The Purifications

What is “Hall of Fame”? Let us read this story/reflection of Fr. Haluendo Rafael, OCD, in memory of Fr. Ignatius “Igue” Read, OCD; for the Carmelites and Friends of Carmel.

Dear KNOT,
A Hall of Fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or animals, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their fame in their field (Wikipedia). It can be in the area of sports, movies, plays, music, etc. If famous people are acknowledged of their extraordinary contribution in the “Hall of Fame”, Christian faith also has what we call, “Hall of Faith.”

This is a list of people who live an extraordinary faith. Scripture has an initial list found in the whole chapter 11 of Hebrews. The chapter starts, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith, Abel offered to God, by faith Enoch was taken up…Noah, Abraham, etc., and until the time of David…” The list is long and yet today, the list continues; in fact, it is ongoing until this very moment.

I just came from Manila, to attend the funeral of Fr. Ignatius Read, OCD a Carmelite Priest who died at the age of 86 years old. Those who know him personally, fondly call him “Fr. Igue.”

While other priests want to go abroad Igue spent most of his life here in the Philippines serving faithfully as a Carmelite Priest for the Filipino people. Today, we remember him and I believe that Igue now joins with the whole ranks of the saints in heaven, “the Hall of Faith.”

For most of us, faith is trite when it is relegated to just being an ascent of the mind. Faith is more than just cerebral. In fact the whole idea of “faith” in St. John’s Gospel is all about obedience. He says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36). To believe is to obey. In my few years of living with Igue, I witnessed how he lived this kind of faith.

I think for those who know Igue, you will agree with me that this is a man so unique in many ways. He comes for most of us as a person so strong in personality, tough in his love, self-sufficient in his endeavors, resilient in sickness, brave in missions, daring in apostolate, pursuing in studies, loyal and dedicated as a brother, and faithful Carmelite priest until the end.

If Igue has a facebook account, he surely will fill his profiles with so many hobbies. Igue likes to eat, play sports. He likes to read and builds libraries for the community; he is adventurous, a lover of nature (trees, mountains and beaches), he likes to drive; he likes music; he likes languages. Most important of all, he likes St. John of the Cross.

He is the one of the great friars in the province who dedicated his whole life to the study of St. John of the cross. With all these traces of idiosyncrasies and uniqueness Igue persistently lived the teaching of St. John of the Cross about FAITH in what we call “the dark night.”

In his last two years of his life, Igue went through purification of the senses. Diagnosed with iron deficiencies, he was advised to take pork liver as part of regular everyday meals. For someone who eats almost anything, this was a test of faith, something he has to do everyday to be able to go on living.

In his 70s despite having installed with a pacemaker, he continues to play basketball until he was 80s to be with his young community.

Igue lost his other eye; something that made him stop driving. Even then, this did not discourage him from reading. Igue is a lover of nature; he loves going around the garden before prayer time and picked up trashes, a contribution he said for the betterment of the environment. He loves swimming so much; he does not care if he gets sunburns or skin allergies; he does not even care if water enters into his ears. Igue has a hearing aid, and is well known for being meticulous in his grammar and pronunciation. He would adjust the volume and spot mispronunciations. He loves music and gets irritated when the chanting is at the border of the sacred and the sacrilege. With missionary zeal for languages, he studied Tagalog only to find out he was moved to an Ilonggo region. And so he studied Ilonggo. And when he was about to finish, he was transferred to Davao. But this did not stop him from learning Cebuano.

My dear friends, if faith is demanded from us in an abrupt, unexpected manner, it may not be a faith so great. For Igue, faith is at its peak when you gradually begin to lose your senses; when the purification sets in, the dark night of the senses. Igue literally went through it.

I visited him after he was admitted in St. Luke for a month. There I witnessed a deeper kind of purification: the dark night of the spirit.

Igue was so athletic, now can hardly moved a finger. Igue, whose lungs started to give in, have to manage his breathing through a ventilator. Igue, who values his eyes, but now cannot read. He would try opening his eyes to please incoming visitors. Igue, who loves to eat, now receives fluids intake to sustain him. Igue, who has said thousands of masses for years, now has to be given communion by some brothers. Igue, who loves the beach and the sun now has to be confined in that four corner solitary hospital room.

Igue, who likes to speak now, has to be silent for more than a couple of months.
Igue, who was independent and self-sufficient now has to rely from the people around him.
Igue, whose ears are so sharp, now has to listen only to smudges of inaudible sounds.
Igue, whose brain was very much into the rigor of the academe now experience ruptures.
It was the purification of the dark night spirit – a final purification that would surely bring him to heaven.

For me Igue is not my father. If you notice most of the time I did not use “Father Igue” in this article because one thing I cannot forget from what he says to me: “Haluen, I am your brother” an expression of faith in his Carmelite brothers.

Our way to the most profound faith is a faith that journey like that of Fr. Igue. Fr. Igue is a man of strong temperamental personality but he never disobey. His faith is coming from an assurance that whatever happens, God is at work. I believe that he is now in heaven, joining the saints of what I call, “The Hall of Faith.”

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Thank you Fr. Wen. Father Igue, pray for us. ‘Til next kwentuhan higala!