On the eve of the Annunciation

Let us recall an important pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on the Blessed Virgin Mary. This letter read to churches in 1975 remains even more relevant today, where we live in a rapidly secularizing age. While secularism is not bad, it should be anchored on humanistic values and Mary represents what these values are.

The letter is also notable for explicitly mentioning the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP) and its devotion to the Holy Virgin. Truly the Anglican Communion continues to occupy a special place in the heart of the Catholic Church.

The End of a Filipino Schism? Catholics and Aglipayans together

Something unimaginable before. Aglipayan and Roman Catholic parish priests sharing the altar and saying the Lord's Prayer! From MannyFeastation's blog

From the Anglo Catholic blog, we read that the Anglo-Lutherans have decided to petition to join the Ordinariate. This is indeed a surprise since the Lutherans are not historically Anglican (even if they have close relationships with the Anglican Communion). The petition is also significant since it surprisingly shows the flexibility of a Roman  Apostolic Constitution. It is of immense significance for the Filipino Church since it paves a possible way to resolve a more than a century old schism between the Roman Church and the Philippine Independent Church or the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) more popularly known as the Aglipayan Church.

The history of the IFI is well narrated in the church's website. The church is the only living link with the Philippine Revolution of 1896. One reason for the Philippine Revolution is that ecclesiastical appointments were dominated by foreign clergy. The revolutionists demanded that all church appointments especially in parishes be given to Filipino priests. Filipino priests have been ordained since the 1700s and many had proven to be good pastors but they never been appointed as parish priests but just coadjutors. Notable among them is Fr Jose Burgos who had doctorates in theology and canon law but never was raised to the episcopate. In the Revolution Fr Gregorio Aglipay became Military Vicar general. He later became the first Supreme Bishop of the IFI.

With the change in sovereignty from Spanish to American, and the crushing of the nascent Philippine Republic, the curacies vacated by the Spanish friars were replaced by Anglophone priests. In 1902 Leo XIII issued the Apostolic Constitution "Quae Mari Sinico" which reorganized the Roman Church in the Philippines.  Through this constitution, Americans and Europeans filled the diocesan posts vacated by the Spanish, established new dioceses, and elevated the first Filipinos to the episcopate. However the historic sees were still occupied by foreigners  It was only much later that these sees were filled in by Filipinos and the first Filipino Archbishop of Manila was enthroned after Philippine independence in 1946. This added to the bitter acrimony between the IFI and the Roman Church for more than a century.

Quae Mari Sinico allowed the Roman Church to reform and thus meet the challenges of the IFI schism and Protestant proselytization.  The IFI proceeded to reform the Latin liturgy such as having the Mass in the vernacular. But the IFI veered towards a Unitarian direction under the first Supreme Bishop Gregorio Aglipay and this precipitated schisms among the IFI now called Aglipayans.

Thus the demand of the IFI for Filipinos to head the Filipino Church went largely unheeded until at the time of the Second Vatican Council after which the Mass was celebrated in the Filipino vernaculars. But after Vatican II most of the dioceses were headed by Filipinos. Today the Filipino Church is headed by Filipinos.

The IFI today remains resolutely nationalist but entered into a concordat with the Episcopal Church which allowed the IFI to train in Episcopal church seminaries. The PECUSA bestowed the historic succession on the IFI bishops in the late 1940s. The PECUSA also had a large influence in reforming the IFI's Mass books. The IFI Mass books have been strongly influenced by the BCP.

After Vatican II IFI ecumenical contacts with the Roman Church commenced and at a parish level there are a lot of ecumenical engagement between Roman Catholics and Aglipayans especially on social, environmental and political issues. It is not uncommon for an Aglipayan to attend Catholic Mass if he/she can't get to an Aglipayan church. Confrontations between Aglipayanos and Romanos are now much a thing of the past. In Pandacan district of Manila last January, once a site of confrontation between the Catholics and Aglipayans, we see something unimaginable a few years back, two separated communities believing in the same Catholic faith in one religious procession.

Even more unimaginable, Aglipayan and Roman clergy blessing the faithful together.

However while discussions on a reconciliation with the Roman Church started after Vatican II, there has not been much progress on this front. However some in the Roman Church especially in the Ilocano heartland of the IFI have revisited the reasons for the schism and the Aglipayans have warmly responded. Truly it is time for dialogue, prayer and theological reflection.

Will Anglicanorum Coetibus, once especially designed for Anglicans unexpectedly pave the way to end this 109 year old schism? With the Lutherans using the AC in their quest to reconcile with Rome, it is very possible that the Aglipayans and the Roman Catholics in the Philippines will eventually recognize the need to heal the schism of the past and come into communion, with AC as the way. This won't be an easy path but with common prayer, a commonality of a strong Catholic patrimony and the Filipino's ecumenical orientation, this should be an easier walk than expected. The Aglipayans and Roman Catholics have a strong devotion to the Holy Child. Will they allow the Child and His Mother to lead them?

I am beginning to believe that the Holy Spirit has more uses for Anglicanorum Coetibus than the CDF in the Vatican and Anglicans everywhere ever imagined!

LAUS DEO!

Feast of the Santo Niño

The Santo Niño of Cebu, the oldest Christian icon in the Philippines

The Feast of the Santo Niño is celebrated in the Philippine Church on the 3rd Sunday of January.  The Philippine Church got a papal indult to celebrate the feast on this day. On this day, even overseas parishes with a significant Filipino membership celebrate the Mass of the Santo Niño .

For many Filipinos Christmas really "ends" on this day. It is not only the Catholics who have a devotion to the Holy Child. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente which traces its roots from Roman Catholicism has a strong devotion to the Santo Niño. The IFI national cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Child. The IFI's charism is to identify the Holy Child in the struggle for national liberation and dignity of the Filipino people.

The Holy Child devotion dates back to the earliest introduction of Christianity in the Philippines. The evangelization of the Philippines began when Magellan presented the statue of the Santo Niño to Queen Juana of Cebu in 1521. After Magellan was killed by Lapulapu and the Spanish left, the image was kept by the natives. When the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi landed in Cebu in 1565, he found the image in a native hut where it was venerated. The natives seem to have lost memory of its origin and claimed it was of ancient provenance. Thus the image survives to this very day and venerated in the Basilica of Santo Niño in Cebu where it have been enshrined since 1565. The Basilica stands on the exact spot where the image was rediscovered.

The Feast of Santo Niño is memorable to me. On this day I was confirmed as a Catholic in the Church. The Military Bishop, the Most Rev Severino Pelayo DD asked my confirmation sponsor if I had a Protestant background. When the bishop learned that I had an Anglican/Episcopal background. He immediately told my sponsor that "he is not a convert" and he need not undergo an RCIA program. The bishop just required me to study the catechism he gave, spend the night in prayer, have confession early in the morning and be confirmed during the 09:00 AM Mass of the Santo Niño. And so I was confirmed. The Gospel reading on the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, remains memorable for me. The Gospel's "I must be in my Father's house" is etched in my heart.

And that is where the Santo Niño comes into my Anglican story. I have always believed Anglicans never convert to become Catholics. They just go back to their old rooms at the big house after a time of being away. My father once told me that when I am away, I will always have a room in the old house. In the same way Anglicans will always have a room at the Catholic house. Pope Paul VI told the Archbishop of Canterbury in Rome that by coming to "our house, you enter your own house". Anglicans are always welcome and they have a place to stay.

The Ordinariate now up in England can be likened to a newly refurbished room in the old house. The Father has taken care to make everything good in this room. It is now up to Anglicans to enter and they are doing so.

And what could we call these "ex"-Anglicans. They are Anglicans still but now they can be called best as Anglican Roman Catholics. Anglican in their particular heritage, Roman in their essentials and Catholic as the Lord has willed them to be.

This is no longer the "separate branch" of yore, but a living branch united with the life giving source.

Fiesta sa Quiapo: The Feast of the Black Nazarene

January 9 is the most famous patronal feast in the Philippines. On this day, the Manila commercial district of Quiapo celebrates the Feast of the Black Nazarene. The image of the Christ as the Black Nazarene was carved in Mexico and brought to Manila on a galleon from Acapulco. Popular tradition says that the black colour of the icon was a result of a shipboard fire that singed the image.

The image arrived on May 31, 1606 and was enshrined in the Recollect church in Manila. It was later transferred to the Church of San Tolentino in Intramuros (this church no longer exists). The Archbishop of Manila in 1790 ordered the transfer of the image to Quiapo Parish church (now known as the Basilica Minore of the Black Nazarene) where it remains to this day.

The Black Nazarene image is brought in procession around the district, where hundreds of thousands devotees walking barefoot in a sign of humility, follow it. The January 9 procession commemorates the transfer of the image from the Recollect church in Intramuros to Quiapo, across the Pasig River. Because of the passage of time and that many generations of devotees over the centuries have touched it, a replica of the image is processed through Manila's streets rather than the original Mexican image. Thousands of people many wearing the image's maroon dress, throw white handkerchiefs or towels, which people on the 'carroza" of the icon, wipe on the image. Devotees claim that by able to touch the image, they will be healed. Many claim that they were physically healed, but much more have claimed they were spiritually healed.

Traditionally, only men were allowed to process with the image. But in recent years, women have been allowed.

In 2010 the police estimated 5-7 million people attended the procession and religious services of the feast. The Quiapo fiesta has become notorious for devotees being trampled to death. Police and health services in recent years have made precautions to prevent a stampede but still a few people die each year.

An observer to this religious devotion may note that it is fanaticism, and that it may be un Biblical and contrary to the Gospel. Several Catholic theologians have reflected on this devotion and write that it reflects on an understanding of Christ's incarnation and suffering by a vast majority of inarticulate people (people who weren't formally catechized). To this day a majority of devotees come from the working classes.

And so the Archdiocese of Manila has initiated a catechetical program that accompanies the Black Nazarene feast. Church authorities worked closely with laypeople organizations organizing the celebrations, reminding the Gospel basis of their devotion, proper religious behaviour to fellow devotees and the importance of interior reflection during the vigil. This was so successful that no one was trampled to death in 2010.

Foreign observers have noted that the Black Nazarene fiesta is the closest Catholicism gets to having a pilgrimage that is like to Muslims going to Mecca. They still ask the question, why are there so many pilgrims and devotees?

For me the name "Nazarene" is enough explanation. Jesus was first rejected in Nazareth by his own townsfolk. This immediately caught on with millions of poor and disadvantaged Filipinos over the centuries. They were in a real sense 'rejected" by the rest of Filipino society especially the rich. Also in a deeper sense, the need to PHYSICALLY touch the Christ really has a basis in the Gospel. In St Mark 5:24-34, we read about the woman with a flow of blood, and as such was made ritually unclean and rejected by her own people. She believed that if she just were able to touch Jesus clothes, she will be healed. She did and Jesus sensed the power drain out of him and asked "Who touched me?"

The woman touched not just the Jesus the Man but the God that is Jesus. And trembling,  the woman told Jesus the truth. The woman was healed. Christianity is really an incarnational faith. There is really a need to touch another human being. The need to physically touch another human being is the first step in how we love!


If we are not afflicted, all our reason will tell us how unnecessary processing the Black Nazarene is. In the same way how it was not necessary for the woman to touch Jesus' clothes (she could have seen a doctor, which she really did!). But all this goes beyond reason.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said it best in his homily at Lourdes on Saint Bernadette. He preached that Bernadette, who like the millions of Black Nazarene devotees was inarticulate and very poor, recognised that with the Blessed Virgin appearing "Here was life, here was healing, here was joy"

Rowan also writes what very well describes the faith of the millions of Black Nazarene devotees, where a devotion really is "heralding some future with Christ that we can't yet get our minds around."

The poor have a future with Christ which most of us can't get!

A blessed feast of the Black Nazarene to our readers!

In the Philippines, we celebrate Epiphany but Christmas never ends!

The Magi in Manila from http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/three_kings.htm

Today is the traditional celebration of the Epiphany which commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. The Magi gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Prior to the reform of the Roman Calendar in 1970, the feast was celebrated on January 6, which is the 12th Day of Christmas and marked the end of the season. After the 1970 reform, Epiphany is celebrated on the first Sunday after New Year in places where Epiphany is not a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Philippines it fell on January 2 this year.

The Anglican churches and the Philippine Independent Church still celebrate it on January 6. It is expected that the Anglican Ordinariates will celebrate it too on January 6. In Spanish Philippines, this holiday was known more as the feast of the Three Kings. Before American practice was adopted, children received presents on this day. When I was very young, I received my presents from grandparents on January 6 (which also happened to be my grandmother's birthday). Children left their shoes by the window expecting the Magi to put in gold coins (not frankincense or myrrh mind you!). But when I was a kid, the old folks put Gold Goya brand chocolate coins.

In rural Philippines three men dressed as the Magi would ride into town on ponies and distribute trinkets and goodies to children. The custom survives in Ermita, Manila, where the Casino Espanol sponsors the Magi who distribute goodies to street children.

It was customary to put away Christmas decorations on this day and when I was small, it really meant the end of Christmas. But nowadays, Christmas has become too commercialized and Filipinos (since they really are children by heart even if they are old and grey) want to extend Christmas as long as possible. Catholic churches are not exempt. I know not of any Catholic parish church that really puts away their Christmas decorations at Epiphany. Many hold on to them until the Feast of the Santo Nino (the Sunday after Epiphany). This is really when the Filipino Christmas "ends" (It "began" on December 16).  The Feast of the Santo Nino is close to the Filipino people because Christianity in the Philippines really started when Magellan presented the Queen of Cebu with an image of the Holy Child in 1521. The image still is venerated in Cebu's Basilica. It is the oldest Christian icon in the Philippines

But of course, Filipinos are so fond of children and for that single reason alone, Christmas never ends! Well it almost never ends, since come Good Friday, all thoughts of merry making is put away at least for a day. And come July, you may hear Christmas carols sung ( and this really shocks the foreign visitor)!

Simbang Gabi, Misa de Gallo (Dawn Mass Novena before Christmas)

Tomorrow at dawn, Filipinos (who can wake up very very early) will troop to the churches to attend the Simbang Gabi mass at 4:00 AM. This is a uniquely Filipino Christmas liturgical celebration and is a novena of 9 dawn masses. The diocesan committees of the Philippines has this to say about this liturgical tradition. The Dawn Mass honors the babe by honoring His mother. This is so Filipino.


The Simbang Gabi is truly Filipino catholic and Catholic. Non Roman churches have also adopted the practice. The Methodists and United Churches have nine days of dawn services. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines has the liturgy in its Book of Common Prayer, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) which has its origins in the Roman Catholic Church has preserved the tradition with dawn masses and some Orthodox missions in the Philippines have nine days of dawn Divine Liturgies.

The Philippine Catholic Church in plenary council in 1953 applied to Rome for an indult to celebrate this mass. This was granted in 1961 by Pope John XXIII. The indult is for the festive celebration of the series of masses with the alleluia, gloria and carols sung and white vestments worn by the priest, deacons and mass servers. Since the masses fall within Advent, a season of penitence, an indult was necessary.


Rome recognized that for Filipinos, Christmas is not only on December 25 but is from December 16 to the feast of the Epiphany!

Pope John Paul II said in a homily in Mexico that the Church "respects and fosters the qualities and talents of the various races and nations. Anything in these people’s way of life which is not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error, she studies with sympathy, and, if possible, preserves intact. She sometimes even admits such things into the liturgy itself, provided they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit”"

The Church because she is Catholic and when she encounters another culture, crowns that culture and if the cultural practices are in harmony with the truths she preaches, she preserves this patrimony.

And this is the reason why the Catholic Church can take in (or for better terms, recover what has been lost) Anglican religious expressions! The Church becomes more Catholic in the process.


Simbang Gabi is celebrated everywhere in the world where Filipinos are found. When I was in outback Australia, I was able to finish the novena of masses since there was a Filipino community served by a Filipino missionary priest. 


There are traditions that are linked with the dawn masses. The churches are well lit and Parols or Christmas Star lanterns are to be found everywhere. Food stalls sell puto bumbong, hot chocolate and arroz caldo. Small children are brought to mass sleepy eyed but are instantly awoken by promises of eating puto bumbong after the mass (of course toys are more effective and toy sellers are also found in the churchyard!). Grown-ups look forward to eating arroz caldo.


In the past the Mass was celebrated to allow farmers to praise God before tilling the fields at daybreak. Even the party animal was catered for. The Spanish era party animal or soltero "bachelor" always attended the Mass after a night of tertulias after which he hit the sack at dawn.


Today call center agents, physicians, nurses, police officers and other workers who have night duties attend the Mass after their shifts. In traffic hellish Manila, workers wake up early to commute and find time to attend the Mass before work starts.

Climate change has finally caught up with Simbang Gabi. In the past people reveled in the nippy atmosphere (17-18 C, quite chilly for a tropical country) and wore sweaters even in Manila expecting to eat puto bumbong and arroz caldo afterwards! But the weather bureau predicts a warm 25 C this 2010 season!

Filipino tradition says that anyone who finishes the series of 9 dawn masses will be blessed in the coming New Year! But that is easier said than done. Waking up at 3 AM for nine days can cause sleep deprivation for many people that they end up like Scrooges by Christmas!


Of course there are abuses to the tradition and the local diocesan bishops have taken notice. One is the innovation of having "anticipated" Simbang Gabi at 8 PM! The whole idea is contrary to the essence of the tradition. The papal indult specifically specified mass at dawn. Of course one can attend Masses in a Godly hour but the Mass will be in Advent mode and not in Simbang Gabi mode!


And so the Philippines has the longest liturgical Christmas season in the world which starts on December 16 and in all practicality goes beyond Epiphany and ends in the Feast of the Holy Child or the Santo Nino in mid January. And come to think of it, if we speak of the commercial sense, Christmas in the Philippines starts on September 1 and in reality never ends!

When an Anglican steps across the threshold..

I told the Reverend Father Raymond Arre of the University of the Philippines Catholic parish of the Holy Sacrifice that I could not connect with the "Crossing the Tiber" thingy. After all, to cross a river means one gets wet from swimming. I never crossed the Tiber. I just went into the adjacent room of the same house. It is more like crossing the threshold rather than swimming across a river!  The Philippines is a majority Roman Catholic country and even non-Catholics have to be understanding of Catholic practices and in the fullest extent possible without compromising one's non-Catholicness, Catholic practices may be accepted.

A clear example is that some Protestant churches have adopted the uniquely Filipino Catholic practice of "Simbang Gabi" or in Spanish "Misa de Gallo" or "Mass of the Rooster's Crowing". Back in the Spanish colonial period, farmers had to attend Mass at 4 AM so they can set to work on their fields by 6 AM. The Simbang Gabi marks the traditional liturgical season of Christmas in the Philippines as it starts on December 16 and runs for nine days. A local customary belief is that if one attends all the novena masses, he/she will be blessed for the coming New Year. But in an urbanized society, fulfilling this pledge becomes hard. I for instance only fulfilled the dawn mass series in an unlikely place as northern Australia!

It is because that when there are Filipinos around anywhere on the planet and if they are served by a Filipino priest, this custom is followed. Thus there are dawn masses in LA, London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney etc. Now why would there be a dawn mass in outback Australia? Answer: There was a small Filipino community and there was missionary Filipino priest. I was able to finish the dawn mass series since that town in Australia was so rural and quiet. One is easily able to get up at 3 AM!


As I mentioned earlier this beautiful tradition has been adopted by non Catholics. The Philippine Independent Church which traces its origin from Catholicism has preserved the tradition. Some Methodists, Presbyterians and United Church congregations have adopted the custom. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines has too and the rite is in the ECP Book of Common Prayer.


For this reason and that Filipinos appreciate the value of some Catholic practices, sometimes crossing over to Catholicism in the Philippines is akin to crossing the threshold doorway of another room in the same house. Filipinos are an ecumenical people. While we hold many faith traditions, we don't use this as a point of disagreement. We feel we belong to one house. We are in one house, the Father's! When a Muslim was treated with injustice in another land, many Filipinos  protested, not because a Muslim had been treated badly, but because a person has been treated badly and this offends Allah, our God.

The Philippines has been fortunate to have been spared from religious conflict. But the nation has not been spared from ALL conflict. Our being a sort of ecumenical people may be the key to resolving the conflicts that have cost lives. We have a long way to go. Can Filipinos live up to this vocation which in no doubt comes from God?

I know only of one painting that shows in art this unique Filipino ecumenism. This is the  mural honouring Father John Delaney at Delaney Hall of the University of the Philippines parish where one sees the Protestant Church of the Risen Lord figuring prominently with the Protestants meeting the Catholics in another uniquely Filipino custom of the Easter "Salubong" or encounter. The Salubong celebrates the meeting of the Risen Jesus and His Mother.  How appropriate that the Protestants from Risen Lord meet the Catholics of the Holy Sacrifice at Easter!

In this reflection, I read with great interest the sermon of  Reverend Father Giles Pinnock, the curate of the Church of England parish of Saint Mary the Virgin in Kenton, England. Father Pinnock resigned his curacy in order to be received into the Catholic Church in the soonest possible time. The good priest told his flock of his decision and we don't see the rashness of the decision. He did not even wait for the English Anglican Ordinariates to be set up!

In England and other countries like the USA or Australia, many Anglicans who live the Catholic faith in their communities know that they are Catholic but some don't see the need to cross the threshold, some agonize at the step. Perhaps they think they will be entering another house. But for those who have crossed the threshold, they have suddenly realized they have entered another room of the same house in a much peaceful setting. Father Pinnock hopes for the day when the Anglicans' and the Catholics' path converge. Perhaps that is nearer than he thinks. But only when people realize they are now in the same house. Will Filipinos be able to share that vocation?