0 Church kicks off Pedro’s anniversary

Novena prayers marking the nine-day preparations for the first anniversary of the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod started last Saturday.

The church celebrations on Oct. 21 will focus on four sites – the new San Pedro Calungsod Chapel in SM Seaside City, the Calungsod Archdiocesan Shrine in D. Jakosalesm Street, the San Pedro Calungsod parish in barangay Cantabaco, Toledo City as well as the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

Msgr. Vicente Tupas, rector of the Calungsod Chapel, whose modern design features 100 walls of different heights and widths, presided over the 6 p.m. Mass yesterday.

Oct. 21 is the day Calungsod, the teenage Visayan martyr, was officially declared a saint in Rome a year ago.

His feast day is celebrated on April 2, marking his death in Guam where he was part of a Jesuit mission and was killed by native Chamorro people in 1672.
On Oct. 21, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will lead a concelebrated Mass at 4 p.m. at the cathedral, seat of the Cebu Archdiocese.

Margie Mattheu, executive secretary of the Pastoral Planning Board, said three archbishops and 14 bishops are expected to attend the Mass which will also open the 9th Visayas Regional Pastoral Assembly in Cebu City.

The Mass will also kick off the Duaw Lungsud/Nasud where Calungsod’s image will be brought to different places in Cebu and in Naval, Leyte
Also on Oct. 21, a procession will be held inside the Archbishop’s Residence compound where the Calungsod shrine is located.

The Rosary will be prayed every 5 p.m. followed by daily novena Mass at the shrine presided by Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson.

The Cebu celebration is led by the Commission for the Promotion of the Devotion to San Pedro Calungsod headed by Msgr. Cayetano Gelbolinogo with Msgr. Marnel Mejia and Fr. Charles Louis Jayme.

By Ador Vincent S. Mayol
Cebu Daily News

0 Calungsod chapel bares fiesta activities

The Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod at the SM Seaside Complex in South Road Properties, Cebu City will celebrate its first fiesta celebration that coincides with the first anniversary of the canonization of the Visayan Saint on Oct. 21.

The theme for this celebration is “San Pedro Calungsod…A Man of Faith…A Man of Truth.”

The celebration will begin with a Mass at 6 p.m. on Oct. 12. Novena is set from Oct. 12 to 20 at 3 p.m., to be followed by a Holy Mass at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. There will be a 9 a.m. Mass on Oct. 13 and 20. Presentations from different choir groups happen is scheduled 5:30 p.m.

A solemn procession is on Oct. 20 at 6:45 p.m. from the Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod going to the Mambaling flyover, and back to SM Seaside Complex. On the feast day on Oct. 21, a Holy Mass will be celebrated at 8 a.m. to be followed by the Pontifical Mass at 10 a.m. Masses will also be offered at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the same day.

There will be a Sky Lantern display on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. and a run-for-a-cause, Run for San Pedro Calungsod on Oct. 13 at 4 a.m. at the SM Seaside Complex. The run will feature 3K, 5K, and 10K distances.

Artist Mar Vidal will conduct a free art workshop for the acolytes from the different Cebu parishes on Oct. 19 at 8 a.m. at the chapel’s function hall. A poster-making contest will follow at noon. Winners of the contest will be announced during the 6 p.m. Mass. The winning entries will be displayed for public viewing in SM City Cebu on Oct. 20 and 21.

A fireworks display will be on Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. and on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. Libera, a boys’ choir from England, will perform on Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. at the chapel.

For ticket inquiries, call the Arts Council of Cebu at 233-0452.

Cebu Daily News

0 The Saint A Year After

For a young man with humble beginnings, Pedro Calungsod is now being accorded with a 10-day celebration for his deep devotion and fidelity to the Catholic faith.

From an acolyte to a saint. That's a career path the millions of us will never get to tread. I have no problem with that; I'm fine as an erring human with a hearty appetite. Just so you know, Calungsod's life was not anywhere near ours. His was full of drama, suspense, danger and lots of masses and hours of kneeling.

From what researchers have dug about him, Calungsod was not one who hogged attention.

He was not one who would take a selfie 10 times a day and post each selfie on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. He would have shied away from the limelight, which he will have much of this month.

We give special attention to Calungsod every October starting last year when he became what we would never ever become: a saint. He was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012 in Rome.

A modern chapel and a templete have been built in his honor at the SM Seaside Complex at the South Reclamation Properties (SRP). The chapel is an architectural delight with its 100 uneven walls and streamlined interiors. I was there for the first time yesterday for the press conference on the first year anniversary celebration of the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod.

The chapel seats 800 people but only about 50 attend the single mass at 6 p.m. every day except Sunday. There are two masses on Sunday, at 9 a.m. and at 6 p.m. The SPC Chapel is open the whole day for supplicants who wish to offer their intentions and take selfies, not necessarily in this order.

Msgr. Vicente Tupas Jr., rector of the SPC Chapel, says that since the sainthood of Calungsod, devotees have told him of the "graces and miracles" they have received through the intercession of San Pedro Calungsod.

On Oct. 12-20, the chapel will have daily activities to promote the feast of Saint Pedro Calungsod. Novena prayers and masses will be held every 3:45 p.m. and again at 5:45 p.m., and a chaplet of the Divine Mercy and Holy Rosary at 3 p.m.

It's not all prayers though. Not everyone has the focus and endurance to pray like the late Pedro Calungsod or the Pope. So there's a poster-making contest and a free art workshop, a medical outreach by the Sweet Alert Society, and a fun run.

The fun run on October 20, Sunday, is going to be held at the Cebu Business Park. The distances are 3K, 5K and 10K and finishers of each distance get a medal.

The medal, engraved with the face of San Pedro Calungsod, is blessed. A runner who cheated on the distance will be revealed when he starts to burn upon wearing the medal. (Joke only, Msgr. Tupas.) Calungsod was a man of truth so piyait must die.

Sorry, I meant, cheaters have no chance at sainthood.

Big day is on October 21, Monday. Expect traffic congestion at the SRP leading to the San Pedro Calungsod Chapel.

Pilgrims who travelled to Rome last year for the canonization of Calungsod have a special mass at 8 a.m., just before the pontifical mass at 10 a.m. Since they're pilgrims, they will not mind hearing another mass even if it's a longer one. They did this in Romehear two, three Calungsod masses a day. But it would really be a stretch if they wait for, and attend, another mass at 4 p.m.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has described Pedro Calungsod as "a very popular saint." Let's boost his popularity by taking part in the celebration of his first anniversary of his canonization.

Calungsod was Bisdak.

Michelle P. So
Caught in the Net