Santuario wished to thank the following people who have supported and who are still continuing to support Project 350. We have raised a little over 1.6 million pesos and counting! This would not be possible without our supporters, partners and sponsors.
Please continue to support Project 350. Spread the word and help build our shrine!
ORGANIZATION SPONSORS:
1. YIGGM Corporation
2. Ideal Marketing Corporation
3. NZV Enterprises, Inc.
4. Missionary Couples of Mary for Christ (MCMC)
FAMILY SPONSORS:
5. Fr. Rolly Santos, CM
6. Bro. Jonathan & Sis. Nette Casiño
7. Aileen Aguiree
8. Dr. Frederick Hipol
9. Mrs. Chit Santos
10. Jan Vincent Benavides
11. Mel Bueno
12. Mrs. Josie Baluyot
13. Ranny Lim
14. Mikaela Mae Dasigao
15. Benilda Albao
16. Emmanuel Albao
17. Stephanie Albao
18. Sylvia Villas
19. Dr. Teresita Agda
20. Tina Ong
21. Noel & Tess Flojo
22. Dr. Mercy Agustin & Family
23. Bro. Elmer & Sis. Chat Galang
24. Mr. & Mrs. Jo Bautista
25. Rowena Santiago
26. Jun & Connie Saturay
27. Nellie Mendiola
28. Oliver Christian & KC Caravana
29. John Louise & Sienna Caravana
30. Jay & Cristy Faylon
31. Aileen Aguiree
32. Emerenciana Ochona
33. Cezar Tan & Family
34. Helen Esparcia
35. Mr. & Mrs. Ching Chee Kee & Family
36. Ms. Ellen Roque
37. Bolaños Family
38. Gel Maulawen
39. Ira Manarang
40. Sarmiento Family
41. Edna, Erika & Sheree Bacalla
42. Alice Tan
43. Nancy Kaw
44. Anadelia Bayoneta
45. Dr. & Mrs. Emmanuel Buhat & Family
46. Mary Dale Mejes
47. Baby Enrile
48. Lydia Mendoza
49. Liberty Mercado
50. Charito Simon Fortunato
51. Mr. & Mrs. Nolimar Custodio & Family
52. Myra Solis Francisco & Family
53. Cara Peralta
54. Renato & Carmelita Valencia Family
55. Ninang’s Staff
56. Sonia Guevarra
57. Cristina Tan
58. Mercy Tagle
59. Anicete Family
60. Nancy Garcia
61. Little Missionaries of Divine Will
62. Aileen Sayman & Family
63. Emma Vingua
64. Flor de Lara
65. Jane Balce
66. Carol Amoroso
67. Anita Garcia & Family
By Lita Cruz
Saint Catherine Labouré belonged to a large family with 11 children. She was born on May 2, 1806, at Fain-lès-Moutiers, Burgundy, France. With her mother’s death when she was only nine, Catherine and her sister Tonine, with the consent of their father, were raised by an aunt in Saint-Rémy.
When Catherine was a young woman, she had a dream about St. Vincent de Paul. Being somewhat romantic by nature, she subsequently joined the Daughters of Charity, a community founded by St. Vincent. She was extremely devout, and, having lost her mother at an early age, she became very fond of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On the night of July 19, 1830, Catherine woke up after hearing a voice of a child calling her to the chapel, where she heard the Virgin Mary say to her, “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world.”
On November 27, Catherine reported that the Blessed Mother returned during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, wearing many rings of different colors, most of which shone rays of light over the globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words: ”O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” As Catherine watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter M surmounted by a cross and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus and Sacred Heart of Mary underneath. Asked why some of her rings did not shed light, Mary reportedly replied: “Those are the graces for which people forget to ask.” Catherine then heard Mary ask her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions. “All who wear them will receive great graces.”
Catherine did so, and after two years of investigation and observation of Catherine’s normal daily behavior, the priest took the information to his archbishop without revealing Catherine’s identity. The request was approved and medals began to be produced. They proved to be exceedingly popular. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception wasn’t official yet, but the Medal with its “conceived without sin” slogan was probably influential in the popular approval of the idea. Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, a plain cross with an M underneath the right-hand crossbar.
Catherine lived her remaining years as an ordinary nun. She was pleasant and well-liked by patients and her fellow nuns. Just before her death on December 31, 1876, she revealed that she was the sister to whom the Blessed Mother had given the images for the Medal. Exhumed in 1933, her body was found incorrupt, and it now lies in a glass coffin at the side altar of 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, one of the spots where the Blessed Mother appeared to her. She was canonized on July 27, 1947, by Pope Pius XII.
by Sem. Geowen A. Porcincula, CM
Climate change, environmental degradation, high prices of basic goods, and job security are just a few of the challenges we face almost every single day. Mindful of these “signs of the time”, the Santuario de San Vicente de Paul took up the challenge of raising critical questions but also looking for practical “doable” solutions to how we, as a community, could contribute in the promotion of care for the environment, a healthy lifestyle and an alternative source of income. After a series of meetings and reflection, the Santuario settled on the idea of Urban Gardening as a response to these pressing concerns.
That project idea has become a reality with the active partnership of the office of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, Brgy. Tandang Sora and St. Vincent Seminary. The St. Vincent Seminary Complex provided the space for the “Seedling Bank” and the vegetable garden as well. The seeds were provided by the department of Agriculture. The innovative urban garden grows various kinds of vegetables that Filipino families commonly carry on their tables such as eggplant, cabbage, squash, radish, sitaw, upo, saluyot, kangkong, ampalaya, tomato and lettuce.
The Urban Garden at the Santuario serves as a model for other urban communities, particularly in the surrounding area of our Shrine, and they can also duplicate this program and perhaps even enrich and expand. All that is required are some unused, idle land and people willing to work and to make it productive. Promoters of urban gardening and all sorts of technical assistance are very much available. More than just providing a healthy and delicious source of food, the Urban Gardening can also be a source of additional income for the family.
The formal blessing of this novel Santuario response to a thorny multi-faceted challenge was held last September 26, 2010 during the celebration of the Santuario Fiesta and the 350th Death Anniversary of St. Vincent de Paul with Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte herself as the guest of honor.
Roland R. Esguerra
Click… browser… chat… internet… Microsoft Office… Windows 7… YouTube… Facebook… are some common terminologies for the youth and even for the oldies these days.
Many of our young people today are very much aware of the technological advancement and even own some gizmos that to some, are an indication somewhat of social status. What about the others, the children who have not even used a computer ever?
The Santuario initiated a computer literacy program that aims to teach the less fortunate youngsters. They started with the youth from the communities nearby and others who simply wanted to learn, refresh and “be aware”.
It is developed to equip those interested among our youth with enough knowledge to keep them updated on the technology. The program started last October 9 and will run through the second week of December.
The program was divided into three classes. On Saturdays, the high school level has the 1 pm to 3 pm time slot followed by the elementary level with the 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm time slot. On Sundays, at 10:30 am to 12:30 pm the college level and others interested will have their turn at learning basic and advanced Microsoft Office applications and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm basic computer knowledge and troubleshooting will be tackled.
The program also incorporates communications training and practiced during the course of the classes. Competent trainers facilitate the program and are well oriented to help the participants.
(The contributor is the one charge of the program and continues to render his services by teaching the program he designed – Editor)
By Sem. Eugenio Navida Jr., CM
Looking back at the humble beginnings of the Santuario de San Vicente de Paul as an aspiration and a dream to be a shrine for the poor and the underprivileged would serve as a yardstick to measure as to where it is now today. First, it was a dream of the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers to erect a shrine in honor of their founder, St. Vincent de Paul, who loved and served the poor and who transformed and revolutionized charity-mission. It was a dream to give these beloved poor of St. Vincent a shrine that will address both their spiritual needs and material concerns.
Although it was still in the initial phase of the construction, the effort started to pay off, when in 2004, St. Vincent de Paul was recognized and proclaimed as the Patron of the Urban Poor. It was a significant event signaling that indeed the Santuario was getting the attention it intended to get. By September 18, 2005, the first ever Mass in Santuario was celebrated. With this development, Santuario also started to build its ministries to cater to the spiritual needs of the poor. For some years, the focus of the pastoral care of the people was on the celebration of creative liturgy and worship. More recently the need to address the other concerns in the development of the community has lead to the creation of other ministries which include the following: Youth, Formation and Propagation.
By Perla Aragon-Choudhury
Fiesta 2010 celebrations saw the inauguration of an interior altar design for the Santuario de San Vicente de Paul portraying the charism of its patron, the great apostle of charity, on a giant ceiling-to-floor tarpaulin illustrations hanging on the wall of the altar.
The stained glass-like design serves as the center piece of the interior of the Church that has been temporary adorned by similar smaller designs on the walls and pillars of the Church.
This powerful liturgical art design at the altar was conceived by Fr. Rolando Tuazon, CM, Santuario Administrator and Project Director. He thought of this after hanging the tarpaulin images of St. Vincent on the different parts of the church. He told the seminarians that it would be good to have a big similar design at the altar. That same day a woman, named Tetet Rendor, involved in the tarpaulin business asked him in what ways she could be of help to the Church. This opportune time made Fr. Roland request her to sponsor the main design he wanted to adorn the sanctuary. Ms. Rendor readily agreed and Michael ‘Auch’ Autencio, the Santuario graphic artist was immediately commissioned to execute it. The latter used the photographs of Fr. Greg Banaga, CM, who had the stained glass windows of the Shrine of St. Vincent de Paul in France as his subjects.
Autencio recalls downloading the large file on his computer: “I got technical tips from the person who would be donating the huge tarpaulin pieces for this collage. The donor also offered a much better and more expensive alternative to `tarps’ and these are the giant stickers used in ads for buses and billboards. This job was rushed but I felt light as I helped mount it at the main altar,” said he.
The new marvel captivated the church-goers when they walked in to the church to attend the contextualized and inculturated novena mass, ‘Misa ng Bayang Pilipino’, prepared by students of St. Vincent School of Theology. The colorful and festive celebration that was marked by Filipino singing, dancing, prayers, expressions, customs and costumes provided a contrast to the new physical set up in the Church’s interior. Nevertheless, one can appreciate that the Western design can also beautifully blend with the Filipiniana motif.
Fr. Jimmy A. Belita, CM
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” is said in an old prayer for the dead in Christian churches. It is revealing of one of the time-honored practices of Christians which is to cremate the dead, even if burial was the traditional one. In the early church, the Christians praised their God as the body of martyrs went up in smoke and they certainly had a vision of them ascending to their Creator faster than even the dust that settled after a burial. Some who chose cremation as an option have been heard stating their solidarity with the martyrs in the Church “who have willingly presented their bodies for burning at the stake rather than deny their deepest convictions.“ There is some kind of a mystique about the fire so that in Old Testament times people felt assured of God’s guiding presence as the fire led them to the promised land (Ex 13:21-22). At Pentecost in the New Testament period, the apostles’ hearts burnt with zeal as “tongues as of fire settled on each one of them (Acts 2:3).
In the time of the black plague in Europe that annihilated almost half of the population, the Christians did not hesitate to put on fire the stricken bodies of their loved ones to cleanse them and to protect the surviving community. That was the most sanitary thing to do and they thanked their Church for allowing them even before the calamity to carry out a cremation, a practice that was always existing side by side with the burial of the dead. Christians, then, would breathe in relief as they gazed at the soaring smoke which carried with it their beloved dead. Since fire and smoke point to God, cremation can be a meaningful symbol of the believers entering into His holy presence.
It was too bad that, in the course of time, people, unsympathetic to the Church and to her teachings, including the resurrection, came with their own views. They used cremation for reason other than practicality or conviction, but merely to spite what the Church believes about the human1 body as the temple of the Holy Spirit and participant in the Lord’s resurrection. So, the Church could not make it appear that she was in connivance with her critics by allowing cremation as it had been done long before. The Church acted prudently in discouraging it lest it cause scandal. But that was long time ago. The unnecessary mutual hostility between the Church and her critics on the issue of the human body today is practically nil.
In many parts of the Christian world, the practice of cremation has increased; in the Philippines in the absence of statistical data, we can surmise that cremation has gained more acceptance quite considerably. That guess is bolstered by the mushrooming of cremation facilities in many urban areas, while for economic reason people in the countryside do it the traditional way: put the dead in the coffin and bury it in the ground or enclosed it in a tomb. In all of these, there is really no debate now on which one is preferable. When unto dust we will all be reduced, whether as a corpse or as ashes, a debate on it will be an exercise in futility. Again, we are all destined to return to the earth, only that through ashes our integration with the earth from which we came and our return to nature’s cycle would just be faster.
Believers are convinced that the resurrection of the body is God’s act alone and it would not depend on whether the body is decomposing in a tomb or existing as ashes or even strewn out in a field or in the sea. God knows where to find His faithful and He surely knows how to recompense them for their faithfulness. To raise us up into a new life, God does not need to reassemble our scattered parts nor to do some CPR on a lifeless body. Resurrection is not a resuscitation which needs the physical body for the restoration of life, even if it is still subject to eventual death as in the case of Lazarus (Jn 11:43-44). Resurrection is a transformation of the earthly body into a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:5) to participate in the life of the Risen Christ. This, indeed, is Good News, as St. Paul proclaims:
“I declare to you, brothers [and sisters], that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory……
Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’” (1 Cor 15:50-55).
First ever General Assembly
The Santuario community held its very first General Assembly at Santuario last November 20, 2010. The assembly started at 1 pm with Fr. Roland addressing representatives from various ministries and organizations to focus on the awareness of the Santuario community’s “lights and shadows” with the hope that every member be guided and takes into heart Santuario’s vision and mission. Fr. Roland hoped that the assembly will become a venue for all ministries, organizations and churchgoers to communicate and establish ties with each other and also foster and encourage commitment, participation and interaction to help fully realize Santuario’s plans, projects and goals as a community. He believes that the first ever General Assembly shall set the foundations that will help fully realize God’s plan for Santuario.
Bro. Noel Flojo from CFC led the opening prayer. This was followed by Sis. Mymy Patio, the emcee for the even, doing a roll call of all the ministries, committees and departments present. Sis. Estella Angeles gave a quick orientation of the general assembly.
Fr. Tuazon presented a general report on Santuario’s situation, vision mission, organization, priorities and strategies.
A quick break ensued after Fr. Roland’s report which was then followed by reports from various ministries, committees and departments. The reports focused mainly on each group’s vision, mission, goals and projects for the past year and the next; with each also sharing their struggles and challenges as a group in the overall Santuario community.
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By Perla Aragon-Choudhury
The Sanctuario de San Vicente de Paul marked Fiesta 2010 on Sunday, Sept. 26, replete with solidarity activities with the urban poor of Quezon City, a procession of the statues of Vincentian saints and five masses throughout the day, culminating in a high mass officiated by Bishop Antonio R. Tobias of the Diocese of Novaliches.
Held at 6 pm, this last novena mass carried the ninth day’s theme of San Vicente: Hamon sa Makabagong Panahon (The Challenge of the Contemporary Times) within the over-all theme of the masses to honor Saint Vincent, Pagmamahal: Ang Pinakapuso ng Misyon (Charity- Mission).
At the altar there were 16 concelebrants with Bishop Tobias.
The main celebrant linked the life and times of Saint Vincent to the Gospel of the day on the poor man Lazarus and to the country today.
“We do live together but we sometimes ignore each other,” said Bishop Tobias in his homily. “Children may have problems but this is not known to their parents and the same may be true about parents. And the poor may have no voice even if we have the means – the latest in media technology. It was the same in France in the time of Saint Vincent as he implored the nobility to work for the poor.”
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St. Vincent Daily Reflection
