THE DEAN of the Faculty of Theology extolled the willingness and participation of the Thomasian martyrs to sacrifice their lives for Christ and the faith, during a Mass at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on Friday, Nov. 7.
In his homily, Fr. Jannel Abogado, O.P. said martyrdom has two elements: the voluntary act of imitating Christ’s suffering and participating in Christ’s salvation, which enables martyrs to remain “happy” in the face of death.
“That’s why the martyrs can suffer and accept their pain. And they can be cured. Because [they] have our Lord Jesus Christ sustaining them in their life of martyrdom,” Abogado said during the Mass for the Feast of the Thomasian Martyrs.
He said the UST martyrs knew that they would be reborn amid their impending death, so they confronted death to live.
“This is a lesson that we can get from the life of a martyr. Not necessarily to accept death. They confronted death. And overcame death. That is why they lived,” the Dominican priest said.
Reflecting on Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, the Abogado stressed that martyrdom and care for the poor are “united” and inseparable.
“And this is the same life that we are being asked to live. We need to have preferential love for the poor. As our Pope Leo said in his apostolic letter, ‘It’s not an option’ — to work or to show preferential love,” Abogado said.
The Mass was followed by a candlelighting ceremony in front of the parish to honor the Thomasian martyrs.
Fr. Jayson Gonzales, O.P. of the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas urged Thomasians to draw strength from the Thomasian martyrs.
“They didn’t have it easy. They faced trials, persecution, and even death. But they held on to their faith. They held on to love,” Gonzales said in his reflection at the Martyrs’ Monument.
He urged the faithful to develop the virtue of fortitude and courage to not just face battles in life but to endure them.
“Let us be reminded of the love shown by the Thomasian martyrs… We are lovers. We are martyrs of love. We love wholeheartedly and never hold back,” Gonzales said.
Commemorated annually on Nov. 6, the Feast of the Thomasian Martyrs honors the 17 saints and blesseds who were former administrators, professors, and students of the University, who suffered death and persecution because of their Christian faith in Japan, Vietnam, and Spain.
