The Wise Friar

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 Plymo...

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...

The Cassandra Martyrs of Charity   Who could understand God's designs and fathom His wisdom, when He suddenly called His workers  in his vineyard back to Himself in a most tragic and unexpected manner so that He could be more glorified through the witness and selfless offering of their lives?  There could have been much rejoicing in heaven when God finally received into His  kingdom, His good and faithful servants.   Sisters Mary Consuelo Chuidian, Mary Concepcion Conti, Mary Virginia Gonzaga and Mary Catherine Loreto were professed members of the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) Congregation ministering and serving in some of the poorest communities in Mindanao Region. They were just four of a group of 12 religious sisters, a priest,  several lay church workers and a protestant pastor, who offered their lives to save the lives of fellow passengers of the doomed MV Dona Cassandra that capsized off the shark-infested coast of Surigao during a typho...