MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE

MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE

ST. JOHN STROLLING BY NIGHT

A long time ago, in the Municipality of Alfonso, Cavite, parishioners who went to church early to hear Mass noticed a great change in the position of the Patron Saint in the main altar.

The image was moved far behind in one corner as if he just climbed the stairs from the back door. The people who investigated the case arrived at the conclusion that something fantastic happened…

The robe of the Saint was festooned with fresh amor seco (tingloy). Everyone was mystified. The Saint walked around the plaza the other night, they concluded.
The parish priest ordered the acolyte to remove the “tingloy” and requested the people to pray. Some took the “tingloy” with them on their way home and used them for medicinal purposes.

The following day, the “miracle” was repeated and ever since the whole town believed that the Patron Saint was making rounds at night, and that kept the town peaceful.
The “miracle” happened many mornings for many years and people believed it. Lately, though, skeptics propounded theories that it was only done by the parish priest purposely to increase the collections from the faithful when they came to hear Mass on Sundays.


FEAST DAY – MAY 16TH YEARLY

The Day of Saint John Nepomucene is celebrated on May 16 of every year to commemorate the day of his martyrdom in 1393. A heavy stone was tied to his neck and he was dumped in a river when he refused to tell King Wenceslas what his queen confessed to St. John.

In Alfonso and anywhere else in the Philippines, the month of May is the month of rain so, it was decided one time to change the date of the celebration. What happened then was a great calamity. The town was visited by several typhoons and even on the chosen day replacing May 16th, they were not able to celebrate for it rained continuously. The old folks attributed it to St. John’s disapproval of the idea of changing his Fiesta.

Others insisted that it was a mere coincidence and should not be taken seriously. Again an elected chairman of the Fiesta Committee transferred the day to a Sunday because May 16 then fell on a week day. There was no typhoon but something very unpleasant happened. Many similar incidents related to changing the data of the Fiesta occurred in several occasions and many were fully convinced that St. John was really against the idea.


ST. JOHN GUIDED THE MAYOR

During the Japanese occupation, Alfonso was occupied by the Japanese. On their arrival to the town, they were received by then Mayor Angeles Hernais at the entrance of the town, in Palinta. They were brought to the Municipal building where they talked to the Mayor.

Later, the Japanese asked why the Mayor was always accompanied by his bearded grandfather. Mayor Hernais was surprised for he was never accompanied by his already dead grandfather. The Japanese explained that they saw the bearded old man when they were met in Palinta and again in the office of the Mayor.

The story went around until finally, the people thought that the bearded old man was St. John. Nepomucene, guiding the Mayor.

There was an incident that happened in the Alfonso Elementary School building when the Japanese used it as shelter. At night, they were bothered by a “bearded old man and seven little children” playing around. Bothered by and perhaps scared of this phenomenon, the Japanese never mingled directly either with the old man or with any of the children. The Japanese left and refused to use the building.

Again, the old man was believed to be St. John and the seven little children, the seven Archangels: Miguel, Rafael, Gabriel, Rodiel, Oriel, Exequiel and Baraquiel.


THE TOWN SURROUNDED BY BAMBOOS

During the time when 'bandidos' were still very common, almost every town has its notorious group. The bandits tried to outdo one another by making surprise attacks on the other groups in other towns.

Alfonso did not have a group of its own. One night, the Malabon group decided to attack Alfonso. To their astonishment, they all got lost among bamboos which seemed to “surround the whole town”. The following day, either out of fear or by the dictates of conscience, they apologetically revealed their evil plot to the people with an explanation of how it did not materialize. As in the past, people believed St. John Nepomucene again protected the town by shielding it with big, tall and thorny bamboos.


FIRES FENCED THE PLAZA

In 1943, a group of singers on their way home from a”pabasa” were happily chatting when suddenly, they saw bright lights, shooting upwards from among acacia trees then lining the church’s plaza. The lights were multi-colored, very similar to the modern fireworks we see today. The group was afraid and did not know what to do. Shocked, they decided to keep quiet. They learned about an attempt of a certain group of undesirables to rob the convent. They were stopped by the same bright multi-colored lights seen by the singers. Scared out of their wits, they scampered away, forgetting their plan.


PROCESSION OF THREE PRIESTS

During the cholera epidemic of 1918, Alfonso was not spared. There was an average of five deaths every day. One who attended the funeral one afternoon may be dead the following day. Cholera then was a real terrible killer and the way things were going, the whole town would have been decimated in a month or so.

One night on their way home, several musicians who came from a band rehearsal (cademia), with Placido Ortega, also a musician who lived to tell the story, saw three priests going around the town as if in a procession. The musicians got interested and followed the three priests. After rounding the whole poblacion, the priests went to different directions. One turned to the North towards Indang, the other one to the East towards Mendez while the last one stayed and entered the church of Alfonso.

Surprisingly, the following day, no one in Alfonso, Indang and Mendez died of cholera. Miraculously, there were no other cholera deaths afterwards. The faithful presumed that the three priests were the Patron Saints of the three towns: St. Gregory of Indang, St. Agustine of Mendez, and St. John of Alfonso. The three were all priests.

From the book TINGKORAW: Alfonso's History and Legend by jett e. avinante, m.d.


NOTE: Please share your miraculous experiences with St. John Nepomucene.