0 Woman ‘cured’ by Pedro ‘wants to keep privacy:’ church official

THE woman who is said to have received a miracle through the intercession of Visayan martyr now Saint Pedro Calungsod prefers to preserve her privacy, said a church official.

Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson, the vice postulator for Calungsod’s sainthood, said the woman wore a red outfit when she visited the Pedro Calungsod Shrine a few days ago to participate in the feast day activities.

“She did not want to be interviewed by the media,” Leyson said.

He said the focus of the devotees’ prayers now should be on how Calungsod rose to sainthood.

“The gift of a saint is a reminder of the call to all of us to become saints, to live in faith and love,” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma told reporters.

The celebration of the first feast day of Pedro Calungsod as a saint was held yesterday with Archbishop Palma leading the concelebrated mass at the archdiocesan shrine.

Palma, in his homily, said the feast day was moved to an earlier date because the feast day of Calungsod falls on Holy Week. He said he finds it auspicious that the Church celebrates the feast day of Calungsod within the start of Holy Week.

“The desire to be holy starts with awareness, admission we are all sinners and we need God,” he said.

The Duaw Nasud, an activity that aims to promote the Calungsod devotion, will be held starting next month.

This was announced by Palma during the opening of a traveling visual exhibit called, “The Journey of San Pedro Calungsod to the altar and to our hearts” at the San Pedro Calungsod chapel at the SM Seaside Complex, South Road Properties last Thursday afternoon.

In a separate interview, Fr. Charles Jayme said the pilgrim image used in last year’s Duaw Nasud will also be brought to cities in the Visayas next month. The cities include Iloilo, Romblon, Aklan and Antique.

Jayme, the official custodian of the pilgrim image, said the statue will not be repaired despite its faded color and some scratches because these are the “marks of faith, of the people’s devotion.”

He said that by July this year, the third phase of the pilgrimage will kick of either in Tuguegarao or Palawan.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. vice president Marissa Fernan said the exhibit will be set up in the towns where there are SM malls like in Iloilo City.

“This is a rare opportunity to help in the propagation of the devotion,” she said.

The display shows photos, which include University of San Carlos pictures, from Cebu City during the send off, the triduum masses in Rome Italy and the canonization mass led by Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

By Bernadette A. Parco
SunStar

Post Comment