Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 28 August 2026 Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 24:42-51
Photo by author, view from Antipolo City of the Ortigas Center, August 2022.
Lord Jesus Christ, help me to be wise like St. Augustine whose feast we celebrate today: like him through your grace O Lord, help me overcome my worldly desires by lovingly embracing your Cross; keep my heart aflame and restless with your love, Jesus, lit with your truth and wisdom ready to welcome you when you return any moment.
Jesus said to his disciples: Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come (Matthew 24:42).
Photo by author, view from Antipolo City of the Ortigas Center, August 2022.
Make me wise enough, Jesus to be foolish in following you, in embracing your Cross; keep me sensible like the wise virgins lit with your love and presence in my heart sustained with that deep, personal relationship rooted in prayer like an oil keeping the fire burning in every lamp; at the same time, make me a fool like St. Paul, a fool for you, O Christ, believing and relying in the power of your Cross. Amen.
Photo by author, view from Antipolo City of the Ortigas Center, August 2022.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 27 August 2026 Memorial of St. Monica, Married Woman 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 24:42-51
Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones” by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.
Today we pray Lord Jesus for all mothers - especially those alone and widowed, the elderly and sick mothers, those with disabilities, young mothers, single mothers, those mothers silently crying in pain due to unfaithful, irresponsible husband or wayward children: for all mothers praying hard for their husband and children like St. Monica...
How lovely are the words of St. Paul today to the Corinthians, so appropriate on this Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine:
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:4-7).
Photo by author, Anvaya Resort, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Thank you, too, Lord Jesus, for the gift of our mothers, in bestowing upon them every spiritual blessing as well as physical strength, strong will, and fighting spirit who have guided us with their enlightenment, hard work and perseverance; for their immense love and sacrifices beginning in our life journey in their womb up to our adulthood; they have always been there with us, believing in us, hoping we get better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually like St. Monica in her love for St. Augustine and his father.
Bless all mothers today, Jesus: like St. Monica console them in experiencing the transformation of their children; we pray also for all departed mothers; reward them with your gift of eternal peace. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 August 2026
Photo from Facebook post by Dr. Tony Leachon, “KLEPTOPIROSIS: When Corruption Becomes a Public Health Crisis”, 08 Agosto 2025.
We go back to the year 1986 for our Sunday music we find so related with our gospel as well as situation in the country where we are literally inundated in government corruption and evil that have caused this massive flooding in various parts of the country.
Every year at this time when the rainy season comes, floods come in many parts of the country especially the city. It used to be normal but for the past decade, it has been getting worse every year. And suspicious until last year when it was uncovered at how officials from the Public Highways connived with lawmakers stealing billions of pesos – not to mention the life and future of countless citizens – through their mostly non-existent but paid flood control projects. (Sadly, it is until under investigation and no big fish had truly been jailed for their crimes.).
Back to our Sunday music – The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range from their debut album of the same title released in July 1986….
It’s melody mainly in piano is one of those unforgettable soft rock tune wafting on breeze with lyrics so bitterly cold of the sad realities in life. It is actually a gospel in the truest sense because its lyrics are both challenging and disturbing set in a relaxing mood and melody like the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Its title could actually mislead anyone into thinking it as a feel-good music with its sophisticated piano introduction and accompaniment without paying attention to its lyrics and message.
It is not. Hornsby actually dares us even today to leave the comforts of our rooms to get truly examine how things are going on around us as if that’s just the way it is… It isn’t at all. Like poverty and unemployment as mentioned in the first stanza.
Standing in line, marking time Waiting for the welfare dime 'Cause they can't buy a job A man in a silk suit hurries by As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes Just for fun he says, "Get a job"
That's just the way it is Some things'll never change That's just the way it is Ah, but don't you believe them
Most of all, an end to all forms of discrimination due to color and beliefs found in the fifth stanza.
Well, they passed a law in '64 To give those who ain't got a little more But it only goes so far 'Cause the law don't change another's mind When all it sees at the hiring time Is the line on the color bar, no, no
The Way It Is is so very much like today’s gospel set in Caesarea Philippi where Jesus surveyed his disciples on what people were saying about him before directly asking them, “But who do you say that I am?”(Mt.16:15). Our personal answer to that question of Jesus leads us to our identity as beloved children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ who must be respecting each one other.
And the more we get to know Jesus, the more we also get to know who we are… This may sound simplistic: all these problems we have about school violence, degradation of our moral values as a nation that perpetuate in office corrupt and inept officials while destroying our environment with our disregard for proper disposal of waste and garbage, may be due to our disregard for who is Jesus to us.
The question who connects us with God and everyone. And with our very self. How sad that in this age of too much digitization, we have been so focused on techniques of doing like what and how, forgetting being, the focus of who. (https://lordmychef.com/2026/08/22/the-definitive-question-of-all/)
See the gospel’s relation with Hornsby’s incisive genius and values in the third and fourth stanzas where he challenges the situation we have been so accustomed to, “the way it is” as if challenging us to find Christ on the face of everyone we meet.
Said, "Hey little boy, you can't go where the others go 'Cause you don't look like they do" I said, "Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way? Did you really think about it before you made the rules?"
He said, "Son Well, that's just the way it is Some things'll never change That's just the way it is" Ah, but don't you believe them Mm, yeah
Many times in life, the simplest things are the most profound in meaning like the parables and this time the question of Jesus. And don’t forget, like modern music too that truly reflects the way it is in the world we are called to change into something more humane.
Here is Bruce Hornsby and the Range with their 1986 classic. Enjoy. And ponder too.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 24 July 2026 Jeremiah 3:14-17 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 13:18-23
Photo by author, Balibago Tree flower, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Help us return to you, Lord, your rebellious children; let us take this opportunity of grace to be forgiven to start anew and to walk no longer in hardhearted wickedness (cf. Jeremiah 3:14, 17).
It is our heart that is always the problem, not your word like the seeds you scatter daily into our hearts, Jesus; many times, our heart are a mix of all kinds of soil - the path, the rocky ground, that among the thorns, and the rich soil; many times we are the problem when we are hardhearted; Lord Jesus, continue to be patient with us, watering us cultivating us so that eventually your words may grow and bear fruit in us.
In this age of instants when even plants are instantly made to bloom and bear fruits, may we never forget that being fruitful is what you desire most than being productive; like any good soil, a seed can only grow into a fruitful plant, whether a crop or a tree when there is openness to the cultivator; three things I ask you, dear Lord as your soil: patiently cultivate me to open my heart in welcoming you into my life; soften me as your soil, Lord, that I may always be open and welcoming to everyone you sent to change the world, and secondly, let me grow deeply and surely in you Jesus so that I may be fruitful not just successful; being fruitful is the more of what we have become while successful is more of what we have done and achieved. Amen.
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2026 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene”, painting in 1835 by Russian painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov now hanging at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; from en.wikipedia.org.
"I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18)
What a joy must have been for St. Mary Magdalene to proclaim to the Apostles your rising, your appearance to her, Lord Jesus.
Most joyous of all, Lord is how you have called her by name, "Mary!"
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:1, 11-14).
Many times Lord Jesus I feel like St. Mary Magdalene on that very early morning of Easter: feeling lost or distant from you who seem to be missing or taken away from me; but so often, like St. Mary Magdalene, we fail to recognize you with our eyes because we picture you so differently to who you really are.
Many times our sight fails that is why most often, you call us by name; unfortunately in this age of social media and so many other distractions in life, we fail to hear nor even listen to your voice because we are afraid of silence as we are so afraid of the truth - that you love us so much that is why you have forgiven our sins.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:16-18).
“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.
Everyday you come to us, Jesus, calling us by name like Mary Magdalene - someone you personally know, with all of our sins and most kept secrets in our hearts, in our past.
If we could just be patient like St. Mary Magdalene in picking the pieces of our lives, of converting daily, of transcending the scars of sins of our past, then we shall hear and joyously listen to your voice spoken in a whisper, so sweet, so reassuring of your real presence, most of all filled with tenderness because you love us immensely, Jesus.
If we could just listen to your voice, Jesus, then like St. Mary Magdalene, we can proclaim too with joyful enthusiasm to other disciples "I have seen the Lord!" spreading you love and good news of salvation. Amen.
From Facebook, April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord!”
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 July 2026 Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:46-50
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2023.
"Shepherd us your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, that dwells apart in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old" (Micah 7:14).
Bring us back into your fold, merciful God and Father, for you delight in exercising forgiveness and mercy; we have gone too far from you as we have refused to love, regarding each one as different instead of as kins; we have been more concerned with physical presence without giving much attention to the deeper ties of our relationships in Jesus your Son; like Mary his Mother, let us listen to his words and obey them always, give them fulfillment in our lives of witnessing. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 July 2026 Hosea 14:2-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 10:16-23
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
Another week is closing, let me not collapse in sin, O Lord.
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt (Hosea 14:2).
Forgive me, Lord, for the times I have been like Israel, your beloved Ephraim yet so far from you, trusting myself, trusting other gods and idols, so drowned in sin.
"Have mercy on me, O God. in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my sin. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me" (Psalm 51:3-4).
Keep me strongly anchored in you, Jesus as you send me like sheep in the midst of wolves doing your work, speaking and fighting for what is true and just and good; in times of persecution, let me not collapse when handed over, come and speedily rescue me. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 04 May 2026 Acts 14:5-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 14:21-26
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 25 February 2026.
We begin today our novena to our Lady of Fatima whose feast falls on May 13, 109 years since the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to the three children at Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal. Two of the three visionaries are now saints, the siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto while their cousin, the Venerable Sr. Lucia dos Santos who died in 2005 at the age of 97 is on the way to sainthood too.
The Fatima is one of the most significant Marian apparitions in modern time that continues to affect the world and our country particularly with its ever-relevant messages of prayer and conversion of the people.
Photo from Pinterest.com.
And yet, until now, many are still skeptical of the Fatima apparitions especially the miraculous “dancing sun” of October 13, 1917 despite the great number of witnesses who attested to its veracity. Most of all, for many of us Catholics, it seems the Blessed Mother’s call for conversion in her Son Jesus Christ remains unheeded. Or even disregarded.
Because, as the former Catholic Anais Nin wrote in one of her journals, “we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
This we see not only so true with the Fatima apparitions but even since the time of our Lord Jesus Christ when his very own people rejected him, even crucified him.
We wonder like the Apostle St. Jude why did Jesus not appear to His enemies and to more people after Easter at that time so that they would finally believe that He is the Christ?
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:22-23).
Artwork from thecripplegate.com.
Of the many healings performed by Jesus, the most amazing ones are those concerning the blind like Bartimaeus at the roadside and the man born blind He had healed on a sabbath on the way to Jerusalem.
Blindness in the bible especially in the healings of Jesus are not just physical in nature but more of spiritual in meaning. The American writer Helen Keller who was herself blind wrote, “The worst thing that could happen to anyone with sight is not to have a vision.”
True. Having vision is being able to look beyond not only into the future but most of all to see deeper realities that only the heart can see.
That is why Jesus did not have to appear to His enemies after Easter or even to more people then and today: His coming and appearing mean nothing unless we have His eyes of faith, His very love for us and for others especially the weak, the old, those not like us at all.
The more we love God, the more we see Him in ourselves and in others. When we love, when we care, when we share, when we truly pray, that is when the Father and Jesus dwell in us, enabling us to see Christ in others. Without that faith and love in Jesus and of Jesus, we will never see Him even if He suddenly appears today before us!
Truly, “we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
If we are empty of Christ, we will never see Him who is “the way and the truth and the life” (Jn.14:6). And that is when we remain in darkness of sin and evil and ignorance. Even stupidity.
Just like now. How unfortunate that in spite our living in an age of images, of everything seen and shown and revealed, the more we still doubt the truth and worst, choose to believe and hold on what is false, what is fake!
Despite the glaring clarity of evils of corruption, lies, and so many other sins, some of us simply justify or have alibis and excuses when things do not match up with truth and reality. It is not that many cannot see the truth these days; what is most tragic is how so many refuse and choose not to see the truth and realities because they are self-centered, believing only in themselves, see themselves as the ideal and standard of everything. Or their gods.
Like the people at Lystra we heard in the first reading. After Paul had healed a crippled man, the people offered him and Barnabas with sacrifices, thinking they were Zeus and Hermes who have gone down to their city. Despite their tearing of their garments to show they were humans and their words proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, the people were not restrained from worshipping them (Acts 14:14-18).
National Pilgrim Image of Fatima, National Shrine of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 25 February 2025.
As we begin our Novena to our Lady of Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary invites us not only to open our eyes but most especially our hearts to Jesus, to finally feel Him in us, calling us to conversion so that He may reign in us, that we may be more loving, more kind, more just especially in this time of crisis.
Like the three children of Fatima, St. Francisco, St. Jacinta, and Venerable Sr. Lucia.
Or that Roman centurion at the foot of Christ’s Cross who declared after His death, “Truly, this was the Son of God” (Mt.27:54).
The Blessed Virgin of Fatima had seen 109 years ago the future – its errors and evils but she had also seen the grace and blessings unfolding upon us in Jesus Christ.
From the Annunciation until her Assumption, Mary had always lived in the love of her Son Jesus, seeing us always in the love of Christ. That is why she had returned in Fatima in 1917 because she loves us so much as our Mother.
Let us imitate her humility and fidelity in Christ her Son, living in His love so that we too may find Jesus ever present among us despite the many darkness looming around us. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Second Week in Lent, 03 March 2026 Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 + + + Matthew 23:1-12
Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.
Praise and glory to you, O Lord, God our Father! You are most gracious and kind despite our sins you still call us to come to you.
Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool (Isaiah 1:18).
You are indeed a loving God, dear Father, inviting us your sinful children to "come now", inviting us to a conversation, always believing change is possible even if most often we are not willing to come to you; give us the humility and firm resolve to accept finally your invitation to come and set things right so that we may become a people of justice; let us come to you, Lord to be reconciled, to wash myself clean, to start anew in you again.
O dear Jesus, you have been inviting me for so long to come to you, to return to you but I still refuse to believe, refusing to accept and welcome you because I feel I am doomed and hopeless; open my heart to you, Jesus, make me "willing and obedient" to set things right. Amen.
Photo by Ms. Kei Abad, Kawaguchiko Lake (Fujisan), 23 November 2025.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 February 2026
Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. For four days and four nights, from February 22-25, 1986, what was supposed to be impossible became a reality – a miracle for many of us when we finally deposed Marcos after 20 years of dictatorship through a peaceful, bloodless coup and transition of power into democracy.
Four decades since then, EDSA 1986 continues to reveal so many valuable lessons that perhaps many of us have forgotten, even disregarded as we were overtaken by its euphoria that eventually waned these last ten years especially in the 2016 election of the most decadent president of the republic only to be capped by the 2022 elections that brought back into Malacanang the deposed dictator’s son and namesake.
One key lesson many of us have forgotten and still disregard these days is the very nature of EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986: it was spiritual in nature, it was God intervening in our history in modern time. Since then, the late Cardinal Sin who was truly a prophet among us in those dark years of the dictatorship has been insisting on this truth: it was the work of God. And it shall continue to be the work of God who continues to call us to join in this journey of EDSA ’86. That is why I find its 40th anniversary slogan so perfect, “Tayo ang EDSA” – we the people of God He calls to be transformed first.
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 25 February 2026.
I must confess that it is only now on its 40th year that I realized deeply the spiritual nature of EDSA ’86. February 25 always happens within the season of Lent, the 40 day journey in preparation for Easter.
More than that journey in time of 40 days, Lent is actually an internal journey within ourselves, into our hearts to be purified from its sins and evil inclinations to be one with God again. Today’s psalm said it so well, “A clean heart create for me, O God, and steadfast spirit renew within me” (Ps. 51:12).
The number “40” in the Bible is very significant, a perfect number closely linked with God and his works like the great flood of Noah that washed and cleansed earth for 40 days and 40 nights; the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years before entering the Promised Land; and every prophet fasting and praying for 40 days in the wilderness including our Lord Jesus Christ as we have heard in last Sunday’s gospel.
And that is EDSA@40 – an invitation to return to its very roots, God in Jesus Christ who delivered us led by his own Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
EDSA’86 is our daily Lenten journey of purification and cleansing as individuals and as a nation before we can enter into our “Promised Land” of a prosperous Philippines where justice and the rule of law prevail, where people have more equal opportunities in various aspects of life without the need to work abroad as servants while leaving their loved ones behind. Of course, heaven is the ultimate Promised Land but it is what the Vatican II had always hoped that we could help build a more just and humane society, especially in our country that is overwhelmingly Christian and Catholic in this world.
We ushered in the season of Lent last February 18 with Ash Wednesday and this early in our lenten journey just before our EDSA celebration is God reminding us of his loving presence among us, of his gift in EDSA: the pre-trial confirmation of charges against Duterte’s crimes against humanity started two days ago, exactly within the crucial dates of EDSA People Power. Another dictator, another time. Same benevolence of God to us his people.
Yes, a Marcos had gone back as President and even if I did not vote for him, we are impressed with his character and statesmanship especially with his recent trip to Naga City to meet with his presidential opponent, Mayor Leni Robredo. See how at the many occasions BBM never went down to the level of his detractors even by his sister, in the ways he had handled the many crises that have come his way. He was the one who dared to shake hard the legislative and executive branches about the rampant and shameless flood control scam.
These may be too small to recognize in the face of our gargantuan problems as a nation but these are nuggets of gold worth recognizing, reminding us of God working among us, in people we doubt and even take for granted.
Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, detail of the left panel of the new stained glass of the National Shrine of Fatima in Valenzuela City depicting the role of the National Pilgrim Image of Fatima in the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986.
EDSA ’86 is still ongoing, unfolding. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness of political and national ups and downs have clearly been signs from God to remember Him, to return to Him but we have ignored.
I dare say that EDSA waned because we have forgotten God. And every time we forget God, it follows that we also forget others. That is why Duterte rose to power with his supporters relishing his jokes and speeches that smack human dignity especially of women. Even God he had cursed and the Pope, the Vicar of Christ. And the tragedy was how his supporters rejoiced in his insults and harsh words against God and people.
Sad to say too, many of us in the Church were intoxicated with the euphoria of EDSA ’86. Many priests and bishops have since then been identified closely even as enablers of the rich and powerful people of the country primarily the politicians who mostly exploited our people. How we sorely missed Cardinal Sin these last ten years who never turned his back from every attack in the dignity and value of human life and of the family.
EDSA@40 is a call to return to the journey in the wilderness, a call to sacrifice anew, to pray and get closer to God who is the true Spirit of EDSA. And here lies also the most beautiful aspect of EDSA ’86: the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary as our guide and companion in the wilderness.
Unlike the Israelites who were led by the Ark of the Covenant that contained the two tablets of stones where God inscribed the Ten Commandments, in EDSA 1986 we have the “new Ark of the Covenant” as we pray in the Litany of the Rosary – Mary the Blessed Virgin.
Mary is the “Ark of the Covenant” because she carried in her womb our Savior Jesus Christ. More than the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant because she brought forth into the world the Son of God Jesus Christ.
That was exactly what Mary did at EDSA’86 and continues up to now!
Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, 25 February 2025.
Consider again the work of the hand of God in our history, in EDSA 1986: In 1967, St. Pope Paul VI blessed 50 statues of Our lady of Fatima for distribution around the world. For strange reasons, the one destined for the Philippines ended up in a parish in New Jersey that was kept in one of its rooms until 1984 when it was finally given to Cardinal Sin who brought it into the country to be crowned as the National Pilgrim Image of Fatima (NPI) during the launching of the National Marian Year on December 8, 1984. From then on, the image was brought to various cities in the country for the Marian Year and eventually for the spread of devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.
When Cardinal Sin called on the people to fill EDSA in the evening of February 22, 1986 to protect Enrile and Ramos from the loyalist forces of Marcos out to neutralize them, the very same image was brought to Camp Crame and the rest was history.
What a beautiful image of the Filipino people so loved by God led by the Mother of His Son, the new Ark of the Covenant in those four days of People Power Revolution. Tanks and guns were silenced, soldiers’ hearts melted in love and compassion for the people armed only with flowers and Rosary beads.
A lot of things have happened these past 40 years since EDSA People Power Revolution. For those feeling low, disheartened, disillusioned… come to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima and experience up close and personal the very image we have in EDSA ’86 who led us to victory. She is always here, always in our hearts, leading us closer to Jesus Christ her Son and our Lord especially when this journey in the wilderness of our nation’s history becomes so tiring and exhausting.
More miracles can still happen when we believe and live the Spirit of EDSA ’86 who is God himself in Jesus Christ. With His Mother and our Mother too! Viva La Virgen de Fatima! Long live EDSA People Power Revolution!
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