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Bacolod City, Philippines Friday, November 23, 2012
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Thousands welcome saint’s image
BY NIDA BUENAFE
Thousands of devotees lined the streets and filled the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City yesterday to welcome the pilgrim image of San Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino saint who was canonized in Rome last month by Pope Benedict XVI.

The 3-foot statue of San Pedro Calungsod brings the message of rousing in every Filipino Christian the kind of faith that we have, Bishop Vicente Navarra said in his homily at the concelebrated mass at the Cathedral yesterday.

“San Pedro Calungsod offered his life for the faith. Let’s ask ourselves if we are ready to do the same,” the bishop said.

He pointed out that the numerous insults the Catholic faith has been receiving are mainly due to the cowardice and reluctance of the faithful to live and show their faith.

The billion dollar question is: “Are we ready to lose the easy life and privileges we are enjoying and stand for the truth?” Navarra asked.

Instead of living by the paradox, “My being a Catholic ends where my wealth and popularity begins”, the bishop urged all the faithful to nurture their faith as and follow the path toward truth, freedom and salvation.

Meanwhile, San Sebastian Cathedral rector Msgr. Felix Pasquin said the visit of the pilgrim image of San Pedro Calungsod rekindles the fire and love of God and the flame of faith among the faithful.

It is also a special call to the young to dedicate their lives in the service of God and the Church, Pasquin said.

He said the newly-canonized saint is a source of inspiration to the catechists, for them to have a renewed enthusiasm in their work of spreading God’s word among the faithful.

Accompanied by three priests, a family, and some volunteers, the pilgrim image arrived in the Philippines from Rome on October 25.

Before the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod’s Oct. 21, 2012 , a miracle through his intercession, happened in a hospital in Cebu on March 26, 2003, three years after his beatification. Based on the narrative provided by Msgr. Ildebrando Jesus Alino Leyson, the supernatural occurrence was reported by a doctor, who invoked Blessed Pedro Calungsod in saving the life of one of his patients.

Leyson said that the miracle is about the rapid recovery of a 49-year-old patient who was in deep coma and had slim chances of surviving.

Hours after invoking Calungsod’s name, the doctor reported that the patient started to gain consciousness.

“It was rather a rapid recovery. Patients in such a situation would normally recover only after some weeks, if they ever recover; but in this case it was in less than 48 hours. It was a definitive recovery from Glasgow Coma score 3 to normal mental status and no motor and sensory deficits upon discharge. The patient survived and is still alive today,” the attending physician said.

The incident was reported by the doctor to the postulation of the Cause for the Canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod. Subsequently, the Archdiocesan Canonical Process , involving physicians, was instituted in Cebu to verify the presumed supernatural occurrence.

The Process went through nine sessions from December 15, 2004 until January 6, 2005, and its positive result was presented to the Vatican which recognized its validity.*NAB

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