One little group that is doing many things right is the Religious Congregation founded by Blessed Hannibal Maria Di Francia, who will be canonized in the Vatican on May 16, 2004. The men are called Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus. The women are the Sisters of the Divine Zeal. They have been in the Philippines for 25 years.
They are called Rogationists because they pray daily for vocations. They follow the instructions given by Christ Our Lord, himself: "Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest. The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few."
Their active apostolate is caring for the poor, fostering christian education among needy children and youth. They are totally committed to missions among the poor. Blessed Hannibal has been named: "the Father of Orphans and the Poor."
In Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, on Rogationist Avenue, in Multinational Village, Parañaque, in June of 1990, they started a soup kitchen for the poor, within the Parish Grounds. It is now a full blown private institution of learning, called the Blessed Hannibal Multi-Level School.
It is a school for the children of the destitute poor. They operate on six levels – Grade One to Grade Six. The children do not pay tuition, because they have no money. They are free from all expenses — including books, school supplies, and uniforms. The School attends to their medical and dental needs. They are given morning and afternoon snacks, and lunch. In most cases, this is their only food for the day.
The children come from squatters’ shacks, built of box boards, cloth and plastic sacks. The homes are close beside a heavily polluted estero – the only bathroom these people have. They are cramped together, built on top of one another. When it rains, the roof leaks. When the estero rises, the homes are flooded. When the sun shines bright, the heat is unbearable.
When the typhoon strikes, the roofs fly away. Most houses are not furnished, consisting of only one room. The family sleeps and eats on the floor. At night they sleep sideways, because there is not enough room for them all to sleep flat on the floor.
The parents do not hold regular jobs because they themselves have had no education. Most of them are scavengers, or street vendors. They put in a full day’s work to buy food for the next day. Their meals are mostly rice, watered down. Many of the parents are not married, because they have no shoes. It is hard to get married, when you have no shoes. They are reluctant to go to church because they are not properly dressed. You can not go to church when you are not dressed.
The children come to the Rogationists from this background. They have never known the joys of childhood, but they are wise in the ways of the world. They are accustomed to scavenge for food, and sometimes can not distinguish what is rancid. They do not know how to play, because they have never owned a toy. The school has 17 year olds in Grade One, who can not read or write or tell colors.
For the academic year 2004-2005, the School wants to build a shower room for the children. The teachers try to help their students with their hygiene. They shampoo their hair once a week, to control the lice. But this is done outside the school building, with a garden hose. Real showers would help the children to stay clean and healthy.
The Rogationists would also like to build an Activity Center for the School. Now, whenever they have activities which require the attendance of the whole student body – Grades One to Six – they must conduct them outdoors. There is no room in the school big enough to hold all the students. But sometimes, outdoors, the sun is so hot that the children can not pay attention. And when it rains, they can not meet at all. An Activity Center would allow all of the students to meet together, properly.
The problem is money. Showers, no matter how simple, cost money. An Activity Center, no matter how economically it is built, costs money. So the Rogationists have launched a project, in an effort to raise the necessary funds.
Amazing! Despite all the stories we hear about selfishness, greed, graft and corruption, many good people have rallied around. Jocelyn Ho Leveriza has consecrated her life to this Multi-Level School. She directs it. And because she was educated at Assumption Convent, she knows what would be attractive to her friends, the kind of people who could help. She has planned a dinner dance called "Hot Summer Samba". She is being helped, night and day, by Eleanor Rowan, Bik Bik del Rosario and Afif Khodr.
The major sponsors, PAGCOR and PCSO, will present the benefit dance at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2004 at the Manila Polo Club in Forbes Park, Makati City. It will feature Pinky Marquez and Bimbo Cerrudo, and the Onda Latina Band. The other sponsors are P.L.D.T., Asia Overseas Transport, SPI Technologies, RCG, SELL Co International, Lemon Squares, and Gatorade.
You can contact Jocelyn Leveriza through her cell phone: 0917-518-2725; or through her direct land line: 829-0452; or at 829-2636 or 825-0216, both local 106.
The main apostolate of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, the new Archbishop of Manila, is the alleviation of poverty by sharing with each other. This effort of the Rogationists is a beautiful implementation of that apostolate. For the destitute poor, education is the light at the end of the tunnel. The students of Blessed Hannibal Multi-Level School, when they graduate, can go on to increase their education in other institutions. Eventually, it will lift them out of the culture of poverty. It will open the door to a new life, where they can live with the dignity, and the security, that God meant them to have.
When Father Hannibal Maria Di Francia is canonized in the Vatican, on May 16, 2004, five others will be canonized with him:
• Father Luigi Orionel, Italian
• Father Jose Manyanet, Spanish
• Nimatullah Al Hardini, a Lebanese Maronite Christian Monk
• Sister Paola Elisabetta, Italian and
• Gianna Berreta Molla, Italian Doctor
Gianna was the mother of four children. At the age of 39, when she was pregnant with her fourth baby, the doctors discovered a large ovarium cyst and suggested that she have an abortion, to save her own life. Gianna said: "No way!" Her daughter was safely born – Gianna Emanuela – but she herself died on April 28, 1962. John Paul II beatified her in 1995 as the "Protectress of mothers and families, a martyr of maternal love". Her daughter Gianna Emanuela, now 42 years old, will be present at her canonization.
Whenever a mother dies in childbirth, she goes straight to heaven. "Greater love than this no man hath, that he lay down his life for his friend." And the mother is laying down her life for her friend, her baby.
When she stands all alone before God to be judged, God will say: "So long as you have done it to the least of these, my little ones, you have done it to Me!" She gave her life for God. She is in a class with the martyrs who were burned alive in the Roman arena. She is a martyr of charity. It forgives all her sins, and all the temporal punishment due to sin. She goes straight home to God.
Gianna Berreta Molla gave her life for her own baby. Hannibal Maria Di Francia poured out his life, through the long years, for the children of God. Both of them knew that the child in need was God, calling out to them for help. And they answered his call.