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St. Expeditus: Patron Saint of Speedy Causes

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St. Expeditus:  Patron Saint of Speedy Causes The venerated image of St. Expeditus in  the Lipa Cathedral In the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Lipa City is a venerated image of a young Roman Centurion saint named Expeditus. Every month of April, a nine day novena in his honor is held in the cathedral that culminates in the celebration of his feast day on the 19th of the month. Who is this saint whose intercession was also invoked in the Oratio Imperata  to avert a catastrophic eruption of Taal Volcano prepared by the Archdiocese of Lipa when the volcano exhibited extra-ordinary activity early  in January, 2020?  St. Expeditus could have found affinity with the Lipenos since the martyr shares a lot of commonality with St. Sebastian, the city’s patron. St. Expeditus, like St. Sebastian was also a young Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was also martyred as a consequence, during the period of Diocletian persecution.  Hence, a devotion to him has developed amo
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Filipino Saints 3: Venerable Francisca del Espiritu Santo Fuentes

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Venerable Francisca del Espiritu Santo de Fuentes:  Tagapagtatag ng Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena Si Francisca de Fuentes, anak nina Simon de Fuentes at Ana del Castillo y Tamayo ay isinilang sa Maynila noong taong 1647.  Siya ay isang insulares  sapagkat siya'y may purong dugong Espanyol subali't sa Pilipinas ipinanganak at nagkaisip. Nang nasa wastong gulang na, siya ay ipinagkasundo ng kanyang mga magulang sa isang maginoo at sila’y nagpakasal.  Ngunit halos isang taon lamang ang kanilang naging pagsasama sapagkat maagang binawian ng buhay ang kanyang kabiyak.  Nabiyuda sa edad na 20 taon at walang  anak, ginugol ni Francisca ang kanyang panahon sa pananalangin at sa  pagtulong sa mga mahihirap at mga may sakit. Sa isang pangitain, nagpakita sa kanya si San Francisco at Santo Domingo at nakita niya ang kanyang sarili na nagpatirapa sa harap ni Sto. Domingo.  Dahil dito, pinili niyang maging isang Dominiko at tinanggap siya bilang kasapi ng  Dominican Tertiaries
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Filipino Saints 6: Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo Iuco: Pilipinang Uliran

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Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo Iuco (1663 - 1748) :  Tagapagtatag ng Religious of the Virgin Mary Si Madre Ignacia del Espiritu Santo ay maituturing na isang ulirang Pilipina dahil sa kanyang pag-aalay ng sarili para sa Diyos at sa kapwa at sa kanyang kontribusyon sa pagbibigay puwang sa mga Pilipinang nagnanais sumunod sa Panginoon bilang mga relihiyosa sa pamamagitan ng pagsisimula ng Beaterio de la Compania de Jesus , ang pinagmulan ng kauna-unahang kongregasyon ng mga Pilipinang madre na sa kasalukuyan ay kilala bilang Religious of the Virgin Mary.  Bagama't napakalaki ng naging ambag ng mga noo'y beata at ngayo'y mga madreng RVM sa pagpapalaganap ng paghahari ng Diyos lalo na sa mga misyon sa malalayong bayan sa Mindanao at iba pang bahagi ng bansa, at ng lumaon ng daigdig, ang  Cause for Beatification  ng kanilang tagapagtag na si Madre Ignacia del Espritu Santo ay nanatiling nakabinbin sa pagdaan ng napakaraming dekada. Nakalulungkot sapagkat may kakulangan sa
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"To Lay Down One's Life for One's Friends": The Life of Fr. Francis Vernon Douglas (The Brave Parish Priest of Pililla, Rizal)

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Fr. Francis Vernon G. Douglas (May 22, 1910 - July 27, 1943) 78 years after the gruesome death of Fr. Francis Vernon Douglas in the Philippines, his name continues to reverberate and to be remembered in the local Church of New Zealand, whose faithful regard him with deep affection and considers him a source of inspiration because of his dedicated life as a missionary and his heroic death. Many New Zealanders have long thought that his heroic death was a martyrdom that should be recognized officially by the Church.  As a matter of fact, the story of Fr. Douglas has entered into the traditions of New Zealand Catholicism. He is honored for his steadfast devotion to his religious duties, and stands with Mother Mary Joseph Aubert and Emmet Mchardy as one of the local Church’s three great inspirational models.  As a testimony of the high regard New Zealand Catholics have for this great priest, a boys’ Secondary School was named Francis Douglas Memorial College in 1959 in New Plymouth, wher
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Lipa City: The Little Rome of the Philippines

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Lipa Cathedral interior I was born and grew up in a city where it is not uncommon to see nuns garbed in habits of various shades of blue, grey, brown and white and seminarians and religious brothers garbed in their cassocks, clerical shirts or religious habit, in any given day, attending church services in the different churches, shrines and monasteries in the city and its outskirts. On Sundays, all churches are full to capacity of people coming from all walks of life fulfilling their Sunday obligation. On a typical Wednesday, the Redemptorist shrine of Divino Amor welcomes throngs of devotees of Our Lady of Perpetual Help coming from different places. Every 12th of the month, there is a penitential procession from the Cathedral going to Carmel and there are also liturgical activities in Carmel every first Saturday of the month dedicated to the Blessed Mother. Welcome to the city of my birth, Lipa City, the "Little Rome of the Philippines." With its elevation of 1,025 feet ab
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