Fr. Dan Delos Angeles with an image of St. Joseph, said he got help in passing the Bar by assigning saints for each subject. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
A priest of the Cebu Archdiocese who writes a column for Cebu Daily News was among the passers of the 2014 Bar Exams.
Studying hard and praying hard is a familiar routine for those who take the gruelling series of exams.
Fr. Dan Domingo delos Angeles tried something different.
“I did an experiment, which I’d like to share. During the bar exams, I assigned particular saints to help me in every subject.
“I told them ‘please take the bar with me, so I will not be alone’.”
For taxation, he sought out St. Teresa of Avila. For political law, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. For complicated Mercantile Law, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. John Paul II was his choice for Remedial Law; San Pedro Calungsod for Civil Law, and St. Lorenzo Ruiz and 21 martyrs for Labor Law.
For Criminal Law, he turned to Blessed James Alberione and Blessed Timothy Giaccardo. For ethics, it was the late Cebuano Archbishop Teofilo Camomot who is a candidate for beatification.
“Passing the bar by myself was impossible. I once failed in a law school and really got discouraged. The passing rate of last year’s bar exams was only 18 percent. I had very slim chance of making it,” he recalled.
“In my class before, I failed in Labor Law. So I requested 21 martyrs to help me. Syaro, sa kadaghan ninyo mahagbong pa gyud ko. (There are 21 of you. With that number, how could I fail the subejct?),” Delos Angeles quipped.
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Througout his three years of law school in the University of San Carlos and one year in the University of San Jose Recoletos, including the bar review, Fr. Dan continued his daily column in CDN, writing a commentary of the day’s Gospel reading.
Delos Angeles took the bar exams for the first time last October 2014.
“This passing is a miracle and I offer it to the saints. I know God is very happy if we ask the help of those people who once lived here on earth but are now triumphant in heaven,” he said.
During the interview, he held a statue of St. Joseph, patron of his university. He said all his efforts to become a lawyer are dedicated to the earthly father of Jesus.
“My purpose is to tell the whole world that prayer works. God will make accommodations. My prayer is weird, I said “Lord if it is your will, I’ll claim it. If not, please accommodate. I insist.”
Based on records of the Archdiocese of Cebu, years ago, another diocesan priest Joseph Paquing also passed the bar exams. Paquing now serves as a priest in the United States.
Another priest, Fr. John Orat, is a civil lawyer. He passed the bar exams before he became a priest.
Fr. Dan is currently assigned as chaplain of the Univeristy of Cebu Mandaue-Lapu-Lapu campus.
When news of the 2014 Bar results broke out yesterday, he was praying in an adoration chapel beside the Capitol parish church. A friend called his mobile phone.
“I could not help but cry. I could not contain the joy I felt. How good You are, Lord. I have proven that God really answers prayers even how mundane they are,” he said.
Fr. Dan said he believes he experienced a miracle while taking the Bar on the second Sunday of the series of exams.
A few days earlier, he couldn’t move his right arm and was told by a doctor at the University of Sto. Tomas, there was internal bleeding. He was advised to skip his exam and undergo surgery immediately.
“I know that if you miss one Sunday, you’re out,” said the priest, so he showed up for the exam.
From a classmate, he borrowed a relic of Mother Teresa of Calcuta and held it in his hand.
“I clasped it as if my life depended on it,” he said. The pain in his right was intense but he used his left hand to guide his right to write the answers in his test paper.
“I said ‘Mother Teresa, where shall I go now if not to you. Please heal me. That night the pain died down and never came back,” said Fr. Dan.
When he returned to Cebu, doctors were surprised he could lift his arm without pain, but just to be sure he isn’t pushing his luck. The priest said he would take their advice to undergo an operation.
Delos Angeles said he has no definite plans yet what to do next after passing the bar.
“I told (Cebu) Archbishop Jose Palma, my life in you hands. You decide. I have always told myself that if I’ll become a lawyer, it’s always for the service of the Church, not a hidden agenda, nothing for myself,” he said.
It was Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who gave him the blessing to enroll in law school after he got a scholarship for having received top honors in his doctorate classes at U-SJR.
“I really had no intention to take the bar. To me, studying law was enough. But all that ends well must be in God’s plan,” he said.
How does he prefers to be addressed now—Father or Attorney?
“Sitsiti na lang ko. (Just say Psttt),” he quipped.
“Whatever happens, I will be a priest forever. Lke an onion, no matter how many times you peel it, it would remain an onion. I am a priest to the core,” Delos Angeles said.
Is the practice of law and priesthood compatible?
“There’s a misconception that lawyers are liars. The more deceiful you are, the more successful you are as a lawyer. But that is not what lawyers are supposed to be,” he said.
“Lawyering is a sacred profession because you are delaing with life which is sacred, and you are dealing with truth and justice which are God’s nature. If you stick to the truth and defend the truth, you are sanctifying this profession,” he added.