Thursday, November 22, 2007 Speak out: Message of our Lady of the Rule By Apolinar Timbal
FOR the almost six years that I spent my life in a convent, I observed people armed with religious devotion joining religious activities like fiestas of patron saints of towns/cities.
I saw, for example, the grandeur of the celebrations of the feasts of Our Lady of Manaoag (Manaoag, Pangasinan) and Our Lady of La Naval (Sto. Domingo, Quezon City) that were attended by throngs of people from across the globe expecting to receive blessings from above.
In Mactan, people biased for big religious celebrations wait for the fiesta of Our Lady of the Rule (Birhen sa Regla).
The feast is already part of the lives of many people, especially Cebuanos.
The fiesta is the time they can show their devotion and faith to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the woman whom God had entrusted His only Son Jesus Christ.
But are they really aware of what they are celebrating?
The fiesta of Our Lady of the Rule is meant to commemorate the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the salvation of humankind.
Her obedience to God’s will, as embodied in her accepting to be the mother of the Savior, made her the greatest woman that ever lived.
She uttered her bold “Yes” despite the perils, as she belonged to Jewish society whose “rules” condemn a pregnant woman without a husband.
But she was firmly guided not by “the rule of the world” but by “God’s rule.”
She showed us a rule that surpasses the rule of hate, indifference and condemnation that the world followed.
This rule, which leads to blessedness, is the “rule of love and compassion.”
Sadly, people never realize the meaning of the fiesta of Our Lady of the Rule as they are still living in accordance with the rule of hate, indifference, and condemnation towards other people.
They are too stubborn and fainthearted to give love and compassion to their neighbors who are in need, which is the essence of this great celebration. Our Lady of the Rule has set us a vivid example.
The only thing lacking is our true, simple, and bold “Yes” to the “rule of love and compassion.”
