Words of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales during the golden jubilee of the founding of Lipa Carmel last 31 May 1996

[graciandelamadrededios]

These were the words of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales during the golden jubilee of the founding of Lipa Carmel last 31 May 1996. For the idea of founding the monastery in 1946 when everything lay in ruins seemed impossible.

Lipa in Ruins

Lipa, in the province of Batangas in the Philippines, was one of the towns totally devastated by occupying Japanese forces in World War II. More than 25,000 men, women, and children were mercilessly killed while those who survived endured the brutal atrocities during the “reign of terror” from 1942 to1945.

The Bishop of Lipa, Alfredo Verzosa, survived this war through Divine Providence. He escaped a massacre after an unknown messenger came to warn him. The Japanese killed all 5,000 people whom they lured for protection against the advancing American troops at the St. Francis de Sales Seminary, their temporary hospital. Then, they razed the seminary to the ground.

But the people of Lipa, with their deep faith in God, loving devotion to the Blessed Mother, and great strength of spirit, would pick themselves up and rise from the ashes and ruins of the war.

A New Carmel is Born in Lipa

After the war, Bishop Alfredo Verzosa wrote Mother Theresa of Jesus, then the Mother Prioress of Manila Carmel, to initiate the establishment of a monastery in Lipa. For twenty years he had been asking for a Carmel in his diocese but Manila Carmel, founded in 1926, did not then have the necessary number of nuns for a new foundation.

On 31 May 1946, Bishop Verzosa formally signed the Act of Foundation establishing the Monastery of our Lady of Mt. Carmel with six Carmelite Sisters from the Carmel of Manila as foundresses.

1. Mother Theresa of Jesus (Marie Victoria Pagot), 63 years of age and 42 of religion

2.Sister Mary of St. Joseph (Nieves Aquino, 43 years of age and 19 of religion

3.Sister Alphonse of Mary (Felisberta Baring), 41 years of age and 20 of religion

4.Sister Mary Cecilia of Jesus (Natividad Zialcita), 37 years of age and 19 of religion

5.Sister Mary Anne of Jesus (Rosario Cuna), 30 years of age and 7 of religion

6.Sister Elizabeth of the Sacred Heart (Leonor Cebrero), 29 years of age and 4 of religion

The Bishop offered the diocese’s three-hectare property that used to be the St. Francis de Sales Seminary. It would be from these ruins and “place of holocaust” that the foundresses would painstakingly but wholeheartedly build the Carmelite Monastery, thus having its roots deeply linked to the priesthood.

The Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart lovingly provided the temporary accommodations for the foundresses.

Mother Cecilia of Jesus in her account described vividly their experience upon arriving in Lipa:

“The temporary lodging of the Nuns was very poor and small. The house was built upon the heavy ruins of an entirely demolished convent.

Besides, the house was nothing more than a complete patchwork of rusty, old iron sheets. Parts had been gathered separately from the ruins scattered in the town and parts taken away from the former Army barracks. It had not the least aspect of a Monastery. But the generous Nuns did not stop to think of their own comfort. They put their hands wholeheartedly to the work assigned them. And there was much to be done!”

“Then, they had to make the best of their dwelling to find enough room to assemble for the community exercises such as the Choir for prayer and the Divine Office, the refectory for meals, the recreation room, the dormitory, etc. Every afternoon at sundown, when they could get out freely to breathe a little fresh air without being too visible to the passersby, they took the opportunity to work at the laborious task of clearing the ground in front of the house. There were heaps of stones, large pieces of cement fallen from the old ruins and all kinds of rubbish strewn here and there. It was very hard work indeed. But they soon succeeded to make the place look neat and they built a nice road out of the stones which a short time ago seemed insurmountable.”

“This path led straight to the entrance of the Carmelite Convent. During the rainy season the water poured in through large and numerous holes. Later on, it was quite an amusing sight, not to say a bit pitiful, to see a large piece of canvas so kindly offered them by the Army, spread over the roof of the house similar to a bonnet. Yes, it was the life of Bethlehem enacted all over again. And poverty was their cherished guest. But the magic wand of holy joy was ever present with them to make hard things light and turn dark clouds into bright sunshine. Nothing daunted them. Their courageous spirits were animated by the one consoling thought that beneath the same roof the Divine Lord Jesus deigned to make His delightful abode.”

“Each morning found them at the foot of the altar in the small chapel of the aforesaid Sisters just at the other end of the house. There, they united with the Divine Victim at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they offered themselves again and again to the Heavenly Father for priests and souls. There they reverently knelt at the Banquet Table to partake of the Bread of Angels where they received strength, which aided them in their many hardships and privations.”

This was the secret of their joy in sacrifice.”

 

 

 

 

 

“It is not by sheer luck but it is by God’s design that the Carmelite Monastery was erected on Lipa’s soil.”

These were the words of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales during the golden jubilee of the founding of Lipa Carmel last 31 May 1996. For the idea of founding the monastery in 1946 when everything lay in ruins seemed impossible.

note: i forgot to insert the above