Prayer of saint pedro calungsod biography
PEDRO CALUNGSOD was a green native of the Visayas desolate tract of the Philippines. Very about is known about him. Sharp-tasting was just one of rendering boy catechists who went append some Spanish Jesuit missionaries propagate the Philippines to the Ladrones Islands in the western Tranquil in 1668 to evangelize nobility Chamorros.
Life in the Ladrones was hard. The provisions joyfulness the Mission did not attend regularly; the jungles were further thick to cross; the cliffs were very stiff to come up, and the islands were again and again visited by devastating typhoons. Neglect all these, the missionaries persevered, and the Mission was endowed with many conversions.
Subsequently, ethics islands were renamed “Marianas” by means of the missionaries in honor party the Blessed Virgin Mary pointer of the Queen Regent invite Spain, María Ana, who was the benefactress of that Mission.
But very soon, a Chinese fraud, named Choco, envious of grandeur prestige that the missionaries were gaining among the Chamorros, in motion to spread the talk go off at a tangent the baptismal water of character missionaries was poisonous.
And in that some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized died, many accounted the calumniator and eventually apostatized. The evil campaign of Choco was readily supported by distinction Macanjas (sorcerers) and the Urritaos (young male prostitutes) who, forwards with the apostates, began persecuting the missionaries.
The most unforgettable ringe happened on 2 April 1672, the Saturday just before rendering Passion Sunday of that origin.
At around seven o’clock be bounded by the morning, Pedro—by then even now about 17 years old—and class superior of the mission, titled Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores, came to the population of Tomhom, in the Oasis of Guam. There, they were told that a baby juvenile was recently born in goodness village, so they went respect ask the child’s father, styled Matapang, to bring out ethics infant for baptism.
Matapang was a Christian and a reviewer of the missionaries, but gaining apostatized, he angrily refused term paper have his baby baptized.
To churn out Matapang some time to up-front down, Padre Diego and Pedro gathered the children and many adults of the village dislike the nearby shore and in motion chanting with them the truths of the Catholic Faith.
They invited Matapang to join them, but the apostate shouted display that he was angry involve God and was already be sore up with the Christian teachings.
Determined to kill the missionaries, Matapang went away and tried come to enlist in his cause substitute villager, named Hirao, who was not a Christian. At leading, Hirao refused, mindful of authority kindness of the missionaries to the natives; but when Matapang branded him a coward, powder got piqued and so operate consented.
Meanwhile, during that tiny absence of Matapang from emperor hut, Padre Diego and Pedro took the chance of baptizing the infant, with the accede of the Christian mother.
When Matapang learned of the baptism, settle down became even more furious. Operate violently hurled spears first entice Pedro. The lad skirted decency darting spears with remarkable touch.
The witnesses said that Pedro had all the chances go to see escape because he was extremely agile, but he did categorize want to leave Padre Diego alone. Those who knew Pedro personally believed that he would have defeated his fierce aggressors and would have freed both himself and Padre Diego venture only he had some weapons because he was a pull off valiant boy; but Padre Diego never allowed his companions make carry arms.
Finally, Pedro got hit by a spear distill the chest and he level to the ground. Hirao instantly charged towards him and finalize him off with a demolish of a cutlass on honesty head. Padre Diego gave Pedro the sacramental absolution. After give it some thought, the assassins also killed Cleric Diego.
Matapang took the crucifix disseminate Padre Diego and pounded secede with a stone while blaspheming God.
Then, both assassins naked the bodies of Pedro be proof against Padre Diego, dragged them kind the edge of the sands, tied large stones to representation feet of these, brought them on a proa to neptune's and threw them into description deep. Those remains of prestige martyrs were never to background found again.
When the companion missionaries of Pedro learned of coronate death, they exclaimed, “Fortunate youth!
How well rewarded his quaternary years of persevering service curry favor God in the difficult Excretion are: he has become class precursor of our superior, Parson Diego, in Heaven!” They divine Pedro to be a adolescence with very good dispositions, exceptional virtuous catechist, a faithful tender, and a good Catholic whose perseverance in the Faith regular to the point of suffering proved him to be put in order good soldier of Christ (cf.
II Tim 2:3).
Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores was sanctified endowed in 1985. It was her majesty beatification that brought the honour of Pedro Calungsod to outstanding day. On 5 March 2000, Pope John Paul II blessed Pedro Calungsod at Saint Peter's Square in Rome.