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For almost two years now, PWHS has been fortunate to have a Correspondence Secretary in the person of Chi Cruz, to attend to the numerous letters that come our way. These letters require personal attention as some of them contain queries that need to be answered, or sometimes the letter-writers need to be consoled, as their letters are full of pain and suffering.

The PWHS office also receives a lot of phone calls, especially the following day after the PWHS radio program "Ala-Alang Walang Hanggan" goes on the air on Radio Veritas. We are happy to announce that Violette Ramiro, who anchors this radio program every 4th and 5th Monday of the month from 9:30pm to 10:00pm, has offered to respond to phoned-in queries. Those who have questions related to the holy souls and Purgatory, can call the PWHS office nos. 531-2157 / 531-0394, give their name, tel. no., and question, and they will be called back by Violette. Communications by e-mail are also quickly responded upon by PWHS National Coordinator Carlos Oda, the computer wizard responsible for putting together our website and keeping it active and updated. With Chi handling the snail-mail, Violette handling the phone calls, and Carlos handling the e-mail, PWHS members and friends are assured of immediate and personal attention.

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It is not often in one’s lifetime that one has the privilege to meet a person who is up for beatification. When my husband Narcing and I celebrated our 25th silver wedding anniversary in 1995, we had the beautiful experience of having the mass celebrated at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York where His Eminence John Cardinal O’Connor, Archbishop of New York, presided over the High Mass. We remember how he pointed out that in America, it is very rare for a married couple like us to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

After the mass, we noticed that he had quickly changed into traveling clothes. We found out that he was rushing to go to the airport to catch a plane for Rome, and yet he took the time to join us for some picture-taking, something that surprised us as we had not expected that he would be able to come back to join us after the recessional. Before leaving us, he gave us once more his blessings.

When he passed away last May 3, 2000, a friend from New York who was at our anniversary reception, sent us the stampita-announcement of his demise. This I placed on our altar in our bedroom and as I would see his picture on the altar, I would say a short prayer for the repose of the soul of our dear Cardinal O’Connor.

And so it was with such joy in our hearts that we received the news recently that the Vatican had began the cause for the beatification of His Eminence, John Cardinal O’Connor. Now, not only do we pray for the repose of his soul (as we are told never to presume that a soul no longer needs prayers), but we now also pray to him for intercession. It is said that those whose cause for beatification are already under scrutiny by the Vatican, manifest positive responses to requests for intercession. Another saintly person whose cause for beatification has began is Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will. See related article

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We welcome two new members to our roster of PWHS core group members. They are: Sr. Dolly Daquilanea, AR, a member of the Agustinian Recolletos and presently assigned to serve the Lord at the CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES (CBCP). She fills in the void that was felt when Chit Cailles, valued PWHS core group member passed away late last year. Chit was responsible for recruiting Sr. Dolly, who has been a member as early as July, 2000 when we had the First National Congress of the PWHS.

Another new member of the PWHS is Bro. Jun Vibandor, former head of the Healing Ministry of the SPIRIT OF LOVE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY, and a very supportive member of the PWHS.

Since PWHS core group member Bro. Ter Maloles is now U.S. based, Bro. Jun is a most welcome male member of the core group.

We welcome Sr. Dolly and Bro. Jun and we look forward to working with them in this apostolate.

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Most Acceptable Prayers

Our dear friend Irmã Marija from Fatima, Portugal (not Lisbon, as we had originally written), recently sent us a treasure trove of books and prayers to St. Joseph, as well as prayers for the holy souls. In one of these booklets, we chanced upon a quotation attributed to an eminent Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas: "OF ALL PRAYERS, THE MOST MERITORIOUS, THE MOST ACCEPTABLE TO GOD ARE PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD, BECAUSE THEY IMPLY ALL THE WORKS OF CHARITY, BOTH CORPORAL AND SPIRITUAL." (From "Novena for the Relief of the Poor Souls of Purgatory", P.G; by Rev. J. F. Durin). This is wonderful news for all our members, that the Lord finds the main activity of this apostolate to be "most acceptable" to Him! (see her letter in Excerpts)

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With this statement from no less than St. Thomas Aquinas, we would expect more pledges to come in for the VIGIL HABIT that we are trying to promote (see related article). Msgr. Pepe Ramirez, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Manila and staunch supporter of the PWHS, said during his talk last March 2, 2002 during the PWHS Lenten Recollection:     

"Lately, the Holy Father gave an instruction that, in all adoration chapels where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed 24 hours, the Chaplet of Mercy should be recited every hour for all those who would need God’s help and mercy during that hour. This is done in all the adoration chapels upon the instruction of the Holy Father, because every minute, every moment, there is a soul who is leaving, there is someone who is dying. Can you imagine what a consolation for us to know now that all these souls that we will pray for will pray for us? All the souls in Purgatory are happy, because you are their prayer warriors and all those who would die you would pray for. So, when our time comes, I am sure, it will be a holy death, because all the souls in Purgatory will be assisting us in our last moment."

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In the last issue of FORE & AFT (no.12 April-June 2002), we launched a campaign amongst PWHS members to send their pledges to spend an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for the holy souls, for the PWHS apostolate, and for its members. The response has been encouraging, but one member stands tall among the rest, as she was able to not only send in her pledge, but solicited 18 more pledges from amongst her friends and family members.

"Thank you!" to Ma. Teodora Caballero, or "ODI", who walked the extra mile for the holy souls. As Fr. Jojo Zerrudo said, one will not be able to quantify the results of one’s work for this apostolate, in this lifetime, but for sure, what is gratifying to know is that this work has a "multiplier" effect, as shown by the kind of initiative that ODI has taken. Only God knows how many souls will benefit from what ODI has done. May your tribe increase, ODI! (see her letter in Excerpts ED.)