Blessed Pedro Calungsod

Blessed Pedro Calungsod (1654 – April 2, 1672) was a 17-year old Roman Catholic Filipino young migrant, sacristan, and missionary catechist who (along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores) suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in the Marianas Islands in 1672.

Through Calungsod's and San Vitores' missionary efforts, many native catechumens converted to the Roman Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. Calungsod was beatified on 5 March 2000 by Blessed Pope John Paul II and is scheduled to be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2012.

Pedro was born in Molo, a Chinese district of Iloilo City. He came to Cebu to preach Christianity using the missionary text (Doctrina Christiana) as propagated by the Dominican priests. He then studied at the Jesuit town of Loboc in Bohol before sailing on to Guam.

Calungsod travelled with Spanish Jesuit missionaries in 1668 to the Marianas Islands, named in honour of both the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Queen Regent of  Spain, María Ana of Austria, who funded their voyage. Calungsod and San Vitores went to Guam to catechise the native Chamorros.

While in Guam, a Chinese merchant named Choco began spreading rumours that the baptismal water used by missionaries was poisonous. As some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized eventually died, many believed the rumour and held the missionaries responsible. Choco was readily supported by the macanjas (medicine men) and the urritaos (young males) who despised the missionaries.

On April 2, 1672, Calungsod and San Vitores came to the village of Tumon, Guam to baptise the infant daughter of Chief Mata'pang, who strongly refused. They proceeded with the rites anyway with the consent of the infant's mother. Native assassins, led by Mata'pang and Chief Hurao pursued Calungsod and San Vitores down to the beach and then captured them. They murdered Calungsod with a spear, while they killed San Vitores with a bolo. The killers then stripped and mutilated the bodies by a katana sword before tying them to rocks and throwing them into the sea.

 In the Roman Catholic Church, Calungsod's death and Christian martyrdom is also called In Odium Fidei or In Hatred of the Faith, signifying the religious persecution endured by the martyr in evangelizing his or her faith.


Blessed Pope John Paul II beatified Calungsod on 5 March 2000 at Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Calungsod's first alleged miracle was the healing of a man with bone cancer, which assisted his beatification process though not necessarily due to his martyrdom In Odium Fidei ("In Hatred of the Faith") in accordance to the canonisation reforms of 1983. Calungsod was beatified with other 43 individuals who were declared Servants of God.

Pope John Paul II declared:

“

...From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. Leaving family and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to him by Fr. Diego de San Vitores to join him on the Mission to the Chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met. In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr. Diego, but as a "good soldier of Christ" preferred to die at the missionary's side.

The Holy See officially approved on December 19, 2011, the miracle qualifying Calungsod for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church. The recognized miracle dates from 2002, when a Leyte woman who was pronounced clinically dead by accredited physicians two hours after a coronary heart attack was allegedly brought back to life when a doctor prayed for Calungsod's intercession.

Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the declaration ceremony on behalf of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He later revealed that Pope Benedict XVI approved and signed the official promulgation decrees recognising the miracles as authentic and worthy of belief.

While the miracle for Calungsod's sainthood has been signed by Pope Benedict XVI and approved by the Holy See, Filipino Catholics are waiting for the Pope to recite the official Latin formula, which will declare Calungsod a saint. It is necessary for the Pope to recite the Latin formula of canonisation after a formal consistory is completed with the cardinals present in Rome.

After Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, Calungsod will be the second Filipino declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic calendar of Martyrology celebrates Calungsod's feast along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores every 2 April.

St. John Vianney

Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), commonly known in English as St John Vianney, is popularly known as the patron saint of all priest. He was a French parish  priest who in the Catholic Church is venerated as a saint and is often referred to as the "Curé d'Ars".

He became internationally notable for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings. Catholics attribute this to his saintly life, mortification, his persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and his ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Philomena.

Early Life

May 8, 1786 was when St. John was born in French town of Dardilly, and was baptized the same day.
He was the fourth in the six children of Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze. The Vianneys were Catholics who helped the poor and gave hospitality to aint Benedict Joseph Labre, the patron saint of tramps, who passed through Dardilly on his pilgrimage to Rome. By 1790, the  French Revolution forced many loyal priests to hide from the government in order to carry out the sacraments in their parish. In order to attend Mass, even though it was illegal, the Vianneys travelled to distant farms where they could pray in secret. Since the priests risked their lives day by day, Vianney began to look upon priests as heroes. His First Communion lessons were publicly carried out in a public home by three priests. He made his first communion at the age of 13. During the Mass, the windows were covered so that the light of the candles could not be seen from the outside. The secrecy of his Catholic practices continued, especially during his preparation for confirmation.

In 1802, the Catholic Church was re-established in France, resulting in religious peace throughout the country. By this time, Vianney was concerned about his future vocation and longed for an education. He was 20 when his father allowed him to leave the farm to be taught at Father Balley's "presbytery-school" in the neighbouring village of Ecully. The school taught arithmetic, history, geography, and Latin. Vianney struggled with school, especially with Latin, since his past education had been interrupted by the French Revolution. Only because of Vianney's deepest desire to be a priest - and Father Balley's patience - did he continue.

In 1809, Vianney's studies were interrupted when he was drafted into Napoleon's armies. As an ecclesiastical student, he should have been exempted, but Napoleon had withdrawn the exemption in certain dioceses because of his need for soldiers in his fight against Spain. Two days after he had to report at Lyons, he became ill and was hospitalized, during which time his draft left without him.

On 5 January, after he was released from the hospital, he was sent to Roanne for another draft. He went into a church to pray, and fell behind the group. He met a young man who volunteered to guide him back to his group, but instead led him deep into the mountains of Le Forez, to the village Les Noes, where deserters had gathered.

 Vianney lived in that village for fourteen months, hidden in the byre attached to a farmhouse, and under the care of Claudine Fayot, a widow with four children. He assumed the name Jerome Vincent, and under that name he opened a school for village children. Since the harsh weather isolated the town during the winter, the deserters were safe from gendarmes. However, after the snow melted, gendarmes came to the town constantly, searching for deserters. During these searches, Vianney hid inside stacks of fermenting hay in Fayot's barn.

An Imperial decree proclaimed in March 1810 granted amnesty to all deserters, which enabled Vianney to go back legally to Ecully, where he resumed his studies. He was tonsured in 1811, and in 1812 he went to the minor seminary at Verrieres. In autumn of 1813, he was sent to major seminary at Lyons. Considered too slow, he was returned to Father Balley. However, father Balley persuaded the vicars general that Vianney's piety was great enough to compensate for his ignorance, and the seminarian received minor orders and the subdiaconate on July 2, 1814, was ordained deacon in June 1815, and was ordained priest August 12, 1815 in the Couvent des Minimes de Grenoble. He said his first Mass the next day, and was appointed assistant to Fr Balley in Ecully.
 

Curé of Ars

In 1818, shortly after the death of Father Balley, Jean-Marie Vianney was appointed parish priest of the parish of Ars, a town of 230.

A few years later, he founded an orphanage for destitute girls, called "The Providence" which was successful, however it was closed in 1847.

As parish priest, Vianney realized that the Revolution's aftermath had resulted in religious ignorance, due to the destruction of the Catholic Church in France. At the time, Sundays in rural areas were spent working in the fields, or dancing and drinking in taverns. Vianney was astonished, especially since Sundays were meant to be reserved for religion. Vianney spent time in the confessional and gave homilies railing on blasphemy and dancing. If his parishioners did not give up dancing, he refused them absolution.

Monsignor Balley was Vianney's greatest inspiration, since he was a priest who remained loyal to his faith, despite the Revolution. Vianney felt compelled to fulfill the duties of a curé, just as did M. Balley, even when it was illegal.

Later years

 

Vianney came to be known internationally, and people from distant places began traveling to consult him as early as 1827."By 1855, the number of pilgrims had reached twenty thousand a year. During the last ten years of his life, he spent sixteen to eighteen hours a day in the confessional. Even the bishop forbade him to attend the annual retreats of the diocesan clergy because of the souls awaiting him yonder". He spent at least 11 or 12 hours a day in the confessional during winter, and up to 16 in the summer.

Vianney had a great devotion to  St. Philomena. He regarded her as his guardian and erected a chapel and shrine in honor of the saint. During May 1843, Vianney fell so ill he thought that his life was coming to its end. He asked St Philomena to cure him and promised to say 100 Masses at her shrine. Twelve days later, Vianney was cured and he attributed his cure to St Philomena.

Vianney yearned for the contemplative life of a monk, and four times ran away from Ars, the last time in 1853.

The body of St. John-Marie Vianney wearing a wax mask, found to be incorrupt by the Catholic Church. It is entombed above the main altar in the Basilica at Ars, France

Death and veneration

 

On 4 August 1859, Vianney died at age 73. The bishop presided over his funeral with 300 priests and more than 6,000 people in attendance.

Statue of Jean-Marie Vianney in the church of a small village in France

Before he was buried Vianney was fitted with a wax mask. Biographers recorded miracles performed throughout his life, obtaining money for his charities and food for his orphans; he had supernatural knowledge of the past and future, and could heal the sick, especially children.

On 3 October 1874 Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Venerable; on 8 January 1905, Pope Pius X declared him Blessed and proposed him as a model to the parochial clergy; in 1925 Pope Pius XI canonized him, and assigned 8 August as his feast day. This feast was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1928 with the rank of Double. He was made patron saint of parish priests in 1929. The rank was changed to that of third-class feast in 1960, and it is thus celebrated by those who observe the calendar of 1962 as an extraordinary form of Roman Rite. The date assigned by Pope Paul VI for the memorial of John Vianney is 4 August.

In 1959, Pope John XXII issued Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia, an encyclical on Vianney.
In honor of the 150th anniversary of Vianney's death, Pope Benedict XVI declared a year for priests, running from the feast of the Sacred Heart 2009-2010.

The Vatican Post has prepared a set of stamps to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of St John Vianney. With the following words on 16 June 2009, Benedict XVI officially marked the beginning of the year dedicated to priests, "…On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 – a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy –, I have decided to inaugurate a ‘Year for Priests’ in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the dies natalis of John Mary Vianney, the Patron Saint of parish priests worldwide…"

Pope Benedict XVI placed the Year of the Priest also known as the Year for Priests (June 2009-June 2010) under St John Vianney's patronage.

There are statues of Vianney in many French churches.