A CLOSE relationship with Blessed Pedro Calungsod is what Dina Pastor, aspires for her son.
The 36-year-old Pastor held her son’s hand as they joined the faithful in celebration of the last feast of Blessed Pedro Calungsod before his canonization this October.
“Calungsod exemplifies the attitude I want my son to have,” Pastor said as she fondly looked over five-year old Nino Jonas in the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Pedro Calungsod yesterday morning.
Pastor, a call center agent, said she raised Jonas as a single mother, and she would often pray to Señor Sto Nino, whom Jonas adapted his name from and the Blessed Pedro Calungsod.
She said Calungsod showed the Christian virtues of courage and dedication which she wanted her son to adopt as he grows up.
A publication of catechesis, specially focused for the youth will be one of the highlights on the upcoming celebration as the world’s first Visayan saint will be canonized, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said.
“ This is meant to attract young people to remind them to be with God,” Palma told reporters in an interview after the mass for the feast of Blessed Pedro Calungsod in the Archbishop’s residence yesterday.
A mass was celebrated by Palma in the Calungsod shrine in Archbishop’s Residence yesterday morning, followed by a procession in the afternoon.
Palma said Calungsod is a good influence on the Catholic faith.
Palma said that after the canonization, the holy image of Calungsod will tour the whole country.
In his homily, Palma also acknowledged the contributions of Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Msgr Ilde Leyson.
Leyson, a chief postulator for the Cause of Calungsod, is a principal source for those who want to write a book or make a movie on Calungsod’s life, Palma said.
In an interview, Leyson told reporters that he noticed more people are visiting the Calungsod shrine after his canonization date was announced. “I hope this will help us prepare spiritually,” he said.
A thanksgiving mass in the South Road Properties will be held by the archdiocese on Nov. 30.
Palma said a congress of the laity catechists will be held after the canonization to inculcate in their hearts and minds that priests and nuns are not only called to service in the kingdom of God. With Correspondent Fe Marie Dumaboc