JUST IN: Emulate Saint Pedro Calungsod – Palma

People venerate the image of San Pedro Calungsod at the archdiocesan shrine dedicated to the first Visayan martyr and second Filipino saint in Cebu City in celebration of his feast day today. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

“Bear witness to the faith by the way you live.”

This was the challenge posed by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma as Catholics on Saturday marked the feast of Saint Pedro Calungson, the first Visayan martyr canonized by the Catholic Church.

Palma presided over the 9:30 a.m. Mass at the Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of San Pedro Calungsod along D. Jakosalem Street in Cebu City.

This year’s feast is the fifth since Calungsod was canonized and invoked as a saint.

The young missionary was killed by angry men in Guam, along with Jesuit priest, Fr. Diego de San Vitores, on April 2, 1672 for catechizing and baptizing the natives.

Palma encouraged the faithful, particularly the young people, to emulate Calungsod who offered his whole life and ministry for the Lord.

“The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity. It’s inspiring how martyrs offered their lives for God,” the 67-year-old prelate said in his homily.

“Not many of us though can be martyrs like San Pedro Calungsod. But all of us are called to live the faith, to bear witness to the faith through various ways,” he added.

Palma said he was happy to read stories of graduates who finished their studies amid adversities.

“Anything good reminds us that we can still do something beautiful and positive things amid various problems. We are reminded that God is with us and all good works is witnessing to the Lord,” he said.

Retired Bishop Christian Noel and at least 20 priests from the Archdiocese of Cebu concelebrated the Mass.

Hundreds of people trooped to Calungsod’s archdiocesan shrine which was built in 2002 in honor of the Visayan martyr.

Calungsod’s liturgical feast day is originally celebrated on April 2, the day of his death.

This year, however, the Archdiocese of Cebu moved the feast a day earlier since April 2 falls on a Sunday which cannot be impeded by any other celebrations.

Calungsod was beatified by St. John Paul II on March 5, 2000. Out of the 44 persons who were beatified on that day, only Calungsod advanced to be declared a saint on Oct. 21, 2012.

And of the seven saints who were canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012, only Calungsod has an image, in the form of a mosaic, inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Calungsod is the second Filipino saint after Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila who was canonized in 1987.