St. Pedro Calungsod is one of only two Filipino canonized saints. Like the other Filipino holy man, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, Pedro Calungsod was a catechist. As a 14-year-old volunteer from the Visayan region of the Philippines, young Pedro went with fellow martyr, Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores, on a Jesuit missionary journey to the Marianas Islands in the 17th century and suffered a fate worse than death. However, he embraced it with his whole heart, mind and soul, in defense of the Catholic faith, giving the heavens a reason for glorious rejoicing.
Untold suffering
In his book Pedro Calungsod: Young Visayan Protomartyr, Fr. Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J., wrote a fascinating account of Pedro Calungsod’s martyrdom at the hands of two enraged pagan natives named Matapang and Hurao on April 2, 1672:
The two would-be killers come to him first, so he cannot protect the priest, and throw spears and darts in his direction. Pedro dodges them, running from the attackers, but not so as to abandon the priest…A spear finally pierces his chest. He falls mortally wounded. One of the killers runs to him, and splits his skill with a machete. San Vitores, seeing Pedro fall, rushes towards him…he says some words to the dying Pedro, and blesses him with his crucifix.
Then the Jesuit turns to Matapang and Hurao, raising the crucifix before their eyes, urging them to yield themselves even now to the Christ who died for them on the Cross…A spear finds Diego Luis’ breast also, and as the priest staggers, the two killers come nearer…he falls to the earth beside Pedro’s bloodied body…
Then Matapang and Hurao bind the two bodies together, attach a large rock to their feet. They place them quickly in a banca, and row out with them to the sea. They throw the two still bodies, of the indefatigable Spanish missionary and his faithful catechist and lay helper, into the deep waters.
Someone to inspire the youth
Fr. Arevalo gives this moving account in his book saying that, by every right, Calungsod is “patron of our teenagers…someone to inspire them to learn and love and treasure the faith for which he died.” He says it is good to remember that the Philippines has its own martyrs and “our people who believed in the realities of our faith enough to brave the seas and a wholly uncertain future…to spread the Gospel.”
Citing Jesuit documents, Fr. Arevalo says mission helpers in those times accompanied the priests in their laborious and exhausting missionary trips:
The rather arduous trips meant walking barefooted…over rough terrain, hills and jungles, often under the hot sun…They had also to help in building the mission chapels and residences using coconut lumber…They had to row boats bringing the missioners from one part of the islands to other parts…They often slept without overhead shelter…with just grass and leaves as bedding.
Childlike faith
Did the teenage Pedro understand what lay ahead of him in those missionary trips when he volunteered to help Fr. San Vitores Christianize a faraway land? Fr. Arevalo has the answer:
Very often, love—gift of the spirit—makes us do things we do not really understand…Maybe it was just his faith and loyalty to the Jesuits who had invited him to join them? Maybe. But is not this faith of children a beginning precisely of the kind of knowing-in-love which Jesus calls us to…?
This does not mean, however, that the youth of today should fly to war-torn countries and start building chapels and monasteries and baptizing the renegades, revolutionaries and rebels. Our teenagers would have signed their death sentences!
While not every Christian is destined for martyrdom, the Filipino youth are called to emulate the virtues and qualities of St. Pedro Calungsod. For starters, teenagers should honor and obey their parents, look after family members who need help, and bear their wrongs patiently (certainly not a walk in the park). They are called to be diligent in their studies and pursue their dreams while resisting the temptations offered by a secularist, consumerist, materialistic society
Fr. Arevalo says that in those times, the reason teenage Filipino men were brought as volunteer help was that they had been instructed on the Catholic faith at some “minor seminary.”
A challenge for today’s youth
The Catholic youth ought not to be ignorant of their faith for, as St. Jerome said: “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” How can they do this? They simply have to develop the discipline to read the Bible daily (or attend Bible study) and immerse themselves in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, interiorize its teachings. They should not dabble in other religions, resort to fanaticism, or cultivate an interest in the New Age movement!
Because this coronavirus pandemic has constricted human interaction (including gathering in churches to hear Mass), our youth would do well to tune in to Catholic media networks or read the great works of Church intellectuals online. And all they need to do is listen and read with their hearts.
Like St. Pedro Calungsod, our youth are called to be serious defenders of the faith by both knowing it and living it!
2 thoughts on “St. Pedro Calungsod: The Heroic Young Filipino Martyr”
Teenagers should be encouraged to be involved in their communities. My mother volunteered me to be a member of the Legion of Mary at the age of 13. I eventually became the secretary and joined the Block Rosary crusade, getting to know the less privileged areas in the community. I conducted Saturday classes for kindergarten children and that is how I fell in love with teaching. Luckily, I was not sent to far-off missions like St. Pedro Calungsod and martyred but the experience made me sensitive to the needs of the less privileged in the neighborhood. Teenagers – be involved!
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