Rizalistas as Religious Sects

Ciudad Mistica de Dios

Adamista
Bathalismo
Watawat ng Lahi
Iglesia Sagrada Flilipina
and Espiritual Pilipino Catholic
Church
Rizalistas as Religious Sects

some believed that Rizal has an
apparent parallelism to Jesus Christ in
many ways
other's believed that Rizal is the
messiah of the Philippines just like
Jesus Christ as messiah of Israel
there were also those who believed
that Rizal was the re-incarnation of
Christ
Rizalistas as Religious Sects

Ciudad Mistica de Dios
Adamista
Bathalismo
Watawat ng Lahi
Iglesia Sagrada Flilipina
and Espiritual Pilipino Catholic
Church
most popular and important
Founder: Maria Bernarda Balitaan b.1876
located in Mt. Banahaw, Quezon
largely a women-dominated community
headed by a woman leader named Suprema
her name is Isabel Suarez, celibate and a
convert from Roman Catholicism

once an active volcano
its last eruption was in 1721
it is also a National Park
Holy Week as the yearly rape of
Banahaw
now under restoration





Ciudad Mistica de Dios:
Banahaw as altar of brave Filipino heroes
like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio
Aguinaldo, and Gregorio del Pilar
hiding place of political dissidents like
Hermano Pule during the Spanish era
their saints are all Filipinos
self-sufficient and independent from the
Catholic Church







considered Mt. Banahaw as a holy place, a
Holy Land
it is a spiritual center since pre-Hispanic
times
a power mountain having extraordinary
spiritual potency
a center of religious pilgrimages
it has healing power: through orasyon, herbs,
hilot, waters





a sacred natural shrine like a river,
waterfall, peak, cave, or rock (like Catholics Via Crucis)









a sacred natural shrine like a river,
waterfall, peak, cave, or rock (like Catholics Via Crucis)

Rituals for cleansing and purification from sin in
puwestos include:
bathing
lighting a candle
silent prayer
climbing
meditations on the events of Christs passion









Ciudad Mistica de Dios

monothestic; Jose Rizal is not a God nor
messiah but a messenger
worship is directly to God through Jesus
Christ alone
they worshipped the androgynous
masculine and feminine aspects of God
called Dios Ama-Ina: Sa ngalan ng Ama-Ina, at
ng Anak at ng Espiritu Santo.


Ciudad Mistica de Dios

Prepare its members until the
final New Jerusalem (which
was supposed to take place
in the year 2000)

Catholic Church statement
on popular/folk/indigenous religiosity or spirituality:

...if it is well orientedit is rich in values. It manifests
a thirst for God which only the simple and the poor
can know. It makes people capable of generosity
and sacrifice even to the point of heroism, when it is
a question of manifesting belief. It involves an
awareness of profound attributes of God: fatherhood,
providence, loving and constant presence. It engenders
interior attitudes rarely observed to the same degree elsewhere:
patience, the sense of the cross in daily life,
detachment, openness to others, devotion.

Pope Paul VI



Assignment:

Write a one-page essay, Times Roman 11, 1.5 space, 2.0.
margins on all sides by answering this question:

As a Christian, what could you possibly learn for your
faith or search for personal meaning from
indigenous religion or spirituality like the Ciudad
Mistica de Dios?

Submit a hard copy next meeting. Good for 40 points. Prepare for quiz also.