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Unbelievable!
Thérèse Martin, who lived just before
the turn of the 20th century in France, comes like a
modern jet-setter to the Philippines and flies to the
town of Tubigon, Bohol on Wednesday morning in a helicopter!
And in the arms of soldiers!
At
9 a.m. a motorcade led by military, church and government
officials will accompany her relics to the Shrine of
Our Lady of the Assumption in Dauis. But at the Mansasa
junction, a touching meeting of Thérèse
and the Blessed Mother will first take place. A poem
to
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Our
Lady written by young Thérèse will be recited
by a pupil, after which the first Pilgrim Walk will take place,
led by Dauis parishioners.
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Welcome
rites to be presided over by Rev. Fr. Valentino Pinlac,
rector of Dauis shrine, will be attended by Bishop Leonardo
Medroso and Msgr. Jeffrey Malanog of the Diocese of
Tagbilaran together with Gov. Erico Aumentado of Bohol,
Mayor Dan Neri Lim and Vice Mayor Jose A. Veloso of
Tagbilaran, Mayor Luna Piezas of Tubigon, Mayor Luciano
Bongalos of Dauis, Col Cesar Yano and Col. Aquino of
the 302nd Infantry Brigade and Col Edgardo Ingking of
the Philippine National Police.
The
First Mass will take place at 2 p.m. on the same day.
A program separately posted in this issue has a complete
schedule of Masses, veneration, confessions and other
day and night activities in the church compound.
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Main
celebrants and homilists of the masses include Bishop Antonieto
Cabajog of Surigao, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Zamboanga,
Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate of the
Philippines, Bishop John Du of Dumaguete, Bishop Crispin Varquez
of Borongan, Bishop Christian Vicente Noel of Talibon and
Bishop Leonardo Medroso of Tagbilaran. The SVD Community of
Holy Name University and the Administrators of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary Seminary, along with the clergy of Tagbilaran
and Talibon parishes also have their own share of the Masses
and confessions.
The
three-day activity capped by a Fluvial Procession at 8:30
p.m. February 29 from Dauis to the Tagbilaran port will be
participated in by the Association of Fisherfolks from the
Vicariate of Our Lady of the Assumption. It will be preceded
by a youth concert and blessing of the St. Thérèse
Souvenir Marker. This official send-off marked by fireworks
will be done with the cooperation of the Philippine Coast
Guard, the Municipality of Dauis and the City of Tagbilaran.
St.
Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
was a cloistered nun who died at the Carmelite Monastery in
Lisieux at the young age of 24. She had not dreamed of becoming
famous. All she dreamed of was life in heaven which she could
spend "doing good upon earth." And that's how she
became a celebrity. She is well-known for her "shower
of roses" - blessings coming through her miraculous intercessions.
The
Diocese of Tagbilaran is indeed experiencing a miracle. With
barely a dozen dioceses in the Philippines blessed with this
visit, why must the Diocese of Tagbilaran be one of them?
Bohol has no Carmelite Monastery to propagate her devotion.
It has no church or chapel celebrating a fiesta in her honor.
It has only a young
congregation, the Missionary Sisters of St. Therese who manages
relatively new schools of the same name, one in Tagbilaran's
Gallares Street and another one in barangay Mansasa. This
happening is indeed a gift by itself. To make up for limited
time, Boholanos are now fast catching up on her life and doctrine.
Thérèse
of Lisieux (pronounced 'thi-rehs' and "lih-shu') is the
youngest Doctor of the Church, an elite group of only 33 saints
(only three of which are women) in the Catholic Church's heavenly
firmament. Doctors of the Church are called "outstanding
saints" whose doctrines are recommended by the hierarchy
for the faithful to emulate.
As manifested in her autobiography written upon instruction
of her superiors during her final years, St. Thérèse
exceptional holiness had caused Pope Pius X to extol her as
"the greatest saint of modern times" More than any
other saint, St. Therese has illustrated the depth and breadth
of the Mercy and Love of God. With only five years of formal
schooling, this prodigious girl has left volumes of prose
and poetry that can match if not surpass the writings of the
most brilliant men in Church history.
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