3-hour motorcade for Calungsod; pilgrims fill plane bound for Rome

Bells pealed as the image of Blessed Pedro Calungsod emerged at 8 a.m. at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral yesterday.

For the next three hours, a motorcade for Calungsod’s last procession as a “beato” saw people lining the streets joyously waving their hands, flaglets  and palm leaves as the glass-encased image made its way from Cebu City to Mandaue city and the international airport in Lapu-Lapu City.

Police estimated 12,000 on the road for the sendoff of Calungsod and other pilgrims who flew to Hong Kong on a journey that would end in Rome for  canonization rites of the teenage Visayan martyr on Sunday.

On the road, some women held up their young children as volunteers on the truck hoisted toddlers to kiss the glass case.

Devotees threw hankerchiefs to be rubbed on the case and tossed back.

The crowd included students in school uniforms, blue collar workers,  elderly folk and  people from all walks of life including polio survivors on wheelchairs.

Some were teary eyed as the  image passed by; a few set off firecrackers to cheers of “Viva Pedro Calungsod!” The hymn “Way Sukod” the signature ‘gozos’ composed by Msgr. Rudy Villaneuva played on loud speakers.

People carried small statues of Calungsod as they strained to catch a glimpse of the image that would be used for the canonization rites in the Vatican.

Red roses and white orchids adorned the image.

RED TRUCK

The brand new Cheverolet pickup used to transport the image is owned by businessman Jerry Alcover, 58, a devotee. He said he bought the pick up last September and chose the color red for Calungsod.  Red is symbolic of martyrdom in the church.

“Maldito kaayo ko niadtong una. Gibira ra gyud ko sa Ginoo. Sa una, naay emptiness. Karon malipayon kaayo ko. (I was very naughty before. The Lord pulled me up. If I felt emptiness before, now I’m very happy,)” said Alcover, a lay minister in the cathedral and owner of  of the Suga, Tuwa, Kilaw Ta Bai restaurant.

Inside the vehicle were Msgr. Marnell Mejia and Margie Matheu of the archdiocese’s secretariat.

The motorcade passed the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City where a large growd gathered as carillon bells range.

Upon reaching Lapu-Lapu City, another vehicle joined, carrying an image of the Virgin Mary, the city’s patroness as Nuestra Señora Virgen de la Regla or the Our Lady of the Rule.

DEVOTEES

The sincerity of  individual devotees was palpable.

Crisanto Baquero, 58, went in his wheelchair to the Cebu Cathedral yesterday morning for the sendoff Mass.

He rolled himself to church from his home in  barangay San Roque.

A polio survivor since he was 3 years old, Baquero asked the young martyr to pray for his family to be reunited. He and his wife separated in 2006.

“Nagbuwag mi tungod sa kalisud. Naa na may lain ang akong asawa ron. (We separated due to poverty. Now my wife has already another partner),” Baquero said.

“With God’s help nothing is impossible,” said the former City Hall casual employee, who said he came to know about Calungsod in a book.

Ricky Escobar, 42, went to the cathedral with his 4-year-old daughter.

He brought with him a small image of the Visayan martyr given by a friend.

“I hope my daughter will finish her studies. I also ask for good health,” he said in Cebuano.

A the Mactan airport,  the image was taken out and brought to a chapel near the international departure area.

A 10-minute prayer service was led by Bishop Emilio Bataclan.

“When we venerate the image, we think of the examples he gave us and we ask for his intercession before God,” said Bataclan who is OIC of the Cebu Archdiocese after Archbishop Jose Palma left for Rome early this month to attend the Synod of Bishops and the  canonization.

Calungsod’s image was then placed in a hard styrofoam box and boarded on  Cathay Pacific flight CX920 for Hong Kong which left at 12:56.

The statue is travelling as a “passenger” on the plane, seated beside Fr.  Charles Jayme, its custodian.

“I’m very happy. I’m humbled,” said Jayme about his duty as escort.

Two other replicas of Calungsod will be brought by a Manila delegation to Rome, one for Pope Benedict XVI and another for the Pontificio Collegio Filippino,the school for Filipino priests in Rome.

When the image returns to the Philippines on Oct. 25, Calungsod will be Saint Pedro, off to another journey around different dicoeses of the country  for the Duaw Nasud.

A grand welcome is being prepared in Manila, the first destination, before the image is brought to 36 different areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao before it will return to Cebu on Nov. 27.