LOGARTA
For four years in St. Theresa’s College, we have celebrated the feast of Our Mother’s Assumption in the Sodality of Mary. We wear gala uniform with the accompanying white veil coming in high heels and nylon stockings.
After the Mass with a very beautiful liturgy, we have breakfast together. Each leader prepares small gifts for her members and places them beside their plates.
In the family, we celebrated my grandfather’s, Lolo Awing’s, birthday.
Later, there were the celebrations of the anniversary of Fr. Melo’s ordination. In this feast, we celebrate Our Lady of Joy Learning Center’s founder’s day. Rev. Fr. Marcelino Jorge Agravante Jr. of the Parish of San Narciso of Consolacion presided over the Eucharistic Celebration.
I was thrilled to know that he had been a student of OLJ founder Rev. Fr. Oscar Villamor. He had been in the San Carlos Seminary at the time that Monsignor Felino Caballa followed by Fr. Oscar was supervising. He told the students that OV was a disciplinarian and displayed this also in being perfectly groomed.
Mary Rose really loved that because Fr. Jun had actually asserted points we wanted our school population to really learn.
Besides, this reminded Mary Rose of Daddy Pits who lived such values. This must have inspired her as she danced during the Offertory as the children sang “Maghimaya ka Maria.”
I really liked that very much because every moment is a teaching moment, and I was happy that the students were learning that there have always been many beautiful ways of praising God and His dear ones.
When we have Masses in OLJ, I eagerly await how the priest in his homily adjusts to the little ones.
Fr. Jun began by talking about the comfort of being with one’s mother. Later he asked: “How will you feel if your mother leaves you to go to a very beautiful place?”
That was something to share with Nanay Pinit’s children. Josefina Ca?on-Carvajal, our co-teacher for many years, has just left us for the better place.
She had been foremost a mother.
As much as possible, she attended Mass twice a day and also prayed in an adoration chapel. So I asked her, “Why are you doing all that?”
Her answer: her girls were far away in the UK and USA. Later, JayCee has been in Singapore. All the praying was a protective shield; it had been her way of keeping them in her embrace. I distinctly remember her assisting Ann-Ann in her researches from the distance.
When younger faculty members discussed exerting efforts to have a child, I said: “Pakapini kaha na ninyo og pag-ampo.” Nanay Pinit joined in the conversation to say, “Unsa, pakapin nalang noon ang Ginoo?”
When I was called from school because Mommy Ching had a stroke, she drove me to the hospital and as we neared the place she said: “Prepare for something serious.” I am glad that in our last conversation I had told her, “I love you very much, Pinit.”
Dr. Josefina Ca?on-Carvajal was an educator in the UP tradition. She had a research and even published a book on cooperative learning. Her experimental research showed how learning within a group improved the learning of students. Together with Dr. Elisa G. Lapa, this research and educational technique was shared with the public schools. They also presented this in a national conference on cooperative learning.
Pinit had her own way of being daring. She joined pioneering ventures. When the UP Open University was just being started she was among the tutors for training of the science teachers from the Visayas-Mindanao with its center in UP Cebu.
When the UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino had a project of preparing books on the different subject areas in Filipino, Pinit joined the project.
So in a SWF publication on Biology in Filipino, she has a chapter there. Others who were in this project were Dr. Elisa Lapa for Chemistry, Prof. Jocelyn Pinzon for Geometry, and Dr. Phoebe Sanchez for Philippine History.
Pinit even gave a lesson demonstration of teaching Biology in Filipino. Perhaps only heaven can be better than that very beautiful and full life!