DESPITE my frequent visits to Cebu, I have never known of this holy place up in Tabor Hill until a fellow legionary Nenit Manzo mentioned it. So on my most recent trip, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass. I am most grateful to Nenit and her husband Dodong who took time to take me.
Entering the Chapel of the Holy Relics, the biggest one in Asia, I was overwhelmed by the number of reliquaries everywhere. To the right of the chapel near the entrance was a larger-than-life image of St. Rita of Cascia, the Patron Saint of Impossible Requests. In the main altar as well is another image of St. Rita lying prostrate. She is one of the main patronesses of the chapel. Next comes St. Lucy or Sta. Lucia after whom I was named. I was ecstatic.
For over a year, I have been featuring the Saint of the Day on Facebook. As I went from one reliquary to another, the names of these saints started to come alive. The Catholic Church has declared thousands of saints, some we haven’t even heard of but here in the Chapel of Relics, there are 1st class to 3rd class relics of these saints. I felt enveloped with celestial presence.
It was an extra blessing to interview the Fr. Dennis Duene Gutierrez Ruiz of the Discalced Augustinians, the Prior of the Community of the Sto. Niño and Our Lady of Consolation. He is recovering from a slip disc problem (an excruciating ailment) so he was confined to the area.
Fr. Dennis has a Bachelor of Philosophy, a Bachelor of Theology and Cultural Heritage plus a Licentiate in History of the Church at the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome. He lived in Rome for eight years and was in the United States until the vow of obedience transferred him to the Philippines.
It was about the year 2001-2002 that the Discalced Augustinians wanted to establish a Chapel of the Holy Relics. Starting with just two relics, their founder St. Agustin and his mother, Saint Monica, relics started trickling in. Then came the relics of the Augustinian saints. Soon afterwards, a Jesuit house in Austrian asked if he wanted all or nothing of 125 relics. The absolute answer was yes. The chapel has relics of hundreds of saints. Father Dennis even pointed out a relic of a satanic minister who totally transformed and is now declared a saint. That saint embraced a deep devotion to the Holy Rosary.
The magnificent altar has on the upper level, reliquaries of Our Lady and St. Joseph and beside them are our two Filipino saints, San Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod. Just beneath them are reliquaries of the 12 apostles plus two more, St. Barnabas and St. Paul. There are relics of the disciples of Christ like Mary Magdalene, etc.
Fr. Dennis adds that they are able to complete the relics of all the Doctors of the Church including the most recently proclaimed St. Hildegard and St. John of Avila.
Marian relics like a fragment of the veil of Loreto and from Mary’s belt are also found in the Chapel plus some relics of Mary’s parents Ann and Joachim.
There are relics of Popes who have canonized from time immemorial to the more recent saints Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. Father says they have an abundant donation of Padre Pio as well.
One of their treasured pieces is a Relic of the Holy Cross of Christ which has been shared by an Augustinian priest who is now in the process of beatification.
The relics that are found in the chapel have been religiously authenticated. Fr. Dennis says that he has still about 56 relics that are in need of a home. They have an Adopt a Reliquary Project and one can be a donor for just P6,000.
Aside from work in the chapel, Fr. Dennis teaches catechism and talks about the lives of these saints. To him, what is most important is not the devotions we have or the novenas we pray to the saints or to Our Lord and Mama Mary. But these devotions must be made manifest in the imitation of their lives.