On October 21, 2012, Pedro Calungsod will be officially canonized and will be the 2nd Filipino saint of the Philippines.
But Who is Pedro Calungsod?
Not much is known about Pedro Calungsod. Even though he was presently known as Pedro Calungsod, Pedro Calonsor is another name attributed to him. He was born approximately at 1655 and died on April 2, 1672 at the age of 17.
His place of birth is also in question. Official records only accounts that he is a 17 - 18 aged boy from the Visayas without mentioning the exact location of his birth. Records do point out some locations which might be his hometown. Those places are, Ginatilan, Cebu, Hinunangan and Hinundayan in Southern Leyte, Molo, Iloilo and Loboc, Bohol.
What he looks like is also unknown and the paintings you see of Pedro Calungsod is the drawings of Eduardo Castrillo and his interpretation how a general Visayan might look like. For this painting, he asked Ronald Tubid of Iloilo to be his model for his painting.
Why he is blessed or beatified
Calungsod at the age of 14 was chosen to accompany the Jesuit Missionaries in Guam. In their time in Guam, There was a man who spreads rumors that their baptism water was poisonous and the cause of infant's death during that time. The identity of that man was unknown and rumors of him being a witch doctor or even a Japanese trader has floated around in ages. Because of that rumor, A native leader was furious when he found out that his daughter was about to be baptized by Calungsod and San Vitores which is the priest Calungsod accompanied. Accounts say that the Native leader hurled spears at Calungsod and was hit with one of those spears because he didn't want to leave San Vitores. The Native leader then finished the job by a blow to the head with a Machete. San Vitores at that moment gave last rites to Calungsod and he then was also killed by that Native leader.
The corpse of Calungsod and Vitores was tied with a stone and thrown in the sea.
Because of this martyrdom, he was beatified in 2000 by Pope John Paul II.
Canonization or Sainthood of Calungsod
For a person to be canonized, their should be miracle that has happened on their behalf. With Calungsod, that happened when a Woman in Leyte was pronounced dead after a heart attack but was suddenly revived when the doctor prayed to Calungsod.
Because of this miracle, he will be canonized on October 21, 2012. Live telecast will be shown by ABS-CBN.
