During one of the stops of my concert tour in Europe with Enchong Dee, I stayed with Ate Ellen and her Italian husband, Franco. They took me to the blessed shrine of Padre Pio Of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni, Italy. Though I did not know the saint, I prayed in front of his casket where his remains lie intact some 50 years after death. My prayer was, “I don’t know you, but some force brought me to you and I know something good is going to happen to me because I met you.”
Upon returning to Manila, I learned that my classmate’s father, Don Ramon Rodriguez, had put up a church in Libis that people visit as it was said to be miraculous. I started hearing mass there and was surprised with their sharing sessions after communion; mostly about answered prayers. One of them, celebrity host Tintin Bersola, revealed that when she was pregnant years ago, there was an almost irreversible problem with the position of the fetus in her womb. The couple decided to join Mang Ramon Rodriguez in his pilgrimage to San Giovanni in Italy and miraculously, she was able to deliver the healthy baby without incident, thanks to her and her husband Julius Babao’s faith.
When I was granted an interview with Don Ramon (who insists that we call him Mang Ramon), I asked him how he decided to put up the Padre Pio Shrine in Libis. Apparently, a bishop approached Mang Ramon who said that six Italian priests were looking for a place to stay. Since Mang Ramon’s mansion had more rooms than a small hotel, he obliged. During the priests’ stay, they kept talking to him in Italian and he just kept saying yes. Little did he know that he had committed to put up the Philippine Center of Padre Pio, which came to pass in 1985. He kept his word to the priests since he believes it was the prayer of Padre Pio printed in a small piece of paper that healed his blindness in 1975.
For several years, every time he would go to work, Mang Ramon would greet (“Hello Padre Pio, bless me today”) and kiss the image of the six-foot image of Saint Pio. This ritual went on until one miraculous day in 2005 that changed his life. When Mang Ramon went to his office, he tried to kiss the image of Padre Pio but an invisible force prevented him from doing so, forcing him to kneel instead. Looking up, he saw a small crucifix then heard a voice that said, “From now on, you will pray to me.” After that incident, Mang Ramon has had priests holding a mass every week in his office, which became daily and people started coming to his office to hear mass with him. It was then that he decided to create a shrine for Padre Pio, which is now a work in progress.
In San Giovanni, I learned that Padre Pio had the gift of healing and discernment. People that went to confession avoided Padre Pio out of embarrassment because he somehow knew when a person has sin.
I think God transferred those gifts to Mang Ramon. Just weeks ago, he was used by God to cure a four-year-old child with a cancerous lump in his throat. The lump was as big as my hand. Today, that child is in school and cancer-free.
Another Chinese parishioner, who owed a lot of debts to several businessmen, placed his prayers in Padre Pio. Now, that Chinese parishioner is debt-free and totally devoted to the saint.
When Mang Ramon anointed my hand with oil, he told me that I should not waste time because I was going to work for God soon. He also told me I was going to receive six answered prayers. SIX! Hmmmmm, does this mean I have to leave out my naughty jokes every time I host, sing and do stand-up comedy?
For now, I’m hoping God will understand that it’s just show business.
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