#based off my own father's filipino catholic experiences. and my own religious experiences in general. bc my mom's protestant but still didnt

[thedevotionaltour]

marvel should hire me to write bc i'd pull the funniest thing on earth where i am wiping his catholic slate CLEAN and i would explcitily have him go ehhhh i've never really been religious me and my dad went some easters and christmases and attended a few services outside of that but that stopped by the time i was around 10 and my dad just kinda gave up on it because he didn't particularly want to go by that point either. and even then we hadn't gone every year for easter and christmas in that time frame. and then we never bring that shit up again in the story. he is only catholic in the sense he went a few times and it's the only church experience he knew and his dad probably grew up going to church more in his youth being dragged in by his family but he never felt particularly compelled to go back to it once he moved out on his own. catholic only in the fact that his family was irish catholic but his dad is a lapsed catholic who did not give a fuuuuuck

[milenaryo-blog]

LA COLECCION (A Collection) | Maria Margarita Marquez

A collage compilation on the life of Rizal during his exile until his death.

With the declaration of Rizal's exile, he as quickly sent to Dapitan via steamer. Also on it was a letter from Father Pablo Pastells, Superior of the Jesuit Society in the Philippines, addressed to Father Antonio Obach, the Jesuit parish priest of Dapitan. The former told the latter that Rizal could live at the parish convent if he publicly retracts his "religious errors" and confess everything. While the two priests were kind to him, they couldn't do much as Rizal stood his ground and proceeded to Dapitan where he lived with Captain Carnicero, a kind commandant of the area. The kindess of the Captain towards Rizal was so significant that Rizal even wrote a poem for him entitled "A Don Ricardo Carnicero" on his birthday.

It is with this moment that we see that Rizal does go out of his way to recognize the kindness in people regardless of stature or race-- an ideal he wished the Spaniards would consider spreading.

On the 21st of September 1892, a boat arrived carrying a winning lottery ticket. This ticket, numbered 9736, belonged to three lucky men. As a matter of fact, one of the men was Jose Rizal himself! Using his winnings, Rizal split it and used a part to invest in the local agriculture. The rest was sent to his family and friend.

In the midst of a serious exile, Rizal shows his lightheartedness by gambling a little. While it is known that he is quite frugal, Rizal spends no second guesses when it comes to a lottery ticket!

All the while tending to his life in Dapitan, Rizal continued his correspondences to Father Pastells. While the talks weren't as fruitful as the friars wanted it to be, both enjoyed their exchanges and made it a point to always be academic in their bouts.

The two often labored about judgement and individualism in the eyes of God and his chosen people, the holy men, or friars in this case. While the debates get heated very quickly, the two remain friends as they often send each other pieces of literature and art to admire. One such case was Father Pastells sending Rizal a copy of "The Imitation of Christ" while the latter sent a handmade bust of St. Paul.

After four exchanges, Rizal decided that he isn't planning on giving in and accepts his Catholic faith although, he describes his kind of Catholicism as "the kind that inquires and enlightens..."

It is known that Rizal once studied medicine, to be specific, he studied Opthalmology. This choice of career was actually because of his dearly beloved mother, who also had fleeting eyesight due to past conditions.

While in exile, Rizal continued his medical practice and even opened up a small clinic in the town so that he may treat the locals. Rizal's skill in medicine spread far and wide; to the point that foreigners even visit him on occassion and ask him to treat them. Despite all of the treatments he performed in Dapitan, there was one that Rizal remembered for sure: this was the surgery he did on his own mother.

After the successful surgery, the stubborn Teodora Alonzo, Rizal's mother, tore off the bandage that was applied to her eye against Rizal's warnings. This led to an infection that Rizal had to deal with once more. This experience led him to remark that now he "remembers why a physician does not treat the members of his family".

Other than open a clinic, Rizal did many notable things and took it to himself to rehabilitate the town based on his needs. While most would see this as pure kindness, Rizal also believed that what he was doing was the best application of his ideals for the future of the Philippines.

Some of Rizal's pet projects include building a water supply, cleaning the areas of mosquitoes, investing in farmlands, purchasing street lamps for the town, and finally, he did some landscaping for the town plaza. Surprisingly enough, his relief map of Mindanao can be visited to this day!

Another notable project of Rizal was undoubtedly influenced by his love of education. He built a small school where he taught pupils Spanish and English. In order to somewhat motivate the students, he used a ranking system he experienced while in Ateneo Municipal. The best of the class would sit at the head while the opposite would occupy the end of the bench.

As aforementioned, Rizal's work in the town was actually him applying his ideals towards the Filipino people. These ideals are actually embedded in the tenets of La Liga Filipina:

4) Encouragement of instruction, agriculture, and commerce; 5) Study and application of reforms.

Rizal was known for many things, one of which is that he was quite a sweetheart and popular among the ladies. Of all of the ladies he had come across, there was one he couldn't stop thinking about: the young and beautiful Josephine Bracken.

Rizal met the young girl when she was brought over by her adopted father who also happened to be a foreign patient of the young doctor. The two fell in love at first sight and thought about marriage soon after. Unfortunately, Josephine's foster father disapproved and was distraught to the point that he attempted suicide. Rizal ended up stopping the suicied and later saved the life of the man. Soon enough, Josephine and her father had to leave.

After some time, Josephine visited Rizal once again and the two married themselves before God, due to the unavailability of the priest.

Sooner or later, an uprising was to come about in the Philippines. Eager to seek that famous writer, a man from the Katipunan went to Dapitan to ask Rizal to head the Revolution. While Rizal invited him over and listened to the mean speak, he believed that the plan to overthrow the Spaniards was a bit too premature on part of the Philippines. He listed down the faults of their planning:

1) There was no unity between the rich and the poor therefore; 2) There will be no steady supply of weapons, food and other items needed during a war.

Furthermore, it wasn't even sure that their strategy would work due to the lack of military knowledge hence, Rizal recommended the young general, Antonio Luna if war was inevitable.

Another note to take in was that Rizal, being the noble one, remarked to the Katipunan man that he did not need to be saved and is fully accepting of his exile as he gave his word to the Spanish authorities. He further pointed out that he wasn't the kind of person to dismiss his official word.

Prior to being contacted by the Katipunan, Rizal had begun his preparations to volunteer as a Medic during the Cuban Revolution. While he didn't expect the government to allow him, they surprisingly did and Rizal was filled with joy.

Soon enough, Rizal boarded a boat and was headed to Cuba.

Unfortunately, his glee-filled trip was cut short as he was arrested and brought to Montjuich Prison in Barcelona. This was followed by bringing him to Fort Santiago, where those who knew him were constantly tortured to reveal and confess against Rizal.

Rizal was soon officially charged with being "Anti-Spain" and committed illegalities via publishing banned periodicals and creating an organization.

Right after the Christmas season, a lonely Rizal was tried and found guilty. It was official that he was going to be sentenced to death via firing squad.

During his last days in the cell, he wrote a memoir and secretly hid it in a lamp that his sister later collected. This memoir came out to be "Mi Ultimo Adios" or My Last Farewell.

Soon, it was time and Rizal walked to the grounds of which he was going to be executed in. With his back turned away and his face towards the sky, gunshots fired and it was done.

Before his death, Rizal had written that he wished "to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and our convictions".

Soon, the revolution was launched and won. The Philippines gained her independence.

And Rizal is remembered as the country's greatest hero.