Cresencia Labuguen
Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
On Feb. 24, St. Catherine Church in Kapaa, Kauai, recognized Cresencia Labuguen for her over 60 years of service to the church.
According to fellow parishioner Carol Aki: “Every single day, Cres opened the church before 5:30 a.m. and spent the first hour making sure the readings and everything was in order before Mass. She also led the daily rosary, lectored weekly and, on Mondays, she led the Miraculous Medal novena.
“When I came to St. Catherine’s, she was the first person I met. She was the secretary for the church and for the school. Basically as she got older, she needed to give up this and that responsibility. It took many people to replace one. She is a pillar of the church.”
Sister Malia: As you are 88 years old now, how is it that you stayed in service since you were in your 20s?
Labuguen: My mom was inspirational in her service to the church and giving us a good foundation in the faith. My father on the other hand didn’t go to church so often.
After the war, my mom would often get called to lead the traditional Filipino style of novena prayers when people died. She would explain the prayers to them and let them respond in their own dialect.
I used to go with her from house to house, from Kapaa to Kilauea to Puhi. Being exposed to the prayers while I was small, I gradually learned them. The Ama Namin was the Our Father; the Aba Ginoong Maria was the Hail Mary. Her prayers took about an hour. Thus, faith is central to my life.
Growing up on a plantation where my father worked, everything was free. The camp was located above Kapaa and before Hanalei. My siblings and I used to walk to Kapaa Elementary and High School. St. Catherine’s Church at that time was located by the ocean.
As my younger sister wanted to pursue nursing, I asked my mom one day if I could join the military to help with the finances as we were relatively poor.
It is from my four years in the Air Force that I adapted the system to make a plan and follow through. This helped me later in my service to the church. To do things because they need to be done is important. It is not about recognition or anything like that. You do it for God.
When I first started going out with my husband-to-be, Delpidio, one of his sisters said to him, “Why are you going out with her?” Delpidio asked, “Why? What’s wrong?” His sister responded, “Because she goes to church, and you don’t.” After we were married, I got him to do things he normally wouldn’t do as somebody had to help me. For a while, he even became a lector.
I still keep to a certain pattern in my life. I daily pray the rosary, read the Bible and say both the morning and evening prayers in the Magnificat prayer book that I subscribe to.
As I reach 89 years of life in April, I know that when you turn to God for help, there is nothing impossible for you. Because He knows what we are going to do before we know it and He is always there with us.
