TAGBILARAN CITY, Feb. 14, 2015 -– Home for the aged Kanlungan ni Maria’s first pain-healing mission trip outside of Luzon reached Biblical proportions when over a thousand people received anointing at the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish on Feb. 11, the World Day of the Sick.
Fr. Fernando “Dodong” Po, himself afflicted, intercedes for the healing of every sick person he anoints at the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish in Tagbilaran City on Feb. 11, World Day for the Sick. (Photo: Oliver Samson)
Fr. Dari Dioquino, Kanlungan ni Maria – Home for the Aged priest-in-charge, and Fr. Fernando Po, touched hundreds of people with oil for the sick, praying that God would heal their afflictions, physical and otherwise.
Mary’s love
Po, who is fondly referred to as “Fr. Dodong” by parishioners and the people close to him, hosted the pain healing mission for local seniors conducted by the sea, as well as the rest of four-day stay of Dioquino and his team of 11 magnesium advocates.
Dioquino, main Mass celebrant on the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes that day, drew attention to Mary’s unfailing love for the faithful, in spite of their weaknesses.
He also exhorted believers to do “HOPE”, which means “help one person everyday.”
Fr. Julian Lupot, vicar of the said parish, estimated the long lines of men and women, young and old alike, most of whom are survivors of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that rocked the Visayas, most especially Bohol, in October 2013, numbered no less than a thousand.
Concelebrated by Po, the Mass was one of the most moving celebrations she has ever attended, said Kanlungan ni Maria special project director Victoria Baterina-Solis.
Wheelchair-bound priest
A group of lay women also serenaded the Blessed Virgin at the end of the Eucharistic celebration.
The two priests, who met for the first time that day, got acquainted a few months ago because of a CBCPNews article about one of Kanlungan ni Maria’s pain healing mission trips and was instrumental in facilitating the group’s visit to Bohol.
Po was left paralyzed after a virus attacked his system following a blood transfusion in 2011.
According to one of Mass-goers the priest lost his ability to walk to tell the “healthier and stronger, but indifferent”, that they can also go on mission like the wheelchair-bound priest.
The Kanlungan ni Maria team was also able to have a magnesium therapy session with the elderly in a Panglao beach after. (Oliver Samson/CBCPNews)