On January 23, 2013 the novices of Lipa and their formator with the assistance of some Sisters from Pasay, went to Pitogo, Quezon to launch the FSP 75th Jubilee Project Biblia sa Bawat Pamilya. Usually, churches are named after their patron saint. This parish instead is named after an event – the parish church of the “Conversion of St. Paul” or “Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo”. Situated on top of a hill in the center of the town, it gives a majestic view of the sea.
More than the view, this particular parish has a rich “Pauline” history. Moros (members of the various tribes of Muslim Malays in the southern Philippines) have repeatedly invaded the area, burned the settlement and killed many of its inhabitants. The statue of the town’s patron, St Paul the Apostle, was lost in one of these raids. Legend has it that in 1782 the image St. Paul the Apostle was found under a big Pitogo tree on the promontory of Maaliw Hill. Taking this as a good omen and believing that St. Paul liked the place to be the permanent location of the poblacion, the people named the place after this palm tree known as “Pitogo” and began to settle here. The belief was that St. Paul was miraculously protecting the new town. On one occasion, when the Moros were about to enter the town, the place became all darkness and so the Moros had no other recourse but to go away.
Fr. Jose Jay C. Pagcaliwagan, the parish priest, invited the Daughters of St Paul to give a formation in the spirit of St Paul to his lay leaders. The sisters accepted the request and together with the novices carried out the following activities:
- Introduction to the Bible by Sr. Yolanda Dionisio
- Bible enthronement led by Sr. Linda Escoto and the Parish Priest
- Bible enthronement in the classrooms of the students who attended the Bible seminar
- Talk on the Year of Faith by Sr. Melissa Mancita
- Short vocation talk by Sr. Maricar Andamon
- Book display by the novices
The lay leaders showed much interest in the Bible and were really enthusiastic to continue studying the Word of God. The high school students instead were not familiar with the Bible as this is the first time they attended a Bible seminar and very few of them have a Bible. It was a great joy for them to receive a copy of the Bible particularly in this Year of Faith.
We pray that this initial formation on the Word of God will enable the parishioners to follow the example of St Paul who said “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.”
