WAYNE Dressed in “barong Tagalog,” the native formal attire of the Philippines, Filipino American Catholics from all three counties in the diocese joined together to celebrate a feast day Mass for their country’s two saints, St. Lorenzo Ruiz and St. Pedro Calungsod, both martyrs, at Our Lady of the Valley Church here Sept. 19.
Under the theme, Filipino Families United in Christ, the Mass was celebrated by Bishop Serratelli. The celebration was sponsored by the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries and Father Vidal Gonzales, the group’s adviser and the first Filipino-born priest ordained for the Paterson Diocese. Priests from around the diocese and beyond concelebrated the Mass including Bishop Narcisco Abellana of the Diocese of Romblon in the Philippines, who is a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
The feast day celebration featured music sung in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines. The Prayers of the Faithful were recited in six different dialects of the Philippines.
In his homily, Bishop Serratelli said, “Today we celebrate two saints canonized by the Church from the countless Filipinos who have received the Word of God, have lived it in their lives everyday growing closer and closer to God. Two saints whose daily choices always moved them upward beyond the pleasures and sufferings of this life to God.”
“These two great saints San Lorenzo and San Pedro have left us a witness of fidelity and sacrifice that inevitably comes what are daily lives are rooted in the Word of God,” the Bishop said. “Each day every one of us must make choices to live out God’s Word in our families, in our businesses and in our relationships with one another. And, indeed, because some choices are hard choices requiring great fidelity and much sacrifice, it is often easier to trip along downhill than to walk steadily and straight, perhaps even along the rocky road uphill to God. But the path that leads uphill will always lead to the cross. We remember it is an empty cross and the one who is walking beside us is the one who hung there and defeated the cross. It is Jesus, who stays with us in our suffering and fidelity. It is Jesus, by our side ready to take us into the Father’s house.”
Canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in Rome on Oct. 18, 1987, St. Lorenzo Ruiz was martyred during the persecution of Christians in Japan during the 17th century while on a missionary expedition. A layman with a wife and three children, he lived out his faith as an active member of his parish community. In addition to being a patron for laypersons and married people, he is known for being a saint of the poor because he was a poor sacristan from Binondo, Manila. He is also a patron saint for artists because he was skilled in calligraphy when he was employed by the Dominican Fathers. His feast day is Sept. 28.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI canonized St. Pedro Calungsod on World Mission Sunday in 2012. The saint was martyred April 2, 1672 when he was 17 — one week before Palm Sunday. He began serving God when he was 13 as a missionary for the Jesuits. With Jesuit Father Diego Luis de San Vitores, he traveled to Guam to catechize the native Chamorros. They were attacked and killed when the village chief learned his baby daughter was baptized. It is believed St. Pedro could have escaped the attackers but did not want to leave Father Diego alone. His feast day is April 2.
Following the Mass, Filipinos gathered in the hall of Our Lady of the Valley for food and fellowship and entertainment by young Filipino people, who played instruments and danced.
At the close of Mass, Father Gonzales said, “We are so grateful for our very own Filipino saints, San Lorenzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod, who give us good examples of our faith today to be proclaimers of the Word and put into practice the lives these two saints led.”