Come and See...
The facilitator can start a sharing of experiences with the audience
with the following questions.
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Catechetical Office of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao (COAT)
Module-Group 1 Series 1______________________________2014
THE CAGAYANO CATHOLIC.
At the heart of the
Do you know the name of the mother of Jesus?
Why do we call her ‘Mama Mary’?
Why do we ask her help/intercession?
What are the things we do to show our love and devotion
to her? (You may include praying the rosary and novena/
lubena/pasiyam to her, putting a rosary around the hand of
a dead member of the family, etc.)
We, Cagayanos, call the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Piat, Yena
tam Ngamin, Apo Baket.
Cagayano Catholic identity is the deep devotion to the Our
Lady of Piat. How can this devotion to Mary strengthen the
Cagayano Catholic faith? We look up to Mary as the perfect
disciple; we live by her example.
She is also known to us as Our Lady of the Visitation. We remember
her story in the Bible when she travelled a long distance to visit her
cousin Elizabeth after the Annunciation and stayed with her to help
because she was old and pregnant.
 Objectives
Doctrine: To know Mary as the perfect disciple of Jesus
Moral:
To follow her example as the perfect disciple of
Jesus
Worship: To develop a deeper love and devotion for Mary
The Blessed Virgin Mary is known by many different titles or names:
Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Mother of Perpetual
Help, Our Lady of the Visitation, etc. In Fatima and, also, in Lourdes,
she appeared to some children; people go to her and ask her help
because she is close to Jesus. But there is only one Blessed Virgin
Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Every day many devotees go to visit Our Lady of Piat; they line
up to touch the Lady’s feet and seek her intercession. On her
fiesta, at least 100,000 pilgrims go to visit her. This number
will continue to grow as in previous years.
The devotion to Our Lady of Piat dates back to the 16th
century. From Macau and then Manila, she was brought to
the Cagayan Valley by the Dominican Friars (religious priests
and brothers) to help bring the Catholic faith to the Itawes
region.
Further exchange of personal experiences can be made here.
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Was there a time in your life when you had experienced the
help/intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of
Piat?
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What are some of the stories you hear/have heard about
her?
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Do you talk/discuss about Our Lady of Piat in your home?
How often? What do you usually talk about her?
Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of Our
Lady of Piat, including:
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the healing of many sick persons;
the recovery of an insane boy after he fell from the
convent roof (account of Fr. Benito Gomez);
the cure of a leper-child (Fr. Rojano);
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the release of a native from the grip of a crocodile
(1739) (Fr. Rojano);
the rescue of a boatload of people travelling from
Pamplona to Aparri when they met a fierce storm
(June 2, 1738);
the end of a severe drought which threatened the
region after their priests preached on the need for the
people to pray to Our Lady and to go to Confession
(1624); and
the sparing of the church from a serious flooding.
A recent case (1993) is that of an old woman who was
cured of lung cancer after she prayed the novena to
Our Lady of Piat.
Recognizing the growing devotion to her, the Church officially
crowned her as the Patroness of the Cagayan Valley on June
20, 1954 and on June 22, 1999 her shrine was designated as
Basilica Minore Nuestra Senora de Piat.
For us, Cagayanos, the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of
Our Lady of Piat, is a loving Mother whom we have come to
trust and to run to, especially in times of crises.
Teach your audience the....
Hymn to Our Lady of Piat
Lyrics: Most Rev. Diosdado Talamaayan, D.D.
Music: Sr. Ma. Anunciata Sta. Ana, SPC
Refrain:
1.
Cagayanos, we truly are blest,
Piat’s Queen draws us into her arms to rest.
Since our fathers’ days, she has among us sown
the love for Jesus, her own dearest Son.
Behold her with the infant babe,
the Son of God, her loving child,
from whom all favors she obtains
for all who come and seek her aid.
2. Behold her with the Rosary,
she bids us pray from day to day,
that by the faith we have from God,
from His own path we might not stray.
3. Behold her with her mantle blue,
who to her Son remained so true,
help us we pray in Cagayan,
to live in peace, in this land.
4. Virgin of Piat, Lady of the vale,
through highways, rivers, barrio trails,
this Marian year we come to you,
in your Son’s love our hearts renew.
As devotees of Mary, Our Lady of Piat, we ask ourselves: How
should we live our devotion to her? As her children, how can
we be pleasing to her?
Learn from me...We honor Mary as the mother of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. She is our intercessor with Jesus who
is the mediator between God and man. So we continue to
present our needs to her and she, in turn, will present them to
Jesus.
As devotees and children of Mary, we must live by her
example. Mary showed us how to be the perfect disciple of
Jesus [i.e., “wholly united with her Son” (Lumen Gentium
57,58).
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Jesus asks: “Who is my mother and who are my
brothers?”
He answers his question: “...whoever does the will of
my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, mother” (Mt:
46-50). “...whoever does the will of God is
my brother, sister and mother.” (Mk 3: 31-35). “My
mother and my brothers are those who hear the word
of God and do it.” (Lk 8: 19-21)
In another instance...someone exclaims: “Blessed is the
womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked.”
To this Jesus replies: “Still happier are those who hear
the word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11: 27-28)
In John 8:31. Jesus says: “If you make my word your
home, you will indeed be my disciple.”
Jesus defines his ‘disciple’ (follower) not in terms of
blood relations nor in terms of his small group of
friends but in terms of the bigger circle of “those who
do the will of God”. Discipleship is about “hearing the
word of God and acting on it.” It is not a one-shot
deal; it is a re-orientation of one’s life; it is a way of
life.
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This attitude can very well be seen in Mary.
At the Annunciation, replying to God’s messenger: “Be
it done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38). This is
very much the same as “doing the will of God.”
At the Visitation, as witnessed by Elizabeth: “Blessed is
she who believed that what was spoken to her by the
Lord will be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45). This is the same as
allowing “God’s will be done”.
At the birth of Jesus: “...Mary kept all these things in
heart” (Lk 2:19). On finding the boy Jesus in the
temple after “losing” him: “...and his mother kept all
these things in her heart.” (Lk 2: 19). Mary “heard the
word of God”, was open to it, embraced it and lived it.
Clearly we see in Mary’s life her whole attitude and
disposition of hearing the word of God and making this
part of her life. Her whole life was a total self-giving
response to God’s word, living God’s will.
At the foot of the Cross, we see the climax of Mary’s
discipleship; Mary identifies herself more and more
with Jesus’ mission. At Calvary, Jesus gave her to us as
our Mother signalling her role among his disciples.
At Pentecost, Mary and the community of disciples
received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire
to strengthen the newly-found Church.
Mary’s discipleship was not static but grew in
maturity...from
her
obedience
to God’s
word at the
Annunciation becoming connected
with Jesus’ mission, climaxing at the foot of the Cross.
Remain in me...We
believe that now in Heaven Mary
continues to be the mother of the family of her Son. She
continues to be the intercessor to Jesus Christ, the one
Mediator between God and man.
Mary, Our Lady of Piat, was brought from Macau and Manila
to bring the Catholic faith to her children here in the Cagayan
Valley. Her intention is to bring her Son to us.
materiyal na bagay ay siyang mahalaga lamang) and
relativism (ang tama ay ayon sa aking interest).
Let the Cagayano family bring back its long-cherished
tradition of family prayer (“The family that prays
together, stays together.”) and family meal so as to
strengthen the weakening family ties.
Her message to us remains the same as what she told the
servants at the wedding at Cana: “DO WHATEVER MY SON
TELLS YOU.” And this is what true discipleship is all about...
‘hearing the word of God and doing it.”
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They say: : “Like mother, like children.” If we are indeed true
children of Mary, we must live by her example... “hearing
the word of God and doing it.”
Home and Family.
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We read from Lk 2: 51-52: “And Jesus went down with
Mary and Joseph and came to Nazareth, and was
obedient to them...And Jesus increased in wisdom and
in age, and in favor with God and man.”
Like the Holy Family of Nazareth, the Cagayano family
must be a disciple-family, “hearing the word of God
and putting this into action”...living the word of God.
This is the only sure way to strengthen the Cagayano
family as it is threatened by individualism (kanyakanyahan, mapang-sarili), materialism (pera at
Community Life
Mary is the Mother of all disciples. Jesus, our brother,
gave her to us as our Mother; we are her children. In
Heaven, she continues to be a mother to us all.
Our Lady of Piat has for her other title Our Lady of the
Visitation. She is the concerned cousin who visited
Elizabeth who in her old age was heavy with child; she
stayed with her to help for three months.
It is said that before Mary was assumed into Heaven,
she visited all the Eleven who by then were scattered
‘unto the ends of the earth’. Indeed, she is a concerned
mother.
She echoes to us her Son’s commandment of love:
“Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12) Just
as Jesus has a special place in his heart for children and
orphans, widows and prisoners, the poor and the
hungry, the oppressed and those losing hope, so does
Mary. She further echoes to us: “Whatever you do to
the least of my children, you do it unto my Son.”
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Parish and Church Life
Mary is the Mother of the Church. She is the first
evangelizer; at the Visitation, she brought the Good
News, whom she bore in her womb, to Elizabeth, her
cousin. Elizabeth exclaimed: “...when the voice of your
greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb
leaped for joy.” (Lk 1:44)
Mary, too, is the great evangelizer to the Cagayanos.
She was brought here to bring the Good News to us.
Because of this, we, too, leap for joy; we share in
Elizabeth’s joy. And this joy we must continue to share
with all Cagayanos and beyond Cagayan.
But that joy must first be lived before it is shared. This
is the theme of the Philippine Church’s
celebration towards its 500th year of faith:
LIVE CHRIST, SHARE CHRIST*. This tells us that our
witnessing (living the Gospel values taught by Jesus
every day) is the most effective way of bringing Jesus
to others.
* [For reference, please see CBCP Pastoral Letter on
the Era of New Evangelization: LIVE CHRIST, SHARE
CHRIST (Looking Forward to our 500th Year of
Christianity) on cbcponline.net/v2/?p=4013; theme
song
on www.youtube.com/watch?V=7Tbiai_oV64;
see also: CBCP Pastoral Exhortation for the 2014 Year
of the Laity: Filipino Catholic Laity: Called to be
Saints...Sent
Forth
as
Heroes!
on
www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=27171.]
We, Cagayanos, are called to joyfully share in the life
and mission of the Church...like Mary.
Reflection Points...
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Will you be like Mary who is willing to travel long
distance (to make a sacrifice) to help her cousin
Eizabeth? Who are those Elizabeths in your life now?
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Are you willing to leave the comforts you enjoy and serve
your needy neighbours, without expecting any reward?
Follow-up Activities
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Pray the Holy Rosary as a family every day.
Make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Piat
PILGRIM’S PRAYER AT THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF PIAT
Hail, Mother of the Visitation, full of grace, most blessed
among women, we, your children, join all generations that
have called you blessed, for in our behalf, you gave the
Heavenly Father a response of faith, a profession of
undivided love: Let it be done according to your word.
We come to you, wounded by life; our faith has grown cold,
our hope has waned, and our love has faltered. Once you
asked of Your Son a favor and he turned water into wine. Do
so for us now, O Mother, that all that is lifeless and insipid in
us may brim over with the Spirit. When life’s trials should
take us to the summit of Calvary, stand by our crosses, we
pray, as you stood by the Cross of Your Son, and comfort us
with the faith that He gave us to you as our Mother whose
own heart was pierced by a sword.
May we find in this shrine a refuge and a sanctuary from
which we burst forth into the world and to which we return,
with our trophies or with our wounds confident that you will
always pray for us and with us. Amen.