They are Mystically among us - Saints who bilocated in the Philippines
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| The Saints who bilocated in the Philippines: St. Martin de Porres, St. Faustina Kowalska, Servant of God Archbishop Teofilo Camomot |
Yes, you read it right! As the title suggests, we do have saints who did bilocate in our country. Over the past centuries we have well documented records of saints (even saw them in our lifetime) that either visited our country from Sts. John Paul II, Teresa of Calcutta, Maxilimilian Kolbe, Paul VI, Andrew Kim Taegon, Blessed Alvaro Portillo of Opus Dei or administered the Filipino faithful from Sts. Pedro Bautista, Ezekiel Moreno, the Dominicans, Augustinians, Augustinian Recollects, Franciscans and Jesuits missionaries who would later become martyrs in Japan, China, Vietnam, Guam, the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. Interestingly, we do have existing reports that would attest that there were saints that bilocated in our country - that is being in two places, or for this case; two countries, at the same time.
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| The bilocation of St. Anthony of Padua |
In order to understand what bilocation is, we have to delved what it means and how it happened. Bilocation is a miraculous ability wherein an individual is located (or appears to be located) in two distinct places at the same time.
The question whether the same finite being (especially a body) can be at once in two (bilocation) or more grew out of the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist. According to this cherished doctrine, Christ is truly, really, and substantially present in every consecrated Host wheresoever located.
In the endeavor to connect this fact of faith with the other conceptions of the Catholic mind theologians make the following distinctions:
- The place of a body is the surface of the body or bodies immediately surrounding and in contact with the located body.
- A physical body is in place commensurably (circumscriptively) inasmuch as the individual portions of its exterior surfaces answer singly to the corresponding portions of the immediately environing surfaces of the body or bodies that constitute its place.
- A being is definitively in place when it is entire in every portion of the space it occupies. This is the mode of location proper to unembodied spirits and to the human soul in the organism whereof it is the "substantial form", i.e. the actuating and vitalizing principle. A spirit cannot, of course, be in loco circumscriptively since, having no integrant parts, it cannot be in extensional contact with the surrounding dimensions. It may be said, therefore, to locate itself by its spiritual activity (will) and rather to occupy than to be occupied by place, and consequently to be virtually rather than formally in loco. Such a mode of location cannot be natural to a physical body. Whether it can be so absolutely, supernaturally, miraculously, by an interference on the part of Omnipotence will be considered below.
- A mixed mode of location would be that of a being which is circumscriptively in one place (as is Christ in heaven), and definitively (sacramentally) elsewhere (as is Christ in the consecrated Host).
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| The apprition/billocation of Our Lady of the Pillar |
Other saints said to have experienced bilocation include Sts. Alphonsus Liguori, Anthony of Padua, Martin de Porres, Pio of Pietrelcina in modern times, Venerable Maria de Ágreda where she famously bilocated from her cloister in Spain to the Americas to preach to the natives among others.
Numerous instances of bilocation have been so well documented, witnessed and investigated that they are accepted facts in the history of the Church and in hagiography. This mystical gift is not for the convenience of the recipient, but to aid him in helping others or in performing a function some distance away.
Notable cases in the Philippines
Much has been written about the history of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and its major episodes, both in a positive and negative light due to the proliferation of the Propaganda movement that went mainstream. Strangely, there were a lot of silent, intriguing yet significant episodes that occurred in our church's history that did not have a chance to be known. Thankfully, with the advent of the internet and its accomplice, Social Media, some of these sparse yet intriguing records, artifacts and anecdotes surfaced and became accessible to the public that they helped enriched the history of the Catholic faith in the Philippines.
For this blogpost, we will present some notable cases of bilocation of two canonized saints and a local candidate for sainthood that happened in our country in our church history since the Spanish regime.
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| St. Martin de Porres |
St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, on December 9, 1579. He was a lay brother of the Third Order of St. Dominic. He did mostly menial tasks like cleaning and laundry. But God gave him many spiritual gifts from levitation, healing, bilocation, ability to read one’s soul, ability to talk to animals, and the devil was afraid of him. For him, performing miracles was not unusual, but he desired that no one should make a big deal out of it. He was noted for his work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children's hospital. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat.
St. Martin wanted to be a missionary but did not fulfill that dream, but that did not prevent him from appearing mysteriously to the missionaries when they were going through some difficulty during their services in distant lands.
It is said and reported that he was seen several times in places like Mexico, China, Japan, Africa, the Philippines and perhaps in France; Knowing that he always worked from the monastery and never left Lima. In the annals of the Order, in 1637, Hermano Martin was seen in the Philippines attending to a sick friar in Intramuros. This event was witnessed and sworn by Guerrero and Diego de Santa Maria.
He died at age fifty-nine on November 3, 1639 and was canonized by Pope St. John XXIII ion May 6, 1962. St. Martin de Porres is the Patron of Social Justice and enjoyed much veneration the country with Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City as its National Shrine and Center of St. Martin de Porres Guild. His feast day is celebrated every November 3.
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| St. Faustina Kowalska |
Helena Kowalksa was born August 25, 1905 in Głogowiec, Poland to poor parents. Even in her early age, she experienced a longing to be with the Lord as a religious. After a vision in 1924, she left her home against her parents wishes to become a nun. Initially she had difficulty on entering different congregations due to her poor state that she worked as a servant for some time to earn for her dowry until she was finally accepted at the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy whe took the habit on April 30, 1926 and the religious name Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.
On February 22, 1931, she began to experience visions of Our Lord Jesus Christ expressing his desire to spread the devotion of his Divine Mercy. Throughout her life, Kowalska reported having visions and conversations with Jesus, Mary and the saints with him, of which she wrote in her diary, later published as "Divine Mercy in My Soul." which serves as a guide to the present Divine Mercy devotion.
In her diary, she recorded all of her mystical experiences with Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints from receiving visions and locutions, reading souls, visiting heaven, hell and purgatory, an invisible stigmata, mystical marriage, bilocation among others.
In one of her diary entries, she wrote the following dating back to February 7, 1937: "Today, I prayed more fervently than ever for the Holy Father [Pius XI] and three priests [Archbishop Jalbrzykowski, Father Michael Sopocko, and Father Andrasz] that God would inspire them as to what He is asking of me, for the realization of this depends on them. Oh, how happy I am that the Holy Father's health is improving. Today I heard him addressing the Eucharistic Congress, and I went there in spirit to receive the Apostolic Blessing."
Interestingly, the Eucharistic Congress that she refers to is the 33rd International Eucharistic Congress that was held in Manila from February 3 - 7, 1937 and based from this account, she went to our country, receiving the Apostolic Blessing on the last day of the Congress by means of bilocation.
Sister Faustina died from a long bout of tuberculosis on October 5, 1938 in Krakow, Poland, She was beatified on April 18, 1993 then later canonized on April 30, 2000 - the First canonized saint of the Millenium by Pope St. John Paul II. On the day of St. Faustina's canonization, the same Pontiff officially established the Feast of the Divine Mercy to be held every Second Sunday after Easter - as Our Lord Jesus requested to St. Faustina. St. Faustina Kowalska's feast day is commemorated every October 5.
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| Servant of God Archbishop Teofilo Camomot |
One of the most recent cases of bilocaton in the Philippines is that of Servant of God Archbishop Teofilo Camomot of the Archdiocese of Cebu. Archbishop Teofilo B. Camomot was born in Cogon, Carcar, Cebu on March 3, 1914. In his early age, he yeared the desire to leada holy life as a priest and he did dedicated himself wholeheartedly to his seminary formation at the Seminario de San Carlos in Cebu City. On December 15, 1940, he was ordained a priest and was appointed assistant to different parishes.
In 1943, he was appointed parish priest of Sta. Teresa Parish in Talisay, Cebu. He lived a simple and austere life. During his stint as its Parish priest, he was inspired by the writings of St. Teresa of Avila that would later inspire his life in the coming years. He founded the Carmelite Tertiaries of the Blessed Eucharist (CTOBE), presently, the Daughters of Saint Teresa (DST).
In 1970, he became auxiliary bishop of Cebu. On February 19, 1976, he was named parish priest of Carcar, Cebu, his hometown while also serving the archdiocese in other areas of responsibilities.
Archbishop Camomot, or "Lolong", was also known for his spiritual gifts of healing, reading hearts, levitation, and bilocation. The late Cebu archbishop emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal recounts that there were several testimonies about Camomot's bilocation or there were people who would see him present in two places at the same time. The archbishop himself has signed an affidavit in relation to a witness' account on this phenomenon where Camomot was drowsing beside him at a meeting of the College of Consultors. "I have already authenticated his presence at a meeting. But a woman said at that time he was in a mountain barangay in Carcar)giving the last sacrament to a dying person," he said. "He was at my left, and Archbishop Manuel Salvador-- discussing about the pastoral (thrust) of the diocese—at my right. I said 'Monsignor, we have a votation and you have to vote,'" he added.
On September 27, 1988, he died on his way back to his parish in a vehicular accident at San Fernando, Cebu. On October 15, 2010, Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, Cardinal Vidal announced that the Holy See has approved the opening of the cause for beatification and canonization.
A Postscript
In some ways, once we read upon these supernatural events from the lives of the saints, a reader can be amazed or dismiss these phenomenon, others would go beyond to ask for these supernatural gifts. Both St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross points out that we should not ask for these supernatural gifts, whether its bilocation, to experience an apparition or other mystical phenomena for personal gain for it only shows signs of pride. The two Doctors also specified that these gifts can be granted if the soul is in the state of intimate union with God that the soul would forget the things in this world and be completely with Him doing what he asked us to do. If it is within the will of God, he can grant these unexplainable gifts. It is a mystery that can only be explained in the light of God’s miraculous intervention and occurs in cases on holy men and women with extreme sanctity and humility.
So what can we learn from this mystical phenomenon in our modern times? Although these reported phenomenon may not be possible at these times, it only shows and teaches us how anything is possible with God - even the most extremely impossible, if we have faith and full confidence in Him. Miracles cannot be explained by natural laws or they would not be miracles. Miracles defy the natural physical laws without presenting a contradiction. Miracles are from God; they are the effect of His direct interference for His own holy purposes with the physical law He created. In giving some exceptionally holy men and women the power to work and experience extraordinary miracles, He gives them a share in His Omnipotent Providence and Goodness that we can also learn from and emulate.
References:
"Archbishop Teofilo Camomot The Road to Sainthood". cebudailynews.inquirer.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
"Bilocation", Retrieved from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02568a.htm on October 15, 2019.
Nickell, Joe, "Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions & Healing Cures". Prometheus Books, 1993.
Kowalska, Faustina. "Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul. The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska", Marian Press, USA, 2003.
"Vatican opens cause for beatification of Archbishop Camomot of Carcar, Cebu". lifestyle.inquirer.net. Retrieved April 16 2017.
"What were the Miracles of San Martin de Porres?" Retrieved from https://www.lifepersona.com/what-were-the-miracles-of-san-martin-de-porres on October 15, 2019.
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