by Joel V. Ocampo
In the recently concluded 38th National Meeting of Diocesan Directors of Liturgy, some important updates were made in the Liturgical Calendar of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. Highlighted in the updates were three dates that are important in the lives of the Filipino Catholic which includes the following:
the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene on January 9 will now be observed as a Feast;
the Memorial of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs on September 28 will also be celebrated as a Feast; and
the Memorial of St. Pedro Calungsod was moved to October 21, the day of his canonization in 2012, with the rank of a Feast, instead of April 2
The change of date of the feast of St. Pedro Calungsod was made since most of the time, April 2 falls during Holy Week or Easter Octave, giving way to the more important celebration of our Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The said updates will take effect starting December 1, 2024, First Sunday of Advent, for the upcoming Liturgical Year 2025.
The Nazareno, San Lorenzo Ruiz, and San Pedro Calungsod
The original image of the Black Nazarene was brought to the Philippines from Mexico. Every year, thousands to even millions of people gather and continue to devotedly gather every January 9 to join the traslacion, a procession enacted to commemorate the first “transfer” (traslacion) that happened on January 9, 1787. Filipino people love the Black Nazarene, the image of the suffering Messiah because it became a symbol of Filipino resiliency—rising in times of adversity, obeying God’s will amidst suffering and hardships; just as Filipinos remain faithful to their faith despite the many challenges as recorded in our Philippine history.
San Lorenzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod on the other hand are epitome for Filipino people who strive to remain holy, loving God and neighbor, and offering one’s life for the beloved. Both of them are laity and catechists. San Pedro Calungsod is a young catechist, while San Lorenzo Ruiz served as an altar server and catechist at the Binondo Church, and a loving father and husband to Rosario. Both of them stood up for the Catholic faith, even in exchange of their own lives. After their death, their bodies were thrown into the sea. Thus, despite being held by the sea, making it impossible to recover their mortal remains, both San Lorenzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod “reached the ends of the earth”. Just as the Filipino people are called to “be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and in the whole world,” as Pope Francis said during his homily at the Quirino Grandstand, Manila in January 2015.
Sanlibong Buhay
The final words of San Lorenzo Ruiz became famous to the point that it became a song. He said, “I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God. If I have a thousand lives, I will still give them all to God.” This was immortalized in the song, “Sanlibong Buhay”, with a version from JesComTV, performed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The lyrics goes,
Sanlibo man aking buhay,
bawat isa'y iaalay
sa Diyos at bayan kong mahal,
'sasanggalang inyong dangal.
Isugo Mo kahit saan,
hamakin man ako't saktan.
Dalangin ko'y maging tapat.
Pag-ibig Mo ay sasapat.
Sanlibo man aking buhay,
sanlibo ring iaalay.
Sanlibo kong kamatayan,
sa palad Mo ilalaan.
38th National Meeting of Diocesan Directors of Liturgy
The 38th National Meeting of Diocesan Directors of Liturgy was hosted this year by the Diocese of Antipolo, under the leadership of His Excellency, Most Rev. Ruperto C. Santos, D.D. The activities for the conference were held in various places and churches including the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, Diocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Light, Minor Basilica and Parish of St. John the Baptist, among others.
The theme for the said conference is “Liturgy and the Jubilee Year 2025”, and the speakers are the following:
Rev. Fr. Genaro O. Diwa, SLL – the current Head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Liturgy, Minister of the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of Manila;
Dr. Josefina M. Manabat, Ed.D., SLD – the current Dean of the Graduate school of Liturgy Dean of San Beda University;
Fr. Reginald R. Malicdem, DL – Vicar General and Vice Moderator Curiae of the Archdiocese of Manila;
Rev. Msgr. Andres S. Valera, HP, SLL – Director of the Ministry of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and former Vicar General in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos;
Rev. Fr. Dennis S. Soriano, MAL – Head, Diocesan Ministry for Liturgical Affairs of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao, and Board of Director for Catholic Ministry for the Deaf People, INC in 2005 – 2006;
Rev. Fr. Oliver G. Yalung, DL, PhD – current president of the University of Assumption, in the Province of Pampanga, and Director, Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission from May 2007 to June 2016 in the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga; and
Msgr. Florencio Salvador, Jr., SLD –Director, St. Paul VI Institute of Liturgy and the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.
Some takeaways during the said conference are the following (courtesy of NMDDL technical team):
“Take note that the Jubilee Year is not just about hope. It is about knowing to whom we should place our hope - only in the Lord. Prayer is the best school for hoping in the Lord. We pray because we know God is hope-worthy. He keeps His word and does not disappoint.” — Rev. Fr. Reginald Malicdem
“The reposition of the Blessed Sacrament should help us remember that: the Eucharistic Jesus is always waiting for us in the tabernacle; He is continuously present in our churches and even when no one shows up to pray to Him, He is there, eager to speak to the hearts of the faithful who approach Him.” — Rev. Msgr. Andres S. Valera, H.P., S.L.L.
“Everyone in the Filipino extended family enrich every child's introduction to a prayerful relationship with the Father. Indeed, learning about prayer in the family is the work of a community.” — Rev. Fr. Dennis S. Soriano, MAL
“What more if we can make the liturgy more and more engaging to even more and more young people? The mass should be revised in a way that will bring out more the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts, as also the connection between them.” — Rev. Fr. Oliver G. Yalung, DL, PhD
“The Eucharist is a reminder of the death of Jesus, a recollection that all of life is a cycle of living and dying and resurrection. Of course, this is not to reduce the particularity of Christ's death and the efficacy of it for our salvation, reducing it to processes of nature. Rather, it is simply to recognize that the death of Jesus is an analog to the natural order, and in which death gives birth to life.” — Msgr. Florencio Salvador, Jr., SLD
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