Anything under the Sun
Mother Rosario (1)
There is at present an on-going movement for beatification of Mother Rosario, Foundress of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines (in short Beaterio de Molo).
For this purpose, Fr. Samson S. Siloriquez, OAR had been duly constituted as Postulator General of the Cause.
Her birth and childhood
Who was Mother Rosario? She was born on February 17, 1884 in Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines. She was the only daughter of a wealthy couple Don Ignacio Arroyo and Doña Maria Pidal. She had four brothers, two died in infancy. Jose the elder brother was a lawyer and became a provincial governor of Iloilo, then assemblyman and in 1917, a senator. Mariano the younger sibling was a physician and first Filipino chief of St. Paul's Hospital in Iloilo and later provincial governor.
Baptized at Santa Ana Church in Molo on February 20, 1884 by Fr. Agapito Buenaflor, she was named Ma. Beatriz del Rosario Arroyo. Her first teachers in morality were her parents who taught her the Christian values. Noteworthy tradition of her family was almsgiving. Rosario participated in this corporeal work of mercy. This made her aware of the misery and plight of the poor and be more compassionate with them.
The greatest obstacle to her piety could have been their affluent standard of living. With this wealth, she could have lived the life of a vain princess but she lived without superfluity. Unspoiled by the abundance surrounding her, she preferred a simple life. When she became an heiress, she donated her inheritance to the Congregation.
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NOTE: The contents of Book 2 of Interesting Facts about West Visayas (Early Malay Civilization) are: political structure, judicial system, code of laws, stories of Kalantiao III, religious beliefs, health and sanitation, power and energy, social classes, calendar, beliefs on comets and eclipses, arithmetic, family customs, farm rituals, attire, foods, education, literature and Hinilawod (Epic of Panay).
There is a special feature on the story Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Fort San Pedro, elepha fossils, Indonesian tribe and Gigantes island diggings.