2 women blessed to serve pope his lunch

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Two women here known for their active involvement in church activities and charitable organizations were among the blessed few who were able to get close to Pope Francis during his lunch with calamity survivors last Saturday at the Archbishop’s Residence in Palo town in Leyte.

Magdalena “Leni” de los Santos-Larrazabal and Estrella “Teling” Serafica-Pangilinan were among four people chosen to serve the pope lunch. 

Leni, wife of lawyer Iñaki Larrazabal Jr., is an accountant by profession and a full-time mom to eight young professionals. She is also the president of the Sanctus Vincenzus Scholarship Foundation, a homegrown organization which has sent and is sending around 200 poor but deserving students to college.

Meanwhile, Teling is known for giving testimonials on surviving breast cancer while she manages Big Roy’s Restaurant with her husband. She also speaks Spanish like a native, having been raised in a household where Spanish was the preferred language.

Both Leni and Teling said they did not know how they were chosen among those who would be serving the pope his lunch. It was on Jan. 1, they recalled, when Fr. Wilson Chu of the Archdiocese of Palo told them that their names were being considered.

Their actual participation, however, was only confirmed to them on Jan. 15, two days before the pope’s visit to typhoon-hit Tacloban City in Leyte.

According to Leni, their role was to “plate” the food of Pope Francis, his official companions, and the 30 survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake who dined with him.

The menu – which consisted of malunggay soup in chicken, a salad, a beef course, shrimp pasta, steamed lapu-lapu, and a dessert plate of fresh fruits – was prepared by chef Edward Chu.

The pope was starting on his second course of salad and beef when he apologized and said that he had to leave, following the pilot’s advice.

Lunch date of a lifetime

For Teling, merely being considered to be one of the servers of the pope sent her into a “state of euphoria.”

“From the first time I learned that our names were being considered to be one of the servers of the pope, I could hardly believe it. I even texted Leni, ‘Len, I’m in a state of euphoria. I can’t believe this honor,’” she said.

She said they had to contain the excitement, however, as “we were instructed to keep it confidential, for they (organizers) had to do a lot of background checking.”

Leni said that Teling was star-struck as soon as the pope arrived at the dining room.

“Teling was in awe, as if she was paralyzed,” she said.

Upon seeing Pope Francis, Leni recalled that she “immediately embraced him and then kissed his ring.”

“(The pope) kissed and embraced everyone in the room before he took his seat at the table,” she said, adding that she was touched by the pope’s gesture.

Leni said, “being in the same room with the pope is a feeling I’ll never forget, much more to be able to touch his hand and kiss his ring. (It was) as if time stood still. I feel so blessed.”

Pope Francis is not the first pope whom Leni has seen in person. She said she had seen Pope John Paul II twice in her visits to Rome. For her part, Teling said she had as well seen Pope John Paul II, also in a visit to Rome. 

30 survivors share stories

According to Leni, all 30 calamity survivors were able to tell their stories to the pope.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle translated for the pope.

Tagle asked the victims to first state their names, then greet the pope, and tell him their individual stories in the shortest way possible, “either in Tagalog or English.”

The pope was “very engrossed listening to the stories, as well as Tagle and Du. They neither ate nor touched the food placed before them,” Leni recalled.

She said she could not listen to all their stories because she was busy serving and dishing out the food, but the story that struck her most was that of an old woman from Samar who lost both her legs and 11 family members.

There were equally poignant stories, she added, but she could not listen to all their accounts.

“It’s so difficult to explain my feeling,” she said. To her, being up close with the pope brought “unexplainable happiness,” but hearing the victims’ stories struck her with “sadness and pity.”