Our Lady of Remedies Parish Fiesta 2020 “Maria, tagapagbuklod ng mga pamayanang magkakaiba ng pinagmulan, kalinangan at paniniwala.” November 15, 2020 Malate Catholic Church Malate, Manila 2 MESSAGE Auxiliary Bishop of Manila I join the Parish of Our Lady of Remedies on the celebration of its annual fiesta. The pandemic and the lockdown do not prevent us from celebrating our faith and expressing our devotion to Our Blessed Lady. We may tone down our activities and even change some of our traditional celebrations, but we continue to foster and develop our filial devotion to the Blessed Virgin. All the more in this health and economic crisis we cling to Mama Mary. She is really Our Lady of Remedies. Her prayers will implore the Lord God to lead us to remedies in our sorry state. As we cling to Mary, let us also reach out to her other children that are more in need. God will help not only those who help themselves but those who help others. Our readiness to share, even the little that we have, will make us ready to receive heavenly blessings. In the matter of giving and generosity, the ones who benefit are not only the receivers but most especially the givers. As the Scripture says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Happy fiesta to the parishioners of our Lady of Remedies! God bless you all and more power to you! + Most Rev. Broderick S, Pabillo, DD Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila November 2020 3 MESSAGE Our Lady of Remedies Parish In December 2019, the outbreak of Covid 19 virus was identified. Then the outbreak was declared a public health emergency and a pandemic. This coming November 15, which is our parish fiesta celebration of Our Lady of Remedies, also happens to be the ninth month since the lockdown was implemented in our country. What had been an activity-packed parish and the series of ten Sunday masses all came to a stop and to a quiet. Indeed, no one can argue that the impact of the covid-19 pandemic has been extremely serious and life-threatening. The pandemic has claimed millions of lives and afflicted millions of people all throughout the world. The public health, livelihood, education and everything else is in a worsening and threatening condition. And it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty just how long this pandemic, that took the world by storm, will last. Despite the crisis situation caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, we are celebrating our parish fiesta of Our Lady of Remedies. The pandemic may have locked us down and stopped us from doing what we used to do, it even stopped us from physically going to church, but it can never take away our faith. No pandemic can destroy our heritage of faith. And our faith is stronger than our fear. This is the faith that keeps us strong through tough times and will help us to survive. Throughout the ages, Christians have turned to Mary in troubled times like war, famine and plague. Mary offers hope, healing and comfort to all who are in need of her maternal care. Our Lady of Remedies is a sure refuge, a source of comfort and hope.She is always ready to assist us, always there for us, constantly prepared to seek her Son’s guidance and support for all her children, especially in times of grave danger, such as the current pandemic. Pope Francis entrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary the suffering and anguish of millions of people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Pope Francis prayed that Mary, the Health of the Sick who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, listens to our plea and to deliver us from every danger. Last May, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) consecrated the Philippines to the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary amid the Covid-19 4 pandemic and dubbed it as “National Consecration to the Immaculate Mary: We pray as one. We heal as one. We renew the world as one”. Our parish fiesta celebration this year amidst the pandemic is also to thank God with the intercession of Our Lady of Remedies, for the graces that we continue to receive. We thank God for keeping us safe through the support, expertise and sacrifices of the first responders, front-line health care workers and other frontliners and researchers. We thank God for providing our needs especially of our parish community during this time of devastation. In the time of great need during the beginning of the lockdown and onwards, our parish has been generously assisted and supported by the remarkable organizations, particularly the Caritas Manila and its partner group of businesses and corporations, community groups, individual donors and the government to reach out in solidarity and support with the most vulnerable of our parish community. The services of the parish in the midst of the pandemic, such as feeding, food and other relief goods distribution, have been facilitated by our ever enthusiastic, committed, self-sacrificing parish volunteers, particularly from our Area Council. The Parish Pastoral Council has been quite diligent and prudent in planning and implementing safe ways of doing the parish activities and services under this lockdown period. With the dedicated parish media group and the social comunication team and with new sets of equipment, the parish has also slowly developed its capacity for live streaming of our Masses and other parish virtual activities like this parish fiesta celebration. In behalf of the parish, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the generosity, commitment, and sacrifices of our parish volunteers and staff, the Columban missionaries in the parish and all the donors for the care and support of the parish especially during this time of pandemic. A million thanks to Fr. Michael Martin, SSC for his 25 years of very engaging and endearingly warmhearted presence and his energetic and dedicated service to the parish. Fr. Mickey had left the parish to go back to Ireland for good. He still has good energy to do some ministry with the Columbans in Ireland and deserves to be closer to his family now and spend quality time with them. Thanks also to Fr. Rex Rocamora for his four years of dedicated ministry in the parish particularly accompanying the parish Basic Ecclesial Community. Thank you very much Fr. Michael Martin and Fr. Rex Rocamora for your love and dedicated service to the parish. 5 The pandemic will somehow reshape how we live, work and do our ministry in the parish. We just don’t know how that will look yet. But as the living God and Our Lady of Remedies continue to be with us, let us ask for help and trust God’s nourishing grace. Let us thank God who has done and will continue to do great things to us and to the whole of creation. Have a grace-filled Fiesta to all. Rev. Fr. Leonito Distor Parish Priest 6 MESSAGE Parish Pastoral Council A most happy fiesta to all! With the theme, “Maria, tagapagbuklod ng mga pamayanang magkakaiba ng pinagmulan, kalinangan at paniniwala”, the feast of Our Lady of Remedies this year is unique and also the most challenging to prepare and plan for, as we had to modify our events and adjust to the call of the times to observe health protocols and social distancing guidelines. Instead of the usual Dalaw ni Maria to the community and institutions, it will be Dalaw kay Maria where the eleven barangays of the Parish will be given their day to visit Our Lady in Malate Church. The traditional Harana kay Maria will be a virtual concert. The Marian Talk will be a webinar featuring two esteemed resource persons to talk about Mary as a Woman of Faith viewed from the Christian and Islamic Traditions. The procession of Our Lady will be carried out by a few vehicles on Fiesta Day. Still, the fervor is evident in the preparations for the Liturgy and all events. The priests from the Vicariate of Nuestra Señora de Guia who will preside in our Novena Masses have graciously accepted our invitation without hesitation. The Fiesta High Mass promises to be a meaningful celebration by no less than the Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, His Excellency Bp. Broderick Pabillo, and the Parangal kay Maria will be led by our very own Fr. Leo Distor. In this year’s fiesta, however, we will miss the ever-lively energy and sunny presence of Fr. Michael Martin who has gone back to Ireland in August. We cannot express our gratitude enough for his 54 years of service in the Philippines, 25 of which had been in Malate. It was under his term as Parish Priest that the Remedios Jubilee Mission Center was constructed, and as he often told the story, that beautiful building reflected the cooperation, teamwork and unity in purpose of the Columban Priests Team of Malate Church. More than the physical structure, however, Fr. Martin has touched the lives of many, not only in the Malate community, but in his beloved Negros as well. We hope we will continue to honor his work by remembering the lessons and emulating the pastoral care he has shared with our parish. We will also miss Fr. Rex Rocamora who left Malate for another assignment in the early part of the year. Fr. Rex has accompanied our Parish Basic Ecclesial Community for four years upon his return to Malate from his 7 missionary assignment in China.