“Maria, Ina ng Kabataan,
Sandigan ng Simbahan
at Reyna ng Sanlibutan”

I extend my warm greetings to the parish-community of Our Lady of Remedies Parish (Malate Catholic Church) as you celebrate the feast of Our Lady.

The theme that you have chosen for the annual fiesta – “Maria, Ina ng Kabataan, Sandigan ng Simbahan at Reyna ng Sanlibutan” – is clearly in line with the Philippine Churchs’ commemoration of the “Year of the Youth.”

Indeed, there is much that our youth can learn from our blessed Mother. At a young age, Mary herself was called to mission – to be the mother of Jesus (cf. Lk. 1:26-38). The task entrusted to her was certainly difficult. And she was able to accept it, with courage and generosity, because of her faith. Her total faith in God’s goodness and power enabled Mary to believe in the wonders that God was preparing for her.

It is my prayer that our youth will also have a deep sense of God’s kindness and mercy, his generosity and love, so they can become bearers of hope, proclaiming just like Mary that the Lord “has done great things… and holy is his name” (Lk. 1:49).

May you have a meaningful and memorable celebration. God bless you all!

With great gratitude and joy we are again celebrating our parish fiesta this November 17. This year’s fiesta is highlighted with a theme, “MARIA, INA NG KABATAAN, SANDIGAN NG SIMBAHAN AT REYNA NG SANLIBUTAN”. The theme invites us once again to contemplate on Mary’s love - a love full of care, a love that is dynamic and courageous that guide us especially the young to carry on our “Yes” to what God asks of us here and now, in every area of our lives.

Pope Francis said, “All people, including the young, are attracted by a variety of “false idols” that seem to promise hope and happiness, things like “money, success, power, pleasure”. In this “Year of the Youth” the parish has been attentive and serious in the effort to respond to the need for an on-going formation and evangelization of our youth both in the parish and archdiocesan levels. The parish ministries and programs have created venues and opportunities for our youth in the parish to engage, to keep learning and be empowered to participate and work actively in building a better world, especially in the call to Care for our Common Home in the light of ‘Laudato Si’.

The Missionary Society of St. Columban in its 90th year, this year, of doing mission in ‘Our Lady of Remedies Parish’ is sincerely grateful to all the volunteers, donors, staff, missionaries and parish community whose service, dedication, support and faith had given and are continually giving life and growth to the parish. This year, we had few of our parish volunteers, who had gone back to the Lord before us and we are saddened by the loss but truly grateful for the gift of their lives and service to the parish. Our deep gratitude, too, to the Archdiocese of Manila for blessing the Columban Missionaries with the opportunity and great support in this parish ministry.

Much thanks to Fr. Kevin McHugh, SSC who has retired in the parish this year and has gone back to Ireland. His dedication and commitment to the parish ministry for over 20 years, particularly his work for a meaningful liturgy continues to inspire. We are also grateful for Fr. Christopher Kaamiño, SSC joining us in the parish sharing his youthful energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. Also thanks for the missionary partnership with Sun Hee Kim, a Columban Lay Missionary.

In the light of our Vision 20/20, an on-going fund raising drive for the restoration work which particularly focuses on the parameter fence, the church ground and other areas, a deep gratitude to the generosity and undying support of the donors to help in preserving the Malate Church in its historical significance.

May Our Lady of Remedies, the Mother of the Youth, Supporter of the church and Queen of all Creation intercede for us that we may be renewed, grow strong and courageous to respond to God’s call to embrace the vocation which God reveals to us and to take courage to live out our faith. HAPPY FIESTA!

With deep gratitude and joy, I wish you all a happy Fiesta! The Feast of our Lady of Remedies always evokes these feelings and it is a season to express them. Being grateful is a wonderful feeling, but its real power, studies say, is released through expression. One poet wrote, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." Gratitude is said to be the best virtue because we choose to celebrate what is! And what we are is a community of God’s people, rejoicing together for our blessings in this milestone year 2019, thru the intercession of Our Lady.

In June, our Parish joined the Missionary Society of St. Columban in celebrating 90 years of Columban presence in our country. How they arrived and settled in Malate Church is in itself an interesting story. We also celebrated the 60th sacerdotal anniversary of Fr. Kevin McHugh, as well as the 50th of Fr. Dominic Nolan, and the 25th of Fr. Enrique Escobar and Fr. Paul Glynn who have in one way or another served here. In July, Fr. Kevin went back to serve in Ireland but he will always be in our hearts and his beautiful contributions to our Liturgical celebrations shall remain with us.

2019 is the Year of the Youth. Fittingly, Greta Thunberg of Sweden, a 15-year-old who started a one-person climate strike, has inspired and mobilized the youth all over the world to stand up for planet Earth, bravely calling on powerful nations on the urgency of the climate crisis. We would like to be jolted into action by this emerging global movement of young people.

With God’s grace, our Parish in 2019 continues to engage the community through its programs and services, heeding the needs of the times, especially the climate emergency in our midst. For everything this year, I express my thanks on behalf of the PPC - to the Malate community, churchgoers and devotees whose presence invigorate the Parish; to volunteers in our Ministries, Areas, and Organizations whose energy and commitment are awesome; and to the parish staff whose support is heartwarming. Special thanks to our co-workers who have gone home to our Creator, they will always be remembered. Finally, to our priests whose humility in service is amazing, we are grateful that under their guidance our Parish is a vibrant community! Best of all, we give thanks to our Lady whose love has always given us strength.

All these make the heart overflow with gratitude and joy, and this Fiesta as significant as ever! May our Lady of Remedies continue to watch over us as we face the challenges of the New Year. Let us rejoice and be glad!

“Maria, Patnubay ng mga Misyonero
Sa Pagpapalaganap ng Mabuting Balita
nang buong Kagalakan”

Happy fiesta to the Parish of Our Lady of Remedies in Malate. The yearly fiesta is a high point in the life of a parish. And rightly so. It unites the parish community to each other through the many activities that are done together. More deeply, however, it enhances the devotion of the people to their patron. The people of Malate Church already have a marked devotion to our Blessed Virgin Mary in her title as Our Lady of Remedies. Mary, as a good mother, is ever ready to help us in our problems and needs. It is for this that she is invoked as Our Lady of Remedies. May this year’s celebration make this devotion ever more vibrant among the people.

We are drawing near to the 500th anniversary of the coming of the faith. Let us invoke Mary to help us deepen our faith as we near the centenary. The Malate church is served by the Columban priests, a missionary congregation. Part of the centenary celebration is to make us Catholics in the Philippines become more of a sending church in the work of the mission. May the example of the Columban pastors and the prayers of the Blessed Virgin make the whole parish more engaged in the missionary work of the Church.

God bless you all and happy fiesta!

Warm greetings to all on this joyful occasion of our parish fiesta celebration of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios! 2018 has been designated by the CBCP as The Year of the Priests and Consecrated Persons. Also this year, the Columban Missionary Society, which has been on Mission in this parish since 1929, is celebrating its centenary after it was established in Ireland on June 29, 1918. The Columban missionaries who are priests, sisters, lay missionaries give thanks to God, to all those who have supported God’s mission through the Columbans, and to everyone who has been partners in this mission. The Columban missionaries, since the beginning, have been sharing life and Gospel joy among whom we live and serve.

This year’s parish fiesta celebration highlights and celebrates Mary as God’s gift to the church and a perfect example of missionary discipleship, with a theme: “Maria, patnubay ng mga misyonero sa pagpalaganap ng Mabuting Balita nang buong kagalakan.” Mary is given to us as the model of what it means to be a Christian, a disciple – receiving a message from God and responding to it generously. Jesus talks of his mother and praises her for being one of those “who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8:21).

With the inspiration of Mary, Our Lady of Remedies, it is our parish commitment and mission to dedicate ourselves to listen to God’s Word and to allow God’s spirit, working within us, to respond to the call for Renewed Integral Evangelization. Amidst the changing circumstances of our world and of our country today, in the words of Pope Francis in his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, “we strive to listen and to heed the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor”.

The world that we live in today is very much characterized by drastic change and transformation. The 5th Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE) last July 2018 pointed out that also, our Church today is in ‘critical situation’ and the challenge is for all to bring about transformation in our society. In our claim to be a Catholic - Christian country, human life and dignity are trampled upon, prevalent unjust structures and practices keep people poor and on the margins of society, and people’s destruction of the planet brought about climate change that is causing an ever increasing number and strength of killer typhoons, floods and droughts – how do we Christians respond?

There is a greater challenge for us now that we live out our holiness by mirroring in our own lives the pattern of Jesus’ life and that we truly participate in the mission of the church. Also in the light of the recent PCNE, Msgr. Manuel Gabriel said, "The Church must be in a “missionary mode” rather than stuck in a 'maintenance mode'. If we are in a maintenance mode, nothing happens as it was, in the beginning, is now forever will be. A missionary mode breaks barriers, breaks new grounds, has new thinking, changes everything".

The ever enthusiastic, competent and truly missionary volunteers of our parish in collaboration with the team of priests and with generous supporters and benefactors have enriched our varied ministries with a depth of commitment, faith and creativity, which bless the parish community with the opportunity to reach out within and beyond the parish. Some of our parish ministries and volunteers were acknowledged and given citations in the vicariate and archdiocesan levels for works well done. In the 5th PCNE, the parish of Our Lady of Remedies was invited to conduct one concurrent session on: Parish: Ecology Ministry Kulturang ‘Laudato Si’ entitled “MALATE CHURCH AND ITS ECOLOGICAL COMMITMENT” with Atty Marge Condes, Parish Pastoral Council Coordinator as resource person. This parish community is truly grateful for such blessings.

The missionary vocation of Mary is the gift of sharing in the life and mission of Jesus. She treasures the entire life of Jesus in her heart and in her life. May the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Remedies, enable us to look at our lives and this world with eyes of wisdom, faith and hope to look forward to our unfolding participation in God’s mission

A warm fiesta greeting to all!

The feast of Our Lady of Remedies is always a time for expressing deep gratitude for the many blessings we have received through her powerful intercession. This year, our joy is increased twofold as the Missionary Society of St. Columban (MSSC) celebrates its 100th foundation. As it is also the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, our fiesta theme aptly highlights Mary as the mother of missionaries in sharing the joy of the Gospel.

Like the Blessed Mother who was sent to a daunting mission of being mother and disciple of her Son, the Columban missionaries, priests and lay, have left the comfort of their homes to go to strange lands where they live, learn, embrace foreign cultures, and spread the Good News.

Thus, on this occasion, it is fitting that we express our gratitude to our dear Columban missionaries. Since 1929, the MSSC has served the Malate community and other parts of the country, even to the extent of giving their life for their flock. They have journeyed with us – showing us the depth of our own Filipino heritage, empowering our community, teaching us by their example to live simply, to be compassionate, to rejoice in a mature faith, – and just by living amidst us, they inspire us to appreciate the value of all life in God’s creation.

We thank God thru our Lady of Remedies for this gift of the Columbans in our Malate Community! Under her tender motherly love, may the bonds between and among our dear Columban Missionaries, parishioners, and volunteers grow ever stronger in time, cultivated by shared aspirations and active faith in the loving Creator. May she continue to inspire us to respond to our common calling as missionaries in our own little ways however diverse the paths.

In fine, we also thank our Lady for the coordinators and members of the Parish Ministries, Areas, and Organizations (MAO), Finance Council, Staff, parishioners, and all the people who have made 2018 another great year for our parish. We look forward to an awe-inspiring Year of the Youth in 2019. May God bless all our work!

Dear Friends/Partners,

Greetings of love and peace from the heart of creation and from the very Heart of Our Loving Creator!

On April 29th, the 100th Day of the Trump administration, thousands will be in the streets of Washington D.C. and all over the US to show their government and the world that they are standing for the wellbeing of our planet. Solidarity events of the same kind will also happen in many parts the world.

In the Philippines, the Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas, together with various groups from different sectors of society will organize a solidarity activity in Manila to raise awareness and to highlight our own issues on climate change and human rights and also the current and possible impacts of the Trump Administration in our country.

Dubbed ‘Beat the Heat, Cool the Planet’, the solidarity activity will aim to gather members from faith based groups/institutions, climate justice organizations, human rights advocates and affected communities.

We invite you then to participate, organize and join the call for solidarity for human rights, climate justice and for the protection of our common home.

Program of Activities:
6:00 - 7:00PM Eucharist	Malate Church
7:00 - 7:15PM Candle Lighting/Vigil	Malate Church
7:15 - 7:40PM Peoples Climate March	around Plaza Rajah Sulayman
7:40 - 9:00PM Program and Cultural Presentation	Plaza Rajah Sulayman

Hoping for your active presence.

For Earth - our Common Home,

Fr. John Leydon
Chairperson, GCCM-Pilipinas

On the occasion of the great feast of Christmas, I wish all the parishioners and guests of the Our Lady of Remedies Parish – Malate Catholic Church, the joys and blessings of Christmas and a grace-filled New Year.

This year has indeed brought much joy, fun and challenges to us in different measures coloring our memories of 2016. Many exciting things came our way as we keep striving to grow as a parish, serving our community, and promoting God’s mission among us and in this world.

To the alarming conditions brought about by climate change and to the life-threatening social and economic challenges facing our country nowadays which continue to cause concern and anxiety for many, the parish has been working together for a collective response through our existing and upcoming parish programs and trusting our “Emmanuel” (God is with us).

Christmas is an opportunity to thank so many Parishioners and supporters who are helping the parish with financial and material resources, and especially our parish volunteers who have been quite active in some form of ministries, organizations or parish activity. They have given tirelessly, generously, and joyfully of their time, talents and services making this parish such an energetic and faith-filled community. This is what gives life and will continue to give life to the parish.

In this ‘Year of the Parish’, we hope to build and strengthen the communion of our communities and to challenge or encourage more people to become more involved. I pray that the grace of Christmas will brighten our lives, renew our faith and enthusiasm and strengthen our bonds of friendship. May we all be blessed with peace and joy at Christmas and in the New Year!

November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King, is the closing of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. It is also the fiesta of your parish, Our Lady of Remedies (Malate Church). I thus warmly greet all of you Happy Fiesta and proclaim: Christus Vincit. Christus Regnat. Christus Imperat. (Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands). With all these events your fiesta acquires multi-dimensional significance. Mary, our Lady of Remedies, is the Mother of Mercy and her Son, Jesus Christ, is God’s gift of mercy to us. Jesus is mercy.

Throughout the Holy Year of Mercy, we reflected on the mercy of God for us. We delved into its meaning and manifestation. We looked into ourselves and asked, “Is God’s mercy in us?” Your fiesta celebration points you to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as the path to all remedies. It is because she knows Mercy first hand; she bore Him in her womb. There is no earthly suffering that she cannot bring to her Son, and which her Son cannot understand. In our celebration of our Holy Year of Mercy, Mary was our fellow pilgrim. She leads us to her Son.

Let this be your enduring lesson from these celebrations: God’s gift of mercy Jesus Christ borne in the womb of Mary, our Lady of Remedies, our Mother of Mercy.

It is my pleasure to send heartfelt greetings to the community of the Our Lady of Remedies Parish in Malate, Manila, as they celebrate their Annual Parish Fiesta.

This is made more significant by the fact that the occasion falls on the closing of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis from December 8th, 2015 to November 20th, 2016.

In Misericordiae vultus, the Bull of Indiction of the Holy Year, Pope Francis tells us: “No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation like Mary. Her entire life was patterned after the presence of mercy made flesh. The Mother of the Crucified and Risen One has entered the sanctuary of divine mercy because she participated intimately in the mystery of His love… Mary attests that the mercy of the Son of God knows no bounds and extends to everyone, without exception. Let us address her in the word of the Salve Regina, a prayer ever ancient and ever new, so that she may never tire of turning her merciful eyes upon us, and make us worthy to contemplate the face of mercy, her Son Jesus (no. 24).”

I cordially greet the Priests, the Pastoral Council and all the parishioners of Malate Catholic Church. I pray that this Fiesta Celebration may also be an occasion to renew together your commitment to be promoters of God’s mercy in a world that is very much in need of it. In the name of His Holiness Pope Francis, I bless you.

I am delighted to extend my heartfelt greetings to all the parishioners and devotees of Our Lady of Remedies as we, once again, are gearing up together for the Fiesta celebration with its highlight on November 20 in this year of the Eucharist and the Family and in the Jubilee of Mercy. Our theme this year is, “Maria at Pamilyang Pilipino, mga Misyonero ng Eukaristiya sa Taon ng Awa”.

Everything about Mary is about Jesus. She is deeply associated with her Son, Jesus, who gave himself as the Living Bread for the life of the world by his sacrifice on the cross. Mary lived out a Eucharistic sacrifice that seeks to give her whole self to God in works of love and service so as to enter into the work of redemption for all of creation. In reference to the reflection on the 51st Eucharistic Congress in Cebu last January, ‘Mary summons us to take it to heart in thanking God who has done great favors to us and to the rest of creation; in offering of oneself in union with Christ’s offering of himself to the Father, in interceding for the needs of all and in nourishing life.’ This is not only a Christian vocation but a human vocation, a family vocation, a Filipino vocation.

May Our Lady of Remedies, a sign of hope, inspire us and accompany us throughout life, opening our hearts to faith and constantly surround us with God’s love.