Hail to the Queen
August 21, 2005 | 12:00am
Honestly speaking, there are times when I ask myself if I should continue writing about my nearly two-year-old battle with cancer. I know that people read this column on Sundays in The STAR, and I’m aware that for most of them, Sunday is family day. I wouldn’t want to dampen anybody’s mood by reading about my fears, for example, on what could be a perfectly sunshiny day for them. My next reason is that readers might only absorb so much about one topic – cancer at that – which admittedly is a "heavy" rather than a "light" topic. Thirdly, I am a generally optimistic person, and I hope that there is no way I am passing on any form of pessimism.
But as my boss Joanne Rae Ramirez reminded me, I am "situated" as it were at a special point at a special time with my own special needs and all the attendant experiences that come with having cancer (which MRI and liver ultrasound have recently confirmed to have spread to my pelvis, lower ribs, and liver). I am living out a unique experience not all people go through, and I firmly believe it is my calling to talk about it so that what should be "bad news" (my cancer) should turn out to be – as it has for me – a springboard of faith, hope, and charity with all the attendant discoveries I have made about God, my generous neighbors and myself.
If you had told me perhaps when I was born that I would go through breast cancer, maybe I would have thought many times about coming out into the world. Despite my optimism, the fact remains that dealing with cancer has never been easy, is not easy, and will never be easy until such a time that the Lord performs His miracle and I am totally healed. Or so I used to think of the concept of "easy". But what I am learning now is that there is fulfillment in pain, that there is satisfaction in discomfort, that there is victory in defeat, that there is, by some great irony, salvation on the cross – if one just knew how to search for such things. I am still learning, and though I cannot claim to know all the answers yet, I hope to be getting there.
If there’s anything that’s helping me in my battle, it would be, hands-down, my relationship with our Lord, with Mother Mary, the saints, angels and my neighbors. I am not at all what one would call "religious" in the "pious" and "saintly" way the term connotes. I am just fortunate to have been gifted with a certain grit when it comes to having faith in God’s mercy and how it will always prevail in the end. Ever since I can remember, it has always been clear to me that God is God, He is our Father, and that we can rely on Him... always. The important thing is I believe this with all my heart. Of course I have often digressed from this calling, but I am glad that now that crunch time has come, I am not falling apart.
I remember, as soon as I could walk, how I would hold my mother’s hand to our parish church in Nasugbu, Batangas. Because I was so little she would hoist me onto the back of the bench in front of us so I could clearly see what was going on. Even at that young age I could sense the solemnity of the bells as they pealed during the Eucharistic celebration. And then there was catechetical instruction throughout elementary and high school, coupled with my own personal discoveries – gleaned from both triumphs and failures in life, of course.
These days when I feel really down, I find myself still thankful to my parents, my church, my teachers, our priests and nuns for it has been their cumulative education that steered me to the conclusions I have reached. I think I am able to cope with that has happened thus far because I have been blessed with people who provided me with "maps" about where to keep going, what one should prioritize, what one should mind or not mind while suffering. I thank them all for giving me a blue print for rebuilding, just in case – as it has happened – everything seems to be collapsing around me.
One figure stands out among my most reliable sources of strength, and she is none other than Mother Mary.
In a way I am a late bloomer at my attempts to be close to Mother Mary, although I have always believed that she is a powerful influence – albeit a silent worker – in my family’s and my own life. For there has never been a time – especially during grave crisis – when she did not come to our aid. She is indeed "Our Mother of Perpetual Help."
Many times I wish that more people would become closer to Mother Mary. They do not realize what they are missing by denying her presence in their lives. As we do for our beloved family and good friends, giving Mother Mary due respect, loving her and treating her like our very own mother, or devoting time and conversations with her does not in any way diminish our love for God. Mother Mary is not there to "compete" with God, but precisely to draw us and show us His most holy presence. In creating Mother Mary, the Lord showed us exactly how good He is by providing us with a mother to guide and intercede for us. In her, He also provided us with a sterling example of obedience, fidelity, and what it means to love God back.
That is why I am so pleased that in our hometown, Mother Mary will soon assume her rightful title as "Queen." Nasugbu, Batangas has had more than a century-long devotion to Mary and the time has come to give her the honor she deserves. Together with our town patron St. Francis Xavier, she is credited with protecting our town from peril. I am proud to be part of this endeavor because Mother Mary has done so much for me, and it is just a little I can return to her.
In Nasugbu, there is an image called the Virgen de la Escalera. It was so named because it first appeared on the madrina of the stairs (escalera in Spanish) in the old hacienda of Don Pedro Roxas.
This Sept. 4 at 4 p.m., the image of the Blessed Virgen de la Escalera will be enthroned and crowned during the Concelebrated Mass to be officiated by His Excellency Ramon Arguelles, Archbishop of Batangas, at the St. Francis Xavier Church of Nasugbu, Batangas. Parish priest Rev. Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan is spearheading the celebration.
Guests will be led by Don Pedro Roxas Jr., head honcho of Nasugbu’s Central Azucarrera de Don Pedro, and his wife Gina Tambunting. A grand procession led by Mayor Antonio Barcelon and his wife Rose will be particpated in by parishioners and church and civic organizations.
This laudable project was conceptualized by Dr. Alberto "Ino" Wonchai, an indefatigable promoter of socio-cultural and civic events in Nasugbu. Production designer is Rei Nicolas. I always thank my Tito Ino for initiating such projects because as he said, "We should all be aware of the Queenship of Mary."
Imagine what a difference it would make if Mother Mary were recognized in more places in the Philippines, and we allow her to reign in our hearts and lands. To reign not in a superficial way but in the true essence of her divine queenship.
(E-mail the author at annmondo@yahoo.com)
But as my boss Joanne Rae Ramirez reminded me, I am "situated" as it were at a special point at a special time with my own special needs and all the attendant experiences that come with having cancer (which MRI and liver ultrasound have recently confirmed to have spread to my pelvis, lower ribs, and liver). I am living out a unique experience not all people go through, and I firmly believe it is my calling to talk about it so that what should be "bad news" (my cancer) should turn out to be – as it has for me – a springboard of faith, hope, and charity with all the attendant discoveries I have made about God, my generous neighbors and myself.
If you had told me perhaps when I was born that I would go through breast cancer, maybe I would have thought many times about coming out into the world. Despite my optimism, the fact remains that dealing with cancer has never been easy, is not easy, and will never be easy until such a time that the Lord performs His miracle and I am totally healed. Or so I used to think of the concept of "easy". But what I am learning now is that there is fulfillment in pain, that there is satisfaction in discomfort, that there is victory in defeat, that there is, by some great irony, salvation on the cross – if one just knew how to search for such things. I am still learning, and though I cannot claim to know all the answers yet, I hope to be getting there.
I remember, as soon as I could walk, how I would hold my mother’s hand to our parish church in Nasugbu, Batangas. Because I was so little she would hoist me onto the back of the bench in front of us so I could clearly see what was going on. Even at that young age I could sense the solemnity of the bells as they pealed during the Eucharistic celebration. And then there was catechetical instruction throughout elementary and high school, coupled with my own personal discoveries – gleaned from both triumphs and failures in life, of course.
These days when I feel really down, I find myself still thankful to my parents, my church, my teachers, our priests and nuns for it has been their cumulative education that steered me to the conclusions I have reached. I think I am able to cope with that has happened thus far because I have been blessed with people who provided me with "maps" about where to keep going, what one should prioritize, what one should mind or not mind while suffering. I thank them all for giving me a blue print for rebuilding, just in case – as it has happened – everything seems to be collapsing around me.
In a way I am a late bloomer at my attempts to be close to Mother Mary, although I have always believed that she is a powerful influence – albeit a silent worker – in my family’s and my own life. For there has never been a time – especially during grave crisis – when she did not come to our aid. She is indeed "Our Mother of Perpetual Help."
Many times I wish that more people would become closer to Mother Mary. They do not realize what they are missing by denying her presence in their lives. As we do for our beloved family and good friends, giving Mother Mary due respect, loving her and treating her like our very own mother, or devoting time and conversations with her does not in any way diminish our love for God. Mother Mary is not there to "compete" with God, but precisely to draw us and show us His most holy presence. In creating Mother Mary, the Lord showed us exactly how good He is by providing us with a mother to guide and intercede for us. In her, He also provided us with a sterling example of obedience, fidelity, and what it means to love God back.
That is why I am so pleased that in our hometown, Mother Mary will soon assume her rightful title as "Queen." Nasugbu, Batangas has had more than a century-long devotion to Mary and the time has come to give her the honor she deserves. Together with our town patron St. Francis Xavier, she is credited with protecting our town from peril. I am proud to be part of this endeavor because Mother Mary has done so much for me, and it is just a little I can return to her.
In Nasugbu, there is an image called the Virgen de la Escalera. It was so named because it first appeared on the madrina of the stairs (escalera in Spanish) in the old hacienda of Don Pedro Roxas.
This Sept. 4 at 4 p.m., the image of the Blessed Virgen de la Escalera will be enthroned and crowned during the Concelebrated Mass to be officiated by His Excellency Ramon Arguelles, Archbishop of Batangas, at the St. Francis Xavier Church of Nasugbu, Batangas. Parish priest Rev. Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan is spearheading the celebration.
Guests will be led by Don Pedro Roxas Jr., head honcho of Nasugbu’s Central Azucarrera de Don Pedro, and his wife Gina Tambunting. A grand procession led by Mayor Antonio Barcelon and his wife Rose will be particpated in by parishioners and church and civic organizations.
This laudable project was conceptualized by Dr. Alberto "Ino" Wonchai, an indefatigable promoter of socio-cultural and civic events in Nasugbu. Production designer is Rei Nicolas. I always thank my Tito Ino for initiating such projects because as he said, "We should all be aware of the Queenship of Mary."
Imagine what a difference it would make if Mother Mary were recognized in more places in the Philippines, and we allow her to reign in our hearts and lands. To reign not in a superficial way but in the true essence of her divine queenship.
(E-mail the author at annmondo@yahoo.com)
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