Jul
09
2008
0
By Anonymous (not verified)
In the following journal, Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC, the Marians' second general councilor in Rome, describes his historic visit the Philippines on June 2-27, in which he helped established the Marians' new Filipino mission.
Monday, June 2 - I flew from Rome to Amsterdam (two hours) and then to Manila (12 hours). I arrived on Tuesday morning, June 3, around 9 a.m. Manila time. I was picked up at the airport by Fr. Joseph Wang and a driver from the Divine Mercy Shrine. They took me to the Cherry Blossom Hotel next to the Robinson Shopping Center in Ermita, Manila. It is owned by Ambassador Chua, a friend of Msgr. Ramirez who covered the costs of our stay there. That night, I had dinner in a Korean restaurant with Msgr. Josefino Ramirez who just celebrated his 61st birthday. We dined with Salve Uyloan, her husband, Dr. Romy Uyloan, and their son, Gerard. Also at the dinner was Fr. Joseph Wang from the largest diocese in the underground Church in China and Dr. Flora Go, a former professor at the St. Thomas University in Manila and former executive assistant to the mayor of Manila. She came to Rome in April for the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy and is on the board of directors and is a great fundraiser for the LaSalle Universities in the Philippines. Msgr. Ramirez recommended her for our Marian Foundation, which we will form in the Philippines. In order to own property there, we must have a foundation which is 60 percent Filipino and 40 percent Marian.
Wednesday, June 4 - I concelebrated the 7:30 a.m. Mass at the Ermita Church, Nuestra Senora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance), with the parish priest, Fr. Sanny C. De Claro. This image of Our Lady is the oldest image of Our Lady in the Philippines and is actually a statue of the Immaculate Conception. I preached at the Mass and spoke about the Marians beginning our mission here. After Mass, I had breakfast with Dr. Flora Go and with Sr. Cora San Diego of the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy at the Emerald Chinese Restaurant across from the American Embassy. I had lunch with Msgr. Ramirez, Erwin and Leona Tanunliong, who confirmed their donation of the property at Giumaras. Also at the lunch were attorneys Eduardo (Ed) C. Escano and Genevieve (Ivee) U. Yu who will help us set up the foundation. Also at the lunch were Thelma Lim Siao, a business woman who owns Chekito Bazar in Cebu. She is a friend of Msgr. Ramirez and promotes the message of Divine Mercy in Cebu City. On the way home, we stopped to anoint DonDon, the wife of Peter, the head of the Catholic Charismatic Community in Cebu. She has cancer and is receiving treatments in Manila. They are friends of Msgr. Ramirez. The Marian missionaries, Frs. Jan Migacz, MIC, Walerian Pozniak, MIC, and Mariusz Jarzabak, MIC, arrived that evening at around 11 p.m. I picked them up, along with John John, a driver from the Divine Mercy Shrine, amidst terrible Manila traffic.
Thursday, June 5 - We attended the 8 a.m. Mass at the Ermita Shrine and visited a property in San Mateo with sister Mary Anawim in the afternoon. (Mary is a laywomen, but many Filipinos use the title of "brother" or "sister." In these cases, I will use a lower-case letter to distinguish them from consecrated religious.) Businessman Nick DeBaron wants to donate five hectares to us on a hill overlooking Metro Manila. He wants to build a Divine Mercy Shrine there with a 120-foot statue of The Divine Mercy on top of a 30-foot hill. He has already invested a considerable sum of money building a Columbary for the ashes of the deceased and has donated the land for the Shrine to the Archdiocese of Antipolo. He is looking for a religious community or a priest to agree to run the Shrine, since the Archbishop has no one he can spare for it. That evening, we had dinner with him, his wife, his son, sister Mary Anawim, and Erwin and Leona Tanunliong. At this dinner, Erwin looked into the possibility of investing in building a Divine Mercy Formation Center at this Shrine, which is closer to Manila, before building the Guimaras Center. He subsequently decided not to do so, but to go ahead with the plan to build Guimaras as soon as possible, perhaps even this year. In an email to Fr. Jan Rokosz, MIC, Superior General of the Congregation of Marians, we expressed the thought that it would be too much for our community to take on the managing of two shrines at once. It would also be difficult to build a religious house on the land he was offering us, which was very hilly.
Friday, June 6 - This morning, we concelebrated Mass at City Hall with Fr. Sanny and devotees of The Divine Mercy from the Our Lady of Guia Church. Mayor Lim of Manila was unable to attend, but the Mass was well attended by the employees of City Hall (200-300). Afterward, we had lunch with Fr. Sanny and some of the devotees. That evening, we attended a Divine Mercy Holy Hour in the church, held on the first Friday of the month. Afterwards, Fr. Mariusz and I had dinner near the church with Dr. Flora Go and a young Filipino priest. Father Jan and Walerian went back to the hotel.
Saturday, June 7 - This morning we toured Intramuros, the oldest part of the Philippines. We visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which has a chapel dedicated to the souls in purgatory. A wedding was taking place there at that time. We also visited the oldest church, San Agostino, and the attached museum. We then celebrated Mass in the Cardinal's chapel, which Msgr. Ramirez had arranged. The Cardinal was in Rome at the time, and I was not able to visit with him later in the trip, either. Msgr. Ramirez will present Fr. Mariusz to him so that he may receive faculties and a letter in order to obtain a missionary visa. That evening, we had dinner with Monina Tayaman and the members of the Divine Mercy Apostolate of the Philippines (DMAP). Nora Santos of DMAP was host of the dinner at the Polo Club of Manila.
Sunday, June 8 - We concelebrated the 12:15 Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine. I preached. After lunch at the Shrine, we visited the little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from Cherry Hill, N.J., who live in Paranaque. Nora Santos and her driver picked us up there to show us her niece's house, which is available. It has a lot of property and seven bedrooms, but needs some repair work. It could be a possible site for the Marian Helpers Center in the Philippines. We then dropped her off at her house, and she gave us some prayercards for the Sisters. Her driver was then supposed to take us back to the Sisters for dinner. Due to a lack of communication between she and him, and a lack of English on his part, he took us back to our hotel. We then took a taxi back to the Sisters' house. A friend of theirs showed us three houses near them, all smaller. The Sisters driver took us back to our hotel that night.
Monday, June 9 - Today the Uyloan family took us to Tagaytay to visit the Ursuline Sisters. The missionaries received an orientation from Sr. Margarita, Sr. Violetta, and a Salvatorian Polish priest. Their orientation focused on the challenges awaiting them in the Philippines. That evening, we had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez and Fr. Rolly, a Capuchin, at the home of the Uyloan family.
Tuesday, June 10 - This morning, after concelebrating Mass at the Our Lady of Guia Church, we had breakfast in the home of Celia Consing, whose daughter lives in Ealing, London. She and her friend, Alice, are widows and attend Mass daily. Their friend, Nora Santos, encouraged them to look after us while we were staying in Ermita near their church. Later that morning, I went to try and repair an external hard drive for my computer, which was damaged when I accidentally dropped it. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. Fathers Mariusz, Jan, and Walerian visited with Jude, a lay evangelist from Malaysia who frequently comes to the Philippines to evangelize the poor. He took them on a Jeepney, (a unique form of Philippine transportation which is an extension of the Jeep - it can hold up to 20 passengers), to visit a Church in Malate dedicated to Our Lady of Good Remedy. There, they met a Colomban priest from Peru who works at the church. That afternoon, Fr. Joseph and John John, the driver from the Shrine, took us to the immigration office to extend our visas. Msgr. Ramirez had arranged for an official there to assist us in the process.
Wednesday, June 11 - This morning, we were picked up by a driver from the Shrine, and we went to the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in the Philippines, which is operated by the Dominicans. There, we picked up a Chinese priest, Fr. Joseph. Along with another Chinese priest, Fr. Peter, who lives at the Shrine, we then went to visit the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Bulacan, near Marilao, just north of Manila, at the invitation of Fr. Rey Santos, the rector. He expressed a hope that Marians could come to assist at the Shrine in the future. Next February, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, Dr. Bryan Thatcher (the founder of Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy)and Dr. Robert Stackpole (director of the John Paul II Institute of The Divine Mercy) are scheduled to come and give talks to Divine Mercy leaders. We came to realize how well known and well respected the Marians are here. Many know about the Marians due to the Chaplet and programs on the American Catholic cable TV channel EWTN, which is broadcast throughout the world. I celebrated Mass for some Divine Mercy devotees, and Fr. Walerian preached a powerful homily. We also met Fr. Vic Robles, the original Shrine rector, who took us for a tour of the Shrine as well as for a visit to his new parish, which is nearby, dedicated to the Santo Nino of Cebu. We also visited another Shrine that he is in charge of, dedicated to the Mother of the Eucharist. A layman recently donated it to the Diocese. We met Fr. Vic's associate pastor, who takes a course three times a week on the pastoral challenges facing Philippine society and families. Father Vic recommended that our men eventually take the course to help them in their pastoral work. He is the Filipino version of Fr. Makulski in terms of his vision for the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. He built small tributes on the Shrine grounds to St. Faustina, Ven. John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and the Black Madonna. That afternoon, sister Mary Anawim helped Fr. Mariusz and myself to purchase three cell phones for the three missionaries. That evening, we had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez, Carlo, a Philippine seminarian, several Chinese seminarians, and priests, Dr. Flora Go, and a Divine Mercy devotee who is suffering from Leukemia, along with his family. After the dinner, we prayed over him.
Thursday, June 12 - We had breakfast with Celia Consing and her friend Alice along with the religious writer for the Inquirer Newspaper who may do a story on our community. We concelebrated Mass that evening at the Divine Mercy Shrine along with Msgr. Ramirez and a number of other Philippino and Chinese priests to mark the 12th Anniversary of the Shrine, and to continue to celebrate, Msgr. Ramirez's 61st birthday. There was a meal and a festive celebration with singing and dancing.
Friday, June 13 - Today we flew from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. We carried a number of Divine Mercy in the Philippines books with us for the Divine Mercy Foundation in Mindanao. We had to pay for excess baggage because our two missionaries in Mindanao were carrying all their belongings. We were met at the airport by a large number of the members of the Divine Mercy Foundation and two large banners welcoming us. They took us to lunch and then showed us Xavier University, which is run by the Jesuits. Years ago, Attorney Gerry Adaza, the president of the Foundation, was the president of the student government there and the young Jesuit who was their faculty advisor, is the current Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, Antonio Ledesma. Gerry was later on the faculty of the School of Law there for 15 years. His wife, Paquita (sister Kitz), is the executive director of the Foundation. He had cancer of the throat box and cannot speak but is praying for a return of his speech. We visited the Campus Chapel which is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. That afternoon, we met with the Archbishop, the Vicars of the Archdiocese and the Lay Foundation. We scheduled a follow-up meeting for Monday at 11 AM to discuss the 3 way agreement between the Archdiocese, the Marians and the Foundation. That afternoon, I received the draft translation of the agreement from Rome. I corrected the English and gave copies to the Archbishop, Msgr. Ray Musanto, (the spiritual director for the Foundation, former Vicar General of the Archdiocese and an expert on Canon Law), and Attorney Adaza. That evening, Madame Rosales and her daughter hosted a welcome dinner in a Chinese Restaurant for us. It was also attended by some members of the board and Msgr. Musanto. Fr. Jan Migacz has already begun to learn some words in Visayan, the local language. The Four Marians stayed in the Archbishop's residence this week.
Saturday, June 14 - We visited the Divine Mercy Hills property this morning. We saw the small cottage where the Marians will live initially until a slightly larger and sturdier cottage is ready, which will have three bedrooms and a small chapel. The current primitive structure has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a porch with a wonderful view of the ocean. We toured the grounds, celebrated Mass in a makeshift chapel, and met with Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao who are preparing for the Sept. 8 celebration.
Sunday, June 15 - We concelebrated the 3 p.m. Mass with Msgr. Musanto. After an early dinner, featuring the favorite dish in the Philippines, Lichon, a whole suckling pig, we met with a committee from the Foundation and with Msgr. Musanto for several hours to discuss the Agreement.
Monday, June 16 - We met with the Archbishop at 8 a.m. for an hour, to talk about the agreement and the Church. We discussed the management of the Shrine with the Archbishop. At the 11 o'clock meeting, the management of the Shrine was discussed. The Archbishop asked that a simpler church be built and asked that the Marians and the Foundation visit several churches in the area to get some ideas. The Archdiocese is very poor and agrarian, and he wants the Shrine to reflect this. This afternoon, we attended a quarterly afternoon of recollection for the priests and the religious of the Archdiocese held at the Archdiocesan Major Seminary. At the request of the Archbishop, I introduced the community during the Mass. We watched a film in Tagalog on the Outreach Ministries of the Archdiocese of Manila, heard a report on the difficulties faced by the rural poor, and broke up into small groups to talk about Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). This is a model used throughout the Philippines to help parishioners to share their faith and to support one another. That evening, we had dinner with the priests from the Archdiocese.
Tuesday, June 17 - We attended part of a meeting of the priests of the Archdiocese. Many of these meetings are conducted in both English and the Visayan language. It will be necessary for our men to learn this language. There is a school in Davao (5-7 hours away by car or bus) that is excellent. It is run by a religious community and has a three-month basic course and an additional three-month higher-level course. For now, our men will study with a former school teacher in El Salvador. After lunch, we visited a parish in the mountains that had been built three years ago. We went with the Adazas, sister Tara, the architect for the Foundation, and with Fr. Florencio "Boy" Salvador, the vicar general for the Archdiocese (nicknames or aliases are very common in the Philippines). That evening, we had dinner with Dr. Flora Go and Dr. Lim, two members of the Board of Trustees of the LaSalle University along with Dr. Lim's son, Alexander. Each of them comes from Chinese families.
Wednesday, June 18 - We had a working dinner with the Board of Directors of the Foundation and met with Fr. Boy to plan the celebrations surrounding Sept. 8. It will also be the 75th anniversary of the Archdiocese. In the Triduum prior to the feast, there will be talks by myself, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, Msgr. Musanto, and Fr. Salvador.
Thursday, June 19 -We traveled with the Foundation to Davao to meet with Divine Mercy leaders there and Archbishop Fernando Capalla, the spiritual director of Divine Mercy for Mindanao. We stayed in a retreat house run by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and celebrated Mass there in the evening. There was some extreme flooding since it was the rainy season, and we got lost for a while trying to find our way in Davao. With us were the Adazas, their driver, a nurse for brother Gerry named Clark, and Edwin, who is helping to oversee the Sept. 8 celebrations.
Friday, June 20 - We met with Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao throughout the day. There are some divisions among them, so I conducted a two-hour workshop on how to be a servant leader, bringing in the importance of unity, along with a question-and-answer session. We celebrated Mass for the group at the retreat house and had dinner in a Chinese restaurant that night. Father Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, arrived in Manila on his way to speaking engagements in New Zealand and his work at the World Youth Day in Australia. Father Mariusz Jarzabek had flown back to Manila that morning to help Fr. Seraphim with an address to leaders on Saturday. As it turned out, the talk was rescheduled for Monday.
Saturday, June 21 - Fathers Jan and Walerian left with the Adazas for Cagayan de Oro after Mass and breakfast. I visited a shrine dedicated to the Infant of Prague with a family who had moved to Davao from Cagayan de Oro - Butch, Stephanie (Tipi) and their son, Ryan. Afterwards, I met with Archbishop Capalla with some Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao. I introduced the Marians to him and gave him a copy of our magazine, Marian Helper. He remarked that he had just seen the magazine in a rectory on a recent visit to the United States. He was very gracious and invited me to stay at his residence the next time I was in Davao. He also invited the Marians to open a religious house in his Archdiocese. I then flew to Manila. The ride was very bumpy because of Typhoon Frank. We stayed at the Pearl Manila Hotel until Tuesday, courtesy of Salve Uyloan and the Great Times Travel Agency. We had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez and several Chinese priests.
Sunday, June 22 - This morning, Fr. Seraphim celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine with Msgr. Ramirez, myself, Fr. Mariusz, and Fr. Peter from China concelebrating. The road in front of the Shrine was severely flooded due to Typhoon Frank, and therefore attendance was sparse. We had lunch with Msgr. Ramirez and his secretary, Bart, his driver, Roge, Erwin and Leona Taniliung and Erwin's brother, Patrick. There was no power in Metro Manila, but some buildings have emergency generators.
Monday, June 23 - I met with Palofax and Associates this morning in Makati City, Metro Manila, to discuss revisions to the design of the church in Cagayan de Oro. Father Seraphim addressed Divine Mercy leaders at the Shrine. I joined Frs. Seraphim and Mariusz for a 12:15 Mass at the Shrine. After lunch at the Shrine, we went back to our hotel for some rest and prayer. We saw some poor children who are fed at the Shrine each day. They were reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Tagalog. That evening, the Uyloan family took us to dinner in our hotel. I spoke by phone with Frs. Walerian and Jan, who reported on their meeting that day with the Archbishop and the Foundation regarding the design of the church. They received permission to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in a chapel near their cottage on the grounds of the Shrine and to celebrate daily Mass at the Shrine. Some local priests will continue to help out on weekends with confessions and Mass in Visayan on Saturdays. The men reported some trouble sleeping in the new cottage the night before due to a 16-inch (40 cm.) lizard between the ceiling and the roof. It walked back and forth and made strange noises throughout the night. They were told that it was a great blessing to have such a lizard in the house. Due to their difficulty sleeping, they prayed the morning prayer together at 6 a.m.
Tuesday, June 24 - Early in the morning, we were picked up and brought to San Carlos Seminary, a large complex for the Archdiocese of Manila. It is located on a very busy street, the EDSA Highway. It contains four seminaries - for philosophy, another for theology, one for delayed vocations, and another for Chinese. Many of the current bishops in China have been educated there. We stayed in a priest's retreat house - Bahay Pari. Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Mariusz, and I conducted a three-day retreat for 24 priests from the Philippines, China and New Zealand. Most were Divine Mercy spiritual directors in their dioceses. Others could not come because of the typhoon.
Wednesday, June 25 - The retreat continued. Some laity and potential Marian candidates attended the retreat as well, including Bart, Msgr. Ramirez's secretary, and Angelo, a nurse with a degree in finance.
Thursday, June 26 - Bishop Teodoro Bacani, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Novaliches, attended the morning session conducted by Fr. Seraphim and celebrated Mass for the group. We concluded the retreat with the Chaplet. We had the opportunity today to meet and to speak with Bishop Bernadino Cortez, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila. That evening, we went to a Chinese Restaurant with Msgr. Ramirez, a seminarian for Manila, Carlo, Fr. Rory Morrissey, S.M. from New Zealand, a longtime promoter of the Divine Mercy and friend of the Marians, Dr. Flora Go and the Uyloan family. At the suggestion of Msgr. Ramirez, I asked Dr. Flora to be the third member of our Marian Foundation that we are forming in the Philippines. She accepted. After the dinner, Msgr. Ramirez dropped me off at another Chinese restaurant in Makati to meet with Rolf Rohn, an American church designer, along with one of his co-workers and four Philippine priests.
Friday, June 27 - I celebrated Mass with Fr. Rory, to celebrate my 16th anniversary of ordination today. After breakfast with him, Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Mariusz and Fr. Francis, a priest from Korea, Fr. Rory, and I were taken to the airport for our flights. Father Mariusz moved into his room and office at the Divine Mercy Shrine today. Father Seraphim addressed 300 Divine Mercy promoters there this morning, and he celebrate a televised Mass from the Shrine at 3 p.m., which was broadcast throughout the Philippines. Such Masses take place at the Shrine every Friday, and Fr. Mariusz will be celebrating this Mass in the future. Radio broadcasts on the Divine Mercy are also very possible in the future. Father Seraphim was to go to Cebu on Saturday and Sunday to speak to the Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy before his departure for New Zealand on Monday. A Monsignor Chris from Cebu had stated that many Divine Mercy devotees begin to drift to the right toward superstition and cult-like practices, or to the left, building houses for the poor, but neglecting their prayer lives and falling prey to the Communist party. He stated he could always count on the EADM cenacle groups and that Bryan Thatcher's work was bearing great spiritual fruit. Nora Santos called to inform me that she would send specifications for her niece's house, which we were thinking of buying for a Marian Helper's Center in Manila. She told me that the DMAP group had found a larger house nearby (close to the airport) with more land, in better shape, and for the same price. They would take Fr. Mariusz to go see it.
Monday, June 2 - I flew from Rome to Amsterdam (two hours) and then to Manila (12 hours). I arrived on Tuesday morning, June 3, around 9 a.m. Manila time. I was picked up at the airport by Fr. Joseph Wang and a driver from the Divine Mercy Shrine. They took me to the Cherry Blossom Hotel next to the Robinson Shopping Center in Ermita, Manila. It is owned by Ambassador Chua, a friend of Msgr. Ramirez who covered the costs of our stay there. That night, I had dinner in a Korean restaurant with Msgr. Josefino Ramirez who just celebrated his 61st birthday. We dined with Salve Uyloan, her husband, Dr. Romy Uyloan, and their son, Gerard. Also at the dinner was Fr. Joseph Wang from the largest diocese in the underground Church in China and Dr. Flora Go, a former professor at the St. Thomas University in Manila and former executive assistant to the mayor of Manila. She came to Rome in April for the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy and is on the board of directors and is a great fundraiser for the LaSalle Universities in the Philippines. Msgr. Ramirez recommended her for our Marian Foundation, which we will form in the Philippines. In order to own property there, we must have a foundation which is 60 percent Filipino and 40 percent Marian.
Wednesday, June 4 - I concelebrated the 7:30 a.m. Mass at the Ermita Church, Nuestra Senora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance), with the parish priest, Fr. Sanny C. De Claro. This image of Our Lady is the oldest image of Our Lady in the Philippines and is actually a statue of the Immaculate Conception. I preached at the Mass and spoke about the Marians beginning our mission here. After Mass, I had breakfast with Dr. Flora Go and with Sr. Cora San Diego of the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy at the Emerald Chinese Restaurant across from the American Embassy. I had lunch with Msgr. Ramirez, Erwin and Leona Tanunliong, who confirmed their donation of the property at Giumaras. Also at the lunch were attorneys Eduardo (Ed) C. Escano and Genevieve (Ivee) U. Yu who will help us set up the foundation. Also at the lunch were Thelma Lim Siao, a business woman who owns Chekito Bazar in Cebu. She is a friend of Msgr. Ramirez and promotes the message of Divine Mercy in Cebu City. On the way home, we stopped to anoint DonDon, the wife of Peter, the head of the Catholic Charismatic Community in Cebu. She has cancer and is receiving treatments in Manila. They are friends of Msgr. Ramirez. The Marian missionaries, Frs. Jan Migacz, MIC, Walerian Pozniak, MIC, and Mariusz Jarzabak, MIC, arrived that evening at around 11 p.m. I picked them up, along with John John, a driver from the Divine Mercy Shrine, amidst terrible Manila traffic.
Thursday, June 5 - We attended the 8 a.m. Mass at the Ermita Shrine and visited a property in San Mateo with sister Mary Anawim in the afternoon. (Mary is a laywomen, but many Filipinos use the title of "brother" or "sister." In these cases, I will use a lower-case letter to distinguish them from consecrated religious.) Businessman Nick DeBaron wants to donate five hectares to us on a hill overlooking Metro Manila. He wants to build a Divine Mercy Shrine there with a 120-foot statue of The Divine Mercy on top of a 30-foot hill. He has already invested a considerable sum of money building a Columbary for the ashes of the deceased and has donated the land for the Shrine to the Archdiocese of Antipolo. He is looking for a religious community or a priest to agree to run the Shrine, since the Archbishop has no one he can spare for it. That evening, we had dinner with him, his wife, his son, sister Mary Anawim, and Erwin and Leona Tanunliong. At this dinner, Erwin looked into the possibility of investing in building a Divine Mercy Formation Center at this Shrine, which is closer to Manila, before building the Guimaras Center. He subsequently decided not to do so, but to go ahead with the plan to build Guimaras as soon as possible, perhaps even this year. In an email to Fr. Jan Rokosz, MIC, Superior General of the Congregation of Marians, we expressed the thought that it would be too much for our community to take on the managing of two shrines at once. It would also be difficult to build a religious house on the land he was offering us, which was very hilly.
Friday, June 6 - This morning, we concelebrated Mass at City Hall with Fr. Sanny and devotees of The Divine Mercy from the Our Lady of Guia Church. Mayor Lim of Manila was unable to attend, but the Mass was well attended by the employees of City Hall (200-300). Afterward, we had lunch with Fr. Sanny and some of the devotees. That evening, we attended a Divine Mercy Holy Hour in the church, held on the first Friday of the month. Afterwards, Fr. Mariusz and I had dinner near the church with Dr. Flora Go and a young Filipino priest. Father Jan and Walerian went back to the hotel.
Saturday, June 7 - This morning we toured Intramuros, the oldest part of the Philippines. We visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which has a chapel dedicated to the souls in purgatory. A wedding was taking place there at that time. We also visited the oldest church, San Agostino, and the attached museum. We then celebrated Mass in the Cardinal's chapel, which Msgr. Ramirez had arranged. The Cardinal was in Rome at the time, and I was not able to visit with him later in the trip, either. Msgr. Ramirez will present Fr. Mariusz to him so that he may receive faculties and a letter in order to obtain a missionary visa. That evening, we had dinner with Monina Tayaman and the members of the Divine Mercy Apostolate of the Philippines (DMAP). Nora Santos of DMAP was host of the dinner at the Polo Club of Manila.
Sunday, June 8 - We concelebrated the 12:15 Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine. I preached. After lunch at the Shrine, we visited the little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from Cherry Hill, N.J., who live in Paranaque. Nora Santos and her driver picked us up there to show us her niece's house, which is available. It has a lot of property and seven bedrooms, but needs some repair work. It could be a possible site for the Marian Helpers Center in the Philippines. We then dropped her off at her house, and she gave us some prayercards for the Sisters. Her driver was then supposed to take us back to the Sisters for dinner. Due to a lack of communication between she and him, and a lack of English on his part, he took us back to our hotel. We then took a taxi back to the Sisters' house. A friend of theirs showed us three houses near them, all smaller. The Sisters driver took us back to our hotel that night.
Monday, June 9 - Today the Uyloan family took us to Tagaytay to visit the Ursuline Sisters. The missionaries received an orientation from Sr. Margarita, Sr. Violetta, and a Salvatorian Polish priest. Their orientation focused on the challenges awaiting them in the Philippines. That evening, we had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez and Fr. Rolly, a Capuchin, at the home of the Uyloan family.
Tuesday, June 10 - This morning, after concelebrating Mass at the Our Lady of Guia Church, we had breakfast in the home of Celia Consing, whose daughter lives in Ealing, London. She and her friend, Alice, are widows and attend Mass daily. Their friend, Nora Santos, encouraged them to look after us while we were staying in Ermita near their church. Later that morning, I went to try and repair an external hard drive for my computer, which was damaged when I accidentally dropped it. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. Fathers Mariusz, Jan, and Walerian visited with Jude, a lay evangelist from Malaysia who frequently comes to the Philippines to evangelize the poor. He took them on a Jeepney, (a unique form of Philippine transportation which is an extension of the Jeep - it can hold up to 20 passengers), to visit a Church in Malate dedicated to Our Lady of Good Remedy. There, they met a Colomban priest from Peru who works at the church. That afternoon, Fr. Joseph and John John, the driver from the Shrine, took us to the immigration office to extend our visas. Msgr. Ramirez had arranged for an official there to assist us in the process.
Wednesday, June 11 - This morning, we were picked up by a driver from the Shrine, and we went to the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in the Philippines, which is operated by the Dominicans. There, we picked up a Chinese priest, Fr. Joseph. Along with another Chinese priest, Fr. Peter, who lives at the Shrine, we then went to visit the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Bulacan, near Marilao, just north of Manila, at the invitation of Fr. Rey Santos, the rector. He expressed a hope that Marians could come to assist at the Shrine in the future. Next February, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, Dr. Bryan Thatcher (the founder of Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy)and Dr. Robert Stackpole (director of the John Paul II Institute of The Divine Mercy) are scheduled to come and give talks to Divine Mercy leaders. We came to realize how well known and well respected the Marians are here. Many know about the Marians due to the Chaplet and programs on the American Catholic cable TV channel EWTN, which is broadcast throughout the world. I celebrated Mass for some Divine Mercy devotees, and Fr. Walerian preached a powerful homily. We also met Fr. Vic Robles, the original Shrine rector, who took us for a tour of the Shrine as well as for a visit to his new parish, which is nearby, dedicated to the Santo Nino of Cebu. We also visited another Shrine that he is in charge of, dedicated to the Mother of the Eucharist. A layman recently donated it to the Diocese. We met Fr. Vic's associate pastor, who takes a course three times a week on the pastoral challenges facing Philippine society and families. Father Vic recommended that our men eventually take the course to help them in their pastoral work. He is the Filipino version of Fr. Makulski in terms of his vision for the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. He built small tributes on the Shrine grounds to St. Faustina, Ven. John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and the Black Madonna. That afternoon, sister Mary Anawim helped Fr. Mariusz and myself to purchase three cell phones for the three missionaries. That evening, we had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez, Carlo, a Philippine seminarian, several Chinese seminarians, and priests, Dr. Flora Go, and a Divine Mercy devotee who is suffering from Leukemia, along with his family. After the dinner, we prayed over him.
Thursday, June 12 - We had breakfast with Celia Consing and her friend Alice along with the religious writer for the Inquirer Newspaper who may do a story on our community. We concelebrated Mass that evening at the Divine Mercy Shrine along with Msgr. Ramirez and a number of other Philippino and Chinese priests to mark the 12th Anniversary of the Shrine, and to continue to celebrate, Msgr. Ramirez's 61st birthday. There was a meal and a festive celebration with singing and dancing.
Friday, June 13 - Today we flew from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. We carried a number of Divine Mercy in the Philippines books with us for the Divine Mercy Foundation in Mindanao. We had to pay for excess baggage because our two missionaries in Mindanao were carrying all their belongings. We were met at the airport by a large number of the members of the Divine Mercy Foundation and two large banners welcoming us. They took us to lunch and then showed us Xavier University, which is run by the Jesuits. Years ago, Attorney Gerry Adaza, the president of the Foundation, was the president of the student government there and the young Jesuit who was their faculty advisor, is the current Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, Antonio Ledesma. Gerry was later on the faculty of the School of Law there for 15 years. His wife, Paquita (sister Kitz), is the executive director of the Foundation. He had cancer of the throat box and cannot speak but is praying for a return of his speech. We visited the Campus Chapel which is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. That afternoon, we met with the Archbishop, the Vicars of the Archdiocese and the Lay Foundation. We scheduled a follow-up meeting for Monday at 11 AM to discuss the 3 way agreement between the Archdiocese, the Marians and the Foundation. That afternoon, I received the draft translation of the agreement from Rome. I corrected the English and gave copies to the Archbishop, Msgr. Ray Musanto, (the spiritual director for the Foundation, former Vicar General of the Archdiocese and an expert on Canon Law), and Attorney Adaza. That evening, Madame Rosales and her daughter hosted a welcome dinner in a Chinese Restaurant for us. It was also attended by some members of the board and Msgr. Musanto. Fr. Jan Migacz has already begun to learn some words in Visayan, the local language. The Four Marians stayed in the Archbishop's residence this week.
Saturday, June 14 - We visited the Divine Mercy Hills property this morning. We saw the small cottage where the Marians will live initially until a slightly larger and sturdier cottage is ready, which will have three bedrooms and a small chapel. The current primitive structure has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a porch with a wonderful view of the ocean. We toured the grounds, celebrated Mass in a makeshift chapel, and met with Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao who are preparing for the Sept. 8 celebration.
Sunday, June 15 - We concelebrated the 3 p.m. Mass with Msgr. Musanto. After an early dinner, featuring the favorite dish in the Philippines, Lichon, a whole suckling pig, we met with a committee from the Foundation and with Msgr. Musanto for several hours to discuss the Agreement.
Monday, June 16 - We met with the Archbishop at 8 a.m. for an hour, to talk about the agreement and the Church. We discussed the management of the Shrine with the Archbishop. At the 11 o'clock meeting, the management of the Shrine was discussed. The Archbishop asked that a simpler church be built and asked that the Marians and the Foundation visit several churches in the area to get some ideas. The Archdiocese is very poor and agrarian, and he wants the Shrine to reflect this. This afternoon, we attended a quarterly afternoon of recollection for the priests and the religious of the Archdiocese held at the Archdiocesan Major Seminary. At the request of the Archbishop, I introduced the community during the Mass. We watched a film in Tagalog on the Outreach Ministries of the Archdiocese of Manila, heard a report on the difficulties faced by the rural poor, and broke up into small groups to talk about Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). This is a model used throughout the Philippines to help parishioners to share their faith and to support one another. That evening, we had dinner with the priests from the Archdiocese.
Tuesday, June 17 - We attended part of a meeting of the priests of the Archdiocese. Many of these meetings are conducted in both English and the Visayan language. It will be necessary for our men to learn this language. There is a school in Davao (5-7 hours away by car or bus) that is excellent. It is run by a religious community and has a three-month basic course and an additional three-month higher-level course. For now, our men will study with a former school teacher in El Salvador. After lunch, we visited a parish in the mountains that had been built three years ago. We went with the Adazas, sister Tara, the architect for the Foundation, and with Fr. Florencio "Boy" Salvador, the vicar general for the Archdiocese (nicknames or aliases are very common in the Philippines). That evening, we had dinner with Dr. Flora Go and Dr. Lim, two members of the Board of Trustees of the LaSalle University along with Dr. Lim's son, Alexander. Each of them comes from Chinese families.
Wednesday, June 18 - We had a working dinner with the Board of Directors of the Foundation and met with Fr. Boy to plan the celebrations surrounding Sept. 8. It will also be the 75th anniversary of the Archdiocese. In the Triduum prior to the feast, there will be talks by myself, Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, Msgr. Musanto, and Fr. Salvador.
Thursday, June 19 -We traveled with the Foundation to Davao to meet with Divine Mercy leaders there and Archbishop Fernando Capalla, the spiritual director of Divine Mercy for Mindanao. We stayed in a retreat house run by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and celebrated Mass there in the evening. There was some extreme flooding since it was the rainy season, and we got lost for a while trying to find our way in Davao. With us were the Adazas, their driver, a nurse for brother Gerry named Clark, and Edwin, who is helping to oversee the Sept. 8 celebrations.
Friday, June 20 - We met with Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao throughout the day. There are some divisions among them, so I conducted a two-hour workshop on how to be a servant leader, bringing in the importance of unity, along with a question-and-answer session. We celebrated Mass for the group at the retreat house and had dinner in a Chinese restaurant that night. Father Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, arrived in Manila on his way to speaking engagements in New Zealand and his work at the World Youth Day in Australia. Father Mariusz Jarzabek had flown back to Manila that morning to help Fr. Seraphim with an address to leaders on Saturday. As it turned out, the talk was rescheduled for Monday.
Saturday, June 21 - Fathers Jan and Walerian left with the Adazas for Cagayan de Oro after Mass and breakfast. I visited a shrine dedicated to the Infant of Prague with a family who had moved to Davao from Cagayan de Oro - Butch, Stephanie (Tipi) and their son, Ryan. Afterwards, I met with Archbishop Capalla with some Divine Mercy leaders from Mindanao. I introduced the Marians to him and gave him a copy of our magazine, Marian Helper. He remarked that he had just seen the magazine in a rectory on a recent visit to the United States. He was very gracious and invited me to stay at his residence the next time I was in Davao. He also invited the Marians to open a religious house in his Archdiocese. I then flew to Manila. The ride was very bumpy because of Typhoon Frank. We stayed at the Pearl Manila Hotel until Tuesday, courtesy of Salve Uyloan and the Great Times Travel Agency. We had dinner with Msgr. Ramirez and several Chinese priests.
Sunday, June 22 - This morning, Fr. Seraphim celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine with Msgr. Ramirez, myself, Fr. Mariusz, and Fr. Peter from China concelebrating. The road in front of the Shrine was severely flooded due to Typhoon Frank, and therefore attendance was sparse. We had lunch with Msgr. Ramirez and his secretary, Bart, his driver, Roge, Erwin and Leona Taniliung and Erwin's brother, Patrick. There was no power in Metro Manila, but some buildings have emergency generators.
Monday, June 23 - I met with Palofax and Associates this morning in Makati City, Metro Manila, to discuss revisions to the design of the church in Cagayan de Oro. Father Seraphim addressed Divine Mercy leaders at the Shrine. I joined Frs. Seraphim and Mariusz for a 12:15 Mass at the Shrine. After lunch at the Shrine, we went back to our hotel for some rest and prayer. We saw some poor children who are fed at the Shrine each day. They were reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Tagalog. That evening, the Uyloan family took us to dinner in our hotel. I spoke by phone with Frs. Walerian and Jan, who reported on their meeting that day with the Archbishop and the Foundation regarding the design of the church. They received permission to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in a chapel near their cottage on the grounds of the Shrine and to celebrate daily Mass at the Shrine. Some local priests will continue to help out on weekends with confessions and Mass in Visayan on Saturdays. The men reported some trouble sleeping in the new cottage the night before due to a 16-inch (40 cm.) lizard between the ceiling and the roof. It walked back and forth and made strange noises throughout the night. They were told that it was a great blessing to have such a lizard in the house. Due to their difficulty sleeping, they prayed the morning prayer together at 6 a.m.
Tuesday, June 24 - Early in the morning, we were picked up and brought to San Carlos Seminary, a large complex for the Archdiocese of Manila. It is located on a very busy street, the EDSA Highway. It contains four seminaries - for philosophy, another for theology, one for delayed vocations, and another for Chinese. Many of the current bishops in China have been educated there. We stayed in a priest's retreat house - Bahay Pari. Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Mariusz, and I conducted a three-day retreat for 24 priests from the Philippines, China and New Zealand. Most were Divine Mercy spiritual directors in their dioceses. Others could not come because of the typhoon.
Wednesday, June 25 - The retreat continued. Some laity and potential Marian candidates attended the retreat as well, including Bart, Msgr. Ramirez's secretary, and Angelo, a nurse with a degree in finance.
Thursday, June 26 - Bishop Teodoro Bacani, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Novaliches, attended the morning session conducted by Fr. Seraphim and celebrated Mass for the group. We concluded the retreat with the Chaplet. We had the opportunity today to meet and to speak with Bishop Bernadino Cortez, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila. That evening, we went to a Chinese Restaurant with Msgr. Ramirez, a seminarian for Manila, Carlo, Fr. Rory Morrissey, S.M. from New Zealand, a longtime promoter of the Divine Mercy and friend of the Marians, Dr. Flora Go and the Uyloan family. At the suggestion of Msgr. Ramirez, I asked Dr. Flora to be the third member of our Marian Foundation that we are forming in the Philippines. She accepted. After the dinner, Msgr. Ramirez dropped me off at another Chinese restaurant in Makati to meet with Rolf Rohn, an American church designer, along with one of his co-workers and four Philippine priests.
Friday, June 27 - I celebrated Mass with Fr. Rory, to celebrate my 16th anniversary of ordination today. After breakfast with him, Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Mariusz and Fr. Francis, a priest from Korea, Fr. Rory, and I were taken to the airport for our flights. Father Mariusz moved into his room and office at the Divine Mercy Shrine today. Father Seraphim addressed 300 Divine Mercy promoters there this morning, and he celebrate a televised Mass from the Shrine at 3 p.m., which was broadcast throughout the Philippines. Such Masses take place at the Shrine every Friday, and Fr. Mariusz will be celebrating this Mass in the future. Radio broadcasts on the Divine Mercy are also very possible in the future. Father Seraphim was to go to Cebu on Saturday and Sunday to speak to the Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy before his departure for New Zealand on Monday. A Monsignor Chris from Cebu had stated that many Divine Mercy devotees begin to drift to the right toward superstition and cult-like practices, or to the left, building houses for the poor, but neglecting their prayer lives and falling prey to the Communist party. He stated he could always count on the EADM cenacle groups and that Bryan Thatcher's work was bearing great spiritual fruit. Nora Santos called to inform me that she would send specifications for her niece's house, which we were thinking of buying for a Marian Helper's Center in Manila. She told me that the DMAP group had found a larger house nearby (close to the airport) with more land, in better shape, and for the same price. They would take Fr. Mariusz to go see it.
