Daily Tribune (Philippines)

Angelus in Roxas City

- ART BESANA

Are Christian Filipinos ready for the final and eternal judgement at the Second Coming of Christ?

Lord God Almighty, thank you for this beautiful morning throughout the world. May You bless us all. Amen.

During this Lent, the 40-day period during which we as Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christiani­ty, I was happy and lucky enough to live close to a church that tolls its bells for the Angelus every day.

It is beautiful to say this prayer, which the faithful of Roxas City have prayed for 76 years. They believe the Angelus can heal their pains and thank the Lord for strengthen­ing them.

Every time the bells toll at 6 p.m., students and people leaving schools, the market, offices, cars, and vehicles around the plaza stop to pray the Angelus.

The beautiful tradition started in 1948 when Rev. Monsignor Vicente Gonzales founded the Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion.

The students of the college showed the way. The moment the bells tolled for the Angelus, they stopped walking if they were in the middle of the street or they stopped the motor vehicles they were on, telling the drivers to pray. They did this every day until it became a habit, a daily practice, and now a tradition.

Tourists and visitors are impressed and admire the tradition of human and vehicular traffic stopping to pray for the Angelus. They are awed by the spirituali­ty of the Capiceños.

The country observes Holy Week on Palm Sunday, 24 March; Holy Thursday, 28 March; Good Friday, 29 March; and Easter Sunday, 31 March.

Are we ready for the final and eternal judgement at the Second Coming Advent?

Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominati­ons as a time of expectant waiting and preparatio­n for the celebratio­n of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming of Advent. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christiani­ty.

What is the meaning of the return of Christ at the Second Coming of Advent?

Like many Christian denominati­ons, the Church considers this second coming of Christ to be God’s final and eternal judgment of the people in every nation, resulting in glorifying some and punishing others. The concept is found in all Canonical gospels, particular­ly the Gospel of Matthew.

Are you ready for the prophecy of Nostradamu­s that the world may soon end because of the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and the terrifying nuclear arsenals of countries, including America and Russia?

Michel de Nostradane was a Catholic who later traded his Jewish ancestry by saying his instinct for prophecy was “inherited from my forebears.” He made his early living as a traveling apothecary, much in demand for treating plague victims. His time was comparable to ours. He lived when there were also massive social divisions and catastroph­es.

He predicted the execution of Charles I, the Great Fire of London, the French Revolution, the Rise and Fall of Napoleon and Hitler, the assassinat­ions of JFK and Benazir Bhuto, the 9/11 attack, the 2015 mass murders in Paris, the abdication of King Charles III, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Are you ready, Christian Filipinos? What does it profit you if you gain the whole world but you suffer the loss of your

own soul?

“Tourists and visitors are impressed, and they admire the tradition of human and vehicular traffic stopping to pray the Angelus.

“They did this every day until it became a habit, a daily practice, and now a tradition.

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