The face behind Saint Pedro Calungsod

A Cebuano will officially be canonized as the second Filipino Saint this coming October 21 in Rome.

Catholic cardinals have approved in Rome the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod of Cebu, that will make him the second Filipino to be recognized a saint by the Catholic Church after San Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila.

Here's some info I found via Wikepedia:  very little is known about Calungsod except that he was an Ilonggo and was born and raised in Iloilo City. In the register for the process of beatification, he was born in Molo, a Chinese district in Iloilo City. He just came to Cebu to preach Christianity then move to Guam.

It is known that he was just one of the boy catechists who went with some Spanish Jesuit missionaries from the Philippines to the to evangelize the Chamorros in the Ladrones Islands in the western Pacific in 1668.

Pope John Paul II beatified both Father Diego Luis de San Vitores (October 6, 1985) and Pedro Calungsod (March 5, 2000) at Saint Peter's Square in Rome.

Pedro was beatified along with other 43 servants of God. About Pedro, the Pope said:

    (...) From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. Leaving family and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to him by Fr Diego de San Vitores to join him on the Mission to the Chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met. In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr Diego, but as a "good soldier of Christ" preferred to die at the missionary's side (...)

Now, here's some trivia so we won't get confused which one is San Pedro Calungsod and San Lorenzo Ruiz when their holy images are place beside each other. Calungsod doesn’t look Chinese, while Lorenzo Ruiz has Chinese distinction. Second, he is holding the ‘Doctrina Christiana’ and palm leaves while Ruiz holds a rosary.  Lastly, notice that Calungsod’s feet are not positioned firmly on the ground. One foot is slightly raised because it shows his being a missionary, a young man on the move. It shows his dynamism.

Astig316 meets Mr. Fearless

Now, do you want to know about the man who was tapped to be the face of Pedro Calungsod, here's the post The Legend of the Saint that I have written two years ago about my favorite athlete Ronald Tubid, a PBA All-Star who once donned a Brgy Ginebra Kings jersey before he was traded to the Barako Bull Energy early this year. I am just delighted about this news because I'm sure my idol will be more popular in the coming days.

Read on and share your thoughts.

Super Memorable Moments with Mom

When I was young, I had this crazy thought that I am being raised by a superhero

Every day I see my father holds a hammer like Thor and does wonders with it. With wood and nails, he has built houses (apartments, dog house, pigeon cage, and the likes) and that’s how good a carpenter he is.  He also used his hammer to split rocks, flatten metals and, I hope he won’t found out that I said this, I saw him one time crushing garlic with it while cooking adobo.  Only he and Thor can do so many things with a hammer.

How about my mother? Honestly, I just see her as our ever loving Nanay who takes care of us every day from cooking meals, washing clothes and cleaning the house while my father works.  Growing up, I saw nothing really super with my mom.  Not until I became a parent myself that I realized that my Nanay Conchit was an extra-ordinary person after all.

My mom is a one-woman- superhero team like The Avengers because she possesses awesome traits of the members of the group.

Nanay is a leader like Captain America. She’s the heart of the family and everyone listens to her.  Even without a hard metal disc, she has shielded our family from any harm. Truly, the safest place on Earth is in a mother’s loving arms.

She has an incredible green thumb like Hulk. She can grow almost any plant being a daughter of a farmer. 

She is also mighty like Thor (Yup, same as Tatay).  She is a barangay volunteer who devotes a few hours of service every night to help maintain peace and order in our community.

She is firm like Ironman with her word.  She does everything to fulfill a promise.  I can’t remember any instance that my mother assured something and failed to do it. 

She is Hawkeye.  Just one look, Nanay Conchit knows if any of her child has a problem. You just can’t hide anything without her knowing. 

She embodies girl power like Black Widow.  She is a strong believer that women can also accomplish what men can do.  

She is tough like Nick Fury.  She never quit and bravely faces every trial she meets in life. When our family was put to the test, she did not entertain the idea of a broken family and did everything to convince  Thor to rejoin the family. (I hope you got what I mean)

A Super Wo-Mom deserves a super treat!  Nanay mentioned before that Cebu is one of the places that she wants to visit. If only I had an extra budget for the Diamond Suites and Residence Mothers Day offers, I could have made her wish come true and made Mother's Day celebration more special.

She could have had a relaxing stay at any of our luxurious guestrooms of the hotel with buffet breakfast and FREE Therapeutic massage for 2 with Tatay.

Oh well, there’s always a next year and hopefully my mom gets her well-deserve super treat by then.  For now, I just want to tell you that we super duper love you, Nanay!