in front of Jesus. Jesus
opens the lid and delight fills his eyes. His uncle has brought him a little
lamb. He takes it into the garden and gives it water to drink. He calls it
Snow. It bleats and follows him as if it had known Jesus forever.
Inside the house, the guests are sitting at table. To refresh them after
their return from Cana Mary offers them bread, olives and cheese. She also
puts a jug on the table with water sweetened with honey.
Mary Cleophas speaks,
This year you will have to send Jesus to school.
I will never send Jesus to school replies the mother of Jesus, Why? The
child must be ready to pass his exam when he comes of age. Questions
Mary Cleophas.
The Child will be ready. But he will not go to school. Replies the mother of
Jesus.
You will be the only woman in Israel to do that.
Joseph intervenes.
There is no need for Jesus to go to school. Mary was brought up in the
temple and she knows the law as well as any doctor. She will be his teacher.
You are spoiling the boy. Says Mary Cleophas.
You cannot say that. He is the best boy in Nazareth. Have you ever heard
him cry, or be naughty, or be disobedient, or lack respect? retorts Mary,
Josephs wife.

Alphaeus is concerned for the reputation of the extended family. Joseph

reassures his brother,
He will grow upright and strong, both in His body and in His spirit. He will
not be a disgrace to the family. That is what I have decided and that is all.
Mary Cleophas speaks up,
You are quite right. I wish I could teach. At school our children learn both
what is good and what is evil.
Alpheaus and his wife Mary Cleophas have four sons. Two are older and
have been to school. They are Simon and Joseph. The two younger ones,
James and Jude are ready for school. All four are the true cousins of Jesus. In
the custom of the Jews, Jesus and his four cousins are called brothers.
Mary Cleophas has been considering in her mind if she will ask the Mother of
Jesus would she also teach James and Judas. She finally plucks up courage
and asks her.
Mary replies,
If Joseph wants, and your husband agrees, I am quite willing. It is the same
to speak to one as to three. They can come every day from the sixth hour
until evening.
So Mary became the teacher of Jesus, James and Jude. They loved one
another like brothers. When Jesus named his Apostles they willingly joined
Him in His mission. 4.

The Return to Bethlehem.

Jesus returns to Bethlehem. His companions are Simon, John and Judas.
They stop near an Inn. The Inn keeper sees that they are strangers.
Judas speaks,
We want some information, particularly on Anne whose house was opposite
your hotel.
Oh that poor woman. You will find her in Abrahams bosom, and her children
with her.
Is she dead?
Dont you know of Herods massacre? The whole world talked about it.
Even Caesar called him a pig who feeds on blood. Anne was killed by
Herods soldiers, with all her children except one a daughter, who was in
Jerusalem.
But why? She was so good.
She was killed because she gave hospitality to those who said they
were the Mother and father of the Messiah. - - -the last to come were three
kings, powerful people, three magicians - - - what a train! An endless one!
They took all the stables and they paid with gold for so much hay that could
have lasted a month, and they went away the following day- -
We would like to see the place of the slaughter.
Places? But every house was a place of slaughter. There were people
killed for miles around Bethlehem.- - - Can you see the ruined spots? Over
there the houses were burnt down because fathers defended their children
with their weapons. - - - Those are the remains of the synagogue. It was
burnt down together with the Synagogue leader who stated that the child
was the Messiah. It was burnt down by the survivors of the slaughter. They
were wild with fury. - - - see those sepulchres - - - the victims are buried there
- - - as far as the eye can see - - all the innocents and their fathers and

mothers - - -see that vat? Its waters were red after the killers washed their
weapons and hands in it. - - - and there, that is what is left of Annes house.
Jesus says, From here, My Mother made me wave My hand to the
three wise men and we left from here to go to Egypt. A crowd is beginning
to gather. Jesus refers to the tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem and the loss of the
innocent ones. A woman cries out, Five, five I gave birth to and not one is
now in my house. And she yells hysterically.
Another woman tears her dress and shows a breast that is maimed. Here,
she cries out Here on this mama they slaughtered my first born Son! The
sword cut off his face and my nipple at the same time. Oh my Ellis!
What about me? There is my royal palace. Three tombs in one. My children
and my husband. - - -if there is a savior let him give me back my husband
and my children!
A shower of stones is thrown at Jesus and his companions. The uproar
attracts some soldiers. Judas steps in and hands some coins to a soldier. The
soldier takes them swiftly and smiles. He and his companions disperse the
crowd. Judas is bleeding on the cheek from a wound caused by a stone.
Leaving Bethlehem the group journeys into the nearby hills. They come
across three shepherds. The oldest one asks, Who are you? Jesus replies,
One who loves you.
You would be the first one in many years. Where are you from? From
Nazareth in Galilee.
Tell me. Has a child ever come back to Nazareth, a child with a woman
whose name was Mary and a man called Joseph - - - a child born in
Bethlehem of Judah, at the time of the edict? If he is alive, he must be a man
now. - - - You must believe that the Messiah is born. Angels do not lie - - - we
were not drunk as the people said.
The shepherds had been driven out of Bethlehem by an angry crowd who
blamed them for the slaughter of the innocents.
Then Jesus said, It is I.
The shepherds are overwhelmed and prostrate themselves on the
ground. Then they sit back on their heels with loving eyes and trembling lips,
their faces flushed with joy. You were twelve - - - My Mother always

mentioned your names to me because you were my first friends. - - - where

are the others?
Elias speaks, Old Samuel died of old age about twenty years ago.
Joseph was killed because he fought at the gate of the enclosure to give time
to his wife, who had just become a mother a few hours before to escape, - - I look Levi with me - - - Benjamin is a shepherd in Lebanon with Daniel.
Simeon, John and Tobias - - are disciples of John. Jonah works on the plain of
Esdraelon for a Pharisee. Isaac suffers very much from his back - - he lives in
dire poverty all by himself in Juttah. - - Jonathan is now the servant of one of
Herods big men. - - -Joseph has no tomb, he was burned in his house.
Jesus replies, I will employ you elsewhere. I will not abandon you. - - - One of
the first faces I saw was yours Elias. It will also be one of the last.
The Shepherds who were alive at the time of the crucifixion fought their way
through the crowds and stood faithfully and in sorrow on the hill of
Golgotha. 5.

The Call of Matthew

It is market morning in Capernaum. The square is full of traders selling
all kinds of goods. Jesus coming from the lake sees his cousins Jude and
James coming towards him. James asks Jesus to accept him as a disciple.
Jesus is delighted.
How I longed for this hour, for this day because he was a perfect
friend in My childhood and a good brother in my youth. - - I was on the lake
for two days with Peter and the others. Peter has a good haul. Is that right?
Peter replies, Yes, but I will have to give many didrachmas to that thief over
there. He points at Matthew, the exciseman who is besieged by people
paying their taxes.
Jesus decides to speak to the people right near Matthews bench. He
chooses to talk about the danger of riches. Perhaps some honest feeling will
enter the excisemans heart. Says Jesus.
Peter replies, You need not worry about that. Your words will never go
through his crocodile skin.
Earlier Peter had said,

Do you know who that curly headed man is, the one who is more scented
than a woman? He is Matthew our tax collector. Then Peter joins the line to
pay his taxes. Jesus stops him.
Give me the money. I will pay today. Peter gives Jesus the leather purse.
When it is the turn of Jesus, he says,
I am paying for eight baskets of fish belonging to Simon of Jonas. The
baskets are over there. - - - How much do I pay?
Matthew stands up. He is a small and elderly man about Peters age. His face
has the weary look of the pleasure lover. Matthew looks at Jesus.
There is no taxation for the disciple of the master. Replies Matthew. In a
lower voice he adds,
Pray for my soul. Then Jesus goes about ten yards from Matthew and
begins speaking to the people about worldly riches. You must earn honestly,
give back what you obtained unfairly, make use of your riches with
parsimony and detachment. - - -
Then he goes away.
A few days later he returns to the market area with his disciples. Jesus
goes straight to the taxation counter where Matthew is making up his
accounts and checking his coins. He divides these coins into various
denominations and puts them into bags of different colours.
Matthew looks up to see who is this late tax payer. Matthew recognizes Jesus
and rises from his seat. Then Jesus says, Matthew, Son of Alpheaus, your
hour is striking. Come. Follow me!
I? Master, Lord! But do you know who I am?
Come, follow Me, Matthew, Son of Alpheus. Jesus says.
Oh! says the startled Excise man. How can I have found grace before
God?
Matthew, Son of Alpheaus, I have seen your heart. Come, follow me.
Matthew, weeping comes out from behind the counter, without bothering to
pick up the coins spread over it or to close the coffer.

Where are we going My Lord? To your house. Will you give hospitality to
the Son of Man and your friend?
We will go together like brothers. Says Jesus.
They all enter his house and Matthew gives instructions to his servants. Peter
is astonished. The two elderly, thick set and stout men face each other. Jesus
smiles and comes between them.
Peter, you asked me many times who was the unknown man of the purse
that the boy James used to bring us. Here he is, in front of you.
Who this robber? - - Oh! Forgive me Matthew! Who would have imagined it
was you.
I know, I taxed you unfairly. But now I kneel before you. Do not reject me!
Peter, who sees Matthew kneeling at his feet, suddenly lifts him up bodily,
roughly but affectionately: Stand up- - - we are more or less thieves like you
- - - come let us make a pact of peace and love, and he kisses Matthew on
both cheeks.
The other disciples do the same and welcome Matthew. But Judas does so
like he is embracing a bundle of snakes.
Matthew was the Son of Alpheus the brother of St. Joseph from an earlier
marriage. He is a half brother to Simon, Joseph, James and Jude. He is also a
true cousin of Jesus. After Pentecost, it is Matthew whom Peter designates to
write the first gospel not Mark. 6.

Cure of a drying Boy

Jesus and his disciples are praying in the temple. There is a commotion
outside. People are shouting. A Roman soldier is struggling against a defiant
crowd. He cries out in anger.
Let me pass you Jewish dogs. Jesus is here. I know the boy is dying and He
will save him.
Jesus realizes he is wanted and comes from the interior of the temple
to where the disturbance is taking place. The soldier sees Jesus and calls out,
Oh! Jesus! Hail! I am Alexander. Make room you dogs. Jesus sees blood on
the soldiers tunic.

Are you wounded? he asks as he directs the soldier towards an outer

court. I am not wounded. A little boy - - My horse got out of hand near the
Antonia and knocked him down. Its hooves split his head - - - says
Alexander. Let us go, says Jesus.
They find the mother of the boy leaning against a column and weeping
over her dying child. The childs head is split at the front and the back. His
brain can be seen. The horse was a huge one and had been shod recently.
Explains Alexander, the Roman soldier.
A crowd gathers and curses the Roman. Jesus bends down and takes
the little wounded head in his long hands. He breathes over the wheezing
little mouth for a few minutes, then he smiles. The child opens his eyes and
moves to sit up.
Bring me some water, orders Jesus. John, give me one of the apples you
have. He gives it to the little boy. Alexander comes close. He has brought
water in his helmet.
Jesus unties the bandage wound around the childs head. There is one long
clot of blood from the childs forehead to the back of his neck. Jesus wets the
bandage and washes the large blood clot. The clot softens. Now the childs
hair is clean. The hair is wet but there is no wound underneath. There is only
a small red mark on his forehead.
The crowd is amazed. Thank you Jesus, says Alexander. I was sorry that I
had killed this innocent boy. Some officials of the Temple and some priests
arrive like so many hurricanes.
The High priest orders you to leave the Temple, you and this Pagan
desecrator. Shouts the leader, The high Priest orders you never to put foot
in here again. Go away and stay with your heathens. Jesus leaves the
Temple precincts and as he nears the fortress Antonia Alexander speaks,
I tell you that I have travelled through all the regions of Rome at Caesars
service. But nowhere amongst the thousands of people I have met, did I find
anyone more divine than you. Hail Master! 7.

Photinai
Jesus and the Apostles journey into Samaritan territory. Jesus is tired
and sits down beside Jacobs well at Sychar. He sends the Apostles into the

town to buy food. A woman arrives at the well. Jews are forbidden to talk to
Samaritans and Jewish men do not converse with women.
The woman is a 35 to 40 year old person. She is tall and has a beautiful
strongly marked figure. A Spanish type with pale olive complexion. She is
typically oriental looking like the Arabs. Her dress is multi coloured and she is
wearing several rings. There are bracelets on her wrists and around her neck
is a heavy necklace with medals attached. Heavy ear rings shine under her
Veil.
Peace be with you woman. Will you give me some water to drink, asks
Jesus.
The woman is surprised. Do you a Jew ask me a Samaritan woman for water?
What great event has happened that a Judean man would talk to a
Samaritan?
You are right. A great event has taken place. - - -All men come from God,
Samaritans and Judeans. Is this not Jacobs well?
Yes it is Jacobs well and its water is so plentiful and clear that we in Sychar
prefer it to other fountains.
Jesus continues,
whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. I instead have a water and
whoever drinks it will not be thirsty again. - - - I will give it to whoever asks
Me of it.
I do not understand. Are you a magician? How can a man become a well?
You say your water lasts a whole lifetime?
Even longer, replies Jesus. It will last until eternal life - - - it is a spring of
health.
Give me some of that water, if you really have it. I get tired coming here. If I
have it, I will not be thirsty anymore and I will never be ill or become old.
What is your name? Jesus asks the woman.
Photinai
Go and call your husband and come back here with him.
I have no husband.

You have spoken the truth. You have no husband. But you have had five
men and you have one with you, now who is not your husband - - - where are
you children?
The woman lowers her head and does not reply. Jesus continues. You
have none in this world. But their little souls, whom you prevented from
seeing the day of their birth, are reproaching you and they always will. - - you are forlorn, Photinai. Only through sincere repentance, through Gods
forgiveness and consequently through your childrens forgiveness can you
become rich again.
Lord I see you are a prophet. - - - Our Ancestors worshipped on this
mountain. You Jews say that one must worship only in Jerusalem.
Jesus speaks. The time will come when the true worshippers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, no longer according to the ancient rite,
but to the new one, where there will be no sacrifice of animals consumed by
fire. There will be the eternal sacrifice of the Immaculate Victim consumed by
the fire of charity. - - -
You speak holy words. I know, because we also know something, that the
Messiah is about to come, the Messiah, He who is called also `Christ.
I, who am speaking to you, am Jesus Christ.
Photinai is shocked. She goes away leaving her amphora and the water. The
disciples of Jesus come back with food. A short time later Photinai leads the
townspeople of Sychar to Jesus who says to his disciples Be kind to them,
they are souls coming to God. 8.

The Centurions Servant.

In Capernaum once again Jesus is with his Apostles. A crowd gathers.
He blesses and cures. This time a Roman Centurion approaches.
Hail Master. I have been waiting for you for several days. You do not
recognize me as one of those who were listening to you on the mount. I was
wearing civilian clothes. - - -I have instructions to follow those who have
meetings - - - too often Rome has had to regret having granted permission
for apparently honest meetings. - - -I have a servant who is ill, Lord. He is
lying in my house, in his bed, paralyzed by a disease of the bones and he
suffers dreadfully. Our doctors cannot cure him. Jesus speaks. I will come
and cure him.
No, my Lord, - - - I am heathen filth as far as Jews are concerned. If the
Jewish doctors are afraid of becoming contaminated by coming to my house,
all the more reason it would contaminate you, who are divine. I am not
worthy that you should enter under my roof, but you say only one word here,
my servant will be cured because you rule over everything. I am subject to
the authorities and I can in turn give orders to soldiers under me - -But the
disease is not a man. Says Jesus. Neither are you a man, - - - you therefore
can give orders to elements and fevers, because everything is subject to
your power. Some elders of Capernaum take Jesus aside and say to Him,
He is a Roman, but listen to him, because he is an honest man who
respects and helps us. It was he who built our Synagogue and he has given
strict instructions to his soldiers not to ridicule us on the Sabbath. Jesus
turns and smiles at the Centurion and says, Go ahead and I will come after
you,
But the centurion stops Him and repeats what he said before. No my
Lord, it would be a great honour if you entered under my roof, but I do not
deserve so much; say only one word and my servant will be cured.
Jesus replies,
Let it be so. Go and have faith. This very moment the fever is leaving
him and life is flowing back into his limbs. Endeavour to get life to come to
your soul also. Go The Centurion salutes, then leaves and goes away.

When he has gone, Jesus turns to the crowd and proclaims, I solemnly
tell you that I did not find so much faith in Israel. - - - many will come from
the East and the West and will sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
Kingdom of Heaven - - - the gentiles will not only be equal to the children of
Abraham, they will be greater. Most of the people, driven, by curiosity, rush
towards the Centurions house to confirm the cure of the servant. 9.

The Man from Korazim

Jesus is walking towards the Lake of Tiberias. His Apostles are with him.
His attention is drawn towards a person looking steadfastly at Him. He is a
tall young man. Jesus says to him, Follow Me.
The young man is surprised, he changes colour and blinks as if dazzled
by the light, and struggles to speak in response to the command of Jesus.
Finally he says,
I will follow you but my father died at Korazim and I must bury him. Let me
do that and I will come.
Jesus replies Follow me. Leave the dead to bury the dead. - - -God
calls and passes by. Tomorrow you would no longer find your heart of today
or Gods invitation. Come. Go and announce the Kingdom of God.
The man is leaning against a low wall and his arms hang by his sides.
He is holding two bags full of perfumes and bandages.
The young man makes up his mind. He hands the two bundles to a
companion and comes towards Jesus. They walk towards the shore and Jesus
gets on board Peters boat. Peter is surprised at this young man who follows
Jesus into the boat. But he says nothing. He has learnt from the past to
expect the unexpected.
Later Jesus says, Heroism in following God is always evidence of strong
spiritual preparation - - -Those who are most prepared to receive Christ,
whichever their caste and education might be, come to me with absolute
promptitude and faith.
When the boat returns to the desert shore opposite Bethsaida, they all
disembark. Elias, the new disciple invites Jesus to his house in Korazim. 10

The Demoniacs of Gamala

Peter obeys the Master and lands the boat at Hippos. From there the
party moves inland then up a steep path near a cliff face until they arrive at
a tableland strewn with oak trees under which many pigs are pasturing. The
apostles pass by the swine, grimacing at the smell and sight of animals
prohibited by the Law for Jews to husband or eat.
The panorama from the cliff top is beautiful. It commands a view over
the whole of Lake TIberias and the many towns dotted along its shores.
Behind them the apostles see a lush green valley the far edge of which rises
into a low mountain sprinkled with houses and caves. The houses form the
village of Gamala.
The group spots two completely naked men coming towards them.
They have come out of one of the caves and are howling like demoniacs. The
faster of the two rushes towards Jesus waving his arms up and down like a
bird stripped of its feathers. He collapses at the feet of Jesus and exclaims,
You are here, Master of the world? What have I got to do with you Jesus, Son
of the Most High God?
Have you come to torture us before the time?
The other naked man writhes on the ground in a paroxysm of terror.
Jesus goes near the second man and commands the demon, Come out of
both of these men unclean spirit and tell me you name.
legion is my name, because we are many. We have possessed these men
for years and through them we break bonds and chains. We make use of
them to avenge ourselves on your Anathema. We degrade man below a
beast to mock you. - - - But dont cast us out. Hell is too horrible!

Get out in the name of Jesus, the masters voice thunders.

Let us go into the herd of pigs you passed, begs the leader.
Go! orders Jesus.
With a beastly howl the demons part from the two wretched men like a
sudden whirlwind that shakes the oak trees. They run into the pigs which
howl with demonic cries, pushing, rushing, biting one another and hurling
themselves over the cliff face, plunging below into the lake Tiberias. The
waters of the lake surge and foam. The pigs sink, refloat then sink again as
the waters claim them. The swine herdsmen who witnessed the event are
startled and terrified. Then run towards Gamala shouting. Simon the Zealot
reaches inside his bag and gives one of the naked men his spare tunic.
Thomas does the same for the other man. The other apostles pass food to
them. They eat the bread and olives given to them and drink from Peters
flask.
Who are you? one of the men asks. I am Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus replies.
We dont know you, says the other man. You souls know me. Get up and
go home.
One of the men from the caves asks his companion.
Who are you? as if he has met him for the first time. I am Demetrius,
comes the reply, Is this Sidon? Why am I here?
Some townspeople arrive followed by the swine herds. They are astonished
to see the naked men clothed and behaving normally. One of the
townspeople points at the two men.
That is Mark of Josiah! - - and the other is the son of the heathen
merchant!
One of the swineherds says,
Lord you are powerful but you have already caused us much harm. A
damage of many talents. Go away please lest your power should bring down
the mountain and hurl it into the lake.
Yes I will go, offers Jesus and the group moves back down the steep path
followed by one of the men from the caves. They get into the boats at the
edge of Lake TIberias.

Where shall we go? asks one of the apostles. To Tarchea, replies Jesus.
The man from the caves implores Jesus, Lord, take me with you.
No, replies Jesus, Go home. Your relatives are entitled to have you. Speak
to them of the great things the Lord has done to you and tell them how He
had mercy on you. - - -Light the flames of faith out of gratitude to the Lord.
Comfort me at least with your blessing, that the demon may not possess
me again.
Do not be afraid. If you do not want, it he will not come. But I bless you. Go
in peace. Says Jesus.
Only when they see the boats below depart from the Lakes shore do the
towns people gathered on the terrace, go away. 11.

Jesus Incinerates a Pagan Idol

Aliove Ashkelon there is a village on a mountain. Jesus instructs the
Apostles to go on to Ashdod. He takes a cool pathway up towards the top of
the small mountain passing through groves of olive walnut and fig trees as
well as cultivated vineyards.
As he enters the village he is met with a strange procession. Women
are shouting, men are howling a lament and they dance around a blindfolded
he-goat which is already bleeding at the knees from stumbling on the stony
path. Other men and women dance around an ugly idol. They hold up pans of
glowing embers onto which they spray resins and salt.
Another group is gathered around a wizard chanting to the idol,
Order the matrix! Save the woman! Death to the sorceress! By your
strength! You only can! Command the God! Order the goat! To show us the
sorceress! Who hates the house of Phara!
Jesus stops one of the processors,what is happening? He replies,
The wife of Phara, the great man of Magdalgad is dying in childbirth.
Someone who hates her has cast a spell on her. - - the child cannot come in
to the world. If we cannot find the sorceress we will sacrifice the goat to the
goddess Matrix.

I can cure the woman and save her son. Tell the priest. Says Jesus.
The message is passed and the procession stops.
Take me to the woman and remove the bandage from the goats head.
Jesus is taken to the dying womans house. Phara comes forward together
with two weeping women.
Save my wife! cries Phara save my daughter cries one of the women.
I will save her and her boy as well, says Jesus. How do you know it is a
boy? Can you see inside the womb?
I see and penetrate everywhere. I know everything and I can do everything.
I am God.
The people all throw themselves onto the ground. Jesus orders them to stand
up, light a fire and burn the idol. The priests are indignant.
Show us a sign so we can believe you are a God, challenges Phara.
Jesus heals the wounds on the goat. Phara is amazed. I believe! I Believe!
he cries out.
Who are you?
I am Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Lord. Burn the idol! I cannot bear gods in my
presence.
The people are still reluctant to obey. Jesus eyes burn. The men
holding the copper pans of coals are forced to throw them away. They cannot
bear the sudden heat. The litter bearers are forced to lay the litter down as
the carrying shafts turn to carbon. The idol catches fire. The crowds are
terrorized and run away.
Jesus stands before the house of the woman dying in childbirth. The
idol and its litter have turned to ashes. He utters a thundering order and the
feeble cries of a new born infant can be heard. A woman rushes forth with
the baby wrapped in linen swaddling clothes and shouts,
Its a boy Phara.
Phara smiles as the man presents the baby to him. He offers gifts and
money to Jesus for the miracle. Jesus rejects the offers but takes the black
haired goat which trots along beside him. The disciples come from Ashdod

they were unsuccessful. The people would not listen to them. When Jesus
meets them he says,
Nothing is useless. Not even defeat, because it serves to make you
humble. 12

The Sacraments
James the hess and Jesus are descending from Mt. Carmel. James asks
Jesus, What shall we have to do? Preach you all the time and nothing else?
That is essential. Then you have to absolve in my name and bless, readmit
to grace, administer the sacraments that I will institute. What are they?
They are supernatural and spiritual means. - - -used to convince men
that the priest is really doing something. - - -That is why when I work
miracles, I impose my hands, or wet with saliva, or give a morsel of soaked
bread. I could work a miracle by means of a simple thought. - - - John for
instance used to immerse sinners into water to symbolize cleanness from
sin. - - -I will use a baptism as well to really cleanse a soul of original sin - -the word of the priest will work the miracle of redeeming the baptized
person from original sin. But man commits sins of his own - - - who will

remove the other sins? The priest will absolve him in the name of God one
and Triune and through the merits of the Incarnate Word - - -
If a man is so ill that he cannot move, will he die in sin?
No. The priest will go to the dying man and give absolution - - - we
have in Israel the Sacred Oil - - with which the altar, the Pontiff, priests and
kings are consecrated. - - - The Holy Oil will be taken with other rites of the
Israelite cult and included in My Church.
Jesus Continues,
The Sacraments will be more: seven, like the sacred Candelabrum of
the Temple and the gifts of the Spirit of Love. - - - There will be a Sacrament
also for the marriage of man. - - - The sacrament will give the married couple
all the assistance needed to live together according to the law and the
wishes of God. Husband and wife become also the ministers of a rite: the rite
of procreation. You will teach us, will you not? asks James.
I and He whom I will send to you. Also His coming will be a Sacrament.
- - -It will be given by those who have received the fullness of the Priesthood.
- - - it will be strength and intelligence, confirmation in Faith, it will be holy
piety and fear. It will be assistance in advice and supernatural wisdom, and it
will be possession of Justice that by its nature will turn the child who receives
it into an adult.
And likewise, you cannot for the time being understand another
Sacrament. It is so sublime that it is almost incomprehensible to angels. And
yet you simple men, will understand it by virtue and faith and love. I
solemnly tell you that those who will love it and nourish their souls by it, will
be able to trample on the demon with impunity. 13.

Marys Balm.
Rumours have circulated in the Sanhedrin. Jesus has in His company an
escaped convict, John of Endor, and an escaped Greek slave woman,
Syntyche. They cannot stay in the Holy Land. It is agreed that the apostles
will accompany both of them to a house in Antioch, inherited by Lazarus of
Bethany, when his father Theophilus was governor of Syria. The party of ten
including Simon, Peter, Matthew and Simon the Zealot, board a ship at Tyre
commanded by Nicomedes the Cretan Navigator. They are sailing for the port
of Seleucia. As the ship follows the coastline it is battered by strong seas.

The heaving water turns into a furious storm. The Cretan exclaims, I have
never seen a storm like this!
A whirlwind tears off part of the mast, which falls striking one of the
men onboard. Peter creeps along the heaving deck to the injured man, who
is motionless. Peter calls out, His head is split like a ripe pomegranate! He
loads the dying man on his shoulder and is drenched with blood as he
struggles towards the hatch leading below decks. Syntyche goes to the table
on which the bleeding man has been laid. The wound is a nasty one. The
bone is bare from the temple to the nape of the neck. She wets cloths and
washes the wound and compresses it. The man grumbles in pain and gasps
for breath. I am going to try with Marys ointment, says Syntyche.
But that is for pains, objects Matthew. Syntyche goes to Peters pack,
takes a bronze vase from it, opens it, takes out a little ointment and warms it
on a lamp using the lid of the vase to hold the ointment. She then pours the
melted ointment on a piece of linen cloth and applies it to the wounded
head. She then bandages the wound tightly with linen strips. She sits near
the wounded man and prays. The others pray also. Just then a sailor rushes
down below. He shouts, Nicodemus wants to sacrifice to the goddess
Venus. Leaving Syntyche, Matthew and John of Endor, both of whom are
seasick, the others rush onto the pitching deck. What have you Israelites
done? You have cursed my ship! cries Nicodemus as he hurls burning
incense into the sea and some liquids. Nothing happens and the seas get
worse. Peter orders John to sing as he did yesterday the other apostles and
Peter join in. Peter is always out of tune. After the song, they all pray with
arms extended. They alternate singing with praying. The violence of the
waves slowly abates but does not cease altogether. Nicodemus is amazed.
The apostles continue to pray and the seas clam down to normal.
Smiling happily, Peter leads the Apostles once more below decks. The
ship moves into the placid waters of the Port of Seleucia. Nicodemus moves
close to the wounded man who is now on the deck sitting beside John of
Endor. Demetes, let me see your wound, asks Nicomedes. The wounded
man undoes the bandages. His hair has been cropped by Syntyche and just
under his hair is a smooth healed scar. Even the bone is healed. 14

The Farrier.
Jews married to foreigners at the time of Christ were despised by fellow
Jews and prohibited from attending the Synagogue. Jesus was on his way to

Ptolemais on the coast of Phoenicia. He reaches a forge near a Bridge. His

apostles are with him. A Roman farrier is sitting beside his house resting in
the sunshine. He recognizes Jesus and greets him. Jesus returns the greeting.
Rabbi my wife wanted to see you. Her name is Esther, she is a Hebrew. I am
a Roman, so hesitate to talk to you. Says Titus, the Roman farrier.
Call her then, replies Jesus. A woman about forty years old comes out.
Peace to you Esther, says Jesus and puts her at ease.
Rabbis despise us because we are married to Romans. - - - I have
children and I have taken them all to the Temple and the boys have all been
circumcised. Titus leaves me completely free with the children. Everything is
Hebrew here - - customs, rites! - - -Titus is kind. On our holy days he closes
the forge, with a heavy loss of money, and takes me and the children to the
Temple. - - - He says that his religion is now his work and his family. He says
that one cannot live without religion. He was a soldier before.
I have tried for the twenty years we have been together to work his
soul - - - with the yeast of Israel, but he cannot make up his mind. - - - he is
old - - - I would like to have him with me in the next life - - - I am not asking
for riches, welfare, health. What we have is sufficient - - - Pray for my
husband that he may belong to the true God. Jesus replies. He will. You
may be sure of that. You are asking for something holy and it will be granted
to you. You have understood the duty of a wife to God and to her husband. - -you will have the joy of having your Titus beside you, in prayer and in
heaven. Now show me your children.
The woman calls her children to come out of the house. They are many.
Jacob, Judas, Levi, Mary, John, Anne, Eliza, Marcus. Then she goes into the
house and comes back with one who can hardly walk and one in her arms
who is about three months old. This one is Isaac and the little one is Judith.
Ten in all. The Apostles are amazed.
Titus helps to bring them up. He was a disciplined soldier, says Esther.
The discipline of the army is not disliked by God when soldiers do
their duty humanely. - - Your past discipline, which you now instill in your
children must prepare you to enter a higher service, the service of God.
Offers Jesus.
The mother and children kneel down while Jesus raises his hand and
blesses them. Titus stands stiffly to attention as if he was standing before the

Emperor of Rome and salutes in the Roman way. Jesus and his apostles go
away on the road to the Pheonician coast. 15

The Temple Tax

The two boats land at Capernaum. They have been hired. They are not
the boats of Peter and James. Judas is complaining. The last of their money
has gone to pay the owners of the boats. There is nothing left in the purse
that Judas is in charge of.
He says to Thomas, we are reduced to the state of beggars. Thomas replies
good naturedly,
What does it matter. I am not worried.
Of course, but when it is time to eat, you are the one who wants to eat more
than the rest, retorts Judas.
Jesus has overheard the conversation. He says,
It is very good to be penniless. The paternity of God will shine more brightly
even in the most humble things.
Judas is not impressed. The Apostles disembark and walk towards the
house. Allotted to Jesus by Peter. Peter remains at the boats and helps to set
sail back over the lake. As he is walking away from the shore and crosses the
market square, two men go towards him and stop him.
Listen, Simon of Jonah, does your master pay the two drachmas due to the
temple?
Peter is flushing with rage.
Of course He does, He is a son of the law, and the best Son the law has. He
pays his drachmas like every Israelite - -
We have no proof of that. We are told, He does not pay and we advise Him
to do so.
Peter is on the point of losing his temper.
My Master does not need your advice. - - - He will pay at the first
opportunity.
At the first opportunity! Why not at once?

He cannot pay at once because he is penniless.

If you turned Him upside-down, not a penny would drop to the
ground. Says Peter and he leaves them seething with anger. He goes into
the house and upstairs where Jesus has just promised an emissary from an
area beyond Magdala, that he would go and heal a dying man. He turns
towards Peter and poses this question,
What is your opinion Simon? As a rule, from whom do the kings of the earth
take toll or tribute?
From their Sons or from foreigners?
From foreigners, Lord, answers Peter.
So I, the Son of the Father, should pay no tribute to the temple. - - - In
order not to scandalize those who questioned you, I will pay the tribute at
once while they are still in the square collecting the money. - - - Go at once to
the beach and cast a line with a strong hook as far as you can. As soon as a
fish bites, draw the line. It will be a big fish. Open its mouth on the shore and
you will find a stater inside it. Then go and pay those two men for Me and
yourself. Then bring the fish here. We will roast it and Thomas will give us the
Charity of a little bread. Jesus commands.
Peter goes away and clambering onto a half beached boat, follows the
Masters instructions. Shortly afterwards Peter hauls in a magnificent fish
weighing at least three kilograms. He thrusts his finger into its throat and
pulls out a large silver coin. He lifts up the coin so Jesus can see it as he
stands on the terrace. All the Apostles have watched the episode and are
astounded.
Peter rushes to the town square and comes upon the collectors.
Here take this. Thats worth four drachmas. Two for the Master and two for
me.
Peter returns to the house and mimes the whole affair to the Apostles who
burst out laughing. They cook and eat the large fish. All are delighted. 16

Holy Milk
Jesus goes into the garden of Gethsemane. In the gardeners house, are
the women disciples including the Mother of Jesus and Porphirea the wife of
Peter. Some other people arrive, including a woman named Naomi. Naomi
wants to see the Mother of Jesus. The woman sees Mary, runs towards her
and throws herself at the feet of Mary.
Mary tells her to stand up.
You do not remember me, O Mary of Bethlehem. But for thirty one
years I have remembered Your name and your face as symbols of mercy. I
had come from Perga because of the edict. I was pregnant. - - -My husband
was taken ill on the way and he languished and died in Bethlehem. I gave
birth to my child twenty days before he died. My weeping turned my milk
sour. My Son and I became covered in blisters. - - - we were thrown into a
cavern and left to die. - - - You were the only one to come and care for us,
bringing food and treating our sores.
You risked being stoned because the people called me the leper
woman. You suckled my child who owes his life to you. I went away when I
was cured. - - - at Ephesus I heard of the slaughter. - - - I could not believe
that You had been killed with your Son during that dreadful night. - - Last
summer a man from Ephesus heard about your son and was with him at the
Feast of Tabernacles. When he came back he told me.
I came to see you Holy Mother before I die. I came to bless you for
every drop of milk you gave my son John, depriving your Blessed Son of it - -
The woman is weeping - - - holding Marys arms with her hands. Mary replies,
One should never refuse to feed a baby. Sister - - - we were two
mothers, two poor mothers with two babies. - - -It was your grief to be a

widow, and mine to be pierced because of my son, as old Simeon told me in

the Temple. I only did my duty as a sister by giving you what you no longer
had. Is your son alive? He is over there. Your Son cured him this morning.
A man, of the same age as Jesus, leaves his companions and comes forward.
He is strong and his face is honest, even if he is not handsome. Jesus says,
Peace to you brother of Bethlehem, of what disease did I cure you?
Of blindness, Lord. I had lost one eye, and I was about to lose the
other one. I was head of the synagogue, but I could no longer read the
sacred rolls. Lord, I want to remain with you as one of your disciples. Jesus
addresses his mother. And what do you say?
Accept him Lord and the dream of poor Naomi will be fulfilled. Turning
towards his apostles, Jesus says firmly. Receive your companion in the name
of the Lord. 17.

The Banquet at Johannas House

Jesus asks Johanna of Chuza to hold a banquet of love in her
mansion. He assembles with her help beggars, the lame, the blind, old
people, orphans, young widows with their little ones hanging onto their shirts
or sucking the scanty milk of their under-nourished mothers. Johannas
wealth has already taken care of the replacement of their ragged clothes
with simple ones that are new and clean.
These people had been gathered from the lanes, crossroads and cart
roads leading to Jerusalem. Jesus passes among them and blesses each one.
The women disciples are on the upper terrace where tables have been
prepared for the banquet.
Plautina and her companions were asking to see you so I told them to
come this afternoon. Johanna tells Jesus. These ladies are Romans. They
have heard the teachings of Jesus and have been astounded by his gospel.
A joyful activity has filled the house from the underground cellars to
the roof. Servants go to and fro bearing foodstuffs, clothes, chairs and
accompanying new guests. Jonathan, the head servant supervises it all. The
Magdalen rushes by with a bundle of clothes in her arms. Jesus stops her.
Mary, God be with you. Where are you going in such a hurry?
Oh! I have ten babies to dress! I washed them and now I am going to dress
them. Replies Mary of Magdalen.

The Apostles and disciples go down from the terrace to help the
servants bring up the guests along the staircase and sit them at tables
according to a pre-arranged order. In the center is a low table for the children
and parallel to them on all sides are the tables for everyone else.
Johanna appears on the top of the staircase.
Master, here are the heathen women disciples. There are seven
women wearing the plain dark clothes of Jewish women. Each has a veil over
her face and a mantle reaching down to their feet. When they take of their
mantles, Plautina, Lydia, Valeria and Flavia are easily recognized. Mary of
Magdala recognizes them all and whispers with incredulity. Claudia!!!
Claudia is Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate. Jesus turns to Mary
Magdalen and says,
Let them be at the tables serving beggars. No one would believe the
Patrician ladies are serving the poor.
Jesus goes and blesses the seated children. He offers the food to the
Lord on behalf of everybody, then commands everyone to eat. He moves
about the tables encouraging everyone with His words. Several times he
passes the two stately Roman ladies, Claudia and Plautina disguised as
Jewesses. They humbly break bread for the blind, paralytic or maimed or
help them to drink wine. He assists Matthew who is shaking a child, as a
crumb of cake has gone down the wrong way.
The banquet is over. The voices of the poor people shout.
Long live Jesus!
Then he speaks to the multitude about love and salvation. Then he says to
Johanna,
Give an offering to each one of them.
Then He says to the crowd,
What do you want me to give you? I can read your hearts. Peace and health
to the sick ones who can believe.
There is a short pause, then a cry - - - - and many stand up completely
cured. Then Jesus dismisses them all. Judas comes and warns everyone that
Jesus enemies are in Gethsemane. The apostles are fearful. Mary Magdalen

shames the weak kneed apostles and directs the group out into the street
with Jesus. She herself accompanies the Roman ladies.
The group of Roman ladies parts. Plautina and Valeria remain with
Claudia. Claudia warns Judas that she will do what is necessary to protect
Jesus. Judas feels honoured that the wife of Pontius Pilate should speak to
him.
I am a woman but I belong to the Claudi family. I am more powerful
than all the mighty ones of Israel, because Rome is behind me. - - - His
kingdom deserves to be established, because it is a kingdom of virtue. It is
welcome, against the foul waves that cover present kingdoms and disgust
me.
Rome is great, but the Rabbi is by far greater than Rome. We have
eagles on our banners and the proud monogram. But he will have genii and
His Holy Name on His. Rome and the earth will be really great when they put
that name on their banners, and His sign will be on their standards, temples,
arches and columns.
Judas is astonished at these words. Claudia lowers her veil and moves
quickly to join Plautina and Valeria. The Apostles, disciples and Roman ladies
are all led by Mary and Martha into the mansion of Lazarus in Jerusalem. 18

Wings
Near the gate of Emmaus there is a house of peasants. The people are
working in the fields. The apostles find a shed containing freshly cut hay.
Together with Jesus they fall asleep on the hay. When the peasants return
they speak in whispers so as not to wake the visitors. A little boy asks the
disciple Matthias why Jesus is asleep.
Because he walks and talks so much, comes the answer.
Has he got a soul? asks the inquisitive little boy.
He has soul and divinity. Because that man you are looking at is God.
Who told you?
The angels did.
Have you seen angels? Jesus stirs. What are they like? When did you
see them? questions the boy in whispers. Other questions follow. A hail of

questions that Matthias does his best to answer. Jesus wakes up and so do
the apostles. The little boy goes near Jesus and touches His hair and beard.
Then he tells Jesus,
Turn around, I want to see your wings.
I am not an angel, My child. Replies Jesus.
You are not full of wings! says the astonished child. How will you be able
to go up to heaven? I am God, so I do not need wings. I can do
everything.
If you can do everything make my eyes the same colour as yours. The child
says.
No, says Jesus, I gave you the ones you have and I like them the way they
are. The eyes of Jesus are blue.
People need good will. Says Jesus to the boy. Give it to me. The
child begs. Put it here where Matthias said I have my soul. He beats his
chest several times. Jesus imposes his hands on the child and blesses him,
but the child is not impressed. He wants Jesus to kiss good will into his soul
by kissing his heart. For this purpose he uncovers his chest. Jesus obliges.
Eh! If everybody had the heart of a child! Just then the childs mother
comes looking for him. Michael! Michael! Be not afraid woman. Your Son is
with me Jesus assures the anxious mother. The head of the family interrupts
and invites Jesus and the Apostles to go to the kitchen and eat. 19.

Zacchaeus
When Zacchaeus comes down from the tree, he leads Jesus to a
beautiful house with a large garden around it. His house is in the center of a
beautiful town. There do not appear to be any relatives. It seems Zacchaeus
is single and lives with many servants.
The disciples have eaten and scatter throughout the cool garden to rest.
Jesus is alone in the hall of the house. Zacchaeus carries a heavy coffer and
places it on a table near Jesus and says,
My heart is diseased. I have defrauded, practiced usury, been a thief
and hard on the poor. I know whom I cheated, I will give you half of my
wealth for the poor and the other half I will give back multiplied by four to
those I defrauded. I will follow you Master, if you allow me. Jesus responds.

You have understood my word better than many people who follow me - - therefore you will be with me from now on.
Some months later, Jesus returns to Jericho and goes to the house of
Zacchaeus.
Lord, I have only one old servant now, and I will open the door myself. Says
Zacchaeus.
The Apostles and Jesus go through the garden. They notice that the
house has been stripped of all superfluous items. The old servant is directed
to call the friends of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus ushers Jesus into his own room,
pours hot water in to a pitcher, takes off the sandals of Jesus and serves
Him. Before putting the sandals on again, he kisses the bare feet and places
one on his neck saying,
Thus! That it may crush the residue of the old Zacchaeus. - - - those
who come to me now are old accomplices in vice. - - - I sold everything to
have money to keep them until they found other jobs, less profitable, more
labourious, but honest. - - - Many have been circumcised.
Jesus replies.
You have acted well Zacchaeus. - - - I was aware of these deeds of yours. I
followed you while you proceeded along the hard but glorious path of
charity.
The others are calling us, let us go, Zacchaeus urges Jesus. He goes and
meets the fifteen friends of Zacchaeus.
Jesus and his followers proceed into Jericho. He heals the sick and preaches
to the gathering. Then He returns to the house of Zacchaeus. From the dining
room and the bedrooms the converts of Zacchaeus and the Apostles have
brought chairs and small beds. They are sitting around Jesus.
Zacchaeus is talking to Jesus about a small piece of land that he and his
companions have bought. The ground is not fertile yet because it was
neglected. Nike, (Veronica) sent us peasants to show us how to clear
neglected wells, to clean the fields, to prune the few trees left and plant new
ones.
He explains to Jesus how some of the wretched people he gathered went
back to their old ways but some stayed. Individuals speak to Jesus of their
previous misfortunes and He has a kind word for each of them.

When He leaves, Jesus promises to send some wise disciples to instruct

Zacchaeus and his companions in His doctrines.
As winter approaches Jesus returns to see three corn fields ploughed and
brown, a vegetable garden, a few fruiting trees, a little cow and a donkey, six
sheep and some chickens.
Zacchaeus asks Jesus to bless their enterprise. He stretches out his arms and
blesses all that the small band have achieved. It will certainly prosper. 20

Jesus quells a fire

The disciples and Jesus have left Nazareth and are on their way to
Bethlehem. James of Zebedee sees a light in the distance. There is a fire in
the distance. To get a better view, the party leaves the road and takes a path
leading up a small hill. It is neither a village nor a wood that is on fire but a
hollow moor all covered with heather, lying between two hills.
There is a group of wood cutters trying to fight the fire by striking at
the flames. They do not appear to have much success in stopping the spread
of the fire. The wood cutters are too few. If the fire reaches the wooded area,
that would be a disaster because there are resin trees there and they will

burn easily. It is night and the red glow of the flames is very conspicuous.
Piles of cut wood near the trees are already alight. On the top of the wooded
hill are the houses of a village. The houses are in imminent danger of being
consumed.
Members of the disciples party can see the predicament of the wood
cutters. They will lose everything, a voice from among the disciples cries
out. Jesus unfolds his arms and cries out in a loud voice, Stop! Die down! I
want it.
The fire goes out suddenly as if a huge bank of earth had covered the
flames. The woodcutters stare in amazement. Let us go down, we will stop
in this village tonight - - the women will have a place to rest. We will leave at
dawn but first I will speak to the villagers. Says Jesus. When the
woodcutters see Jesus and the disciples, one of the woodcutters runs
towards Jesus and throws himself down on the ashes at Jesus feet calling
Him the Messiah. How do you know that I am the Messiah? questions Jesus.
Only the good one who loves the poor can have had pity, and only the
Holy One of God can have given an order to the fire and be obeyed. - -Blessed be the Messiah who came in time to save our homes. Who
informed you of me? Some of your disciples - - - Here are our families - we had woken them because we were afraid that the whole hill would catch
fire - - - some are the families of the shepherds up in the high mountains.
There are about 250 people present. Jesus calls out,
Peace to you all. You can see how a small spark can set a whole valley
on fire - - -. The same applies to matters of the spirit. You must pay prudent
attention to ensure no arrow of fire or spark may cling to your faith and
destroy it - - - and now I ask you to give shelter to these women for the night.
- - The fire has delayed our journey and we cannot proceed to the next
town. Come! Come all of you! There is room for everybody. - - Our houses
are poor but clean. Come and they will be blessed. Shout the villages.
Then each pilgrim disappears with his host. 21.

The Ten Lepers

A cry comes from a hillock on which there is a small village.
Jesus! Rabbi! Son of David and Our Lord have mercy on us!

Is the cry from a group of lepers, 500 meters from the village. They rush
quickly towards Jesus and the Apostles. However they stop a few meters
away as is the law.
Are you from the village? Jesus asks.
No, Master. We come from different places. We stay on the other side of the
mountain.
Go then to the village nearest your mountain and show yourselves to the
priests. Orders Jesus.
When Jesus reaches them he raises His hand and blesses them. They
clamber away. The apostles think the lepers have not been cured.
You did the right thing in not curing them. Says one of the apostles.
Yes and we ought to arrive at Ephraim before night. Offers another apostle.
Jesus is silent and continues to walk along the road towards Ephraim. A short
time later a voice reaches the group.
Praise to the Most High God and His true Messiah! it is one of the
lepers. He bursts into a monologue saying the prophecy of Balaam has been
fulfilled. He urges all the inhabitants round about to follow Christ. The
apostles become annoyed at this sudden outburst and command him to be
quiet.
Do you want me not to bless him, he says to the Apostles.
Bless him in your heart and be quiet. An apostle retorts angrily.
No, I cannot be quiet. God puts the words on my lips. And the leper
resumes giving his sermon of praise in an even louder voice.
The crowds increase in number. The frustrated apostles ask Jesus to silence
the man. Jesus stops, turns around and calls the cured leper, who runs and
prostrates himself before Jesus, kissing the ground.
Where are the others? - - - were you not ten in all?
The other nine did not feel it was necessary to thank you Lord.
What? Out of ten lepers among whom only one was a Samaritan, not one
except this foreigner, felt it was his duty to come back and give glory to
God.

Jesus raises his hand and blesses the Samaritan.

Stand up and go away. Your faith has saved in you something which is more
important than your flesh.
Before standing up, the Samaritan asks Jesus, Give me a name Lord,
because everything is new in me.
In which part of the country are we now?
In Ephraim. Replies the Samaritan.
Then from now on you will be called Ephrem, life has been given to you
twice. Says Jesus.
(The name Ephraim in Hebrew means in fact double fruit.)
Although Samaritans are despised by Jews because of their ancestry, they
are a robust people. There is a friendliness in their character. They are open
and frank, without bigotry unlike the Judeans. They are also hospitable. 22

The Woman taken in Adultery

It is a winter day. Jesus is in the Temple in one of the many courts. A

group confronts Him, dragging a woman about thirty years old; her hair is
ruffled, her dress untidy and she is weeping. She is thrown at Jesus feet as
though she were a bundle of rags.
Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. The
law demands that she be stoned to death, what have you to say, Master?
says one of the Pharisees.
Jesus is sitting. He bends and with his finger he writes on the stones of the
porch which have been covered in dust raised by the wind. He looks like a
little boy playing.
Userer, false, irreverent son, fornicator, murderer, desecrator of the
law, thief - - - blasphema, adulterer. These are some of the words he writes.
The members of the group of accusers are furious because He does not
speak.
While her husband was away, she wallowed in her lewdness, in the bed of
her husband, in her own house. Master! Your opinion. The woman must be
judged! Shouts a Pharisee.
Jesus stands up. He stares at the accusers one by one.
If there is one of you who has not sinned let him be the first to throw a
stone at her.
There is silence. Then slowly, singly and in small groups the accusers back
away. Jesus is left alone with the woman and Peter and John. Then he bends
and resumes writing.
Pharisees, vipers, Sepulchres of rottenness, liars, traitors, enemies of God,
revilers of His word.
He looks at the woman still weeping at his feet.
Woman, where now are those who were accusing you? Did no one condemn
you?
The sobbing woman replies, No one Master. Neither do I condemn you. Go
and do not sin anymore. He helps her up but he does not bless her. Nor
does he greet her with a salutation of peace. Then he turns to Peter and
John,

The woman was really guilty. But the accusers were insincere being
scandalized at something they had themselves committed thousands of
times and that only greater cunning and better luck had allowed their deeds
to remain concealed. - - - None of the accusers, both male and female
because women also accused her in their hearts even if they did not raise
their voices were free from sin. - - - one ought to be free from sins to
condemn with Justice. 23

The Pharisee and the Publican.

One day two men, who had gone to Jerusalem on business, went up to
the temple. One was a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee had
come to collect the rents of some shops and to make up accounts with his
stewards who lived near the town. The Publican had come to remit the taxes
he had collected and to invoke compassion from the Government for a widow
who could not pay the taxation on a boat and nets, because the amount of
fish caught by her oldest son was barely sufficient to feed her many children.
Before going to the Temple, the Pharisee had called on the tenants of his
shops. Seeing one of his shops filled with buyers, he said to the tenant,
I see that your business is thriving.
Yes, by the grace of God. - - I have been able to increase the stock of goods
- - I made improvements to the place. Commented the tenant.
How much is your rent for this place? asked the Pharisee.
One hundred didrachmae a month. It is dear, but the position is a good
one.
Answered the Tenant.
Yes, it is a good position, so therefore I double the rent.
But sir, replied the shopkeeper. If you do that, you leave me no profit!
You give me 2,400 didrachma at once, or I will expel you and keep the
goods. The place belongs to me and I can do what I like with it. He did that
to the first, the second and the third tenants, doubling the price of the rent
and turning a deaf ear to their entreaties. When the third tenant offered
resistance, he sent for the police and had the tenant driven out.

When the Pharisee checked the accounts of his stewards he found one
who had the Pharisee oil sold to buy medicine for his dying son. The Pharisee
went to the stewards house and removed the remaining oil, even the oil for
the lamp that the steward used to watch over his dying son at night.
The Publican submitted the taxes he had collected to his superior. The
superior noticed that some was missing. The Publican explained the situation
of the widow with seven children and how her income was just enough to
feed her family.
The superior told the Publican.
The law is the law. Let the young man change his trade and sell the familys
boat.
It is their daily bread, their future - - -I will pay the tax myself, I cannot see
these eight people being deprived of their only resource. Said the Publican.
The two men went up to the Temple. As they passed the treasury hall
the Pharisee took the money he had received from his store tenants and the
stewards remaining oil that had been sold and making a big show of it
emptied the money into the treasury. The Publican had only al few coins left
to drop into the treasury. He had to retain his fare back to his home.
The Pharisee stood in the temple like he was the landlord and
proceeded to tell God how good he was, even referring to the pittance
offered by the Publican to the Temple treasury. Extending his arms in prayer
he said,
I am pure, and just and blessed because I am holy. Bear that in mind Lord.
The Publican, in a remote corner, not daring to raise his eyes and striking his
breast uttered this prayer, Lord, I am not worthy to be here - - - let your
charity be always present to my heart.
The Publican came away justified but the Pharisee was detested by God for
his pride and hardness of heart. 24

Valeria
Master, there is a woman outside. She has a little girl with her. She
insists on seeing you. Says Andrew. As soon as Jesus goes to the terrace he
is greeted by the little voice of a girl who runs to meet him.
Ave Domine Jesu! she says. Jesus sees the mother a short distance
away, nods to her and gestures to her to come inside with the child. The
mother whispers to the little girl and she loses her fear and moves towards
Jesus now seated on a stool. She lays a bunch of flowers in his lap saying,
Faustinas roses for her savior. Valeria, the mother, a Roman patrician,
greet Jesus.
Hail O Master.
I was at Tiberias, my daughter was sick now I am in need of God Tears drop
from her eyes. Jesus had healed Faustina at Caesarea when she was on the
point of death.
Do not weep woman, says Jesus, I know everything.
I cannot love my husband anymore. - - - everything is finished
between us. - - -Did he pity my heart when to follow him I had to leave my
sick mother and my fatherland. - - -Was he beside me when I was homesick
in a foreign country? No, he went out feasting with his friends. Did he watch
with me over the cradle of our new born baby? He laughed and said,
I did not accept the marriage yoke to have daughters. - - -He asked
to be transferred to Antioch at the Consuls service and ordered me not to

follow him, but he took his favourite slave girls with him. - - - How must I
bring up this little girl to make her worthy of her savior?
Jesus speaks,
He went away, that is true. You must take his place with your
daughter and the servants. - - - When Rome was less corrupt, women were
chaste, industrious and served the divinity with their lives of virtue and faith.
- - - Olympus and your gods do not exist but your ancient virtues were the
fruit of the firm belief that the people had to be virtuous if they wanted to be
watched over by the gods. - - - I exhort you to imitate your ancient chaste,
industrious and faithful women. - - - You will be loved Valeria, by God, by your
daughter and by your servants. - - - He wants to divorce you. Remember that
legal separation does not destroy your marriage oath.
Jesus goes on with his counsel on the married state.
It is against the law to separate what God has united. - - - the children
of a divorced couple must judge their parents. The judgement of children is a
severe one! - - - -and the children, though the selfishness of the parents are
doomed to a mutilated affective life. - - -only the death of one of the consorts
can justify a second marriage. - - -There will be no divorce in my religion. It
will be an indisoluable bond stipulated, confirmed and sanctified by the
sanctifying power I will give it, as being a Sacrament. - - -and the obligation
to love lasts also after death.
You are severe today, Master.

Your husband has lost you. He did not deserve you. Be perfect so that
your child will reflect your perfection. Love God and your neighbor. In the
love for your neighbor you will find assistance in the depression of solitude.
And teach both yourself and your daughter to forgive. Jesus bids Valeria
goodbye and blesses Faustina. 25.

The Two Brothers

A man had two sons. The elder man was a serious affectionate,
obedient worker. The younger man was more intelligent than his brother. The
older one was not so bright and preferred to be guided by his father rather
than make decisions by himself. The younger one was rebellious, fond of
luxury, a squanderer and idle.

Both the elder brother and the father scolded the younger brother for
his idle ways. Finally, one day after a quarrel, the younger son was fed up
with the accusations and spoke directly to the father. Give me my part of
the estate, so I will no longer hear your reproaches or my brothers
complaints.
This was a rather rude request. Normally an estate would be divided if the
father was very old or if the father had in fact died. The father complied with
the young mans request. Nothing is known about how this must have
saddened him. Nevertheless he had the estate valued and also the money
and Jewels he owned. The money and Jewels came to equal the value of the
estate. He called the older brother and gave him the fields and vineyards,
the herds and the olive groves. To the younger brother he gave the money
and jewels.
The young man immediately had the jewels turned to money. It took a
few days. Then he left the estate, much to the disappointment of his father
who loved both sons dearly. He travelled to a distance country and began a
life of debauchery making people believe he was the son of a king because
he was ashamed to admit he was just a farmer. And so he continued to live a
loose life.
His money was quickly used up. To make matters worse the country he
was in experienced a severe famine. He would have liked to go back to his
father, but he was too proud. So he approached a wealthy man who had
been his friend in happier days. The wealthy man sent him to look after his
pigs. This was a pagan country, so there were many pigs. Nothing could be
more degrading for a Jew. It was filthy work. The pigs fed on acorns but these
were too bitter for the young man to eat. And so he wept when he
remembered the sumptuous banquets in his fathers house. He remembered
also the kindness that his father showed his servants. He provided well for
them and gave them abundant food.
At last one day, when humility had overcome his pride, he went to the
owner of the pigs and resigned. He told himself that he would return to his
fathers estate and ask to be taken on as a servant. To this end he practiced
what he would say to his father. Father, I have sinned against heaven and
against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me therefore
as the rest of your servants, but allow me to stay under your roof.
So, he went back to his own country begging along the way to get back
to his home. When he arrived at his fathers estate he could see in the

distance his father supervising the work of his servants. He was too
frightened to go on. Just then one of the servants told the father that the son
was in the distance. His father turned and saw his son standing nearby. He
immediately recognized his youngest son and ran to greet him. He threw his
arms around him and kissed him. The son, dressed in beggars clothes, was
sobbing. All the fine words he had practiced came out in a loud anguished
cry. The father did not listen to his pleas but embraced him and called the
servants.
Quickly, bring here the best robe, and basins of scented water, wash
him, spray him with scents, clothe him, put new sandals on his feet and a
ring on his finger. Bring in a fatted calf and kill it. Prepare a banquet, because
this son of mine was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has
been found. The elder son was returning from the fields to the house in the
evening. He saw the lights and heard the sound of musical instruments.
Amazed he called a servant and asked what was happening. Your brother
has come back! replied the happy servant, They are all inside waiting for
you then the celebration will start.
The older brother became angry and turned to go away but his father saw
him and coming to him endeavoured to convince him to come in. the older
brother complained. Father, I have served you faithfully all these years and I
have never had so much as a goat or lamb to celebrate with my friends. But
here for this wanton, you have slaughtered the prize calf. The father clasped
him with both hands. My Son your deeds have been holy. I do love you. At
every moment of my life you are present to my heart. You are always with
me and all that I have is yours. Your brother needs to be rehabilitated. Come
inside. And the first born son yielded to his fathers desire. 26

The Raising of Lazarus

The group reaches the garden railing outside the house of Lazarus and
Martha. Many mounts are tied to the railing. They are watched over by the
owners servants. Many Judeans are there. They come each day and stay in
the Mansion and the garden as though they are the owners. Jesus greets only
a few of the many people present. These are ones that He knows are
disciples, some in secret.
Martha comes to greet Jesus. She goes down on her knees. She cries,
Lazarus is dead! If you had been here he would not have died. Why did you
not come sooner, Master?

Your brother will rise again Stand up Martha.

I know, Master. He will rise again on the last day.
I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me even though he
dies, will live.
The Judeans have divided into groups. They are all watching Jesus. On
one side are all those hostile to him, then those who are well disposed to
Jesus join the Apostles. A little farther away is Gamaliel. Mary comes from the
house accompanied by her servants. They are all weeping. Mary repeats the
statements of Martha and adds to her grief the fact that she made Lazarus
suffer because of her wantoness and never had the chance to make him
happy.
Jesus is clearly distressed. He asks where the sepulcher of Lazarus is. The
group of Jesus and his believers move to the grave site. Jesus sees that the
stone covering the entrance is heavy and large.
Remove the Stone! He orders, as he wipes away tears.
No one carries out the order, so he repeats it in an even louder voice.
Master - - - He has down there for four days. You know the disease
that afflicted him. - - -He will certainly smell notwithstanding the ointments - -his rottenness - - the putrefaction. Utters Martha.
Remove that stone. I want it! demands Jesus.
Martha nods to Maximinus the head servant who orders the servants to
get the necessary tools. The servants come back with sturdy picks and
levers. They lift the stone carefully, letting it slide to one side. A stench
comes from the dark hole.
Master, if you want to go down there you will need torches - - says
Martha, looking pale at the thought of entering the foul smelling sepulcher.
Jesus does not reply to her. He raises His eyes and calling out,
Father, I thank you for hearing Me. - - - You always hear Me.
He becomes transfigured and continues to pray. His whole body seems to
shed light. A halo of light forms around Him. In a powerful voice He calls out.
Lazarus! Come out!

And his voice echoes in the sepulcher. The dead body, enveloped in
bandages, emerges from the deep sepulcher and comes slowly forward.
Jesus shouts out in a loud voice,
Unbind him and let him go. Give him food and drink.
The servants rush to carry out the instructions. Some roll up their sleeves
and tuck up their garments so that they will not be touched by the dripping
rot.
The very long bandages unroll like rolls of tape. The servants move
them to one side with sticks. The shroud around his body falls off slowly as
the bandages are removed. Everything smells and drips putrefaction. The
bony shoulders, the emaciated arms, the ribs just covered with skin, the
sunken stomach, begin to appear slowly.
The two sisters, Martha and Mary, together with Maximinus, wash the
body continuously by changing the water made like detergent because of the
spices. Lazarus appears as one absent minded, almost unaware of what is
happening. Then he looks at Jesus and smiles as tears fill his eyes. He moves
his lips in silent prayer. He is clothed in a short shirt that reaches to his
thighs. The sisters make him sit down so that the bandages around his
diseased legs are removed. His legs are completely healed of the gangrene
and only scars remain.
Lazarus receives sandals, a tunic and belt. He stands agile and sturdy
and adjusts his garments. He washes again his face and arms and dries
them. Then he walks straight towards Jesus and prostrates himself as he
kisses the feet of Jesus. Jesus bends and lifts him up saying,
Welcome home My dear friend. May peace and joy be with you.
He then kisses Lazarus on the cheeks and Lazarus returns this symbol
of genuine love. Then Lazarus turns and kisses his two sisters, Maximinus
and Naomi, Marthas assistant, all of whom, are weeping.
Jesus takes a honey cake, an apple and a goblet of wine from a servant,
blesses them and gives them to Lazarus. He eats with the healthy appetite of
one who is well.
The Judeans hostile to Jesus, including Sadoc, Helkai, Henaniah, Felix, Doras
and Cornelius, are simply astounded and furious. They turn to leave. Then
Jesus says,

You came here looking for me. - - - You did not come with feelings of
love or the desire to honour the deceased man, but to ensure that Lazarus
was really dead. - - - Then you saw what no prophet has been able to do,
restore a decomposed body. That is the living witness of who I am.
You have kept but part of your promise. This is not the sign of Jonah - - says
Sadoc harshly.
You shall have that as well. A majestic Jesus replies.
The garden slowly empties. The Judeans are dumbfounded and
bursting with wrath. Some onlookers however, remain behind, conquered by
the Lord. Meanwhile; Lazarus withdraws into his house. Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus salute Jesus and leave. So do all the others. A servant closes
the gate. All is peaceful. A fire at the end of the garden indicates that all the
funeral cloths are being burned. 27

Philip of Cantata

Jesus leaves the Jericho road and walks towards Doco. Only the three
Marys remain with Him. This includes his mother. The Apostles have gone on
ahead to Jericho. A short time later a rich caravan comes along the road from
afar. Women are mounted on camels in swaying palanquins fastened to the
humped backs of the camels. The men in the caravan are mostly mounted
on sturdy horses. Only a few are on camels.
One of the riders on a camel, leaves the caravan and coming towards
Jesus, he makes his camel kneel down. He slides from the saddle and
approaches Jesus on foot. The young man prostates himself before Jesus and
makes a profound salutation.
I am Philip of Cantata. I was a disciple of Gamaliel until the death of
my father put me as head of his business. - - - I aspire to a better life to have
the eternal one I heard you speak off. - - -Tell me good Master, what shall I
have to do to have eternal life.
Observe the commandments. Which ones Lord? The ancient ones or
yours?
The ancient ones already contain mine. Master I have observed all
these commandments since my childhood. Jesus casts a loving glance at
him and kindly asks, And do you think they are not sufficient? No Master. - - I think we should obtain God by means of things that are greater than
those commanded. - - -
You are right. To be perfect you still lack on thing. If you want to be
perfect as our Father in Heaven wants, go sell everything you have and give
it to the poor, and in heaven you will have a treasure that will make you
loved by the Father. - - - Then come follow me. The young man becomes
sad. He stands up and says. I will remember your advice. Then he goes
away, mounts his camel and proceeds with his caravan. Jesus turns to his
apostles and says,
How difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the
gate of which is narrow, and the way is steep, and those who are laden with
the bulky weights of riches cannot go along it and enter! Looking at the
caravan of the rich young man move away, Jesus adds,
I solemnly tell you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the
needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.

To this day no one has given a clear indication as to what eye of the
needle Jesus was referring to. The best we can surmise is that riches of
themselves are not harmful if used for the good of others, but if they are
desired for themselves, then they present an sure unmountable obstacle to
perfection. 28

The Widows Offering

Jesus and the Apostles are in one of the porticos of the temple. A group
nearby is listening to a doctor of the law proclaiming the importance of the
temple. Jesus is silent but His eyes take in all the people coming and going.
He sees an elderly man striving with difficulty to climb the Temple steps. He
wavers and is about to fall. Jesus goes to him and supports him as he climbs.
His walking stick had caught in his tunic. A small boy stumbles against the
first step and cries. Jesus moves swiftly, lifts him up and caresses him and
smiles as he hands the boy to the embarrassed mother.
A conceited Pharisee and a group of scribes passes by. The scribes and
their companions bow towards Jesus but Jesus does not smile. He looks at
them with severe piercing eyes. He replies to their gesture of greetings but
without effusion.
Then a poor woman dressed in dark brown climbs the temple steps
with head bowed and goes towards the temple treasury. The treasury are two
carved lions heads with open mouths. The eyes of Jesus shine with kindness
as he sees the poor woman stretch out her hand and throw something into
the stone mouth of one of the lions. When the woman withdraws passing Him
by He says to her, Peace to you woman. The woman raises her head,
astonished that someone would speak to her in the temple. Jesus repeats the
salutation and adds,
Go, because the Most High blesses you. The stunned women whispers a
greeting to Jesus and goes away. Turning to the apostles, Jesus says, Listen
my friends. Do you see that woman?
She gave only two small coins, not enough to buy food for one meal for
a sparrow in a cage, and yet she has given more than all those who have
given their offerings to the treasury of the temple, since it was opened this
morning at dawn. - - - I solemnly tell you that nobody has given more than
she did. Her offering is charity. The others are not. Hers is generosity. The
others are not. Hers is sacrifice. Theirs is not. Today that woman will have

nothing to eat. She will have to work first to earn some money to be able to
get some bread to appease her hunger.
She has no money laid aside, neither has she any relatives who can
earn money on her behalf. She is alone. God has taken her relatives, her
husband and her children. The law of God is love and he who does not take
pity on his neighbor, does not love. Superfluous money, money soiled with
usury, with hatred, with hardness, with hypocrisy sings no praise to God and
does not attract heavenly blessings on the donor God rejects it.
Jesus continues. After God, ones parents are the neighbor to whom one is
bound to give honour and assistance. 29

The Scourging
Let him be scourged. Pilate orders a centurion.
How many blows?
As many as you like. - - - In any case the matter is over. And I am bored.
Go!
Jesus is led by four soldiers to the courtyard beyond the hall. In the
middle of the courtyard is a high column. At about three meters from the
floor it has an iron bar protruding at least a meter and ending with a ring, to
which Jesus is tied with his hands tied above his head. He is naked. Although
tall, he rests only the tips of His toes on the floor. - - the position is one of
torture.
Two men are armed with scourges made of seven leather strips tied to
a handle and ending with small lead hammers. They begin to strike him
rhythmically, as if they are practicing. One stands in front and the other
behind. The whole body is covered in dumb bell shaped welts. The skin is full
of swellings filling with blood. Then, as the blows continue the skin breaks
and the blood flows freely down all parts of the saviours body. Nothing is
missed. His thorax, His abdomen, His legs and arms, even his buttocks.
He does not cry out despite the tremendous pain. If he was not tied to
the ring, he would fall. Finally a soldier cries out to the two executioners,
Stop! He must be kept alive for the time when he will be killed.The two
executioners stop and wipe the perspiration from their brows. We are
exhausted. Give us our pay so that we may have a refreshing drink. A

Decurion (commander of ten men) throws a large coin to each executioner.

You have done a good job, he says. He looks like a mosaic.
Two soldiers untie Jesus and he falls to the ground. He lies there like a
corpse. One soldier grabs hold of the wounded Jesus and sits him against the
column with the ring at the top. He fills a tub with water and pours it on
Jesus head and body. Thats it. Water is good for flowers. Come on! Quick!
Are you weak? Here is some refreshment. Says another soldier. And with the
shaft of his spear he delivers a blow to the face of Jesus, striking it between
the right cheek bone and the nose. It begins to bleed.
Jesus struggles to stand up. When he bends to gather his garments a
soldier scatters them with a kick. Every time he reaches them in His bleeding
naked state a soldier kicks them in a different direction. Finally he is allowed
to dress himself with difficulty. Then he squats in the sunshine. He is
shivering. Fever beings to rack His body. He feels weak because of the blood
lost during the flogging. His fasting since the previous evening and the
walking he has been forced to do to the Sanhedrin, to the Antonio, to Herods
palace and back to the Antonio fortress. 30

The Crowning with Thorns

His suffering is not ended. The soldiers tie his wrists once again, so tightly
that the ropes cut into the wounded flesh.
What shall we do with Him?
The Jews want a king. We will give them one.
A soldier runs out of the court and a short time later returns with the
branches of wild hawthorn, covered in long sharp thorns. The branches are
flexible as it is spring time. With a dagger the soldiers remove leaves and
buds. They bend the supple branches and form a ring of thorns. They place it
on the head of Jesus but it is too big and falls down to His neck scratching His
face.
They remove it scratching His cheeks and make it smaller. This time it
is too small. They remove it once again. They adjust it till it fits. At the front
there are three thorny cords while where the three branches interweave at
the back of Jesus head there is a real knot of long piercing thorns that
penetrate the nape of Jesus neck causing profound bleeding, and pain.

The soldier in charge orders another soldier to go the sewer and bring back a
filthy dirty red rag. A crown is not sufficient for a king. Cornelius go into the
stable and get a cane and to the sewer and get a red chlamys hanging
there.
When Cornelius returns, they beat Christs crown of thorns with the
cane. The thorns are forced deeper into the flesh of Christs head. Then they
placed the cane in His bound hands. The red rag is placed on His shoulders.
Then bowing and roaring with laughter the soldiers exclaim.
Hail King of the Jews!
Jesus does not utter a sound. He has been forced to sit on an upturned
tub. This is His throne. They continue to mock Him and strike His crown of
thorns. The soldiers return Jesus to Pilate. He is still holding the cane and
wearing the dirty red rag across His shoulders.
Come forward! Commands Pilate, that I may show you to the people.
Jesus stands with regal dignity. Listen Jews. Here is the man. I have
punished Him. Now let Him go. Let us see Him. Bring Him out. Let us see
the blasphemer! Pilate points to Him.
Here is the man. Here is your king. Is this still not sufficient. Jesus stands
with a noble bearing. The crowd is not appeased and shout for His death. 31

The Crucifixion.
Longinus offers Jesus an amphora containing wine mixed with myrrh.
Jesus refuses to drink. The robbers drink a lot of it. The three condemn men
are told to undress. All do so and the robbers make obscene gestures
towards the crowd standing below the summit of Golgotha. Mary has noticed
the nakedness of her son, she removes the long white veil covering her head
and gives it to John who hands it to the Centurion, Longinus. He gives it to
Jesus who wraps it around His pelvis. The robbers are tied to their crosses
and they swear and curse as the crosses are dragged to their respective
holes and made up right.
Jesus is ordered to lie on his cross so that the executioners mark the
places for the nails. They do this deliberately, placing the holes too far apart.
Once these have been dug they place the right hand of the savior on the
cross beam and drive a long crude nail through the wrist. The pain is such
that the eyes of Jesus fill with tears. The nail tears through muscle, veins,

nerves and shatters bones. The executioners move to the left hand. The
hand does not reach the hole. So they take a rope, tie it to the left wrist of
Jesus and pull the rope until His shoulder joint is torn and dislocated. They
cannot get the wrist to correspond to the hole so they nail the left hand
through the arc between the thumb and the other fingers. Jesus moans in
pain. Then the left foot of Jesus is bent to lie on top of the right foot. A long
crude nail is hammered through both feet. This nail is twice as long and twice
as thick as the ones used for the hands. The cross is dragged to the hole
prepared for it and lifted upright. It falls into the hole with a thud, jolting the
body of Christ and tearing the wounds of the nails. Blood drips more
copiously. The indifference of the soldiers and executioners is almost total.
Longinus instead, watches everything with curiosity. He sees Mary, Christs
mother, standing with John, whom he assumes is a younger brother of Jesus.
He calls one of the soldiers throwing dice for the condemned mens
garments, to escort Mary And John to the foot of the cross. The crowd
showers Mary with disgraceful insults. At the same time they mock Jesus.
Has your king Beelzebub abandoned you? Descend from the cross
and we will believe you! You are the Son of God? Come down from there.
Strike us with lightning. Some bystanders throw stones at Jesus. Change
these into bread, since you multiply loaves. A Pharisee calls out, Dont
ruin the cross - - - it is to be used for your followers. - - - Lazarus will be the
first one, Ill put there. Yes. Let us get Lazarus. Let us nail him to the other
side of the cross. Demas says to his fellow criminal, who has also been
insulting Jesus, Do you not fear God - - -why do you insult Him who is good.
His torture is greater than ours. And he has done nothing wrong. Turning to
Jesus he says, Lord remember me when you are in your kingdom. With his
poor tortured cracked lips Jesus smiles and says, I tell you, today you will be
with me in Paradise. In a strange twilight that covers the sky as mid
afternoon approaches, Jesus gives John to Mary and Mary to John. Woman
this is your Son, Son, this is your mother. 32

Jesus appears first to His Mother

Mary is prostrated with her face on the floor. The closed window is
opened with a violent banging of the heavy shutters, and with the first ray of
the sun, Jesus enters. Mary raises Her head to see which wind has opened
the shutters, sees Her radiant Son infinitely more handsome that he was
before suffering. He stands there brighter than the sun, dressed in a white
garment that seems woven light.

She says with a sob that is joy and grief at the same time,
Lord My God!
She remains enraptured in contemplating Him. She is on her knees. Jesus
calls her, stretching out His hands. The wounds in His hands emanate rays of
light.
Mother! He calls. It is a cry of triumph, of joy of freedom. He bends over His
mother and lifts her up, then he presses her to Him and kisses her.
Mary realizes that it is not a vision but her real Son who has risen and
she embraces Him, laughing and weeping. There are no longer bloody
wounds on His face; His hair is no longer unkempt and clotted with blood. His
mouth no longer swollen; His hands shedding light from His radiant wounds;
His feet with shining wounds; and finally He uncovers the wound in His chest.
Kiss my heart, mother. Your kiss will cancel the last remembrance of what is
sorrowful and will give me joy.
Marys face is haloed by the beams of light coming from Jesus. He speaks,
It is all over Mother. You no longer have to weep over your Son. The
trial is over. Redemption has taken place. Your prayers came with Me to
Paradise. - - - they have been recognized by the Patriarchs and New Saints,
the new first citizens of My Jerusalem and I bring you their thanks. - -- and
that of Joseph your spouse - - - I am going now Mother. I am going to make
the other Mary happy. Then I will ascend to the Father. 33

At the Estate of Joseph of Arimathea.

The reapers have worked hard. Not one ear of grain is left uncut. Jesus
has come to the estate of Joseph of Arimathea down on the plain near the
sea. In the middle of the fields is a well kept wide white house. Its four
threshing floors are filled with sheaves of corn arranged in groups. A servant
announces to Joseph of Arimathea, Master we have finished. All the corn is

on the threshing floors. We shall now get the children of God to come here
and we will give them the gift of the Father. Abraham, go and call them.
Responds Joseph.
The old peasant servant Abraham goes into the large house and comes
out followed by persons lame, blind or with physical defects. There are many
widows with orphans clinging to them; wives of sick men who have sacrificed
themselves to cure their husbands. They are shy and bashful but honest.
Smiles of anticipation show on faces that have endured great suffering.
Joseph of Arimathea walks among their ranks calling them one by one,
asking how many are in their families, how long they have been widows, who
is ill and so on. - - -He takes notes. Then turning to his servants he says
pointing to individuals,
Give ten. Give thirty. Give sixty he is sharing out his sheaves of corn.
He comes across an old man who is caring for seventeen grand children
whose parents have died or been widowed. Give sixty to this old
grandfather. Then he speaks directly to the old man. Wait here. Later I will
give you some clothes for the little ones. Abraham questions Joseph.
Master, if we continue to give sixty sheaves every time. There will not be
enough for everybody.
Joseph replies. Where is your faith? Am I storing up sheaves for
myself? No. they are for the children dearest to the Lord. The Lord Himself
will see that there is enough for everybody.Yes, Master. But numbers are
numbers - - And faith is faith - - - I order you to double the quantities given
to the first ones. Let him who has ten get ten more. He who has twenty,
twenty more, and give to the old grandfather one hundred and twenty more.
Go, do that. The servants shrug their shoulders and carry out the order. The
piles of sheaves in the house grow smaller but everyone has received an
abundant share. How may sheaves are still left? One hundred and
twelve. Take fifty and put them aside for seed, then give one more to each
of the heads of families here. There are exactly sixty two.
Abraham is astounded. Master! There is a mystery here. Our fields
cannot have yielded all the sheaves that you have distributed. I was born
here and I am seventy eight years old. Our fields do not produce this kind of
harvest. You have worked a miracle here. Not me Abraham. It is the Lord
who worked it. Just then, Jesus who has watched everything from a hedge at
the corner of the big house, comes forward. My Master and my Lord!
exclaims Joseph as he falls on his knees to venerate Jesus. 34

The Risen Jesus visits the Mother of Judas

In the country house of Anne the Mother of Johanna is another Anne,
Anne of Simon, the mother of Judas. On a previous occasion, Jesus had cured
the Mother of Johanna, not only from a debilitating illness but also from her
grief at the loss of her only daughter, Johanna. Johanna had been offered as
a bride for Judas. She really admired the dashing young man despite his
pretentions to greatness.
Judas had been educated in the Temple. He was familiar with many of
the members of the Sanhedrin. He rejected the hand of Johanna. Both
Johannas mother, Anne, and the girl herself were grief stricken and shamed
by the refusal. Johanna like a flower denied sustenance, wilted and died.
Now it was the turn of Johannas mother to comfort another widow, the
mother of Judas. News had spread rapidly to the village of Kerioth of the
betrayal of the Saviour by Judas and the consequential suicide by the
betrayer. His mother was altered beyond recognition by mortal anguish.
Fever wracked her body. Her eyes were red with tears. Her face was sunken
and worn out.
Near her the mother of the dead Johanna wipes the face and arms of
the mother of Judas with cloths dipped in spicy vinegar. The mother of Judas
cries out, I am the mother of the Cain - - - Mother of the Cain of God. - - Can you hear it? Even the wind carries the news all over the world - - - Judas
betrayed the master and handed him over to the executioners. - - -What did I
give birth to?
Anne comforts her, gathers the soiled linen cloths and leaves the room.
Suddenly, the room fills with light. Anne, the mother of Judas, hears a voice
gently call her name.
Mary! Mary of Simon.
She is almost delirious repeating over and over.
What have I given birth to?
Tears well up in the corners of Jesus mild eyes. He lays His hand on
the feverish forehead saying, Have peace because I love you. Look at Me,
poor mother! Gather your lost spirit and put it in my hands. I am Jesus - - -

Mary of Simon opens her eyes as if she is coming out of a nightmare. She
moans,
Do not curse me! If I had known what I was giving birth to, I would have torn
my womb to prevent him from being born.
And you would have sinned. Mary! The mothers who have fulfilled their duty
must not consider themselves responsible for the sins of their sons. You have
done your duty Mary. Jesus reassures her.
I am the mother of Judas. The mother of a demon! Do not touch me.
I have purified you Mary and I weep over you with all my loving pity.
He holds her hands in His and she calms down whispering, Have you no
grudge against me?
I have love. That is why I have come. Have peace.
You forgive! But the world! Your mother she will hate me.
She thinks of you as a sister. - - My mother is the mother of Love.
Make me die if you love me.
The horror is over - - - Your sorrow serves. It joins these wounds of mine,
and your tears and my blood wash the world.
Anne, Johannas mother comes back inside the room and is dumbfounded.
Jesus looks again at the mother of Judas,
Lay your hope in the Lord. He will give you all His comfort.
He takes her head in His hands and bends. He lightly touches the
burning forehead of this most unhappy of all women. He blesses her and
turns to go. Anne, Johannas mother, comes out of her state of bewilderment
and asks Jesus the question that has been on her heart for a long while.
My Johanna?
For fifteen days she has rejoiced in heaven. - - - Goodbye to you woman.
May my blessing comfort you. He then disappears. 35

The Two Shrouds

It is night. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea have come to the
cenacle to see the Blessed Mother. They discuss how Peter has become more
confident since Pentecost. No longer is he the impetuous fisherman, with
little education. He has decided to begin regular agapes and to celebrate the
mysteries regularly on the day after the Sabbath. He says it is now the Day
of the Lord as on that day Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to many
people to confirm them in the faith. There is no longer the Sabbath. There is
no longer the synagogue for Christians but the church predicted by the
prophets. There will be many agapes beginning here in Jerusalem in the
house of the last supper.
Nicodemus speaks to Mary the Mother of the Saviour.We want you to
have this souvenir of Him to be shown to believers to confirm them in their
faith. Joseph hands Mary a bulky roll covered in a dark red cloth that he had
concealed under his mantle. What is it? asks the Holy Mother. This is His
garment. The last one. It is the shroud in which the most pure Lord was
enveloped after His torture. - - -When he rose Joseph took this and the other
cloths from the Sepulchre and took them to Bethany to avoid any
sacrilegious abuse of them. The enemies of Jesus do not to come to the
house of Lazarus. The burial cloths were given by Lazarus.
Nicodemus continues. Since I am no longer a Hebrew, - - - I was
thinking of making a statue of Jesus crucified - - - I will use one of my gigantic
cedars from Lebanon - - - and I will conceal inside it the first shroud used to
carry the body of Our Saviour to the Sepulchre. - - - it is dear to me because
it has on it some of the perspiration and blood of that sacred body. - - - No
Israelite of the high castes would ever dare to touch a sculpture. The shroud
will be safe. The second Shroud, which was on Him from the evening of the
Preparation Day until the Dawn of the Resurrection must come to you. - - -As
the days have passed, His image is more clearly displayed on it.
Then Nicodemus and Joseph unfold the shroud on a table in the
cenacle. All the signs of the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the rubbing
of the cross, the wounds of the nails and the lance are all clearly present.
Mary falls on her knees and kisses the cloth. But you have paid for the cloth
- - -

Mother, says Lazarus, I have received a gift no many can buy. Life
given back to me after four days; before that the conversion of my sister
Mary Take this shroud, it is yours. Then let it be so. I will go and get the
other one. She climbs a staircase and a short time later returns with the first
shroud which she gives to Nicodemus. The three men, Lazarus, Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimathea venerate the Blessed Mother then with quick steps
retrace the way they came. They do not wish to be seen as it is almost dawn.

36

The Assumption of Mary

Joseph of Arimathea counsels the Blessed Mother.
Take up your abode in the house of Jonah and Mary, the keepers of
Gethsemane.
Lazarus adds, Mark, Jonahs son, is among the disciples.
But the olive grove and the oil mill?Asks Mary. The olive grove only
needs a few days for pruning, ploughing and picking the olives. Only a short
time is required each year. When those times come, I will send servants from
Bethany with Mark. The oil mill has already been transferred to Bethany.
Yes I will accept. From there I shall be able to go to Golgotha and to your
kitchen garden Joseph, where My son was laid.
Take this. It is the key to the various gates that enclose Gethsemane and
the second key is the key to the house. Now that Lazarus has finished
speaking, Joseph of Arimathea offers Mary another key.
This is the key of the enclosure to my kitchen garden. So, Gethsemane
becomes the abode of the Blessed Mother and John.
Then, well after the stoning of the heroic deacon Stephen, Mary one day tells
John that her mission on this earth has ended. John becomes alarmed.
My dear John, prepare yourself to be alone.
Mother, you are not well! says John.
No John. I am well. You must understand that My Son died and I shall die as
well, but I will not suffer disease or agony. - - - I have already purified myself,
and I have put on a clean dress - - - do not weep John.

The sorrowing apostle goes with Mary to her poor bed. Folding her arms
across her breast she closes her eyes and says,
I am in God and God is in me. Say the psalms and other pages of the
scriptures while I contemplate my son. Say also the prayer of my Son.
John struggles to hold back tears as he intones psalm 118, 42, part of 38,
psalm 22 and psalm one. Other prayers follow and finally he intones the
magnificat. During the magnificat he notes that the Blessed Mother no longer
breaths. He utters a heart rending cry and throws himself on the floor calling
the name Mary.
When his tears and sorrow have run their course, John hurries to the
olive groves, picking as many flowers as he can find and some small olive
branches with olives already on them. He returns to the house and arranges
them around the still body of the Blessed Mother.
After several days the flowers have withered, yet an undefinable scent
of lilies, roses, mountain herbs and incense, hangs in the air. John has fallen
asleep leaning against the wall near an open door leading to the terrace. His
red eyes shows the signs of continual weeping.
Suddenly a strong light fills the room. Then angelic creatures show
themselves. John awakes, startled. The angelic creatures arrange themselves
around Marys bed and lift the immobile body. A passage miraculously opens
through the roof and John beholds the inert body of Mary transported into the
air and ascending higher and higher.
Through a prodigy granted to him by God, John sees Marys body come
alive, and stand upright and burst with the light of glorification. John is
enraptured by this vision of great beauty that no pen or artist could
reproduce. Then his ecstasy abounds even more when he perceives his Lord
and Master near His Mother.
No other person was gifted with this sight. Even John could not express it in
his magnificent Gospel. He alone was the witness. 37

Portents in Rome
When Jesus was born I saw that in Rome where many Jews lived, a
spring as of oil burst forth to the astonishment of the inhabitants. A
magnificent idol of Jupiter broke into pieces when the roof of a temple
collapsed. The Romans were afraid and made sacrifices in great alarm.
Another idol, this time of Venus is reputed to have uttered these words.
This befell because a virgin without a husband conceived a son and
has now given birth to him. The idol also spoke of a fountain of oil springing
forth. On this site in later times a church dedicated to the Mother of God was
erected. The church in question is the one called Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
on the Capitol Hill.
The heathen priests at the time of the roof of the temple to Jupiter
collapsing, consulted their records. At that time there lived in Rome a very
good and pious lady. Some seventy years before the event, the statue of
Jupiter was magnificently adorned with gold and jewels. At that time the
pious lady warned in prophecy that one day the idol of Jupiter would burst
asunder. The priests had her imprisoned and demanded to know when this
would happen. She did not know when, until it was given to her in prayer,
that the event would take place when A virgin should bear a son.
This announcement was met with decision, and so the woman was
released, as being out of her senses. The Emperor Augustus was with some
men on a hill near the collapsed Temple. As he came down from the hill it is
believed that he saw a rainbow in the sky with a vision of the Blessed Mother
above it and a child was soaring up to her.
Augustus proceeded to an oracle and when he questioned the significance of
the vision, the oracle replied.

A new born child has appeared before whom all must give way.
There upon, the Emperor caused an altar to be raised on the hill where
the apparition had occurred. He dedicated many sacrifices to the first born of
God. The tradition about strange portents in Rome at the birth of Christ is
recorded in the
Universal History of Orosius (AD. 418). Orosius was a friend of St.
Augustine.
In this work we find reference to the fountain of oil, the idol (Oracle)
speaking, and the vision of the Emperor Augustus. 38

The Robbers Hut

During the flight into Egypt,
The Holy Family passed through Judea and into a desert region. In the
distance was a mountain range. When they crossed the first of the mountain
ridges they came to a wooded area. As it was night, in the distance could be
seen a hut and near it a light hanging in a tree. Unfortunately, it was a hut of
robbers who plundered unsuspecting travelers.
As the Holy Family approached the light, six robbers surrounded them.
At first they were evilly disposed. But the sight of the young child Jesus
brought a wave of compassion into the heart of the leader. He ordered his
companions not to harm the Holy Family but to escort them to the hut.
In the hut was the wife of the leader. She welcomed the Holy Family in
a shy manner. Some of the robbers put Josephs donkey into a stable. The
wife brought food and drink to the weary travelers. She also brought a basin
of water to Mary to bathe the child Jesus who was about one year old.
The leader seemed to understand that Jesus was no ordinary child. He
remarked to his wife.
This Hebrew child is a holy child. Ask the mother to allow us to wash our
leprous little boy in his bath water.

Before the wife could ask Mary, Mary knew their thoughts and directed
the wife of the robbers leader to wash their three year old boy in the bath
water. The childs body was covered in leprous scales. As soon as the little
boy was dipped in the bath water, the leprous scales fell off and the childs
flesh became normal. The wife and her husband were filled with joy at the
miracle.
Mary directed the robbers wife to dig a well down to rock and pour the
water into the new well. The waters from this well would have healing
powers. The next morning when the Holy Family left the robbers hut, they
had been well supplied with provisions. The leader of the robbers said with
deep emotion, Remember us wherever you go.
The boy cleansed of leprosy grew up to be a robber. His name was
Demas. On one fateful day he was led to his execution outside Jerusalem. He
was accompanied by a fellow robber and a man who was struggling to carry
a heavy cross and whose head bore a crown of thorns. Before he died, he
heard these words of consolation,
This day you will be with me in Paradise. 39

John the Baptist

When John the Baptist was about two years old, Herod ordered the
massacre of the Innocents around Bethlehem. Elizabeth was warned by an
angel of the impending danger to John. Immediately she fled with the child
into the wilderness near Hebron. Elizabeth searched for a cave that was
sufficiently hidden and stayed there with the boy for forty days. When the
danger was passed, they returned to the family home at Jutta.
It was well known that wonders had attended his birth. All this was
known to Herod who became suspicious of John. Zacharias was called and
questioned about Johns birth. Elizabeth took the precaution of returning to
the wilderness with John. He was about four years old or perhaps a little
older. Zacharias never knew where Elizabeth had hidden John. This was so,
that if he was questioned again, Zacharias could in all honesty say that he
did not know where John was.
Herod became increasingly anxious. When Zacharias was called to the
temple for duty, Herod had his soldiers ambush the old man and imprison
him in a prison on the slope of the Hell of Zion. He was brutally treated in
order to divulge the whereabouts of John. When he could give no information

he was stabbed to death. Friends recovered his body and buried him in the
family sepulcher at Jutta.
When Elizabeth returned home, the old woman was shocked. She
grieved and lamented the loss of the holy priest Zacharias. She could find no
peace in her life so she hastened to join John in the wilderness. She died
there and was buried by an Essene who was a hermit.
This same Essene looked after John in the wilderness. John seemed to
be quite at home with the birds and wild beasts. He was enlightened by the
Holy Spirit and was often believed to commune with the angels. He led a life
of austerity and simplicity. He had no formal education but imbibed the
words of the angels and the Essene Hermit. It is possible that when he began
his mission of calling people to repentance, the rite of baptism he used, was
in fact a reflection of Essene emphasis on purification. He had no contact
with his real cousin Jesus until, through the Holy Spirit, he recognized Jesus
when Jesus asked to be baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan River. 40

The Blessed Mother at Ephesus

A severe persecution broke out in Judea against the new religion called
The Way. Many of the Apostles had left for their mission stations. Many
disciples had been ordained to the priesthood, including Nicodemus, Joseph
of Arimathea, Lazarus and Maximinus, the head servant at Bethany. The
centurion Longinus became a deacon and returned to Italy. Martha begun
one of the first convents and died in a subsequent persecution. Claudia
Procula, the wife of Pilate, carried the Christian message first to Caesarea
and probably back to Rome. She was join by the other Roman ladies
especially Plautina and Lydia. Valeria, another Roman lady went to stay with
Johanna the wife of Chuza. The Jews had an implacable hatred for Lazarus.
They forced him, his sister Mary Magdalen and Maximinus, into a small boat
and sent them into exile across the Mediterranean Sea. They eventually
survived a difficult journey and landed in Southern France. Lazarus was
martyred in present day Marsaille.

It was important that the Blessed Mother be protected. To this end,

John sailed with her to Asia Minor. They came to Ephesus on the Western
Coast of present day Turkey. This became the centre of St. Johns apostolate.
Here he set up a community of believers and is buried there along with St.
Luke and John the Elder. There are ruins there today of an Ancient Basilica, in
part of which are the remains of a Baptist tree cut into the floor of the
church. Baptism appears to have been by immersion.
Mary did not live in Ephesus itself, but in the countryside away from
the capital. John built a stone house for her with dimensions similar to her
house at Nazareth. The house still exists and is a site of pilgrimage for
Christians and even Moslems. All other early Christian sites have been
obliterated in Turkey by the Moslems. Christian communities were driven
away. However it is believed that the Blessed Mother lived in Johns house for
about nine years. Here she served the church by her prayers and sacrifices
while John attended to the new community he set up in the city of Ephesus.
At a certain point in her stay outside Ephesus, the Blessed Mother
desired to return to Jerusalem. This she did and it is believed she died there
in the garden of Gethsemane with St. John as the only witness. Her age at
the time of death was approximately her early 60s. John returned to Ephesus
where he was arrested by the Romans and exiled to the island of Patmos. He
was the only Apostle never to suffer a violent death.
There is a legend that Mary returned to Ephesus and died there in the
presence of most of the Apostles. There is no evidence to confirm this. 41

The Fall of Adam and Eve

When Adam and Eve walked through the garden of Eden for the first
time, the animals ran to meet them and follow them. Eve was interested in
created things and was inquisitive. Adam on the other hand was more silent
and absorbed in God. One of the animals followed Eve more closely than the
others. It was slender and glossy and walked on its hind legs. Its tail trailed
on the ground. It resembled a large lizard with an underbelly coloured pale
yellow and a mottled brown back. It looked very much like a reptile. Its front
paws were short and its tongue was constantly in motion. Eve took great
delight in it.

A majestic shining figure of a man with glittering white hair stood

before Adam and Eve. They were not afraid and listened attentively to the
words being spoken. There was a proscription given to them banning the
consumption of the fruit of a beautiful tree, the tree of the knowledge of
Good and Evil. The wily reptile mentioned before, now took an added interest
in Eve. As Eve passed the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, the reptile
scampered up the trees trunk and leaning with its head level to that of Eve,
spoke to her. Eve was not surprised. The message it conveyed to Eve
conveyed how eating the forbidden fruit of this tree would bring her freedom
and an understanding of the rite of procreation. Just within Eves reach hung
a remarkably fine bunch of fruit. It was a clustered fruit of five segments.
A longing arose in her heart to taste the fruit. The reptile broke off the
central part of the cluster and gave it to Eve. She had called to Adam and as
he drew near she offered the portion to Adam. The interior of the fruit was
blood red. When they ate the fruit Adam and Eve lost their brilliance and
seemed to diminish in stature. At this time reptile scampered away on all
fours. As Adam had descended from the his hill to go to Eve, the Lord
grasped him and with something like a crooked blade removed a spiritual
blessing from Adams back before he touched the forbidden fruit. This
spiritual blessing was a mysterious essence of salvation. At the same instant
there issued from the side of Adam a small luminous cloud, the pure soul of
one of the descendants of Adam and Eve.
With the reception of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve changed
dramatically. It was as if spirit turned to matter. Where before God was the
center of Adams and Eves existence now they became the center of their
existence ruled by passions difficult to master. Before Adam was king of
nature, now he was forced to fight with nature. The animals withdrew from
his presence. From the sinking of the noble faculties of will and intellect in
Adam and Eve, sprang manifold wickedness and misery.
Our first parents were driven from Paradise and obliged to suffer the
loss of their immortality, the need to endure pain and hard work and the loss
of the wonderful relationship with their loving creator. 42

King Abgarus
Jesus was preaching near the place of Baptism. A stranger approached
mounted on a camel. He was followed by six attendants, who rode on mules.
It was an embassy from King Abgarus of Edessa. The king sent presents to

Jesus and a letter imploring Jesus to come to Edessa and cure him of a
disease in his feet that rendered him lame.
Travelers returning from Judea and Samaria had brought news of a holy
man who performed miracles, of the preaching of John the Baptist and of the
wrath of the Jews for the miracle worker Jesus.
The man bearing the kings letter was an artist. He had received a
command from the king to bring back a portrait of Jesus in case Jesus could
not come himself. A disciple helped the emissaries from Agbarus to press
through the crowd and stand near Jesus. They had with them gifts of woven
stuff, thin plates of gold and very beautiful lambs.
The main envoy set a tablet on his knee and began to sketch the
likeness of Jesus. Though he tried hard, he could not perfect his work. Finally,
he fell on his knees in front of Jesus and handed Him the letter from King
Abgarus. Jesus commanded the disciples to take the gifts and distribute them
among the poorest in the crowd listening to His discourse. Then He read the
letter. He returned it over and procuring a writing instrument He wrote a few
words in large script on the back of the letter.
Then he called for water. He bathed his face and pressed the soft cover
of the letter to his sacred countenance and returned it to the envoy. The
envoy pressed it to the portrait he was drawing and the likeness of Christ
immediately appeared on the portrait. He rose to go but some of his fellow
servants chose to remain and listen to Jesus. After His instruction had been
concluded they crossed the Jordan and were baptized.
On their return to Edessa King Abgarus came through his garden to
meet them. He was greatly moved by the words written by Christ and the
sight of His face impressed on the soft cloth used to cover the letter. It is
assumed that the King was cured of his ailment because he changed his
lifestyle, amended his immoral life and dismissed all his numerous
concubines. 43

The Foolish Vow

Jesus assisted at a solemn memorial feast of the sacrifice of Jephtes
daughter at Ramoth-Galalad. The altar on which his daughter was immolated
was still there. Jephte lived in the time of the judges. He was a valiant
warrior. His father was Gilead but his mother was a prostitute. The true wife
of Gilead bore sons and when they grew up they drove him from the
ancestral home and excluded him from sharing in the inheritance of his
father. Jephte fled to the region of Tob. There he joined a band of
mercenaries.
The time came when the Ammonites attacked Israel. The elders of
Ramoth-Gilead, sought out Jephte to lead the Israelites in confronting the
Ammonites. He agreed. Then he made a vow to Yahweh. If Yahweh granted
him victory in battle, on his return, he would sacrifice whoever came first out
of the ancestral home of Gilead. (Judges. Chp II) When Jephte returned from
beating the Ammonites the first to come from the house to greet him was his
beloved only child, his young daughter, Jephtias.
Word had come to her of her fathers victory and she decked herself
out in vanity and with a group of companions danced out to meet her father,
to the sound of tambourines. When Jephte saw his daughter coming to meet
him he was shattered. He had made a vow to Yahweh and it could not be
broken. He realized the disastrous consequences of his foolish vow.
Jephtias recognized the serious obligation of her father to fulfill his vow
and asked only for a delay. For two months she would live in the mountains
with her companions and mourn. She would lament that her life would be cut
short. She would never be allowed to marry. At the memorial celebration
young girls scattered flowers and played flutes. Mournfully they led a
procession which included three lambs.
Other young girls lamented in chorus as they accompanied the girl
chosen to play the part of Jephtias. Jesus took the part of the High priest
delivering a speech and giving instructions. Then the three lambs were
sacrificed in memory of Jephtes daughter. The roasted flesh was distributed
among the poor.
The whole drama took many hours and was a most touching ceremony.
Jesus spoke to the people about vanity. He spoke especially to the young
maidens present, warning them that if Jephtias had not been vain and proud
of her fathers victory, she would not have left the ancestral home but would

have waited for her father to arrive. She had been vain in wearing frivolous
ornaments and boasting to the other maidens that she was a heros
daughter. Jephtes vow had not been pleasing to God.

He decreed a chastisement upon both father and daughter. In her two

month isolation, Jephtias did penance for her vanity. When it came time for
the fulfillment of her fathers foolish vow, she walked courageously to the
altar. She drank a red potion from a vessel and presented herself, to be blind
folded. Then one of Jephtes warriors pierced the throat of the drugged girl as
she lay on the altar. Two of her companions caught her blood in a dish and
poured it on the altar. She was placed on a griddle and her garments burned
until she looked a blackened mass. The body was not consumed. The griddle
was lifted with the body still on it and taken to a specially prepared tomb
were the body was allowed to slide gracefully into a tomb built on a nearby
hill. The tomb was still there in Jesus time. Jephtias had died in the grace of
God. 44

Reconciliation at Succoth.
During the feast of Tabernacles there took place at Succoth a
remembrance memorial of the reconciliation of the two brothers, Esau and
Jacob. Visitors came from all the country around about. It was also a
celebration of the reconciliation between God and man. There was a general
confession of sin made either in public or private, according to individual
desire. The priest speaking from the teachers chair, spoke of Jacob and Esau
and exhorted his hearers to do penance.
Some men, whose consciences reproached them with grave faults,
went through the door in the grating near the teachers chair around behind
the altar, and laid on the tables their offerings. These were received by
another priest. Then returning to the priests in front of the pillar containing
the law, they confessed their sins either publicly to the assembled priests or
privately to a priest of his own choice. In the case of private confession, both
priest and penitent retired behind a curtain. The confession was made in a
low voice, a penance imposed and incense cast upon the altar. The rest of
the Jews chanted and prayed during the confessions. The penitents promised
fidelity to the Law, to Israel and the Holy of Holies. Often with abundant
tears.

The women were recorded the same privileges. Generally, they retired
behind the grating and curtain and confessed privately. One woman of
stately bearing became impatient and taking her maid bearing offerings
entered behind the grating into an area forbidden to women. The woman
advanced towards the priests, threw herself on her knees and begged to be
reconciled. One of the priests turned her towards Jesus saying,
Rabbi what do you say?
Yes! replied Jesus, Permit this daughter of Adam to do penance.
Whereupon she retired with a priest behind the curtain. When she
reappeared she fell down in front of the priests and begged one of them,
Wipe your feet on me for I am an Adulteress!
The priests touched her lightly with their feet. Then the womans
husband was called. He knew nothing of his wifes behavior. She confessed
her guilt before him. Jesus was occupying the teachers chair and he
addressed the prostate woman.
Your sins are forgiven! Arise, Child of God!
The husband, deeply moved, reached out his hand to his penitent wife.
A priest bound their hands together with the womans veil and the mans
long narrow scarf. They received a benediction from the priest. Then the
bindings were removed. It was like a second nuptial ceremony. The offerings
of the woman were presented and incense burned on the altar. She was
inebriated with joy as a priest conducted both of them back to the crowd.
The husband was a pious man; he forgave and forgot with all his heart. 45

The Beheading of John

Herods guests had poured into Machaerus. The women ate in the wing
of the castle with Herodias. Salome and her companions danced before the
guests. Herod was dazzled and enchanted by Salome who danced in front of
him. She was adorned by gold bands and strings of pearls and wore an
almost transparent robe.
When all had eaten and wine had flowed freely, the guests with Herod
requested that Salome dance again. Salome responded with a shameless
voluptuous dance as the central figure in the dancing group. Again, Herod
was entranced. Salome approached Herod seated on his throne, while her
companions continued to dance. Only those guests in the immediate vicinity
of Herod heard his oath to Salome.
Ask whatever you wish and I will give it to you even if you ask for half my
kingdom.
Salome withdrew to consult her mother Herodias. She returned and said,
Give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
Herod was shocked. He had not expected a request as crude as this. In
fact he had developed a liking for this preacher from the desert not
withstanding Johns verbal opposition to his illicit marriage to Herodias.
Beset with apprehension and because of his foolish oath, he reluctantly
ordered the execution of John. Then he left the banquet hall very sad. The
feast continued undisturbed. The executioner proceeded to the cell of John
accompanied by one of Herodiass maids. John calmly greeted his

executioner. He had been fore-warned that his martyrdom was imminent, by

the Holy Spirit.
The executioner placed a metal object on Johns shoulders. It
resembled a fox trap with two sharp blades. With a sudden pressure applied,
the two blades came together, cleanly severing Johns head from his body
and it fell to the floor. Johns trunk spurted blood and fell to the floor also.
The executioner raised Johns head by the hair, bespectled by his
blood, and placed it on the platter. It was covered with a cloth and handed to
the maid of Herodias. She traversed the steep staircase and narrow corridors
leading up from the dungeon. She presented it to the jubilant Salome who
accompanied the maid to Herodiass quarters.
Herodias raised the coverlet on Johns head and heaped insults and
abuses on the Holy head. Then taking a along sharp skewer from the kitchen,
Herodias pierced the tongue, the cheeks and the eyes of Johns head. When
her savage rage ended, she threw the head on the floor and kicked the head
through an opening that led down to a pit far below the castle. This tunnel
was a conduit for offal and refuse from the kitchen.
The two guards who had witnessed the execution of John were
themselves imprisoned in order to keep Johns death a secret. The
executioner and the maid of Herodias were also imprisoned. New guards
were posted at Johns cell. Johns supporters among the servants in the
castle quickly knew what had happened.
They sent word to his followers. The followers of John arrived at night
but were refused entry into the palace. However, with great ingenuity and
cunning they were able to enter the dungeon and confront the guards. The
guards offered no opposition and willingly opened the prison doors.
Johns followers knelt and wept at the sight of Johns holy body. Then
they quickly prepared it for burial. They opened the body and removed the
intestines, placing them in a leather pouch. Then placing spices and aromatic
herbs around the thin body they bound it firmly in linen bands. It was then
laid on a leather stretcher.
The two guards joined the followers of John, showing them how to exit
the castle without being noticed. The party rapidly descended the mountain
carrying with them the sacred remains of this holiest of men. At dawn they
ferried the body across the Jordan and after several days interred the

remains in the Sepulchre containing the body of his father Zacharias at

Juttah near Hebron. 46

Finding Johns Head

Through some of the servants of Herodias, the followers of John the
Baptist became aware of where his head had been thrown. Three brave
women sought to recover it. They were Johanna of Chuza, Veronica and a
relative of the Baptist.
Two months after the infamous banquet at the Palace Machaerus,
Herod decided to turn the palace into a garrison fortress. To this end, many
of the outbuildings and movables belonging to Herods court were removed.
New fortifications were installed for the forts defense.
The sewers were opened. Many people were engaged in gathering up
the slime and mud to enrich their fields. The women hoping to recover the
head of John the Baptist were waiting for the deep, steep sewer from the
castles kitchen to be opened for cleaning. They prayed by night and fasted
by day as they waited. The sewers lower end had been opened and cleared.
The upper end was steep and contained a multitude of animal bones. It was
in this section that the holy head was lying.
While the workmen were at their meal, people who had been paid to
do so, introduced the women in to the sewer. They negotiated the heap of

bones and steep mountainside with great difficulty. They prayed as they
advanced. Soon they saw the head resting on a stone projecting into the
sewer. The head was pitiful to behold. They had to distinguish it from other
human heads amongst the bones. The women wrapped the head in a linen
cloth and bore it away with hurried steps.
On their way they came across a soldier with a severe wound from a
recent fall. He was lying on the road in an unconscious state. They took pity
on the soldier and touched the soldier with Johns sacred head. He instantly
recovered consciousness saying that he had dreamt that the Baptist had
come to help him. The women bound his wounds and took him to a nearby
inn.
The head was delivered to a group of Essenians near Hebron. Some of
their sick were cured when they were touched with the head wrapped in
linens. The head was then washed, embalmed with precious ointments and
with solemn ceremonies laid with his body in the family sepulcher at Juttah.

47

The Chalice
In the North Western side of Jerusalem was an inn cared for by
Seraphia. Later she was given the name Veronica due to the cloth she had
offered Jesus on his way to Calvary. Her husband was a member of the
Sanhedrin. She had long known the Holy Family. When the boy Jesus
remained in Jerusalem after the feast of the Passover, she it was who
supplied Him with food.
The two apostles assigned to prepare for the Last Supper obtained
from Veronica all kinds of table service. She provided also the chalice used in
the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. This chalice was a wonderful and
mysterious vessel.
It had lain in the Temple for a long time among other old and precious
things. Frequently at the Temple, ancient vessels and precious ornaments
were taken out and sold as they were no longer used. It was constructed of a

strange material which prevented its being melted down. The Chalice was
quite a solid chalice with six small cups attached to its base. In the foot of
the chalice was a space for holding a spoon. The chalice seemed to have
been made of highly polished metal and over laid with gold. It has a handle
at both sides by means of which it could be held aloft. The foot was
ornamented with a small bunch of grapes and precious stones.
The large chalice was left to the church of Jerusalem in the care of
James of Zebedee, when the apostles dispersed to their mission fields. The
six cups were distributed to the major Christian centers, amongst which were
Antioch and Ephesus. It is reputed that the chalice was used by Melchizadek
when he blessed the wine and bread at the blessing of Abraham. Prior to
that, it had been in the possession of Noe. Its whereabouts today is
unknown. 48

The Creation and Fall of the Angels.

The angels were created in heaven in a state of grace. The Divinity was
not manifested to them until they were tested in obeying the Divine Will.
Therefore, for a very short time they remained in a state of probation. Their
creation and probation were three distinct instants or moments. In the first
instant, they were created and endowed with graces and gifts coming into
existence as beautiful and perfect creatures. They were then commanded to
adore and reverence their creator. The good angels obeyed through love and
on account of Justice.

Lucifer on the other hand, was divided in his will between his own
greatness and the infallible truth of God. He submitted himself but without
perfect love. His bad disposition began at this command.
In the second instant, the angels were informed that God was to create
a human nature and reasoning creature lower than themselves. The second
Person of the Blessed Trinity was to become a human being by taking on a
human nature as well as his divine nature. This incarnate being was to be
acknowledged as their head not only as God but as God and man. All the
angels were to be His servants. To this command, all the holy angels gave
their full assent. But Lucifer resisted and caused his followers likewise to
resist. He persuaded his followers that he would set up a government
independent of the Christ and he alone would be their head. So great was
this blindness and arrogance that the contagion of resistance infected
countless angels. In the third instant, another precept was given to all the
angels. A woman was to be created in whose womb the only begotten son of
God would assume flesh. This woman was to be the Queen and mistress of
all creatures. She would be conjointly superior to the angels as her Son also
would be as the incarnate Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. In disorderly
fury Lucifer aspired to be head of the human race and all angelic orders. He
demanded that the hypostatic union of God with man be consummated in
him. The decree constituting the angels inferior to the Mother of the
Incarnate word he opposed with horrible blasphemies.
Unjust are these commands and injury is done to my greatness - - this
human nature I will persecute and destroy. - - - this woman, Mother of the
Word, I will hurl down from her position. All the angels were shown a vision
of this most perfect woman. The good ones broke into canticles of praise and
admiration. Lucifer and his followers conceived implacable hatred and fury
against Christ and His most Holy Mother. The good angels saw the just
indignation of the most High against Lucifer, and led by the Holy Archangel
Michael fought against the renegades with the weapons of understanding,
reason and truth.
The renegade angels lost their brilliance and showed a diminishing of
their powers, being transformed into grotesque creatures. They were driven
from heaven and forced to dwell in a bottomless pit of hatred and despair,
created for them and all of like disposition. 49

The Way of the Cross

Lucifer and his cohorts could not understand the willingness of Christ
to undergo the humiliation of betrayal, imprisonment, scourging, crowning
with thorns and finally His crucifixion. Yet they were most attentive to all that
happened during the Passion of the Lord.
When he took upon himself the cross, all His demonic enemies felt a
new and mysterious tremor and weakness, which caused in them great
consternation and confusion. Lucifer himself feared that his reign as supreme
head of the fallen angels would suffer an irreparable damage. He resolved to
retire from Golgotha and flee with his followers to the caverns of Hell.
He sought to execute this resolve but was prevented by the great
Queen and mistress of all creation. She had been invested with power over
all the angels, good or fallen. The heavenly Mother witnessing the suffering
of Christ as He carried His cross, was at the same time aware of the
intentions of Lucifer. Turning towards Lucifer and his squadrons, by her
imperial command she prevented them from leaving and fleeing back to hell.
She ordered them to remain and witness the Passion to its end on mount
Calvary.
They were forced therefore to follow Christ on the Way of the cross. They
were like prisoners dragged along in chains to a terrible death. They were
aware of an impending punishment.
When Christ spoke these words from His throne of Redemption, the Cross.
Father into Your hands, I commend my spirit and breathed His last, by the
Divine force of these words, Lucifer and all his demons were hurled into the
deepest caverns of hell, completely bewildered at their eternal defeat. They
had been beaten by a humble carpenter from Nazareth. 50

Satans Revenge
In the course of the life and miracles of Our Saviour, Lucifer and his
demons never could ascertain fully whether the Lord was true God and
Redeemer of the world. Nor could they discover the dignity of the most holy
Mary. The simplicity, poverty and humility of both of them persuaded Lucifer
that beyond being holy people, neither of them was of any great
consequence.
Lucifer knew nothing of the manner and circumstances of the
Incarnation. This wonderful event was shielded from the perception of the
Prince of darkness by the providence of God. When he witnessed the
miracles of Christ and began to form the opinion that Jesus was no ordinary
man, the evidence of His poverty, humility and fatigue, persuaded Lucifer
that Jesus was not the savior.
It was only with the death of Jesus, that the full import of Christs
mission was revealed to Lucifer and all the other demons. When forced to
remain on Calvary by the power and command of the Blessed Mother they
fell upon one another and fought furiously with each other like hornets
disturbed in their nests.
When the demons heard Jesus utter the words. this day you will be
with me in Paradise, they understood that the fruits of the Redemption were
the Justification of sinners and the glorification of the just. At the words,
Woman behold your Son. They understood that Mary was the Mother
of the Man- God. These mistakes crushed their arrogance beyond their other
torments. They raged like blood thirsty lions. The rout of Lucifer and his
followers from Calvary to the abyss of hell was more violent and disastrous
than their first expulsion from heaven. The chaos and disorder amongst them
was this time increased a thousand fold.
Lucifer was permitted by God to plan and carry out his revenge against the
works of Christ His holy Mother and all of mankind. Assembling his cohorts
he exclaimed,
For thirty three years He has led me about in deceit, hiding His
divinity and concealing the operations of His soul. - - - I am even more
tormented to see myself this vanquished and oppressed by this Man and his

Mother - - - He has despoiled me of the sovereignty of the world by His

Passion and frightful death. - - -If I could draw all redeemed souls into this
hell, my wrath would not e satiated or my fury placated.
He lamented the fact that his own evil intervention in the death of Christ,
had assisted in the very act of Redemption.
When his fury had abated he called to his followers,
Come, let us take counsel what we are to do. Some of the principal
demons suggested diverse schemes by which they could hinder the fruit of
the Redemption among men. They considered that they should excite
mankind to follow their passions and forget spiritual things. They resolved to
continue all forms of idolatry in the world; they would establish sects and
heresies; they would select the most perverse and depraved in the human
race to e leaders and teachers of errors.
Then they concocted the Sect of Mohammed, the heresies of Arius,
Pelagius, Nestoruis and all others that would divide Christiandom. Some
charged themselves with inducing parents to neglect the instruction of their
children; to create hatred between husbands and wives; to induce hatred
and discord among peoples; to weaken remembrance of Christs Passion and
death and many other devious strategies.
They spent a year devising all these plans and Lucifer congratulated them.
I approve of them and adopt them all. 51

Selected sayings of the Man-God

Co Redeemers
Jesus is at Bethsaida. He is speaking standing on the boat which has
taken Him there. The angels, pure and perfect spirits, living and rejoicing in
the light of the Most Holy Trinity, although perfect, are inferior to you men,
who are far from Heaven, and they admit their inferiority. Their inferiority
consists in their impossibility to sacrifice themselves and suffer to cooperate
in the redemption of man. - - -and although the Sons sacrifice is of
incalculable value and His power is infinite, the Father, knowing that
something is still missing from the amount of merits to be opposed to the
amount of sins that mankind accumulates hourly, does not take other angels
to fill the measure and does not say to them: Suffer to imitate Christ, but
He says that to you men. Such is His fatherly goodness that He makes no
difference between the Son of His love and the children of His power. He says
to you: Suffer, sacrifice yourselves, be like My Lamb. Be co-redeemers.
(Vol. 1 P.509 Poem of the Man-God)

Gamaliel
When Jesus meets Gamaliel at the banquet of Joseph of Arimathea, Gamaliel
asks Joseph
Is the Messiah alive? Joseph replies, which words did you hear? Who spoke
them?
One- a little more than a child- - - I have been thinking of it and
remembering it for the last nineteen years - -.
Jesus intervenes. Gamaliel looks at Him pensively and then asks, What is
your name?
Jesus stands up stately and says, I am who I am. The thought and the Word
of the Father. I am the Messiah of the Lord. Gamaliel is taken aback. He
says,

You - - - I cannot believe it. Great is your holiness. But that child in
whom I do believe, said then, I will give a sign - - - these stones will vibrate
when my hour comes. I am awaiting that hour to believe. Can you give it to
me, to convince me that you are the Expected one?
Jesus explains, You want that sign and you will have it! I repeat those
far off words. The stones of this Temple of the Lord will vibrate hearing my
last words. Wait for that sign doctor of Israel, a just man, and then believe, if
you wish to be forgiven and saved.
(Vol. 1 Pgs.
605-612 Poem of the Man-God)
At the Trial of Jesus, Gamaliel, his son, Eleazer, Nicodemus and Joseph
of Arimathea all walk out. When Jesus expires on the cross, an earthquake
shakes the Temple, some columns are broken and the veil before the Holy of
Holies is ripped in two. Gamaliel realizes he has waited too long. He becomes
blind and asks the disciple to lead him to the cenacle where Mary and the
Holy women together with Peter and John are staying. He begs to be
numbered among the Christians and is received. He leaves to retire and pray
for not believing.

John the Baptist-Sanctified.

Speaking at the Clear Water, the land of Simon the Zealot, secretly bought
by Lazarus of Bethany and adjoining his property, Jesus says concerning John
the Baptist,
When my mother was carrying Me - - - she went to serve Johns
Mother, who was her cousin on her mothers side. - - - The Baptist already
had a soul, as he was in his seventh month. And the germ of man, closed in
his mothers womb, leapt with joy on hearing the voice of the Spouse of God.
A precursor also in that, he preceded all the redeemed souls, because grace
was communicated from womb to womb and penetrating, it cancelled the
Original Sin from the soul of the child. (Vol 1. P.690) Poem of the Man-God.

Judgement
The Sabbath after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is at the foot of the
Mountain. There are pilgrims there. John the scribe comes from his house
carrying baskets of bread, Olives, cheese and a small roasted lamb. He lays
them near the feet of Jesus and he himself distributes the food amongst the
pilgrims.

Jesus speaks, You say you all love me and you praise me. - - - but I
solemnly tell you that not everyone amongst you will enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. - - - only those who do the will of the Father - - - Now my shepherds
staff gathers together all the scattered souls - - -Later my staff will be
replaced by the scepter of the Judge King and my power will be quite
different. It will not be with kindness but with implacable justice that I will
separate the sheep fed with Truth from those who mixed Truth with Error or
fed only on Error.
I will do that a first time and then once again. And woe betide those
between the first and second appearance before the judge who will not have
purged themselves. - - - Those who wanted only Error cannot be purged.
(Volume 2, Pg. 188)

The Soul
You have been told that God incorporated a single soul in each man - -where do souls come from? The soul of each man? From God. Who is God?
The most intelligent, powerful, perfect spirit. This wonderful thing which is a
soul, a thing created by God to give man his image and likeness as an
unquestionable sign of His Most Holy Paternity, shows signs of the qualities
characteristics of Him who creates it. It is therefore intelligent, spiritual, free,
immortal, like the Father who created it. It is perfect when it originates from
the divine thought and in the instant of its creation it is identical, for a
thousandth of an instant with the soul of the first man: a perfection which
understands the Truth through free gift. - - - Once it is formed, it is strained
by original sin. - - - while it is thought, it is perfect. The creating thought lasts
a thousandth of an instant. The thought then becomes actual fact and the
fact is subject to the law brought about by sin. (Vol. 3 Pgs 91-92 Poem of the
Man-God)

The Gospels
The order of the Gospels is good, but not perfect as a chronological
order. - - -Johns sublime Gospel achieved its supernatural purpose, but the
chronology of My public life has not been improved by it. The other three
evangelists show resemblances to one another with regard to events, but
they alter their order with regard to time, because only one of the three was
present at almost all of My Public life - Matthew, and he wrote it only fifteen
years later, whilst the others wrote theirs even later, after hearing the story

from my Mother, Peter, from other Apostles and disciples. (Vol 4. P.350 Poem
of the Man-God)

The scribes and the Pharisees

Scribes or doctors of the law arose to teach the people who spoke the
Chaldean language, the heritage of the sore and weary exile, and thus could
no longer understand the scriptures written in pure Hebrew. They arose to
help the priests insufficient in numbers to fulfil the task of teaching the
crowds. - -- Then the other sect of the Pharisees arose from the
transformation of that of the Hasidaens, formed to support the Law of Moses
and the spirit of independence of our people by means of the most rigid
morals and the strictest obedience.
(Vol 5. P.443 Poem of the ManGod)

Judas
Too many people think that Judas did something of little importance.
Some even go to the extent of saying that he is well deserving, because
Redemption would not have taken place without him. Therefore he is justified
in the eyes of God.
I solemnly tell you, that if Hell did not already exist and was not perfect
in its torments, it would have been created even more dreadful and eternal
for Judas. Because of all sinners and dammed souls, he is the most damned
and the biggest sinner, and throughout eternity there will be no mitigation of
his sentence.
Remorse could have saved him if he had turned remorse into repentance. To
the crime of betrayal he added blasphemy and resistance to grace. He
resisted everything. He wanted to betray, to curse and to commit suicide.
(Volume 5, Pg. 580 Poem of the Man-God)

Religious Topics from Private Revelations

Sources
1. Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the Man-God, Centro Editoriale
Valtortiano, Paulines, Reprint 1992.
2. The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 147-156.
3. The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 168-178.
4. The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 198-204.
5. The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 381-394.

6. The
7. The
8. The
9. The
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.

Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 500-515.

Poem of the Man-God, Volume 1, Pgs. 613-617.
Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs. 12-16.
Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs.189-191.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs. 192-193.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs. 233-238.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs.439-444.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs. 651-659.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 232-237.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 305-306.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 417-421.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 528-530.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 562-581.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 3, Pgs. 750-755.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 11,677-680,697.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 149-152.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 436,441-444.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 502-506.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 685-688.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 4, Pgs. 741-749.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 2, Pgs. 339-343.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 49-61.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 287-288.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 440-442.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 563-565.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 565-568.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs.606-613.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 701-703.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 777-780.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 794-798.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 900-904.
The Poem of the Man-God, Volume 5, Pgs. 891-894,932-937.

Selected sayings of Jesus from the Poem of the Man-God.

From Anne Catherine Emmierich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tan
Books, Trans. Sir Michael Palairet. 1954.
38.
39.
40.
41.

The
The
The
The

Life
Life
Life
Life

of
of
of
of

the
the
the
the

Blessed
Blessed
Blessed
Blessed

Virgin
Virgin
Virgin
Virgin

Mary,
Mary,
Mary,
Mary,

Pgs,
Pgs,
Pgs,
Pgs.

198-200.
309-312.
322-331.
346-354.

From Anne Catherine Emmerich. The Life of the Jesus Christ. Tan Books, 4th
Reprint of the 1914 English Translation, 2004.

42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.

The
The
The
The
The
The
The

Life
Life
Life
Life
Life
Life
Life

of
of
of
of
of
of
of

Jesus
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus

Christ,
Christ,
Christ,
Christ,
Christ,
Christ,
Christ,

Vol.1
Vol.2
Vol.2
Vol.2
Vol.3
Vol.3
Vol.4

Pgs.
Pgs.
Pgs.
Pgs.
Pgs.
Pgs.
Pgs.

12-18.
123-126.
321-327.
378-382.
144-149,179-182.
185-187.
53-55.

From The Venerable Mary of Agreda, The Mystical City of God abridged
edition, Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A. Inc. 1993.
49.
50.
51.

The Mystical City of God, Pgs. 38-45.

The Mystical City of God, Pgs. 544-545, 562-563.
The Mystical City of God, Pgs. 574-588.