Nanay Ludz (this is an obituary!!!)
Nanay Ludz (Lourdes Benedicto Jover) died. If you do not know her then probably you are not from Jaro or you are not that religious. Well she is after all a Benedicto, a Jover, the maternal aunt of the late Archbishop Piamonte, and a religious zealot (in a positive way) - a cerrada catolica, as they usually say, and a devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary especially in her dogged propagation of the Holy Rosary. She was a daily mass goer until she could no longer walk to the cathedral and a daily communicant after that. She was a familiar sight not just in church but even so in the convent, the palacio (archbishop’s residence) and even in the rooms of priests as the only woman, this sensitive people of Jaro would tolerate and even approvingly so, in the rooms of celibate men. For many priests she was lola, mother, even a maid (she would arrange clothes lying around and hang them) and your ecclesial version of “Pinoy Big Brother” (or sister?) to priests.
But who was Nanay Ludz for me?
She was your typical spinster aunt of a priest. Being unattached and having no children of her own, she felt every right to be the mother of a priest, and being an unattached aunt of a bishop she felt every right to become the mother of all priests, especially cathedral priests.
The last time I saw her was two months ago. She called me up probably 7 or 8 times wanting me to visit her because she wanted to give me something. If she asked me for a sick call or for Holy Communion I would have gone to her with one call. But since she specifically wanted to see me because she wanted to give me something, I hesitated. But who can resist after the seventh or eighth call? And so I went. And there she was, the old Nanay Ludz smiling and glad that I came.
To make the long story short, we sat and we talked about a lot of things in her life and in the parish. Then out of the blue she asked for what seemed to be a big plastic bottle on top of a cabinet. She poured its contents in a big ice-candy plastic and told me “to take it once a day.” O my God, I said to myself, the doctor is in. She was giving me a plastic full of multi-vitamins because, as she said, you may get sick because of your work, and as the saying goes “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” She gave it to me and I thanked her profusely. But my gratitude did not last long. It stopped when she told me that she was giving the same multi-vitamins to Msgr. Joemarie Delgado for years now, which explains why he is robustly healthy, with emphasis on the robust - a word whose synonym, by the way, is “too fat”. Not a good model actually to advertise the effects of her medicines, no? So after leaving, I gave these secretly to a seminarian who needed some fat and muscles under his skin.
This is not the only call made by Nanay Ludz. She would call me to tell me that we need to sit down for confessions after our masses in the morning. She would call me to report an erring Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. She would call and ask me if I needed rosaries to be given out to parishioners. She would tell me to let me know who donated the image of the Sto. Niño in the Cathedral. She could no longer walk to go to the cathedral but she gave credence to the advertisement which says, “let your fingers do the walking.” She could still reach me from where I was, and that is how I remember her right now.
No, I am not saying these things to complain about this unattached aunt of our former bishop who was so intrusive. I am not sharing these experiences to complain about this parishioner who because of her affinity to a bishop felt that she was also given an episcopal mandate by Rome to correct us, priests . . . and even to intrude. I did not feel that way, though sometimes I accept that I would utter a very loud, “hay kasabad a”, whenever the guard or a helper in the convent would tell me in the middle of my breakfast that Nanay Ludz would like to talk to me over the phone. When I was a teenager, yes, I would call that intrusive. But a little bit older now I can only marvel at how a mother loves her children.
That is my experience with Nanay Ludz.
Now she will be sorely missed. But I believe she will join the heavenly Big Brother who continues to watch us and guide us in our ministry. I believe she could be a great help to Him with her acquired skills and expertise while taking a close watch on us and praying for us here on earth.
Thank you Nanay Ludz.
_________________
Last July 15, 2010 the community of Assumption celebrated its 100 years of presence in the Island of Panay and Bacolod. Invited to found a school for girls by Bishop Dennis Dougherty (1908-1916), the fifth bishop of Jaro and later Cardinal of Philadelphia, Mother Carolina Maria, Sr. Mary Alfred and Sr. Mary Benedict came to Iloilo from Manila in 1910. They are the founding mothers of Assumption Iloilo.
In case you may have suspected that we gave this affair special treatment, giving them a lot of leeway and extra effort from our end, your suspicion was right. We did give them special treatment. It is because Fr. Richard Daulo, our resident priest here in the cathedral, Fr. Bong Villariza, the Archdiocesan director for Liturgical Music and myself, all graduated from Assumption Iloilo. So please keep your complaining to yourself and your suspicion assuaged. Who could ever deny something to someone who formed you as in a womb? I believe you would understand that.
But Assumption is not just us, the three priests. Most of the old families in Jaro have ties with Assumption Iloilo which explains why during our school days, many, many years ago, the fiesta of Jaro is traditionally a no class day, even now. In this column I would like to thank the sisters of Assumption, not just because they gave something for our Church General Repair, but because of what they are doing and what the Sisters before them did for our Archdiocese, forming women and men to become better Christians and Catholics. I hoped we lived up to their expectations!
All hail to our beloved Assumption!
But who was Nanay Ludz for me?
She was your typical spinster aunt of a priest. Being unattached and having no children of her own, she felt every right to be the mother of a priest, and being an unattached aunt of a bishop she felt every right to become the mother of all priests, especially cathedral priests.
The last time I saw her was two months ago. She called me up probably 7 or 8 times wanting me to visit her because she wanted to give me something. If she asked me for a sick call or for Holy Communion I would have gone to her with one call. But since she specifically wanted to see me because she wanted to give me something, I hesitated. But who can resist after the seventh or eighth call? And so I went. And there she was, the old Nanay Ludz smiling and glad that I came.
To make the long story short, we sat and we talked about a lot of things in her life and in the parish. Then out of the blue she asked for what seemed to be a big plastic bottle on top of a cabinet. She poured its contents in a big ice-candy plastic and told me “to take it once a day.” O my God, I said to myself, the doctor is in. She was giving me a plastic full of multi-vitamins because, as she said, you may get sick because of your work, and as the saying goes “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” She gave it to me and I thanked her profusely. But my gratitude did not last long. It stopped when she told me that she was giving the same multi-vitamins to Msgr. Joemarie Delgado for years now, which explains why he is robustly healthy, with emphasis on the robust - a word whose synonym, by the way, is “too fat”. Not a good model actually to advertise the effects of her medicines, no? So after leaving, I gave these secretly to a seminarian who needed some fat and muscles under his skin.
This is not the only call made by Nanay Ludz. She would call me to tell me that we need to sit down for confessions after our masses in the morning. She would call me to report an erring Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. She would call and ask me if I needed rosaries to be given out to parishioners. She would tell me to let me know who donated the image of the Sto. Niño in the Cathedral. She could no longer walk to go to the cathedral but she gave credence to the advertisement which says, “let your fingers do the walking.” She could still reach me from where I was, and that is how I remember her right now.
No, I am not saying these things to complain about this unattached aunt of our former bishop who was so intrusive. I am not sharing these experiences to complain about this parishioner who because of her affinity to a bishop felt that she was also given an episcopal mandate by Rome to correct us, priests . . . and even to intrude. I did not feel that way, though sometimes I accept that I would utter a very loud, “hay kasabad a”, whenever the guard or a helper in the convent would tell me in the middle of my breakfast that Nanay Ludz would like to talk to me over the phone. When I was a teenager, yes, I would call that intrusive. But a little bit older now I can only marvel at how a mother loves her children.
That is my experience with Nanay Ludz.
Now she will be sorely missed. But I believe she will join the heavenly Big Brother who continues to watch us and guide us in our ministry. I believe she could be a great help to Him with her acquired skills and expertise while taking a close watch on us and praying for us here on earth.
Thank you Nanay Ludz.
_________________
Last July 15, 2010 the community of Assumption celebrated its 100 years of presence in the Island of Panay and Bacolod. Invited to found a school for girls by Bishop Dennis Dougherty (1908-1916), the fifth bishop of Jaro and later Cardinal of Philadelphia, Mother Carolina Maria, Sr. Mary Alfred and Sr. Mary Benedict came to Iloilo from Manila in 1910. They are the founding mothers of Assumption Iloilo.
In case you may have suspected that we gave this affair special treatment, giving them a lot of leeway and extra effort from our end, your suspicion was right. We did give them special treatment. It is because Fr. Richard Daulo, our resident priest here in the cathedral, Fr. Bong Villariza, the Archdiocesan director for Liturgical Music and myself, all graduated from Assumption Iloilo. So please keep your complaining to yourself and your suspicion assuaged. Who could ever deny something to someone who formed you as in a womb? I believe you would understand that.
But Assumption is not just us, the three priests. Most of the old families in Jaro have ties with Assumption Iloilo which explains why during our school days, many, many years ago, the fiesta of Jaro is traditionally a no class day, even now. In this column I would like to thank the sisters of Assumption, not just because they gave something for our Church General Repair, but because of what they are doing and what the Sisters before them did for our Archdiocese, forming women and men to become better Christians and Catholics. I hoped we lived up to their expectations!
All hail to our beloved Assumption!
Comments