Illuminare Omnes
Tribute to Archbishop
Leonardo Z. Legaspi, OP, DD
Pastor and Preacher to
All!
By His Excellency
Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, DD
President, Catholic
Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines
He
shines like a brilliant moon in the darkness of our night,
His
radiance is not from him but from God who is our light,
His
enemy is ignorance; his passion is to teach the truth,
His
life is our blessing; through his life we reaped rich fruits.
As
student he was the best, as a priest he was outstanding,
Exemplary
Dominican clear and fiery in his preaching,
Doctor
of philosophy, loyal student of Saint Thomas,
Wise
teacher of theology awesome mirror of Aquinas!
He
was a bishop in Manila destined as primate of Bicolandia,
Catechist
of the catechists, his epoch was a luminous saga,
God
gave him to the Church to bring us hope and inspiration
He
inspired us to teach the faith to be loyal to our religion.
The
Catechism for Filipino Catholics was
born from his vision,
The
National Catechetical Directory is
one more great inspiration,
He
started the PhilCARE Foundation to
fund the teachers’ education
All
of these are his legacies, fervent architect of faith formation!
He
was elder among the bishops, prudent President of the Conference,
He
was a favourite in the Roman Synods, well revered was his presence,
At
the Second Plenary Council he presided with great eloquence,
Obedient
to the Holy Spirit, he taught and served with high excellence!
Towering
man and athletic, he was a heavy weight at basketball,
His
presence was imposing, awesome and difficult to ignore,
But
in his heart, he was tiny, small and cuddly like a baby
He
was and will always be, only a child of the Virgin Mary!
To
our Mother of Peñafrancia whom we tenderly call Ina,
Hold
the hand of your son, who served you faithfully in Naga,
Leonardo
Legaspi is our pastor, preacher and priest par excellence
Bring
this loyal and true Dominican to the heart of Jesus your Son!
(Delivered during the Holy
Mass celebrated at the UST Parish, August 13, 2014)
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