THE SPIRIT OF ST. ANTHONY MARY CLARET CONTINUES TO WORK AND INSPIRE IN PANGASINAN

THE SPIRIT OF ST. ANTHONY MARY CLARET

CONTINUES TO WORK AND INSPIRE IN PANGASINAN

 By

Romano M. Bulatao – President, KCI-Pangasinan Chapter

            Historically, the first mission station of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretian Missionaries) in the Philippines was in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, upon the arrival of the pioneering Claretian Missionary Fathers on December 26, 1946. Since then, the missionary zeal of St. Anthony Mary Claret was instrumental in the life of the Philippine Roman Catholic Church in general, and the Church in the province of Pangasinan in particular. Few years later, the Claretians received an urgent call to serve in other parts of the country where they were needed the most specifically in Manila and in Mindanao. Aside from their missionary endeavors and memories with the people of Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, the Claretians left a few things as remembrance like; the portrait of St. Claret at the Holy Family Church, the small statue of St. Claret (dated April 1965), found in Brgy. Dalongue Community Chapel, and the Novena prayer booklet for St. Claret (Novena Ed San Antonio Maria Claret), which is written in Pangasinan language (dated September 1950).

 NOVENA FOR ST. ANTHONY MARY CLARET ON OCTOBER 16-24, 2014

The community of Brgy. Dalongue, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, completed a novena prayer for St. Anthony Mary Claret (their patron saint), on October 16-24, 2014. During the last day of the novena, Romano M. Bulatao, KCI-Pangasinan Chapter President, joined the community for the culmination of the novena on October 24, 2014 – the Feast Day of St. Claret. After the novena prayer, the gift from the P.T.A. of Claret School of Quezon City, through the coordination of the KCI-National, was handed by Romano Bulatao to the community. The Dalongue community received five (5) electric stand fans for the chapel use for the monthly celebration of the Holy Eucharist and other activities. The people who attended this activity were very grateful and happy.

The Novena prayer was held in Brgy. Dalongue Community Chapel and they used the sole copy of novena for St. Claret written in Pangasinan language, which was printed on September 30, 1950. Most probably, this novena booklet is the oldest and the only copy, not only in the province of Pangasinan but in the entire Philippines. In line with this, in the year 2015, the KCI-Pangasinan Chapter wishes to materialize the reprinting of this novena in close collaboration with the KCI-National, headed by Robert Laurio, KCI-President, and seek the consent and approval of Rev. Fr. Leo Dalmao, CMF, Provincial Superior - Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines, and Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. Hopefully, the original and the only copy of the Novena Ed San Antonio Maria Claret will be turned over to the Claretian Philippine Province archive for custody and safe-keeping.