VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
It was my older sister who was supposed to become a religious. However, my parents would not allow her to enter the convent. And then, came my second sister who desired the same, but she was not allowed to leave either. My only brother wanted to join the seminary, but my parents did not like the idea. So, at 16 years of age I ran away from home. I had five pesos in my pocket.
I came from a faith-filled family. My parents were very devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Every evening, my family would pray the rosary. In the morning, we would wake up at 4 a.m. to pray the rosary again — this time with arms outstretched.
On the other hand, there was a set routine I grew up with. Being the fourth child out of six girls and one boy, my mother was quite strict with us. We never ventured outside of our barangay. We never attended parties, dances or other socials. Our routine was: go to school; go home. On my way to school, I stopped in the church to say a prayer. After school on my way home, I stopped by the church again to kiss the big crucifix.
It wasn’t until sixth grade that I met a sister. The Dominican Sisters were teaching at Our Lady of Fatima Academy in Dao and paid a visit to our house. After graduating from high school in March, I planned to run away from home in April with my older sister’s help. She had already arranged the plan with the Dominican Sisters. Packing up my birth certificate and a rosary in an empty mosquito coil box, I had five pesos in hand.
As it was election time, everyone was out of the house. Too young to vote, I left home and walked and walked where no one could see me. I finally caught a ride on a tricycle (a Filipino motorcycle and sidecar). The driver kept asking me where I was going. I kept looking for the place to catch the jeepney to the sisters’ convent in Dumalag.
“Huh?” the driver asked me, “You running away from home?”
When we reached the place, he did not take my money. “You know,” he said, “My daughter is studying at St. Martin Academy in Dumalag. When you become a sister, please pray for my family.” He told the jeepney driver to take me to St. Martin and he paid for my fare. From there, I finally made my way to the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse in Molo, Iloilo, with the five pesos and an additional 20 given by the sisters for the four-hour long bus ride.
When I returned home about a week later, after a series of topsy-turvy events of my parents panicking and heartbroken looking for me, everyone in my barangay treated me as if I was the lost son/daughter that finally returned home. People asked me, “How was it there in the convent?” Remembering the sisters singing the Salve Regina on Saturday night during compline prayers, I could only respond, “It’s heaven.” My parents then gathered the required needs the convent requested for entering and gave me their blessing.
Sister Ma. Alma Amancio is a Dominican Sister of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines from Dao, Capiz. She is 40 years professed. In Hawaii, she served at St. Elizabeth School in Aiea. Sister Amancio is principal of Holy Angels School in Colma, California.