Have I ever mentioned that my Papa’s pen name is the Blue Saint? I remember reading some of his poems and essays neatly type-written, mostly addressed or about Mama. His was indeed our Saint. I grew up with his pastoral and soothing voice. My brother Giovanni and I would, of course, receive occasional scolding from Papa, but never did he raised his voice in anger. Never did we hear Mama and him quarrel (or maybe they just kept it by themselves). He was firm with his deci-sions and stances, especially those about faith and the church. Twice, he was sued by church member who had issues with the church in two separate occasions, but Papa stood for the church. Both suits were dismissed. He was my rock yet every time I need help, his response will always be gentle, but strong and dependable. In his saintly character, humor was evident. He has his witty, original punchlines on his pockets, readily available, given at the right time. I love his trademark statement, “that’s what you get”, which could mean both as “I told you so” or “Congrats! Good Job!”


When he was cremated, as Mama, our family and I walks out the crematorium, we saw a small white butterfly that flew towards the sky. It seems like the butterfly is happy. We utter our good-byes to our Papa, confident that he is welcomed in God’s home, his eternal home. And someday, Papa will welcome us with his sweetest smile and warmest embrace.

How about you? Who is your saint/s? Who was or is the person that exemplify Godly characters in your life? As we celebrate All Saints Day, let us be grateful to people who lived or lives saintly lives.
Remembering memories of their saintly acts, especially those loved ones who has gone home to God’s, makes us feel closer to them, hopefully inspires us to try living our lives in saintly ways too. As it is written in Hebrews 12: 1-2, “So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.”


Remember our Saints and let us run our own race in saintly ways!