Mike Arroyo's kin may become a saint - report

MANILA, Philippines - The great-grandaunt of First Gentleman Jose Miguel 'Mike' Arroyo may soon become a saint as the move to beatify Mother Rosario Arroyo O.P., foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines, gained ground shortly after the visit of a Vatican-based priest. The Mother Rosario Arroyo Commission, based at the Dominican sisters Motherhouse in Iloilo City, requested the faithful for prayers and testimonies of Arroyo's intercession. "We actually launched our movement in 2004 but it was only recently when we were assisted by Vatican City-based Fr. Sam Silloriquez," Sister Leonor Gerlito, a member of the Mother Rosario Arroyo Commission, said in a statement Tuesday night on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website. She said Silloriquez visited their congregation three weeks ago and talked with Mother Visitation Alecto, their former superior general and now head of the Commission. Rosario Arroyo was born Maria Beatriz del Rosario Arroyo in Molo, Iloilo City on Feb. 17, 1884 to Don Ignacio Arroyo and Dona Maria Pidal, the only daughter of three children. Her two brothers were Jose Maria Arroyo and Mariano Arroyo. Jose Maria Arroyo became a senator in 1919 while Mariano Arroyo became governor of Iloilo in 1928. Senator Arroyo married Jesusa Lacson of Negros Occidental and the union produced seven children, one of whom was Ignacio Arroyo. Ignacio Arroyo was the father of First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo. The young Maria Beatriz joined the religious life in the Beaterio de Sta. Catalina in Manila and made her profession on January 3, 1914. She taught at the Beaterio of Manila and in Lingayen. "Despite her family background, she was a great lover of poverty and did much to alleviate the miseries of the poor, materially and spiritually. She was well known for her assiduous mortifications, unceasing prayers and purity of life," the CBCP said. It added Mother Rosario's congregation said she "personified optimism and unfaltering trust in God's loving providence and added through her unconditional self-giving, she enriched others." During the Congregation's First General Chapter of January 3-6, 1953, she was elected the First Superioress General of the Congregation. Madre Sayong or Madre Maestra died peacefully on June 14, 1957, after serving the congregation for 32 years. The congregation has over 250 professes sisters in the Archdioceses of Capiz, Jaro, Manila and the Dioceses of Bacolod, Imus, Mati, San Jose de Antique and Tagum and in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, USA, Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii, Diocese of Chalan Kanoa and Diocese of Ngong, Kenya in East Africa and Rome, Italy. - GMANews.TV