February 2, 2013
TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE MMP IN THE PHILIPPINES:
(c) “Look at the hearts and the souls of all these children of mine: they are so faithful to Jesus, so devoted to me, and so united to the Church. Through them the light of my Heart is spreading through all the countries of this continent.
(d) I have a great design on this people. They please me with their simplicity, their devotion, their great poverty, their humility and patience.
(e) I am the Mother of all peoples…
(f) I look with tenderness and with joy at these children of mine, and I bring you into their midst to hold cenacles of prayer and to renew together the consecration to my Immaculate Heart.
(g) Your coming is a sign of my special presence at their side….” (October 2, 1980, #210)
Dear friends, this message given to you by Our Blessed Mother is so true: “Through them the light of my Heart is spreading through all the countries of this continent. I have a great design on this people.”
In fact, your migrants are present in many countries around the world, and they are accomplishing this prophecy of Our Mother. In my parish, for example, those from the Philippines are filling up our church every Sunday, many of them even come during the week. As we thank them, we thank the Blessed Mother.
I am very happy that I came to the Philippines; you have a beautiful country. I was very surprised to hear about the great numbers of cenacles and the members of the MMP all over your country. Our retreat with priests was a real spiritual success. About 400 lay people participated at the Retreat-Cenacle on Saturday. I extend my gratitude to all of you, and in particular to Fr. Omer and many others for the well organized events. I thank those who went out of their way to help throughout the Retreat and to provide for my meals. I am pleased by the unity that was so evident during the two Cenacle-Retreats.
We explained how the Holy See wants the MMP to be faithful to the rules and the spirit of its first facilitator, Fr. Stefano Gobbi (the founder of the MMP is obviously the Blessed Mother). He was very strong in stating that the MMP is not another association, but a spirit that can be adopted by every person or group in the Church. I also explained the content of the first draft of the Statutes of the MMP that the Holy See has requested. Therein, it is stated that only the General Director of the MMP, who now is Fr. Quartilio Gabrielli, can appoint the Director of the MMP in every country. Fr. Quartilio asked me to temporarily supervise the nomination of the Director of the MMP for the Philippines.
For this purpose, I spoke to several priests who came to the retreat, including Monsignor Salomon and Fr. Omer who were previous directors. We should thank them for their work. The experiment that I tried to introduce last year – a core group of three directors – did not work because they were never able to get together. One priest is out of the country for 6 months each year, and another was very sick for an extended time. I am sure that all of them will continue to work for the Blessed Mother who needs our forces combined. All the Fathers express their gratefulness to so many of the laity who are active in the MMP. I am sure that all of them understand the tradition given to us by Fr. Gobbi – that a Priest must be the Director of the MMP.
The laity have a very important role in the plan of the Blessed Mother. They are the majority, all over the world, who work for her and who are spreading the cenacles. But She wants them “little, obedient and in unity with one another.” If even one of these necessary qualities is missing, Our Blessed Mother cannot use them. Actually they will become an obstacle for her work. We should be aware that She stated many times that her work is to bring back to Jesus those who for a while seemed lost, because She will use them for the greater glory of God and her victory against Satan. It seems that just a handful of the laity don’t understand this. It is too bad that I did not see them at the Cenacle. When one leaves her cohort, She finds one hundred more to take their place. This has been my experience.
In consultation with Fr. Gabrielli, it has been decided that the new Director and National Responsible of the MMP in the Philippines is Rev. Msgr. Cesar B. Pagulayan from the Diocese of Manila. His contact information is:
San Isidro Labrador Parish
1830 Taft Avenue, Pasay City 1306
Manila, Philippines
Tel No. (Landline) – (632)525-1188
Celphone No. – (632)917-8508928
Email Address: cesbpagu@yahoo.com.ph
During the Retreat some of the priests accepted to be “Regional Directors” for some distant parts of the country – of course, always under the direction of, and in consultation with, Msgr. Cesar.
Fr. Richard Wyxelman OMI – Regional Priest for Mindanao
17 Oblate Drive, Rosary Heights,
Cotobato City, Philippines
Tel No. (Landline) – 431-0131
Email Address: waxomi00@yahoo.com
Rev. Fr. Casiano Salak Jr. – Regional Priest for Visayas
Diocese of Dumaguete
Pastoral Center, Perdices Street
Dumaguete City, Philippines
Tel No. (Landline) – 035-225-0612
Cell phone No.- 0918-4265750
Email Address: frsalac@yahoo.com.ph
Rev. Fr. Rico Dingal – Regional Priest for Davao
Diocese of Digos, Davao del Sur
Dona Aurora Street, Digos City
Davao del Sur, Philippines 8002
Tel No. (Landline) – (082) 553-2012
Cell phone No.- 0930-7451250
Email Address: frrico2007@gmail.com
Rev. Fr. JP Villanueva – Laguna, (Luzon)
Sta. Cecilia Chapel
SCV, Parian, Calamba City
(Cell phone No. 0927-4303391)
Fr. Osias Palarca – (Cebu)
San Roque Parish
Yati, Lilo-an, Cebu
cell phone number: 0929-3343290
Bishop Afable of Digos, Davao del Norte has accepted to be the Spiritual Advisor of the MMP-Philippines.
They were all present at the Retreat, and I see this as a prepared plan of the Blessed Mother. It would be nice if, at least once a year, they could coordinate some regional Cenacles in that part of the country.
Msgr. Cesar should be in charge of maintaining a database with names and addresses of the members of the MMP, all of the finances, the publication of the books, and the office for the MMP. He has suggested that the secretary of the MMP should be Maria Luisa (Lui) Magpayo. She was of great help during the Retreat.
Here we like to share some of the general directives that we always suggest to every country:
All priests and laypersons are encouraged to conduct family and parish cenacles of prayers. Everyone must follow the cenacle format which consists of the following five elements: invocation to the Holy Spirit; the Holy Rosary; prayer for our Holy Father; reading of one message from the book, To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons; and the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We hope that especially the priests and laypersons who were conducting cenacles in other regions outside their area will continue their missionary work, but they should maintain contact with the National Director as a sign of unity, as the Blessed Mother desires.
All monies and donations designated for the work of our Lady shall be given to MMP-Philippines, supervised by the National Director. A copy of an annual detailed accounting report shall be given to the MMP International Headquarters. I thank Fr. Omer who gave me a detailed account of the retreat. I thank also the priests, and especially Fr. Omer, for their donations toward the expenses of the Retreat. Obviously, travel and other expenses necessary for the cenacles must be looked after by the Office of the MMP.
Donations are important for the printing of the book, for the management of the office, for sponsoring some priests who will represent the Philippines in the annual International Retreat in Italy, for paying the expenses of the priest who will be conducting the annual Retreat (when he is invited from another country), and finally for helping other poorer countries who might not be able to afford to print the book. Your donations are a way of collaborating in this precious work of the Blessed Mother. Please be generous.
To avoid confusion, there should be only one website under the title MMP; it will be a great tool for the dissemination of information, scheduling, and proper coordination and implementation of the various programs of the MMP Philippines.
All members of the MMP-Philippines should receive from the national office the annual letter from the General Director, Fr. Quartilio Gabrielli. I have noticed that you have a great potential of many people who sincerely want to work for the Blessed Mother. As she told you when Fr. Gobbi came to the Philippines, she has a great plan for you, and in my visit I have come to know this.
Please remember me in your prayers.
Most sincerely in Jesus and Mary,
(signed)
Fr. Francis Geremia, C.S.