SPECIAL FEATURE FROM:

COLEGIO DE LAS HIJAS DE JESUS, ILOILO CITY

A TALK GIVEN BY JOHN PAUL MONDEJAR DURING THE CELEBRATION                                    OF MOTHER FOUNDRESS’ DAY

“May the most pure Virgin  shelter us beneath her mantle.”

To our dear Directress Sr. Emelinda C. Falsis F.I., Sisters, our Principal, Ms. Lea Cababasay, members of the Faculty and Staff and my beloved and dearest fellow CHJians!

Good morning! Buenos dias! I’m so glad to be speaking in front of you today. This morning i will talk about a holy woman from Spain who changed my life and the life of the Mondejar family. The name of this woman is very familiar to all of us, CHJians!

               MOTHER CANDIDA MARIA DE JESUS

The woman to whom I owe what I am today and  what my family is.
How did it start?

                It all started in 1950 when my great great grandfather enrolled my grandmother, Exmila Mondejar in Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus under the Spanish Hijas de Jesus sisters. She lived there as an intern what we call “interna” under the care of Mo. Natividad Garcia F.I.. She graduated in 1955.  1971 was the year the Hijas de Jesus took over St. James Catholic High School,  Maasin, Iloilo, from the Mill Hill Missionaries. That was the time my family grew more closely to the Hijas de Jesus. My father John, my uncles Francisco Jr. and Anthony Gerard studied at St. James Catholic High School while my Aunt Bingbing studied at CHJ and like my grandmother,  she was also a “interna”.

Why did I say that I owe her what I am?

          My parents got married on October 7, 1989,  but there was big problem. Both of them have reproductive problems so it was impossible for them to have a child,  but the Hijas de Jesus Sisters told them not to lose hope and seek the help of Mo. Candida. They did novena prayers to her starting on August 1, 1993 and ending  on August  9, 1993,  the death anniversary or feast day of Mo. Candida. It also happens that August 9 is my mother’s birthday. A few days before their 4th wedding anniversary, my mother got sick and they went to the doctor,  but the doctor wouldn’t give her any medicine unless she undergoes pregnancy test, and  so she sent her urine sample to Ramon Tabiana Hospital in Cabatuan, Iloilo. The results were positive! My mother couldn’t believe that she was pregnant with me! The next day, October 7, 1993,  their 4th wedding anniversary, they attended the Holy Mass and the Gospel was about the Annunciation. My father and Mother cried for that was a sign from God, our loving Father, that I was in the womb of my mother. The sisters and my family were very happy and predicted that the child was a girl for it was given by Mo. Candida.  Sr. Nelida Peñaflorida, F.I., the present Directress of Manresa School, suggested the name to be Candie Marie. They expected that Mama will give birth on May 31, the birthday of Mo. Candida, but I was in a hurry to go out to see the world and so, on the 18th of May 1994, I was born in Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital at 2:02pm. My mother decided to name me John Klein but Tita Bingbing  and the late Sr.Jesusa Belosillo, F.I. wanted to change the name into John Paul for May 18 was the birthday of  Pope John Paul II.

          Two years after my birth, Mo. Candida, together with Sr. Ma. Antonia Bandres, F.I. were beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 12, 1996  at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Italy. That occasion was also a blessing to my family for my grandmother went to Rome as one of the two delegates of the Hijas de Jesus,  Philippine Province. Meeting the Pope, seeing the eternal city of Rome and reading the Charism of Mo. Foundress before Pope John Paul II was unforgettable on her part. It deepened more her faith and love for Mo. Candida and the Hijas de Jesus.

          When I was just  three years old, I only knew two Saints: St. Therese of the Child Jesus and Mo. Candida (whom I considered as a saint). My grandmother was a teacher at St. James Catholic High of Hijas de Jesus in Maasin, Iloilo and I always visited her there. The sisters were very kind to me and they always would tell me: “JP, pray  always to Mo. Foundress”.

          I, myself, was fond of collecting statues of saints and love to pray.  When Sr. Florence, the Mother Provincial that time and some sisters visited our house when I was three, she saw all my collections (which was only four statues at that time, but now, I have 164), I  heard her talking that she was going to Rome in two weeks.  She asked what statue would I like from Rome.  I  said “I lack one, Tita Florence. She answered “who?”, and I said  “Mama Candida!” (the name I call Mo. Candida when I was three). The sisters laughed and said,”grabe! He really loves Mo. Foundress”. The sisters always gave me Mo. Candida’s pictures and chocolates.

          1999 was the year I started to study here at Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus in Iloilo City. I can still remember when I first entered  my Alma Mater, I was feeling more of Mo. Candida’s presence. Here at  CHJ, I was able to discover more about Mo. Candida when I read the Weaver’s Daughter, Juanitatxo, God Wills It! And I even got to know the story of a nun who was beatified together with Mo. Candida, Blessed Antonia Bandres. I developed here at CHJ, love for Jesus & Mary, love for Mo. Candida and love for Hijas de Jesus community.

          My love for the Virgin Mary was deepened when I attended my Tita Bingbing’s wedding because instead of the traditional  bouquet throwing, she gave instead her bouquet to Sr. Florence, to be offered to the Virgin Mary. In that occasion, I was deeply struck  for I can see that I could also make sacrifices for Jesus and Mary in my own little way.

Was she also there in the darkest times of my life?
                                                                                                                 
          My answer is yes because 2006 was  a year she really comforted me because many trials came to me: first, on July 25, 2006,  my dearest grandfather died. At 3:30 am, my father did not hesitate to call Sr. Nelida to tell my grandmother and Tita Bingbing the terrible news. To assure my grandmother’s safe trip to Iloilo, they sent Sr. Rebecca to accompany her. I was touched and felt comforted when sisters from other communities in Iloilo and Manila came to Maasin to pay their last respects to my grand father; second, another trial came. my Tita Bingbing was diagnosed with a very rare cancer. She needed an operation in the U.S. which would cost millions of pesos. I was  afraid for her life and for my cousins who are very young to lose their mother. I prayed to Mo. Candida and so did my family. Indeed she responded. My Tita was able to raise money from her friends and family members in a short period of time and had an operation in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A last February 2007.

How does one look at all these, in the eyes of a 14 year-old like me?

          It seems  like  it is going through the natural course of life. These may not  be  big or small  to us but it’s just a part of growing up but the Hijas de Jesus  experience from a child like me struck me so deeply, from cramming to asking Mo. Candida’s intervention in the song adaptation last year  and like winning the song adaptation contest  which made me and my dear Year I-Wisdom very happy. To receive a statue of Mo. Candida from the Provincial Superior, I was very touched and felt very proud and important. Of course, there were times when  Mo. Candida did not give me what I wanted like  joining the World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia to see Pope Benedict XVI. I was not able to go because of my age and was not able to get a U.S. visa which made me very very angry.
Hence, my family compensated it in other fun & joyful moments and sad moments, my Tita Bingbing fighting for her life makes me feel so sad that I  make “kulit” of Mo. Candida when I stayed in Makati Medical Center because  her cancer might  come back saying, after I prayed the Rosary: “Mother,  indi man bi magpabungolbungol. Malu-oy ka man!”
And to feel proud to get the special attention of the sisters,  even the pioneer.  By  being able to speak  “Español” to Sr. Teresa Garcia, F.I., Mo. Natividad Garcia, F.I. and the oldest of all the sisters, Mo. Rosa Alonso, F.I. ,who is turning 104 years old!
I am very very sure of feelings of highs and lows and I know my life is just like a roller coaster- full of laughter and tears, just like you who are going through your own roller coaster ride in your own life.

Will my prayers be granted in the very way I want them to?

          Yes and no, but I am sure, Mo. Candida’s  life and love story with God had planted a deep seed in my heart and I will take good care of it. I am responsible to make the seed grow and turn to the direction where God wills it to be.

          My beloved fellow CHJians, always remember that the world is too small for the desire of our role model. I hope that little Juanita, who grew up to be financially poor but rich in desire for Jesus and Mary, will remind us that we  are loved and very important whatever is our status in life. Each one of us has a purpose here on earth. Let’s live and love it.

          Remember, nothing stopped Mo. Candida from fulfilling her mission to be a Foundress of schools. And remember that at that time, she couldn’t  read nor write. So what can stop us from being a joyful, generous, compassionate and loving children of God. So let’s be happy of who and what we are. Ok? Promise ha?

My love and embrace for each one of you.
God bless you all!