A letter from Father Claerhoudt, missionary in Bokod

Title

Language

English

Source

The Little Apostle of the Mountain Province 1 (1) June 1924

Year

1924

Subject

Letters

Priests--Correspondence

Philippines, Benguet, Bokod--Civil registration

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Apost,ies in heaHll. Xow is the time. The :\fountain Province must be converted. It shall be converted, and that within a short tiine. if you. dear re~d<:>rs, do your part. Let more help c··ime in and the mL.;sionaries in the )[ountain Province shall be n1ultiplied, their work too shall ue mt:ltiplied thru more and !Jetter or;'j ganization. It all depends on YO'C, on YOUR apostle~hip. Sure you will answer my appeal for a subscription to this little Review and for spreading it among your frieds : for all this, rest assured, the :Missionaries in the )fountain Province will not only thank you but they will pray for you. A Letter from father Claerhoudt, Missionary in Bokod :\OTE: Bokod is a small lirorote town in the north<'rn part of Beniruet. In former years it was visited now and then by the Missionary of itugon (near Bag-uio). But the people of Rokod and sm·roundings seemed to be so well dis1KJsed towards Christianity. that a year ago i l was dt>cided to send a missionary there. And the means to supPQrt him? I. the un<l<>rsign<'<I. promised to collect a fund sufficient to pro>i<lt> the Father at Bokod with one hnntfrt><l pe,os u month. In the meantime he should lh~<' on camotes. rice and what else l'rovidPn<'e would send. ~o Father Claf'rhoudt. old soldier of the world war. was sPnt to that promising place. If he- tnf"ntions a wondPr in his following lettPr. he iorgrts to sa1· that h<> himself he has Lef'll a continous wonder in his work. Poor in hralth. lw ha,; worked day and night and that without tlw necessary food he should ha'" had. He can easily figure out how often lw ta st rd mPat at his mission. - Why? -Well. the fund wa:-; not rPad:r and is not read,\~ as ~n-:r) tPll thf' truth. P 10.000 more are rPqui1ed. But now that THE LITTLE APOSTLE OF THE ;\IUCXTAIX PROYINCE will make a little noise about the fund. I hope to complele it within a short time. Ma1· I be a true prophrt ! · Any alms sent for this purPQse will IJe announced in this re,iew.-0. Yan&iralle. Here follows the letter of Father Claerhoudt. Bokod, Feh. 11, 1924. Dear Father Yandewalle. I thank you a thousand times for the 50 yards of cloth you sent to cover the nakedness of the dear little lgorote angels of my mission. How they like to have a dress, but they do not always have it : they are so poor! Thanks be to Gt)d, there is progress at Bokod. It is true the old pagans of Bokod refuse still to be baptized, but. those who are already baptized become more fervent. Several of then1 receive Holy Communion every day. You understand what a sacrifice it is for them to <'Orne to the <'hapel every morning. Yery early they have to go to their fields and they return late in the e\·ening to pound rice and do other heaYy work, before they can take their well earned rest of the night. )I ow these fen·ent converts pray for their townmates. I am sure that, within a short time, Our dear Lord shall be loved and served here by all His children from Bokod an<l that with a pure heart. Blessed Little Theresa of the Infant Jesus has cured here a young girl, a pagan as yet who, I hope, will later ask for baptism. It is not for nothing that the Bles~ Little Theresa is the patroness of my mission. Yesterday I found a young boy, the fj !'On of Andres . .\.lvarez, I niay say, dying. I said the prayers of the dying and put around the nel'k of the child a relic of the Blessed Little Theresa of Jesus. This morning the mother of the dying l·hild came to the chapel, received Holy Communion ancl told rne the hoy ,,·as safe. She had received Holy Communion to thank the Lord, the author of all graces, and the Blessed Little Theresa of Je><ns, such a powerful intercessor. I ban~ decided to take the Little Flower as patroness of Kabayan. He gives me good health : I am thin hut strong. The climate 11f the mountains does me good. Later when the chapel shall be ready in Kabayan and another Father shall be here to help me : then we shall see great things! Yesterday I baptized number 110. Herewith a picture of some adults I baptized. Thus I may say that at least a few will go to heaven who, without the grace of rn.v vocation, would probably not have found their way there. Please send me sorne more relies of the Bles,;;ed Little Flo,,·er: they work wonder!' for both body and son!. The pag,.ns of Kahayan, h um an l y speaking, will not accept christi an it y. They are besieged by protest an ts and scientists. But I Father Claerhoudt an<l some n.f Iii" neu· Cl1rist;,111.,. The diapel at Karaw paid hy student,.; uf the Cathedral S<:hool :Manila, is finished. I will perseYere visiting them. The Little Flower will help me and could I only convince the few catholics of Kabayan to receiYe the Sacraments more often, I am sure that, within a few years, the town will become Christian. During the month of January, I distributed more than 200 Holy Communions. To-morrow I go to Adaway and Kabayan and hence to Daklan. From there to Li bong and Bisale, and so I have continually to travel, and I thank the good Lord am Yery poor but :he Lurd blesses me abundantly. Facienti quod est in se, Deus non denegat gratinm. ·who does what he can is certainly blessed by God. All for the greater glory of God. The days of greater poverty and of the deeper sorrows and misery are the days of special blessings. There is no greater happiness of soul than that which I enjoy when I have suffered for the conversion of souls. There is not a more beautiful life than that of the misContinued on page 14 14 January 5th, HJ~+, in the Church of Our Lady of the Atonement. Six intentions only had come in. But 15 persons attended the no,·ena daily, although a few others claimed the~· made the novena at home. This first novena did not seem a suceessif one regards either the intentions prayed for, or thf' number of the faithful who attended Lhe exercises. "Nevertheless as four of the six who had brought in their intentions came later to announce that the favors they asked for had been granted, we may call the first novena a i;?Teat succe~s. Does that not show Our Lady wisht>s to be honored at her shrine of Baguio':' Does that not pro\·e that atonement offered for sins pleases her immensely? The novena of the month of February was a novena not only of petition but also of thanksgiving- for the above said favors granted. This time 27 petitions were found in the box at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of the Atonement and a good number of Her devotees followed daily the exercises. Each ernning at 5:30 the rosary was said, followed by the Litany of 0. L. of the Atonement and the exercises closed with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. On the 10th, how impcessive it was to see many mothers present their babies to be blessed. Thus erer.1· month the exerci$eS are being more and more at.tended. They bPgin on the Saturd;;~-. following- the first Frid:.iy of the month. Therefore intentions tn be reC'ommended should be sent in time.. Those who obtain the requPst asked for, should, plea!'e, inform Father Carlu, and the Review will gladly pulillsh the favor granted. for the greater glor)· of God and 0. L. of the . .\ toneme11t. Tho~e who make the n"owna ~hould, morem'er, recehe Holy Communion at least once during the nine days and, after the daily recitation of the rosary. should sa~· the following prayer : I salute thee. Holy ~[ ar:·, Daughter of God the Father. and entreat thee to obtain for us a devotion like thine own to the mol't sweet '"ill of Gnd. I salute thee, Viqrin :\!other of God the Son, and entreat thee to obtain for us such union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus that our own hearts may Lurn with love of God and an ardent zeal for the salvation of souls. I salute thee, Immaculate Spouse of God the Holy Ghost and entreat thee to obtain for us such ;yielding of ourselves to the Bles>'ed Spirit. that He may in all things direct and rule our hearts and that we may never grieve Him in thought, or word, or deed. A Letter from father Claerhoudt Continued from page 6 sionary I know already a little of the Igorote dialect, but the lgorotes know so well to turn the letters, to suppress and to add syllables, that they seem to me very handy to talk. Thanking you again, dear Father, and with best wishes I remain : Yours in Jesus and Mary. Alphonse Claerhoudt. After such a consoling letter. Pxpressing so much hope. showing such great povert~· and activity. who would refuse some help to the Father of Bokod? The fund for his mission. the mission of the Blessed Little Flower of the Infant .Jesus should swell to overflowing. Anl· help mal· he sent to Rev. 0. Yandewalle. Herran 20211. Paco, Manna.

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5-6+

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