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 devo...
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Sr. Maria Concepcion Kalaw: First Filipina Maryknoll Sister

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Sr. Maria Concepcion Kalaw: First Filipina Maryknoll Sister

As we celebrate the 500 years of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines this year, it is fitting to remember the beginnings of missionary spirit among Filipinos by highlighting and acknowledging the first Filipino members of missionary congregations who came here mostly from Europe and America as missionary evangelizers serving the Filipino faithful especially in far flung areas and then later on inspiring and recruiting members from the locale to continue their missionary endeavors in different mission stations in the country and elsewhere in the world.   

First Maryknoll Sister

Sr. Maria Concepcion Kalaw nee Dolores Katigbak Kalaw, the first Filipino Maryknoll sister was born in Lipa City on March 9, 1904 to a prominent family of intellectuals and aristocrats. His father, Cipriano Kalaw was one of the staff advisors of General Miguel Malvar and was vice president and treasurer of the Hongkong Junta- the Filipino Revolutionary government organized by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to advocate Philippine annexation to the United States. Her mother, Feliza Africa Katigbak also belongs to some of the most prominent and respected clans of Lipa.

She was raised in a huge family of 11 siblings. Her sister, Victoria Kalaw is acknowledged as the first female physician in Lipa and is considered as one of the first accredited social workers in the country. She entered the Maryknoll congregation in July 16, 1930 receiving the name Sr. Maria Concepcion where she spent 41 years as a professed religious serving in the congregation’s various ministries until her death in July 19, 1973.

Short Biography (Taken from the Maryknoll Archives)

St. Paul Hospital (?) Intramuros
credit: Lakansining.wordpress.com
On Thursday, July 19th we received a cable from Sister Dorothy McGowan informing us that Sister Maria Concepcion Kalaw had died peacefully that morning.

Sister Maria Concepcion Kalaw (Dolores Katigbak) was born on March 9, 1904 at Lipa, Philippine Islands, of one of the prominent families in Batangas Province. She was educated in the Philippines and before entering Maryknoll in July, 1930, was a lab assistant in Chemistry at the University of the Philippines and a lecturer in Bacteriology and Chemistry at the Philippine Women’s University. She was our first Filipina Maryknoll Sister, and returned to the Philippines in 1934 to continue her work in education, particularly at Lucena, Jimenez and Panabo. During this time, she was not only devoted to her students in her classes, but also to the betterment of the people of the barrio. Thus began, through small projects, what would blossom into “KIPANA”, which in Tagalog stands for “Movement to Uplift the Conditions of the Barrio People,” a self-help organization. It seems fitting that the August issue of Maryknoll magazine pays tribute to her efforts through this organization in the article “She Retired to a Busier Life.”

The response of the people as shown by their presence at her wake and funeral gives testimony to her Christian witness among her own people.

"We brought Sister home on Thursday evening and we waked her in the Chapel, opening the Community room for refreshments for the family and friends. Her brother Gregorio, her six sisters, many relatives and friends came to pay their respects. It was beautifully simple to observe. During the day, many students from the College came in and out and the elementary classes who had helped her “collect stamps for the missions” did likewise. The funeral Mass was on Saturday at 10:00 A.M. with Father Gerry Couture, MM, as the main celebrant with four other priests concelebrating with him. The Eucharistic Celebration was a joyful one, and toward the end, Bishop Vibal from Bulacan, who had just heard about Sister’s death, arrived just in time to give the final blessing.”

Let us give thanks for the gift of this life of 41 years of service among her beloved people and ask God to welcome her into His Kingdom which He has prepared for those who love Him by their efforts to enable the poor to house, feed and clothe themselves.

The Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic Congregation

Maryknoll College Day, Manila 1949
credit: Lakansining.wordpress.com
The Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic is the first United States based congregation of women religious founded in the early 20th century for foreign mission work.

With central administration in Ossining, New York, the congregation began in January 1912 with Mother Mary Joseph Rogers as first leader and foundress.

Mother Mary Joseph developed friendship with Fr. James Anthony Walsh which resulted in the founding of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in 1911 and the Maryknoll Sisters, a year later. Mother Mary Joseph is recognized as one of the co-founders of Maryknoll, along with Fr. James Anthony Walsh and Fr. Thomas Frederick Price.  At present, the Maryknoll congregation has missionary presence in 24 countries around the world. 

The Maryknoll sisters arrived in the Philippines in March 1925 upon the invitation of then Archbishop of Manila, Michael J. O’Doherty to administer a normal school for the training of teachers he established in Malabon in 1924.  

The sisters not long after established the St. Mary’s Hall, a dormitory for women near the University of the Philippines Manila, and took over the administration of St. Paul Hospital in Intramuros from the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres. They then branched out to various parts of the country establishing mission stations, schools and hospitals.  The congregation’s most known school is Maryknoll College, now Mirriam College Foundation, which started out as the Normal School in Malabon.

The sisters later on gave up administration of schools and hospitals in response to the newly discerned charism of their congregation which puts great emphasis on the missions; serving the poor and the marginalized in the peripheries.


References:  

Lipa's Old Gentry retrieved from https://philippinesbestproperties.weebly.com/blogs/lipas-old-gentry on 07 April 2021.History retrieved from https://www.maryknollsisters.org/about-us/history/ on 07 April 2021.

Sr. Maria Concepcion Kalaw retrieved from https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-sisters/sister-maria-concepcion-kalaw-mm/ on 07 April 2021.

Maryknoll Sisters in the Philippines by Fr. Miguel A. Bernad, SJ. retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2005/08/08/290444/maryknoll-sisters-philippines#:~:text=A%20Catholic%20normal%20school%20for,old%20convento%20of%20the%20parish.&text=In%20quick%20succession%2C%20Maryknoll%20Sisters%20assumed%20two%20other%20works%20in%20Manila on 07 April 2021.

History retrieved from https://www.maryknollsisters.org/about-us/history/ on 07 April 2021.


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