Manila devotees pay their respects to Calungsod image
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Amid the midday heat, devotees lined up in Manila Wednesday to get a glimpse of the image and pay their respects to San Pedro Calungsod, the country's second saint.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said "thousands" of devotees went to the area near the Manila Cathedral where the Calungsod image resides.
"Swarms of worshippers pressed forward to touch, kiss or wipe their handkerchiefs on the image in the hopes its powers will touch their lives," the CBCP said on its news site Wednesday night.
Wednesday's stops in Manila and Caloocan City, precedes the image's Thursday visits to dioceses in Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Manila Archbishop and cardinal designate Luis Antonio Tagle led a Mass held near the Manila Cathedral.
“After this very big blessing [Calungsod’s canonization], let us ponder on what it means to be a martyr. Read about the life of Saint Pedro Calungsod and listen to the many catecheses about him,” said Tagle in his homily.
Present at the noontime Mass were Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim; Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s sister Victoria Elisa Aquino-Dee; Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. and Comelec commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Rene Sarmiento and Christian Robert Lim; former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., and former Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez, Novaliches Emeritus Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr. and many priests concelebrated the Mass with Tagle.
From the Manila Cathedral, the image was brought to the San Roque Cathedral in the Diocese of Caloocan. It is expected to be at the Diocese of Imus by Thursday.
The image is also set to visit Lipa, Lucena, Daet, and Legazpi, in Southern Luzon and Catarman, Calbayog, Palo and Maasin, in Visayas.
After the Visayas leg, the image will visit Surigao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Pagadian, Ozamiz, Dipolog, Dumaguete, Kabankalan, Bacolod, Jaro, San Carlos, Tagbilaran, and Talibon in Mindanao.
On Nov. 27, the image will be brought back to Cebu City from Bohol, the last stop of the “Duaw Nasud” or Nation Visit, in preparation for the national thanksgiving celebration on Nov. 30.
Saint Pedro Calungsod’s image returned to the Philippines last Oct. 25, after being brought to Rome for Calungsod's canonization last Oct. 21. — DVM, GMA News
source : http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/281417/news/metromanila/manila-devotees-pay-their-respects-to-calungsod-image
