CEBU, Philippines – The Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod celebrates the 30th anniversary of the rediscovery of the forgotten teenage Visayan martyr this year.
After the martyrdom of Saint Pedro Calungsod and Blessed Diego Luís de San Vitores on April 2,1672, their mortal bodies were thrown into the ocean by their assassins and their blood that bathed the sand of the shore of Tomhom bay in Guam was burned to make sure the memory of the martyrs would be forgotten forever. And so it was.
But God never forgets. Three-hundred-nine years later, in 1981, while Guam was preparing for the 20th anniversary of its Diocese of Agaña, the failed 1673 beatification cause of Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores was rediscovered in old manuscripts and taken up anew until Padre Diego was finally beatified on October 6, 1985. His beatification brought the memory of Pedro Calungsod to our day because the documentations on Padre Diego always mention Pedro as his lone companion in martyrdom.
After Padre Diego's beatification ceremony at the Vatican Basilica, the then archbishop of Agaña, the Most Rev. Felixberto C. Flores, informed the then archbishop of Cebu, H. E. Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, that Blessed Diego had a companion martyr from the Visayas by the name of Pedro Calungsod. The Cardinal became very interested to have Pedro also raised to the dignity of the altars, and so he formally opened the canonical process which happily led to the beatification of Pedro Calungsod on March 5, 2000 and his canonization on October 2, 2012.
Thirty years may not be that much of an anniversary; but for those who cherish the heroic life of Saint Pedro Calungsod and who have him as a faithful helper and inspiring companion in the way of holiness, such an occasion is worth celebrating. Throughout the year 2015, the Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod at the Archbishop's Residence Compound on D. Jakosalem St., leads the people in venerating the pilgrim image of the Visayan martyr and encourage them to help put up the Saint Pedro Calungsod Shrine Center where activities on spiritual formation can be held to promote the devotion to the young saint.
Saint Pedro Calungsod, help us to become saints like you! Amen!