"If we do not believe in miracles, we do not ask for them. If we do not ask for them, they will not be granted."
For more than a decade, it has been the dream or plan of the Third Order of Carmel to build its own Tertiary House. Thus, last March 20, at the opening of the TOC Formation Year, the Zarephath Fund was introduced in order to raise funds for the National Office and a small part of the Fund is to be allocated for the building of the future Tertiary House. At that time, there was no plan to start building the House since there is no donated lot given to the TOC.
The plan at that time is just to let the allocated amount be kept for future use until such a time that a lot is given to the Third Order. However, some TOCs who are devotees of St. Philomena started praying and asking the saint’s intercession that the TOC may be able to build the tertiary house in the future. This was started around May 2010. The dream of building the tertiary house has been vocal among this small group. One time in August, when this small group of TOCs were arranging a reservation for a retreat, one sighed after leaving the retreat house “I hope that we already have a retreat house of our own so that we won’t be looking for suitable retreat houses.” One of them responded, “In God’s time.”
After leaving the retreat house, this group went to the house of a TOC who just returned from abroad to discuss the manner of interviewing the candidates for reception to the novitiate. In one of the light talks, she inquired about Sis. Nimfa Tangcuangco and the group told her that she was fine and busy in handling the family business. Then she inquired about the status of the retreat house that was being planned during the time of Sis. Nimfa as National Prioress. The group told that nothing materialized though there were some offers but none came about. Upon hearing that, she said that she would donate a 600 sq. m. lot to the TOC for that purpose. One of the member of the group commented that it should given through deed of sale but at a donated price.
The plan at that time is just to let the allocated amount be kept for future use until such a time that a lot is given to the Third Order. However, some TOCs who are devotees of St. Philomena started praying and asking the saint’s intercession that the TOC may be able to build the tertiary house in the future. This was started around May 2010. The dream of building the tertiary house has been vocal among this small group. One time in August, when this small group of TOCs were arranging a reservation for a retreat, one sighed after leaving the retreat house “I hope that we already have a retreat house of our own so that we won’t be looking for suitable retreat houses.” One of them responded, “In God’s time.”
After leaving the retreat house, this group went to the house of a TOC who just returned from abroad to discuss the manner of interviewing the candidates for reception to the novitiate. In one of the light talks, she inquired about Sis. Nimfa Tangcuangco and the group told her that she was fine and busy in handling the family business. Then she inquired about the status of the retreat house that was being planned during the time of Sis. Nimfa as National Prioress. The group told that nothing materialized though there were some offers but none came about. Upon hearing that, she said that she would donate a 600 sq. m. lot to the TOC for that purpose. One of the member of the group commented that it should given through deed of sale but at a donated price.
This was communicated with Sis. Sally Castro who was in China at that time. Sending of messages and computation of price was done through text messaging until an initial consent was reached. The OCDS was consulted in regard to the lot area of the OCDS House of Prayer located in New Manila. Sis. Mariecor Maglaya, OCDS contacted me and informed that the lot area was 2400+ sq. m.
Though the donated lot is small as compared to the lot area occupied by the OCDS House of Prayer, we settled for it and decided to proceed with the plan.
But our Lord has some other plans because a week after the donation of 600 sq. m., the donor called Sis. Baby Punzalan to come to her place and she informed her that the whole lot (2412 sq. m.) will be given instead of the initial 600 sq. m. After this final encounter, the National Council met with the donor and finalized the agreement of the “donation”. It was decided that it should be through deed of sale at a donated price of PhP 500/square meter or PhP 1.0 M.
The agreement was signed last October 17, 2010 and an initial donation of PhP 30,000.00 came in prior to the signing of the agreement.
This dream was started through prayer, particularly to St. Joseph and St. Philomena, and it should also be finished through prayer. We ask each TOC to have recourse to these two saints because it was through their help that this was started and it will be these two who will help us finish this project for the glory of God and of the Order of Carmel.
Though the donated lot is small as compared to the lot area occupied by the OCDS House of Prayer, we settled for it and decided to proceed with the plan.
But our Lord has some other plans because a week after the donation of 600 sq. m., the donor called Sis. Baby Punzalan to come to her place and she informed her that the whole lot (2412 sq. m.) will be given instead of the initial 600 sq. m. After this final encounter, the National Council met with the donor and finalized the agreement of the “donation”. It was decided that it should be through deed of sale at a donated price of PhP 500/square meter or PhP 1.0 M.
The agreement was signed last October 17, 2010 and an initial donation of PhP 30,000.00 came in prior to the signing of the agreement.
This dream was started through prayer, particularly to St. Joseph and St. Philomena, and it should also be finished through prayer. We ask each TOC to have recourse to these two saints because it was through their help that this was started and it will be these two who will help us finish this project for the glory of God and of the Order of Carmel.
Let me end this letter from a passage from the Life of St. Teresa of Avila:
“Once when in need, for I didn’t know what to do or how to pay some workmen, St. Joseph, my true father and lord, appeared to me and revealed to me that I would not be lacking, that I should hire them. And so I did, without so much as a penny, and the Lord in ways that amazed those who heard about it provided for me.” (Life, Ch.33)
“Once when in need, for I didn’t know what to do or how to pay some workmen, St. Joseph, my true father and lord, appeared to me and revealed to me that I would not be lacking, that I should hire them. And so I did, without so much as a penny, and the Lord in ways that amazed those who heard about it provided for me.” (Life, Ch.33)