Yesterday, Friday, May 25, the delegation of Assumption Alumnae left Manila for Rome, to attend the canonization of Mother Eugenie, the foundress of the Religious of the Assumption. The canonization is scheduled for Sunday, June 3.
The special attraction for the Philippine Alumnae of Assumption is that the miracle which completed the requirements for the canonization of Mother Eugenie is the cure of a Filipina child, Risa Bondoc. Specialists in the Philippines, in the United States and in Europe said that this child would never see, never walk, never talk, would be mentally retarded, and would die at the age of 18 months.
Her adopting mother, Carmen Villareal Bondoc, Assumption Alumna, placed her on the tomb of Mother Eugenie in Paris, and prayed that Mother Eugenie would intercede for her, with God. Risa is now a charming little girl, one of the brightest students in the Assumption grade school, in San Lorenzo.
Like the traditional pebble dropped in the middle of the lake, the ripples of this event have reached the ends of the earth. I received a letter from another Assumption Alumna, who now lives in Glendale, California. This is what she wrote:
“Last Saturday I went on a one day recollection at Pacific Palisades with my fellow Assumptionists, from my Alma Mater in Manila. They are going to Rome for the canonization of our Foundress, Mother Marie Eugenie Milleret. The cost is beyond my budget for now, but it was a joy to be with my friends.”
“Sister Cecilia Claparols asked us to meditate, look around us and record our impressions. . . . . .I looked out the glass windows – at the ocean beyond, and the dancing waves, and my friends around me. . . . .with whom I somehow shared a kindred spirit. . . . . I expressed my feelings then in these verses:
The Waves and Me
Frothy, undulating waves
kiss the sandy shores
a fleeting moment. . . . .
Just like me meeting up
with scores of people
in this event. . . .
Hello!. . . . .Goodbye –
transient but
etched in my memory. . .
You came, touched my heart
by our encounter –
That moment in time
indelibly left a mark
in my heart, to linger forever—
Like the waves –
flashes of you come and go,
caressing my soul –
I was loved, this moment
– by you!”
That a student, half way around the world from where she lived and worked, should come away with such a sensitive soul, and be so close to her friends after 50 years, is a real living tribute to Mother Eugenie, a tribute to the schools that she founded, and to the nuns whom she has trained. To me, it means more than the canonization. This gentle girl, Eugenie Milleret, did not live in vain!
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His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, during the recollection that he gave in May for the priests of the Archdiocese of Manila, said: “I will write my letter of resignation on June 10. That will give the Vatican two months to process it, so that I can say goodbye gracefully on August 10.”
On August 10, the Cardinal will be 75. It is true that all Bishops are required to write an official letter of resignation on their 75th birthday. But Rome has no obligation to accept that resignation. The priests of the Archdiocese of Manila believe that Benedict XVI will not accept the resignation of Cardinal Rosales. Because he is mentally alert, physically strong, and he has the warm, fatherly heart of a priest. They believe that he will carry on as Archbishop for another five years.
He is doing magnificent work with his “Pondo ng Pinoy.” He does not think that 25 centavos a day, from every Filipino, will solve the problem of poverty in the Philippines. But he knows that Pondo ng Pinoy is teaching our people to reach out to each other, to help each other, to care for each other. And that is the heart of the Gospel: “Little children, love one another, as I have loved you.” That mutual love will ultimately solve all of our basic problems.
He is really a pastor, a shepherd of his flock, deeply concerned for his priests, his people, the poor, and especially for “the lost lambs.” He is a living example of what Jose Marie Chan sings in his beautiful song: “Gentleness”. “The wise know the truth. . . . there is no power stronger than gentleness of heart.”
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