Introduction
1. The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines had issued a pastoral letter on the ‘new’ evangelization to help prepare Catholics for 2021, the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Gospel in the Philippines. The bishops planned a 9 year preparatory journey re-evangelizing the Philippines with a different theme for each year.
The topics and activities planned are too difficult for the ordinary faithful to participate in. The four major aspects of the plan that will include the family will need expertise in sociology.
The current situation described by the pastoral letter with five question had no answers.While the annual conferences planned require scientific experts. And the four pillars upon where the ‘new’ evangelization stands, namely, ‘Mission ad gentes,’ ‘bringing the Good News to the poor,’ ‘reaching out to those who have drifted from the Faith,’ and lastly, awakening or reawakening Christian life of young people……are all beyond the capability of the ordinary laymen with a job and a family to feed.
Then there are the programs which busy laymen cannot attend.
2. In view of this program wherein only ecclesiastics can participate, it is good to review how this country was evangelized successfully that it may be a model for others and even for the same country who have lost its Faith. And so, we would want to review how this country was successfully evangelized during the golden years of the Catholic Church by revered Catholic kings. Instead of the highly complex CBCP plan we made a plan for ordinary laymen.
3. A group of laymen basing it on their canonical rights enumerated in Canons 208, 209, 210 and 211 took the initiative to present a program made by laymen and adjusted to the capability of a busy laymen that will enable them to participate in the centennial celebration with a little contribution in enhancing the Faith in the Philippines. This layman’s initiative is based on what happened in 1521 with the Royal Mandate from the ‘Reyes Catolicos’ of Spain whose concern for the Philippines we will commemorate in 2021.
4. We wish first to express our eternal gratitude to the ‘Reyes Catolicos’ (the Catholic kings and queens ) who, praised by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 for spreading the Catholic Faith, saw to it that the ‘True Kingdom of God’ as taught by Christ is spread not only to the places that they colonized but specifically in the Philippines.
Descendant from the Catholic royalties, Ferdinand and Isabella (who was made servant of God in 1974), Phillip II while still a prince saw to the proper Catholic evangelization of the Philippines. Though burdened by bad colonizers the conversion of the country, by the grace of God, was accomplished with speedy success.
5. Here are the reasons for the laymen’s initiative in emphasizing, recalling and repeating the events of 1521
First, the year 1500 was the tip of the Golden era of the Catholic Church in Europe from where she would begin to descend to the depths of darkness she is now. We wish to relive that golden moment even briefly.
Secondly, there was union of Church and state. Both were working under God with the Church over the State. This Catholic teaching was proven to be the best form of relationship.
Thirdly, both Popes and head of states were holy or at least very good Catholics.
Fourthly, Spain was the only country who did not have a serious heresy.
Fifthly, the Catholic Church, specially the Church of Spain, had all the visible signs enumerated in the Nicene Creed; namely One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, that it was the true Church and the true religion.
Sixthly, even if there were countless heresies, like the Protestant revolt of Martin Luther, all were successfully refuted by the Church heroes in the Council of Trent. Luther’s Protestantism could not enter Spain at that time due to both efforts of Church and State.
6. Man wants to relive history. The civil war battles in the US are often commemorated with re-enactment of the historical events. Call it nostalgia but it is fun. So the laymen’s initiative would want to relive most of the events around the year 1521 in the hope that what was golden during that era could restore that glitter in today’s dark atmosphere.
What do we wish to relive?
First. During those golden era of the Catholic Church, the Church exhibited all the visible signs of the true church as enumerated in the Nicene Creed. These signs were confirmed in the Council of Trent c. 1545 and expanded by St. Robert Bellarmine into 15 marks of the Church c. 1542. Catholics knew their doctrines as summarized in the catechism of council of Trent. The Catholics knew who were Catholics and who were not.
Both Popes and Kings did everything right seeing to it that the kingdom of God they were propagating had the four visible signs when they colonized other countries, the Philippines included. Not all the missionaries were saints but they taught the doctrines right. We have met very old people today whose knowledge of the Catholic religion is almost mystical that could put most modern theologian to shame. Yes, we don’t have those kinds anymore, that blessed era!
The Protestant revolt of 1517 that devastated Germany had not affected Spain yet. It will later.
Resolution: During this preparation for the jubilee celebration the layman’s initiative would try to give this nation a taste of that glorious past when knowledge of the Catholic religion was as common as wine and chorizos. And the four visible signs of the true Church was spread out all around the country like manna.
7. Two popular icons.
Icons are necessary at the beginning of conversion. It is also necessary when re-converting a nation. The East that is the first to hear the Good News had the ‘face of Christ’ as taken from the image of the burial shroud of Christ. It was a face connected to the passion and corresponds to man’s desire as expressed in the Psalms to ‘see the face of God.’ And the second popular icon still very popular in the Orthodox Church, are the icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Perpetual Help being one of the more popular one.) What were the icons that came to the Philippines around 1500?
The Santo Nino made in Belgium, a gift of Magellan given through Pigafetta, to Lady Humaymay (baptized as Juanna) together with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and an ‘Ecce Homo.’ These are very significant gifts of great theological import.
The Santo Nino, an image of the child Jesus, shows the importance of being born again by entering the Catholic Church, ‘unless you be born again…’ The ‘Ecce Homo’ is an image of the suffering Christ, which shows the need to take up one’s cross and follow Christ to attain eternal life in Heaven. And the Blessed Virgin Mary is the personification of the Catholic Church to which the Philippines should conform with.
The Marian image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
True to that tradition of orthodox Catholicism the Spaniards brought the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with the Legaspi expedition. She is known to John of Austria, the half brother of Philip II who miraculously won the battle of Lepanto against the overwhelming hordes of Turks with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his ship while the rosary was being prayed in Christendom.
When Phillip II sent Legaspi to Manila, he had an expert navigator, an Augustinian, Urdaneta, assigned in Mexico who brought an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that calmed the natives in Manila. Enshrined in the Augustinian convent in Makati she supervised the speedy conversion of the island to Catholicism. Around 1609, Antonio de Morga of the royal Audiencia of New Spain wrote that the natives had been converted to the Gospel from the darkness of paganism and their place is called Filipinas Island after King Philip II. 1521 to 1609 was a miraculous speedy conversion. That was less than a 100 years. Let the whole Church repeat that today.
This is why Our Lady of Guadalupe had been declared by papal bull as the principal patroness of the Philippines.
Resolution; Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe shall be propagated with emphasis on her being the Woman that appeared as ‘A great sign in the Sky’ in the Apocalypse, an image and declared Patroness of the ‘new’ evangelization by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
The black Nazarene.
Mary comes first, then Christ follows. That is no accident. So the Nazarene, made by an Aztec in Mexico arrives c. 1600 to the Philippines. Turned black due to a fire aboard ship, devotion to the black Nazarene, the suffering Christ, developed. The devotion to the Black Nazarene, like the Face of Christ from the Shroud, is a reminder that ‘we cannot resurrect Christ unless we die with Christ. It is a necessary doctrine for salvation; Christ said, ‘we have to take up our cross and come follow Him.’
Resolution; devotion to the Black Nazarene shall be fostered to emphasize the need to carry our cross and follow Christ to resurrect with Christ to everlasting life.
8. Purity of doctrine.
The year 1500 was the high tip of golden era of the Catholic Church in many respect. First and above all in the knowledge and expression of Catholic Doctrines. The Catholics, specially the priests and bishops, knew their doctrine and morals very well. The Church, in the Council of Trent, answered all dogmatic and moral questions completely and clearly. The century was filled with saints and brilliant theologians. One of note is St. Robert Bellarmine, Jesuit saint and doctor of the Church.
The 1500 had the last glimmer of golden light. A total disruption of the Catholic Church will follow in which she would never recover. But the light remained a few years more in Spain. God’s dispensation to allow the discovery of the Philippines by good Catholics. At this era while the whole world was collapsing under the weight of Protestantism, Spain and Portugal alone remained Faithful because of the ‘Reyes Catolicos,’ where church and state cooperated in preventing the entry and dissemination of protestant teachings within their respective kingdoms.
As the 1500 progressed we see the total collapse of the Catholic Church everywhere, beginning with Germany. But for a while we will not read the names of Spain and Portugal as both continued colonizing the world according to the demarcation line established by the Pope. Spain, after the Philippines, colonized North and South America. They were known as the best and most humane colonizers in the world. This cannot be said with England and the US.
Resolution; we wish to restore the purity of doctrine as promulgated in the Council of Trent even just for a while.
9. The establishment of the Kingdom of God.
This was the Royal Mandate of Phillip II in sending missions to the Philippines after Magellan looking for the island of spices landed instead in Homonhon, Eastern Samar.
Two things happened here; first, the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel and the celebration of the first Mass at Limasawa, March 21.
The first question is how was the Kingdom of God preached here. The Catholic way or the Protestant way as was prevalent in Europe. Answer; the first church in the Philippines had the four visible signs of the true Church as enumerated in the Nicene Creed. She, also had the 15 signs enumerated by St. Robert Bellarmne who lived c. 1542. The ‘Reyes Catolicos would have known and would have lived by his writings since they were contemporaries.
Resolution; we must find out if we have those visible signs. Then we must find out if our parish and parish priests, if our diocese and our bishop have those visible signs. Only by these signs can we say that we belong to the Kingdom of God as mandated by the Royal Decree.
Checking if we still have the kingdom of God upon us will based on the only reliable foundation of the four visible marks of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed and on the expanded version according to St. Robert Bellarmine. Both were available in the 1500
10 The Mass during this centennial preparation will be as close as possible as it was celebrated in Limasawa. This is the Latin Mass. We do not know what missal was used in Samar. But we are certain it is a Latin Mass.
Resolution; We shall use the Latin Mass version according to the ‘Summorum Pontificum’ of Pope Benedict XVI for the consecration of the Sacred Host, ‘Cristo Rey’ our Christ the King. The black Nazareno will bear INRF, Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Filipinorum. Of course, He is the King of the World. But we shall let other nation do their own proclamation. For our own centennial celebration we will call Him Our King, Rex Filipinorum.
11. All are in place for the remembrance of 1521.
The complete teachings of the Catholic Church as perfected in the Council of Trent and contained in the Catechism of Trent will be available live streaming for anyone to read and hear.
Devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is in place since the Abbot of Guadalupe, Mexico entrusted propagation of her devotion to our community, thus connecting us with again with Mexico. The black Nazarene is temporarily housed in the Oratory of the Blessed Trinity but will be transferred in the garden of the stations of the cross around the pergola. Lectures on the visible signs of the true Catholic Church according to the Nicene Creed and the 15 Marks of St. Robert Bellarmine will be on going. And the Latin Mass according to ‘Summorum Pontificum’ are often celebrated in OL of Guadalupe oratory
We pray that during this preparation for 2015, we Filipinos experience even for a brief moment the glory of the Catholic Church that existed then in Europe in general, and in Spain in particular that was shared with us in 1521.