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Archives ‘We give you to God because He healed you’

November 25, 2020

By Mary Beth Bracy
Contributing Writer

SARANAC LAKE – “During monsoon season, travelling by boat is risky, but we have no choice. One has to face gigantic waves as high as 10 meters (over 30 feet!),” shared Father Alex V. Guimpol, about traveling to Our Lady of Penafrancia Church, located on the island of Balaton, Lagonoy, in the Philippines. It took three hours to travel to his church, facing the Pacific Ocean.

Father Guimpol was born on November 20, 1973 in Naga City, in the Archdiocese of Caceres. He grew up in Pili, Camarines Sur. From a family of eight children, three boys and five girls, Father Guimpol is the sixth child and youngest boy. At 40 days old, Father Guimpol was hospitalized.

It was “a life and death situation. The doctor advised my parents to pray for miracles. They made a promisa, a covenant to God,” Father Guimpol said.

If he survived the procedure, they would give him to God, “because He healed you.” They connected this to Father Guimpol entering the seminary, “But, in my younger years, I wanted to become a soldier.”

His parents volunteered to have him “act as an Easter Angel during holy week,” he said.

“In the Philippines, the celebration of Easter begins before dawn,” Father Guimpol said. “We rise by 4 a.m. for a ritual procession called ‘Salubong’ or ‘Encuentro.’ It’s a pre-dawn meeting of two processed images, the Risen Christ, and the image of a still-mourning Mary, covered in a black dress and veil. The Angel unveils Mary before meeting the statue of the Resurrected Christ.”

Father Guimpol’s parents told him: “You entered the seminary because God called you. And we promised Him that you will act as an Easter Angel.”

His father, Ciriaco Guimpol was born in 1923, in Milaor. He was orphaned and raised by his four older siblings. Due to poverty, they didn’t have formal education, but he was really good with math. During the outbreak of WWII, he and his brothers joined the guerilla movement to resist the Japanese occupation. His two brothers didn’t survive. Every First Friday, his father left early in the morning to go to Hinulid to pray, attend Mass and venerate the sacred statue of Christ laid to rest.

“On Sunday, we would go to Church as a family,” added Father Guimpol.

Lydia Velasco, Father Guimpol’s mother, came from a very religious family, with 11 children. She was born in 1941, the second among 11. One of the eldest, she went to school until sixth grade. After, she stopped so that her other siblings could finish their studies.

“She helped my grandparents earn their livelihood by selling cooked food and vegetables,” Father Guimpol said.

“Through hard work and sacrifices my parents provided us with a good education by sending us to Catholic schools,” remembered Father Guimpol.

His parents said: “Education is a treasure that you cannot take away from us, the only treasure that we can give you.”

Father Guimpol attended Pili Central School, followed by St. Catherine Laboure.

“My siblings and I were so active in the Church,” he said. “We joined Chiro Youth Movement. This organization is involved in faith formation and catechesis; choir and altar service.”

From fourth grade until the end of high school, he was an altar server.

During his fourth year of high school, religious congregations held vocation campaigns. Boys were exempted from classes to attend. The seminary invited them to orientation. Father Guimpol’s friends asked him to join them in entering. His father discouraged him, since they didn’t have relatives on his side, and he wanted him to continue his name.

In 1990, a month after his entrance, Father Guimpol’s father visited him and accepted his decision. His family and siblings were supportive. He is “the good boy” and, among his six best friends who entered, the first ordained. He attended Holy Rosary seminary, and became a priest on March 15, 2000, the Jubilee year.

Father Guimpol was assigned to St. Andrew Parish at Sagnay, a coastal town. Then, in 2002, he was sent to St. Anthony of Padua in Iriga City. In 2004, he was appointed administrator of Our Lady of Penafrancia Mission Station of Sacred Heart Parish, Garchitorena. In fact, Father Guimpol proposed that the parish be named after Our Lady of Penafrancia. It was providential because on that island the people had a great devotion to her. He was the pioneer priest; it is the first and only island parish in their archdiocese. In 2005, it was made a separate parish.

“It is one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese and most of the people are farmers and fishermen,” Father Guimpol said. “Most of the residents are not Catholics.”

Many young people didn’t finish school; they went to big towns and worked as servants or construction workers to help provide for their families. The people were rich in faith, and they had a lot of conversions to the Catholic faith. With the help of the Archdiocesan mission office and seminarians, they conducted youth and adult catechesis.

During the first months, Father Guimpol celebrated Mass in a house. Then, they were able to use wood and palm leaves to build a temporary church, which was rebuilt due to typhoons. In 2007, Archbishop Legaspi told him that 2010 would mark 300 years of diocesan devotion to Our Lady of Penafrancia; he said that the best gift the parish could give to Our Lady was a church building “where people could gather to pray and worship.”

Father Guimpol applied for grants and, within two years, raised $200,000. Half of the funds were donated by a family devoted to Our Lady of Penafrancia. In 2010, they gave “the best gift” of a church building to Our Lady.

During stormy season, people seek refuge in the church. He also constructed the rectory and parish hall, and procured funds from the government for the water system for the island. In 2012, Father Guimpol was transferred to St. John of the Cross Parish, Agadangan, Baao.

On August 15, 2017, the Archbishop sent him to St. Bernard’s in Saranac Lake. He thinks it is “providential” because he is surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains. Father Guimpol said he “fell in love with the people, mountains, and lakes. The people are very warm and welcoming.”

He relishes the different seasons and does a lot of hiking, kayaking, and canoeing. He has climbed several of the 46 mountains, including Mount Marcy.

“It’s a heaven on earth experience,” Father Guimpol said.

At St. Bernard’s, Father Guimpol’s first pastor was Father Patrick Ratigan, who he considered a father figure.

“I really thank him for his guidance and for introducing me to the parish life and ministry,” Father Guimpol said. “He’s very well organized and systematic in the parish administration. I enjoyed his company plus his dog, Iggy.”

Father Guimpol said he “really loves the company of his current pastor, Father Martin Cline, with Msgr. CJ McAvoy and Father Joseph Giroux.”

“We take turns cooking, helping in different work and liturgical activities,” Father Guimpol said. “I’m very thankful for Bishop Terry LaValley and to the clergy of the Diocese of Ogdensburg for their fraternal acceptance and guidance to us missionary priests.”

Father Guimpol said he continues his time in the North Country trying to share “The joy of the priesthood, doing things for God, giving yourself for the love and service of the Church.”

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