Every time the Blessed Mother appears on her children, she inculturates herself to their heritage and nationality in a way that she will be best received by them. Some of this inculturation is manifested on her appearance and clothes hence the different skin color of the mother of God and her different costumes. Like for example in Mexico, she appeared to a middle aged man named Juan Diego wearing what resemble the clothes of the aztecs and the complexion of the old world indios. Most often than not, the Mother of God also speaks in the native tongue of the visionary, in all its simplicity yet with perfect grammar like in the case of the Apparition in Fatima wherein the three Children claimed that the Blessed mother speaks Portuguese as well in Rue de Bac, Paris France, wherein young Catherine Laboure speaks to her beloved mother in French. The logic of this adjustment on the part of the Blessed Mother can be seen as an act of humility and also to better convey her message to her visionaries in the level which can be best understood by them. In this first part of the “Petals of Lipa” series and as a homage to Our Lady of Lourdes which we will celebrate this coming February 11, we will witness and understand why the Blessed Mother chose Teresing Castillo as her favored one.

Before you go on you might want to read first the introduction here

Background

Lipa has been the home of some of the country’s wealthiest Filipino aristocrats during the turn of the 20th century owing to the abundance of the coffee plantation in the region which is the source of the world’s best coffee beans. But when World War II came, the city of Lipa became one of the most ravaged cities in the Far East. The Japanese invaded the City and established a camp there particularly in the diocesan seminary were almost 16,000 men and women were held as prisoners there, some of them did not survived and were bayoneted to death by the Japanese Soldiers. To this, the history owes it to the Japanese invaders for burning the bodies of the prisoners in what have been described as a “huge, ghastly holocaust”. This fiery grounds was what to become the site of the Carmelite convent after the liberation.

The Visionary

Teresing Castillo was hailed in Tanauan, Batangas (10 minute drive from Lipa today) who belongs to a prominent political family whereas his father was once the Governor of the Province. Teresing was the favorite of the family, living in a sheltered and secured life and had the best education given to her under the auspices of religious nuns. Since childhood she wished only one thing: To be a nun herself. That’s why on July 4, during her birthday and days away before her piano recital graduation, she made a radical decision of joining the contemplative nuns of the Carmelite Order in Lipa.

Teresing Castillo at a young age playing the Piano

Entrance to the convent

On that same day, at the break of sunrise, she fled her home to enter the Community of the Carmelite Nuns to fulfill her greates dream since she was at the age of ten. But because her family doesnt approve her decision to spend her life in cloister, family members went back and forth in the Carmelite convent to convince her to leave. But they all failed. That night, one of her brothers showed up in the Carmelite convent drunk and and threatening the sisters with a gun, demanded the Prioress to let Teresing go home. One of the Portress [1] at that time, sister Elizabeth of the Sacred Heart said that the brother almost killed her of heart attack when he pointed the gun at her and threatened to shoot her. At that point, the Nuns on the convent, aware what was happening, immediately knelt on the floor in a cross form and prayed for the life of their Portress.

Teresing however asked the Mother Prioress at that time to see his brother because she thought he can make sense out of him. She went to the Parlor [2] where her brother is waiting with the barrel of the gun slipped into the square grills that separated the nuns from outsiders. Teresing courageously confronted her brother and said:

“What do you want? Do you want to kill me, to shoot me? Well, alright. If you want, shoot me right now. Do you think that if you kill me my body will be brought out? No, I am here and I’ll be buried here” [3]

Teresing’s family for months continued to pressure and harass her to leave the convent until they finally had it. Just when Teresing thought that the trials of her vocation were over, suddenly another for of oppression came to her distress… this time much powerful and horrifying that most people only see in movies….

To Be Continued…

—Bluepanjeet Footnotes—————————————————————————————

1. Portress (male, porter) is a term used by established religious orders to refer to someone who is responsible for opening and closing the gates of the convent, facing and entertaining convent visitors, holding transactions with the outside world (such as begging for alms, soliciting donations and doing the weekly groceries) and do chores outide the cloister of the convent which cannot be designated to other nuns. In Contemplative Communities such as the Discalced Carmelites, this designation is prayed and discerned upon by the Mother Prioress and the Nun. Not all nuns are capable of being a portress. That’s why sometimes its called a vocation within a vocation.

2. Parlor is a convent term which refers to the ;obby or area in the convent in which visitors are received by the Nuns. In the contemplative setting, most parlors have grills with spaces so small that only fingers can fit. In other Contemplative Communities such as the Poor Clares, Parlors have no grills at all but only walls with a lazy suzy on it. You can only hear the voice of the nuns but you can never touch nor see them.

3. Some Religious Orders keep the bodies of their brothers or sisters only when they made their perpetual vows. But in the Case of prominent religious orders like the Discalced Carmelites and the Franciscans, especially the Capuchins, once a Novice died in the formation, their bodies would not be given to the immediate family but rather be buried on the official cemetery of the order. This is the reason why Teresing said that her body would not be given to the family if in case she died probably because of her understanding at that time. She was a postulant when this happened and in reality, her body can be given to the family because.she was not a novice yet.