A response from Marian devotees

At the 888 Forum last Tuesday morning at the Marco Polo Plaza, their guests were Department of Foreign Affairs Director Elias Balawag, Tourism Congress president Celine Clemente and Ms. Tourism International 2013 Rizzini Alexis Gomez and Bobby Joseph. As this is the Sinulog Week, tourism was the fare for the media forum and the DFA got a lot of flak for the long lines happening now in Cebu from people trying to get a passport. People are asking, why is this so when it wasn’t happening before?

We already wrote about this in length last May and last December because the DFA imposed a deadline last Dec. 31. The deadline had passed, but somehow the DFA moved the deadline again. Things have gotten worse as people stay as long as seven hours waiting to get a passport. Worse, “special” friends seems to get ahead of the long lines, which is proof that there is now fixing in the DFA when there wasn’t any in the past. More on this on Saturday’s column.

*      *      *

It is comforting and very refreshing to know that there are still many ardent Catholics who are not afraid or ashamed to show or express their faith. The column we wrote last Tuesday wherein we suggested to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that they consecrate the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was very well received, and I got a lot of emails totally agreeing to this suggestion. But due to lack of space, allow me to reprint only two emailed responses to that article.

“Hi Bobit! As an ardent Marian devotee myself, I find interesting, to say the least, that in your column on Jan. 15, you talked about consecrating the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I say interesting because I also had an idea recently to start a petition drive to have Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, as Primate of the Philippines, consecrate the Philippines to the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary! It is possible that Heaven is telling us something? The Holy Spirit could be speaking to us.

The idea of consecrating the Philippines to the Heart of Mary came when I was reading about the revelations given to the mystic, Berthe Petit. She was a Franciscan Tertiary who received revelations from Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. Her mission in life was to spread devotion to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It was not until she was 39 years old that the indication of her actual mission was made manifest. During midnight Christmas Mass she saw the wounded Heart of Jesus and close by was the pierced Heart of His Mother. Then she heard these words: “Cause My Mother’s heart, transfixed by sorrows that rent Mine, to be loved.” This was her apostolate, to spread devotion to the Sorrowful, Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary.

In the following February she had a vision of the two Hearts intertwined with  a  dove hovering above. Jesus spoke to  her  again telling her to live in the Two Hearts, requesting her, “You must spread devotion to this Heart so wholly united to Mine.” Our Lord himself gave the reason why her Heart was to be known not simply as Immaculate but also sorrowful. Through Jesus through Mary. Mikhail Albano [email protected].

Here’s the other emailed letter from Angelee Marree Abrenica. “Dear Mr. Avila, Maayong Hapon! I am Ms. Angelee Abrenica. I am a Cebuano myself but I grew up here in Manila. I read your article in the Philippine STAR today and I want to thank you for it because somehow it has given me hope for our country. Just like you, I vehemently opposed the RH bill and had made my serious support with our Catholic Church by attending the rally called by the Catholic Church in EDSA last time.

I had always been vocal with my peers and friends about my side and as a result of which I was castigated by them. Nevertheless, I still stood by my faith and prayed hard against the passage of the RH bill. The passage of the RH bill into law saddened me and I thought that our country is already hopeless. However, your article and your advice on consecrating the Philippines to our Blessed Mother Mary really placed much hope in my heart.

I am really overjoyed because today I received a text about hope. In the Bible, hope is never something that might happen — it is always something that will happen. Being assured of this “blessed hope”; it should have a significant impact on the way we live. Your article really placed a “blessed hope” in my heart. I want to personally thank you for that. Archbishop Jose Palma is also a friend of mine and I will echo your advice on consecrating the Philippines to our Blessed Mother Mary to him. I hope that this simple gesture will have a great impact for our country. Once again, thank you and have a Blessed Week ahead. Sincerely.” Thanks for these very refreshing emailed letters.

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]