Testimonial

I can’t remember the year but I was in high school when a fire broke out in the market (Tanay Public Market). My sister and I rushed to the scene of the fire but before we reached the market, we passed by the Church and even though the door was closed, we jointly prayed to St. Ildefonso to help spare our store from the fire because it was our main source of livelihood. When we arrived, we saw the clothes stalls were already razed to the ground while the area where the carenderias was located was still burning. The fire was still a bit further from our store. The firemen were spraying water to the stores which were not yet burned including our store. We heard the story that St. Ildefonso was standing near the mango tree in front of the San Ildefonso College (SIC) Bldg.(presently gate of the SIC facing the park) with his hands raised up. There were men who tied up the stores in between Dancel St. and pulled the stalls towards the burning area, so that the grocery stores at the other side would not be burned including our store. We lost a lot of grocery items during the fire but our family was still lucky as through the intercession of St. Ildefonso our parents were able to support us and send us to school to finish our education. 

My father and the father of Helen Penalver along with other Kutsero were involved in an accident. The “Karetela” was totally damaged but no one was hurt and this was attributed to the guidance provided by St. Ildefonso.

I also recall another miracle that my father experienced from St. Ildefonso. My father found the broken arm of St. Ildefonso (the one at the upper middle of the altar) and replaced it with another one. He kept the broken hand at home. When we were kids many people went to our house to get a healing massage (hagod) from my father and they were miraculously healed. Even while he was in America, he continued to give healing massage. This was witnessed by nurse Rory Alfonso whose child was healed by my father. Before my father died, we urged him to return the broken arm. By God’s mercy, before he did the sacrament of confession to Fr. Baliin, he handed it over.

Thank you St. Ildefonso, our Patron Saint, for providing guidance and protection to our dear town of Tanay.