Prayer for the cause of Fray Julian Bermejo
This son of
Saint Augustine was born in 1777 in the town of Pardillo in Ciudad Real, Spain.
In July
1793, in the midst of the anti-Catholic French Revolution, he made his vows as
an Augustinian friar. In December 1795, he set sail for the Philippines, where
in the San Agustin Monastery in Manila, studied to become a priest. He then
later went to the Convent of the Santo Nino, (now the Basilica) where he
learned Visayan languages. He was later ordained a Catholic priest in the early
1800s by Bishop Ignacio de Salamanca. On October 9, 1802, Padre Bermejo was
assigned to the Southern town of Bolhoon, which 20 years earlier was destroyed
in a raid of Mohammedan Moros from Mindanao. There, he served the Cebuano
people with the Traditional Latin Mass, and taught the locals to fight Moro
pirates, funded by arrogant anti-Catholic powers like Great Britain and
Netherlands who were demanding for tea. In 1808, he constructed a fortress near
the church which still stands to this day, to help the people fight off the Moros.
On Nov. 15, 1813, Fray Bermejo alongside Pedro Kabanlit and Feliciano Mendez
defeated the Moro Goranding at the naval battle of Sumilon. After Sumilon,
piracy attacks continued, but they never attempted to invade again. In the
1820s to 1830s, Fray Bermejo served as the Prior of the Santo Nino convent and
for a few years as the head of the Augustinians in the Philippines. In 1839, he
returned back to Bolhoon, where he served until 1848. After Governor General
Narciso Claveria defeated the Moros that same year, he visited Fray Bermejo at
the newly constructed Immaculada Concepcion Church of Oslob. On April 30, 1851,
Fray Bermejo died at 74 years old at the Santo Nino convent.
Prayer for the cause:
Almighty and
merciful God, we thank Your infinite goodness for all the favors
You have
granted to the humble Friar Julian Bermejo, and we beseech
You that
through his intercession You grant us the graces… that we ask of
You, if it
pleases You, grant to this faithful servant the honor of the altars, for
Your Glory
and for the good of Christendom. And you, great servant of God,
kind Friar Julian
Bermejo, near the throne of God, pray for us so that we
may grow in
divine love, in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in hatred of
sin, and in
true Christian charity. Protect us from dangers of body and soul
so that one
day, with you in Heaven, we may praise the Father, the Son,
and the Holy
Spirit for all eternity. Amen. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
To my dear readers, you may include this in your prayer intentions and you may include these intentions for your Latin Mass priests.
- Sincerely, Ryan
