Childhood Days in Calamba
 Jose Rizal, just like Filipino boys, had many beautiful
memories of childhood.
 His was a happy home, filled with parental affection,
impregnated with family joys, and sanctified by
prayers.
 In the midst of such peaceful, refined, God-loving
family, he spent the early years of his childhood.
Calamba, “Cradle of a Genius”
 Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In
1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student in
Ateneo, he rememebered his beloved town.
Accordingly, he wrote a poem Un Recuerdo A Mi
Pueblo ( In Memory of My Town)
Earliest Childhood Memories.
 The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy, was his
happy days in the family garden.
 Because he was frail, sickly, and undersized child, he
was given the most tender care by his parents.
 His father built a nipa cottage in the garden for him to
play in the daytime.
 Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus
prayer. By nightfall, Rizal related, his mother gathered
all the children at the house to pray the Angelus.
 With nostalgic feeling, he also remembered the happy
moonlit nights at the azotea after the rosary.
 The aya realted stories to Rizal children many stories
about fairies; tales of buried treasure and trees with
blooming diamonds, and other fabulous stories.
 Sometimes, when he did not like to take his supper,
the aya would treaten him that the aswang, the nuno,
the tigbalang, or a terrible bearded Bombay would
come to take him away if he would not eat his supper.
 Another memory of his infancy was the nocturnal
walk in the town, especially when there was a moon.
 Recounting this childhood experience, Rizal wrote:
 “Thus my heart fed on sombre and melancholy
thoughts so that even still a child, I already wandered
on wings of fantasy in the high regions of the
unknown.
FIRST SORROW
 The Rizal children were bound together by the ties of
love and companionship.
 Their parents taught them to love one another, to
behave properly in front of elders, to be truthful and
religious, and to help one another.
 They affectionately called their father Tatay, and
mother Nanay.
 Jose was jokingly called Ute by his brother and sisters.
The people in Calamba knew him as Pepe or Pepito.
 Of his sisters, Jose loved most little Concha. He was
one year older than Concha. He played with her, and
from her, he learned the sweetness of brotherly love.
 Unfortunately, Concha died of sickness in 1865 when
he was 3 years old.
 Jose, who was very fond of her, cried bitterly to lose
her.
Devoted Son of Church
 Young Rizal was a religious boy. A scion of a Catholic
clan, born and bred in a wholesome atmosphere of
Catholicism, and possessed of an inborn spirit, Rizal
grew up a good Catholic.
 At the age of 3, he began to take part in the family
prayers.
 When he was five years old, he was able to read
haltingly the family bible.
 He loved to go to church to pray, to take part in
novenas, and to join the religious processions. It is said
that he was so seriously devout that he was laughingly
called Manong Jose by the Hermanos and Hermanas
Terceras.
 One of the men he esteemed and respected in
Calamba during his boyhood was the scholarly Father
Leoncio Lopez, the town priest.
Pilgrimage to Antipolo
 On June 6, 1868, Jose and his father left for Calamba to
go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo, in order to fulfill his
mother’s vow which was made when Rizal was born.
 It was the first trip of Jose across Laguna de Bay and
his pilgrimage to Antipolo.
 He was thrilled, as a typical boy should, by his first
lake voyage. He did not sleep the whole night as the
casco sailed towards the Pasig River because he was
awed by “ the magnificence of the watery expanse and
the silence of the night.
 After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo,
Jose and his father went to Manila.
First Education from Mother
 Jose’s first teacher was his mother.
 At the age of 3, Jose learned the alphabet and prayers
from her.
 Seeing Rizal had a talent for poetry, she encouraged
him to write poems. She gave her all her love and all
that she learned in college.
The story of the Moth.
 Of the story told by Dona Teodora to Jose, it was that
of the young moth made the profoundest impression
on him.
 The tragic fate of the young moth, which died a martyr
to its illusions, left a deep impress on Rizal’s mind.
Rizal’s Three Uncles
 There were 3 uncles, brothers of his mother, who
played a great part in the early education of Rizal.
 Uncle Gregorio was a lover of books. He instilled into
the mind of his nephew a great love for books. He
taught him to work hard, to think for himself, and to
observe life keenly.
 Uncle Jose, who had been educated at Calcutta, India,
was the youngest brother of Dona Teodora. He
encouraged his nephew to paint, sketch, and
sculpture.
 Uncle Manuel was a big, strong, and husky man. He
looked after the physical training of his sickly and
weak nephew. He encourage Rizal to learn swimming,
fencing, wrestling, and other sports, so that in later
years Rizal’s frail body acquired agility, endurance, and
strength.
Artistic Talents
 Since early childhood Rizal revelaed his god-given
talents for the arts.
 He drew sketches and pictures on his books of his
sisters, for which reason he was scolded by his mother.
 He carved figures of animals and persons out of wood.
Even before he learned to read, he could already sketch
pictures of birds, flowers, fruits, rivers, mountains,
animals and persons.
 Jose had a soul of a genuine artist.
 Rather an introvert child, with a skinny physique and
sad dark eyes, he found great joy looking at the
blooming flowers, the ripening fruits, the dancing
waves of the lake, and the milky clouds in the sky; and
the listening to the songs of the birds, the chirpings of
the cicadas, and the murmurings of the breezes.
 He loved to ride on a spirited pony ( which his father
bought for him) or take long walks in the meadows for
him) or take long walks in the meadows and lakeshore
with his big black dog named Usman.
 In his room, he kept many statuettes which he made
out of clay and wax.
 At one time, his sisters teased him: “Ute, what are you
doing with so many statuettes?” He replied: “ Don’t
you know that people will erect monument and statues
in my honor for the future?”
Prodigy of the pen
 Not only was little Jose skilled in brush, chisel, and
pen-knife, but also in pen. He was born poet. His
mother encouraged him to write poetry. At an early age
when children usually begin to learn ABC, he was
already writing poems.
 The first known poem that he wrote was a Tagalog
poem entitled Sa Aking Mga Kababata (To My Fellow
Children).
 Before he was eight years old, he wrote a Tagalog
drama. This drama was stages in Calamba in
connection with the town fiesta.
Lakeshore Reveries
 During the twilight hours of summertime, Rizal,
accompanied by his dog, used to meditate at the shore
of Laguna de Bay on the sad conditions of his
oppressed people.
 Young that he was, he grieved deeply over the unhappy
situation of his beloved fatherland. The Spanish
misdeeds awakened in his boyish heart a great
determination to fight tyranny.
Influences on Hero’s Boyhood
 In the lives of all men there are influences which cause
some to be great and others not. In the case of Rizal,
he had all favorable influences, which no other chilld
in our country enjoyed.
 1. Hereditary Influence
 2. Environmental Influence
 3. Aid of the Divine Providence