Guns fell to Rosaries in Philippine Revolution.

Started by Xavier, December 06, 2018, 08:02:36 AM

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Xavier

This is for those who deny in practice the power of prayer and of the Rosary to obtain the greatest of graces and even end wars. Cardinal Jaime Sin mentioned in the articles below was a great devotee of Our Lady of Fatima. Here for all to see are the great fruits that amaze and astound the secular world when a populace actually acts, believes, lives and thinks as Catholics do, and not as Protestants or modernists do.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-02-28-8601150584-story.html

http://www.divinemysteries.info/manila-philippines-1986/

"GUNS FELL TO ROSARIES IN PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION
Janet Cawley and Joseph A. Reaves, Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO TRIBUNE

It was a revolution like no other. Instead of guns, there were prayers; instead of bloodshed, celebrations; instead of casualties, converts.

Other countries may erupt into violent civil war at a forcible change in leadership, but the Philippines stayed calm. At the time Ferdinand Marcos fled into exile and was replaced as president by Corazon Aquino, only 12 lives had been lost.

Said Randy David, a sociologist at the University of the Philippines, ''I don`t think this has any parallel in the Third World.''


What made this revolution so peaceful despite a potential for terrible bloodshed?

The answer, experts say, is threefold: the role and power of the Roman Catholic Church, the demoralized state of the military and the gentle nature of the Filipino people.

The role of the church, and particularly the moral leadership of Jaime Cardinal Sin, archbishop of Manila and a longtime Marcos critic, were pivotal. About 85 percent of the Philippine population--roughly 48 million people

--are Catholic; for most, their faith is an abiding part of everyday life. So last weekend, when Cardinal Sin made a radio appeal for citizens to go to a military camp and form a human buffer to protect rebel military leaders headquartered inside, the people went immediately. When they got there and took up their places, it was the beginning of the end for Marcos.

The two military leaders, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, once close Marcos associates, received the protection they needed to shore up the rebellion. And the people found that peaceful resistance worked.

''It all boils down to the fact that Cardinal Sin carries tremendous clout with his flock,'' said Felix Bautista, editor in chief of the Catholic newspaper Veritas (which means ''truth'' in Latin). ''If he hadn`t made the

(radio) appeal, the people would not have immediately seen their warm bodies were needed there, and Marcos and (Gen. Fabian) Ver easily could have lobbed mortar shells into the compound and that would have ended it.''

But once the crowd--estimated at up to half a million people armed only with rosaries, religious pictures and moral courage--took up positions around the perimeter, the possibility of a bloody, all-out attack became remote. When soldiers arrived at the camp and the two television stations that had been seized by the rebels, they refused to fight.


Priests and nuns, students and civilians stood defiantly in the path of oncoming tanks, many waving rosaries or praying aloud; and the soldiers just stopped. Instead of forcing the crowds to leave, they joined them--in direct defiance of their orders.

''They may have been bad soldiers,'' said Bautista, ''but they were very good human beings.''

What made the military fall apart like that? The most obvious answer--one mentioned by Marcos before he was deposed--was poor morale. And for that, Marcos apparently had only himself to blame.

''Marcos held on to power because he had a clique of generals who were extra-loyal to him,'' Bautista said. ''And he kept extending their power. They held onto key offices, and he thought he could depend on them.

''But for every overstaying general, there was a lieutenant colonel whose dream of becoming a general didn`t materialize. And for every lieutenant colonel, there was someone else down the line. . . . Dreams of promotion were shattered . . . so there was dissension in the ranks.

''Then morale was low among the rank-and-file for many reasons. Things like being fed substandard food, or they were given shoes that fell apart the first time it rained.''

Other sources cited the role played by Ramos, a West Point-educated general who broke with the president last weekend. Ramos was seen as perhaps the most decent man in the army hierarchy; when he said he could no longer support the president, the sympathy of the troops apparently went with him.

Then there was the fact that some of the troops were from outside Manila and unfamiliar with--perhaps intimidated by--the city. One unit reportedly had to stop and ask directions to the television station they had been ordered to recapture. And once they got to the various sites, the soldiers were faced not with armed enemies but with praying clergy and civilians.

''They`d say, `Why should I kill them? They`re my brothers,` '' said Bautista.

Another diplomatic source spoke admiringly of ''the psychology of putting priests and nuns out there with rosaries, praying for them (the soldiers).''

At the same time, David said, the people ''appeared to me, as a sociologist, to be in a state of trance. I think in my view it was a sometimes foolish courage, an innocent kind of courage . . . the emotional contagion was very strong.''

David, a professor of sociology, said he had found the soldiers ''totally disoriented, blank and confused. How could they turn their guns against these people who didn`t look like communists? They were unable to make a decision, to move when they needed to most.''

The Filipino people, David said, ''are by nature very gentle--although, historically speaking, they`ve never been squeamish about the use of arms. They`re very patient and have a tremendous capacity to make sacrifices, especially among the middle class. And they have a profound concept of a nation.''

One Western diplomat here cited ''the patience, the gentleness of the people. I wouldn`t say they`re cowards, but they`re not fighters. These people went off to a revolution with flashlights and candles and snacks.''

Another Western source noted, ''it`s very important (to the Filipino people) to keep their personal relations harmonious. They strongly want to avoid conflict.''

At the same time the people were applying pressure for change from within the country, Marcos saw whatever foreign support he once had eroding badly. When Washington called on him to resign earlier this week, the rug finally was pulled out and armed resistance must have seemed futile.

The revolution was over. The people had won, and the casualty toll was minimal.

''It may sound corny,'' Bautista said, ''but a lot of people believe that it was the grace of God that made it bloodless.''
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)