How GKK Sta. Teresita sa Batang Hesus Came to Be

There is a particular saying in the Church which says, “we do not choose our patron saints, rather they choose us.” We allow the Holy Spirit to work when we cooperate with God’s grace when choosing our patron saints. By doing this, we must keep an open mind and heart and prayerfully listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

To choose which saint is to become patron in a GKK depends on the catechesis that the believers want to convey. Based on experience, the most common saints to choose from are those who are old and familiar, and have been known for a long time. In the development of the spiritual life of the residents of Biao Guianga, the parish priest Reverend Father Russell Bantiles, reflected on the life of St. John Paul II including the saints who he deemed significant.

According to Fr. Russell, the faithful people in Biao Guianga chose St. Therese as their patron because they can simply relate in the life of St. Therese, and her message will really help them to become good examples to others as a living community. For them, this is really an inspiration guided by the Holy Spirit when they chose St. Therese as their patron saint. By asking for enlightenment and prayers, Fr. Russell said, “sometimes we can think and we can reflect that the Lord Himself is the one who chose and provides us of what we need through the instruments He gave”. One of the reasons why Fr. Russell, chose or encouraged the community to choose St. Therese is because in their community or even in the Archdiocese of Davao no GKK has yet chosen St. Therese as their patron saint.

The PSK of Biao Guianga shared that during their meeting there were three saints suggested by the community. From the very beginning they really chose St. Therese as their patron. The community of Biao Guianga has many centers: The center for children, center for boys, and the center for girls which is called “Balay Banaag”. Because of this, they were happy when Fr. Russell approved that St. Therese be their patron saint. The PSK added and said, “St. Therese really loves youth and flowers, our society has many flowers and young people”.

Lastly, they always pray and ask for the intercession of St. Therese that their efforts in building their chapel will be successfully achieved soon. As they continue serving in their community, they continue to ask the intercession of St. Therese to help them in building not only a place for worship but a genuine relationship with all the members of their community. As the PSK of the community said, “Si St. Therese ang mipili kanamo, dili kami ang mipili kaniya nga mahimo namong patron”. (Bro. Julius Lugay)