The Archdiocese of Manila is the oldest diocese in the Philippines, created in 1579 as a diocese and elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese in 1595. Manila was established as a suffragan diocese of Mexico in 1579 by Pope Gregory XIII. Hence many of the Mexican devotions were brought here to the Philippines. One of the…
Category: Church Traditions
Immaculate Conception
It is the desire of God that we human beings share his happiness. However, in paradise man and woman ate the forbidden tree, and original sin entered into our lives thus sending man and woman out of paradise. Yet, it is the desire of God that we human beings share his happiness and that is…
Can the Lord Do That?
On a personal note, one thing that has helped me in the priesthood is the ministry of exorcism. Among the ministries in the Church, it is only exorcism that deals with the world of the unseen. Further, St. Paul reminds us that the greatest battle ever among principalities – good versus evil, is constantly ongoing. …
Civil Authority
When Jesus founded the Church, he gave it authority. “Peter you are the rock and on this rock I will build my Church… whatever binds on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever is loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19) In this world, there is only one authority and that is…
Assumption
When Adam and Eve sinned, the very first promise was made – to send the Messiah and save mankind. However this Messiah, to be able to come here on earth, was to be born of a virgin. That virgin that will bear the Son of God has to be pure – and therefore she was…
A Holy Priest Means a Holy Flock
When Christ founded the Church, the very first thing he did was to give it authority. Why is this very important? Because all power belongs to God. Hence if the Church has been given authority, its power is from God. Some examples to illustrate: In the ministry of exorcism, the authority of the exorcist is…
Mercy not Sacrifice
When I was a seminarian, I was able to join a Holy Week celebration in one of the provinces. During the procession, we went around the town, praying and singing. Very nice celebration. When the carozas returned to the Church, during the closing rites, the priests blessed all the Carozas. Suddenly there was chaos. People…
Investing in God
The very first of the ten commandments is I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. The reality is though, we compromise our faith in God in so many ways: First superstition: If God is God, then why do we follow so many superstitious practices, even justifying, “It won’t…
