Traditional Mass Cebu

  Note: This article is not an offense towards Koreans. I even have a holy cards of the Korean Catholic martyrs like Andrew Kim Taegon, the first Korean priest in my altar. It is just like a conservative American Christian criticizing the degeneracy and immorality of American Hollywood stars. By Antonio Jose Rubi, Cebu City, PH During my toddlerhood in the late 2000s and early 2010s, my mom and grandmother trained me up in the Traditional Catholic ways, even if we were still Novus Ordo at the time (Grandmother became a home aloner after the Latin Mass was suppressed in Cebu in 1971). I was exposed to all classical stuff, like Catholic devotions like Santo Nino, classical fairy tales of the past, classical music like Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, and my favorites at the time, Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Snow White (1937). As I started to slowly grow up, I realized the Koreanization of our society was imminent, like Korean tourists here, K-Pop and K-Dramas becoming popular. E...

  The Himno ng Reconquista (Hymn of the Reconquista) also known as  Mosunod kami kanimo, O Pelayo (We will follow you, Pelayo) is a militant poem by Antonio Jose Rubi about the Spanish Reconquista and its heroes, like King Pelayo at Covadonga, the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, the conquest of Granada, Rodrigo Vivar (El Cid) and his wife Dona Jimena, and the Reconquista heroes of the Philippines, Father Agustin de San Pedro, Datu Salangsang, Alejandro and Catalina Santos, Father Jose Ducos, Fray Julian Bermejo and Pedro Kabanlit. The hymn invokes Cebuano national pride, inspired by their ancestors to resist the tyranny of the modern world. It invokes King Pelayo to guide the Cebuano people in the fight for faith and traditional values. Cebuano lyrics: 1.                                                                 ...

  Saint James in Compostela, Northern Cebu Just recently I just found out that my ancestors were King St. Ferdinand III of Castile (he is a patron saint of Liloan, Cebu) and Emperor Alexios I Comnenos through my maternal Spanish ancestry. I know that I am related to Charlemagne and Lapu-Lapu through my ancestry coming from Spain and Mactan as well as that of Carlist during the Third Carlist War. According to research, the European monarchs have many descendants including many non royals because they entered the local nobility and then to the low class. I remember when my dad would stop at Compostela to fix a property dispute, he would always stop me and my mom at the parish church of Compostela, dedicated to Saint James. The church was dedicated in 1863 around the same time as the American Civil War was going on.  Eventually, I fell in love with the shrine, especially the shrine was dedicated to the Christianizer of Spain, St. James, and he can also be the mystical Christianiz...

  Catalina ang bulahan (Catalina the Blessed) is a poem about the heroine Catalina Santos (1655 - 1727) regarding her heroic deeds of defending 17th century Cebu from Moro raids. It invokes her fight against the Moro Ali Pagtuga in 1670, and as well as invoking her against the modernist West controlling the Philippines. It compares her with heroes like Datu Daya of Bantayan, a pre-colonial Datu of Cebu who fought against Moro pirates in the medieval era, as well as Dona Jimena, the wife of the knight El Cid, and Queen Isabella I the Catholic. This poem was composed by Antonio Rubi for the feast of St. James Cebuano lyrics: Opening verse: O Santiago, O Santiago, 1.       Catalina ang bulahan, Bulahang Sugbuanon, Siya nga nakig-away kang Ali Pagtuga, Bulahan ka nga nakig-away batok sa magalong Moro. Kung wala ka, ang yuta sa Sugbo dili mahimong gawasnon Refrain: Ikaw, O alagad sa Dios, sama kang Dona Jimena ug Dona Isabella. Gipalaya nimo ang among yuta g...

  The fortress of Fray Bermejo in Bolhoon used to fight off the Moros By Antonio Rubi Written for the feast of Saint James the Great Everyone, especially traditionalists know the Crusades, about knights in shining armor fighting the Mohammedans in the Holy Land. From Pope Urban II, Godfrey of Bouillon, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and King St. Louis IX. For every parent especially in the United States or in the West, this article is for you. But what is less known is that there were also crusades in my country, the Philippines during the Spanish era, notably as an offshoot of the Spanish Reconquista which ended in 1492.  The Philippines was conquered by Conquistador Legazpi in 1565, and conquered Manila in 1571, where the Spanish fought the Mohammedan Rajah Suleiman. There is also the 1578 Brunei war between the Spanish and the Sultanate of Brunei also known as the Castilian War. One of the crusaders I admire is Father Agustin de San Pedro (1599 - 1653/1660) who was a Portu...

                                     At last, the first color portrait of Dona Catalina Santos (1655 - 1727) has been made. It was done by the daughter of my mom's friend. Dona Catalina stands as a forgotten, but unbowed heroine, who fought for Cebu, the Philippines, Spain and the Catholic Church. She may have fought Moro pirates in the past, but now fights alongside her husband Alejandro (1643 - 1701) and Fray Julian Bermejo (1777 - 1851) against the modernist and corrupt West which removed Christ and devotes itself to secularism. While the Disney Princesses have a hundred thousand fans here in my country, Catalina's fans are only a small remnant who are ready to defend the faith. Catalina's few fans remind me of the Catholic Church reduced to a remnant while the Novus Ordo is praised everywhere. Catalina was born in Mandawi (now Mandaue) on November 25, 1655 and was named in honor of Catheri...