The Way We Were
19.01.2010
By Father Patrick Campion
How the Faith reached an isolated Philippines village.
Midsalip is the most isolated village in our parish. It is on an extensive plateau two thousand feet above sea-level, and is 22 miles from the nearest road. This is not a very great distance in itself, perhaps, but once you leave the road you have a full day's hiking and climbing in the tropical heat ahead of you. Only a local guide could possibly find the leafy trail to Midsalip for it leads through thick woods and heavy undergrowth. Fallen trees block the way and the track goes up and down in seemingly endless undulations.
It is only within the last ten years that a few Catholic families have settled in the village and hacked their tiny patches of garden out of the virgin forest.
The last time I was there I performed thirteen marriages and baptized thirty-six children during the five days I was with them. As I prepared to move on to the next mission a group of pioneer settlers approached to thank me for my visit. I had some time to spare, so I took the opportunity to ask them about the early days and they were glad to give me the details. The very first Catholic to come to isolated Midsalip took the floor and gave me the story of their beginnings.
A MOTHER'S VOW
His name was Candido Alhas from the island of Siquigur. When he was a small boy he fell seriously ill. His mother despaired of all human help and made a solemn promise to spread devotion to St Joseph if he recovered. Candido did recover and, when his mother died, he took it on himself to carry out her promise.
He decided that the best way to spread devotion to St Joseph was to have him named patron of some village. But every village in his native island already had a patron. Eventually he emigrated to Mindanao Island in search of new land. Here, too, he found that every little village had its patron.
WAR-TIME WANDERER
When the war came, Candido did what so many others in the Philippines did, he left his home to flee into the mountains. During this time he met a tribe of pagans called Subanos who told him of the fertile plateau of Midsalip. They described the virgin forest, as yet uninhabited except for some of their tribe. In November 1945, he visited Midsalip with a party of Subanos as guides. After three days of hard going through thick forests he reached the plateau, the first Catholic known to have set foot there. It was a land of promise, and he also saw a chance to fulfill his mother's wish. He explored the area and then returned to his home.
The following March he and his wife and family set out for Midsalip. Up and down the rugged mountains they carried a prized possession, a statue of St Joseph. With the help of the Subanos, Candido built a small chapel and installed the statue in the midst of paganism. St Joseph was the patron of the new settlement, and Candido's mother's promise had been fulfilled.
THE FIRST MASS
Three years later Candido saw the culmination of all his hopes and prayers when Monsignor Cronin made the grueling trip to Midsalip for the first time. On March 19 he dedicated the chapel and community to their patron St Joseph and celebrated the first Mass in the new settlement.
Many of the pagan Subanos became interested in the Catholic religion and some of them have already been baptised. Candido Alhas concluded his narrative by pledging anew his loyalty to his patron and protector and by expressing the hope that someday St Joseph would obtain for them the great blessing of a resident priest in that outpost of Catholicism.
- Taken from The Far East, March 1, 1958.
Read more stories from the The Far East, January/February
