At Hiroshima, the ‘tiny’ 20-kiloton atomic bomb vaporized everything within a radius of more than a mile – buildings, people, trees. 200,000 were killed instantly, millions killed through the years from radiation.
A tiny church five blocks from ground zero was miraculously untouched, the lone edifice standing tall amid the rubble. There, 6 Jesuit priests who prayed the rosary every day, survived.
They were William Kelinsorge, Pedro Arrupe, Klaus Luhmer, Hugo Lasalle, Hubert Kleslik, and Hubert Schiffer. Arrupe later pioneered the so-called Ignatian Spirituality.
Author’s note. This is a website version of the original article by the author in the Daily Tribune in its September 14, 2024 issue.
eastwind journals
September 11, 2024 – Archives tr548
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
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August 6, 1945. Feast of the Transfiguration. World War II. The first nuclear bomb in human history fell on Hiroshima, Japan, a mere 20-kiloton, whereas today, the normal size is 5-megaton, 2,500 times more powerful. Total planet inventory today can wipe out humankind 100 times over.
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Above, prophecy in Book of Revelation of the Holy Bible.
Such was the power of the rosary, a message from the Blessed Virgin that praying the rosary gives protection from disasters.
Punta Maria.
Borongan in Eastern Samar in the Philippines faces the mighty Pacific. If Yolanda devastated Tacloban and the entire Samar eastern seaboard, why was Borongan spared, immune from the super-typhoon? It was the miracle, similar to that at Hiroshima. A sister from the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) whom I met during my visit there, related to me this story, a folk legend.
A passenger boat connected Borongan to scattered nearby islets. In the 50s, a mysterious lady, hugging her baby, a stranger to the people, boarded the passenger boat. At the first islet, she refused to go down. People asked where she was going. She just smiled and pointed to the sea. Finally, at an islet, now called Punta Maria, named after the legend, she disembarked and was never seen again. The next day, the residents were surprised to see a statue of Mama Mary with Baby Jesus at the beach area. They gave it to a parish priest in Borongan. Was it the Virgin with the Baby Jesus guised as a peasant woman?
The statue was named Our Lady of Nativity. The incident catalyzed a new fiesta. Every September 8, the birthday of Mama Mary, the statue was brought back to Punta Maria, welcomed by its residents. They then all went on a pilgrimage to Borongan in a flotilla of dozens of pump boats to accompany the statue back to its home in the parish church. I heard the roar of the engines even before they appeared on the horizon. Later, street dancing was introduced to the fiesta. It is a smaller sea version of the feast of Our Lady of Penafrancia.
When the earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale devastated many churches in Bohol and Cebu, not a single house or building was destroyed in Borongan.
When I visited Punta Maria, I prayed the rosary with about 20 people crowded in a tiny chapel. Just like the Jesuits at Hiroshima, they prayer the rosary every day. That was their weapon against disasters.
An old woman told me that, when Yolanda came, she saw three tsunami-sized waves from her balcony facing the ocean. She simply closed her eyes and prayed. When she opened her eyes, she saw the waves split and move to the sides. The people of Borongan never knew about Yolanda. They felt strong winds, but discovered later that the rest of Samar and Leyte, especially Tacloban, were devastated. The ‘Borongan miracle’ is a sequel to the ‘Hiroshima miracle’.
The intimacy of the Blessed Virgin with the folks at Punta Maria and with the Jesuits at Hiroshima was based on the power of the rosary prayed every day.
“When you cross turbulent waters, I shall be with you. In the wild rivers, you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned. No flames shall consume you, as I am with you always. For I am the Lord, your God, your Saviour, the Holy One. For you are precious and glorious in My eyes, and I love you. (Isaiah 43:2-8).
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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.
FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace. All you need is to have faith and to ask the Lord –
1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg
Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).
Author’s book. At age 26, the author (eastwind) drifted through Europe, hitchhiking 25,000 kilometers for three straight years. He wrote a book on his adventures, Wings and Wanderlust. He learned deep insights that radically changed his view of life, which he wants to share with readers looking for themselves or wanting to catch the wind. More about the book (get a copy) = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/02/25/more-about-the-book-wings-and-wanderlust/
Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.
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