RIZAL’S MORAL

LEGACIES FOR OUR DAILY LIFE

CHAPTER VII

The enduring greatness of Rizal lies in the richness of his ideas and the nobility of his examples. The validity of his thoughts and soul-searching teachings is his legacy to humanity. The applicability of his deathless examples is his heritage to his people. Rizal’s prophetic insights and matchless visions on how the Filipinos can traverse the road to progress so that they can enjoy the fullness of nationhood – economically, politically, educationally. Socially, and culturally under the mantle of national solidarity – are inspiring. He will continue to live because he embodies the virtues of a God-loving son, a freedom-loving citizen, and a universal man who loves his fellowmen.

Why We Need to Know Rizal’s Moral Legacies?

Love of GodPurity and Idealism

Noble ConductLove of Fellowmen

Love of Parents Charity

Love of CountryCourage

Will-Power Honesty

Devotion to Truth

Leading Virtues:

Love of God“I Believe in the Existence of a Creator” Rizal’s first admirable virtue and example was his love and faith in God.

We have been born . . . in the midst of a society whose political life is so anomalous that we have no other hope but to submit or succumb: Whichever is preferable, conscience will decide. Let us then trust in God and in the sincerity of our intention.

When he was studying in Madrid, Spain (1882-1885), Rizal assured his mother of his trust in God.

When his sister Olympia died after childbirth upon his arrival to the Philippines from Europe in August 1887, Rizal remarked: “I console myself saying that it was the will of God and what He does must be the best.” Before parting, Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt gave him a letters of recommendation so that he might not find difficulties upon his return to the Philippines: “I thank you and happen what may, I trust in God.”

I am leaving this evening (July 14, 1892) or tomorrow for Dapitan where I am being banished. I go gladly knowing that the General grants you freedom, and because I believe that wherever I might go I should always be in the hands of God who holds in them the destinies of men.

In July 1892, he was exiled to Dapitan. Before leaving Fort Santiago he wrote to his parents placing his destiny in the hands of God.

Tell everybody to have confidence in me and not to take me always for a child who has to be guided in everything, in what he must like and in what he must not like. If my family has no confidence in me and always treats me like a child, how will others treat me and what confidence will they have in my good judgment? I’m in the hands of God and until the present I have no reason to say that He has abandoned me.

During his exile, Rizal regularly attended mass in the Dapitan church because he never lost faith in God. Once he wrote his sister:

God made man free and promised victory to one who perseveres, to one who struggles, to one who acts justly.

God has promised man his redemption after the sacrifice.

Let man fulfill his duties and God will fulfill His.

In his struggle for his country’s freedom, Rizal called on his countrymen to place their confidence in God.

Purity and Idealism“Pure and Spotless Must the Victim Be.” Another virtue of Rizal worth emulating was his insistence on purity of thoughts and clean behavior.

True virtue, wrote Rizal, is a modest and simple. True Christian virtue is the only, humanitarian, universal, humbly heroic, which the Son of God bequeathed to men as a symbol of peace . . . for the ills not only of the community, people, or race but of all mankind.

What is true virtue?

Rizal exhorted his fellowmen to seek their perfection because it is a duty imposed by God as the Holy Bible tells us:

Be perfect as Thy Heavenly Father is perfect.

Rizal stressed this duty. It is the duty of men to seek his own perfection . . . If man is not perfect he is capable of being perfected.

Perfection in virtue is a condition of our union God. By building up desirable virtues we strive for the goal set for us by God. This especially true if our search for perfection aims at our complete abandonment to the will of God, a requisite for holiness and happiness. The Holy bible urges us:

Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding.

Noble Conduct“Do Good

Always.” Purity of thoughts and clean behavior require that religiousness be shown in “clean conscience,” and “upright thinking.”

That is why it is well to do good always and follow our conscience from which we cannot separate ourselves, for it will be the only one which will console us in our afflictions in all conditions of life.

He reminded his sister Soledad to do good always.

During his exile in Dapitan, he impressed the value of good character among the pupils he taught. The nobility of his conduct was manifested to Governor-General Ramon Blanco when he petitioned for a review of his arbitrary exile in Dapitan.

. . . despite the rage which my enemies have treated me, wrote Rizal, despite the persecutions that my family and myself have suffered; despite the traps they have spread for me in very recent dates, never has a bastard idea occurred to me, never have I resorted to an ignoble act to defend my ideas.

I recommend to you with genuine interest Dr. Jose Rizal who is departing for Peninsula at the disposal of the Government ever desirous of rendering his services as a physician to the Army in Cuba.His conduct during the four years he was an exile in Dapitan has been exemplary and he is, in my opinion, the more worthy of pardon and benevolence as he is in no way involved either in the chimerical attempt that we are lamenting these days or in any conspiracy or secret society that they have been plotting.

Rizal nobility of conduct was confirmed by Governor-General Blanco in his letter to the Spanish Minister of War.

Love of Fellowmen“Let Us Think Well of Our Fellowmen” Another great virtue of Rizal in conformity with what God desires was his love for his fellowmen.

Rizal’s reminded his sister:

Do not try to have the best thing for yourself. Try to do the best for others.

In judging his fellowmen, Rizal expressed sincere love for them. In Noli Me Tangere, a Gospel for Regeneration of the Filipinos, Rizal narrated a conversation between Crisostomo Ibarra and Elias.

Ibarra: “You must admit the necessity of human justice, however, imperfect it may be. . . It is proper, it is necessary, it is just that sometimes man judge his fellowmen.”

Elias: “Yes, to do good, but not to do ill, to correct and to better, but not to destroy, for if his judgments are wrong, he has no power to remedy the evil he has done.”

When his parents worried because of disquieting news about him in Dapitan, Rizal re-emphasized love for fellowmen to a sister: Let us not be hasty in our judgment, but let us think well of our fellowmen. These thought on concern for fellowmen are relevant today because many men have lost the spirit of helping others. We do not realize that the world has a great need of men who encourage their fellowmen.

Do we need advices from our fellowmen? In his letter to the women of Malolos, Rizal underlined this need.

We ought not to depend on ourselves alone, wrote Rizal. We should seek advice, listen to others, and then do what we believe to be the most reasonable.

He stressed the same attitude in a letter to Father Pablo Pastells.

Your Reverence, wrote Rizal, can and should give me all the advices your good heart may prompt you, for it is the duty of men to help one another and do believe that I will always listen to them with gratitude and attention, weighing each one and reflecting deeply on its meaning, for I esteem greatly all that comes from Your Reverence not only for what you have been to me but also for what you are and I would not want that someday when God should ask what I had done with your advices I would not be able to reply.

Love of Parents“I Beg My beloved Parents to Always Bless Their son.” Rizal’s great love for his parents was very admirable. His concern over their sacrifices and his thoughtfulness are worth imitating.

I beg my beloved parents to always bless their son who never forgets the sacrifices that they do for him nor the benefits he owes to them. I trust within a short time to have the pleasure of embracing them and never separate from them again, live with them, help them in everything, and contribute towards the common welfare.

A week after his classes began in Madrid, Spain on October 2, 1882, Rizal wrote his Mother:

I wish to return to that country as soon as possible in order to take part in the work of earning a living, for I have already spent much for a long time without my being able to pit in something. Thank God, I have already finished my medical studies. The doctorate is not very much useful to me now.

After getting the degree for Licentiate in Medicine in June 1884, Rizal expressed his desire to return to help the family.

I, fully aware of these circumstances, wish to return as soon as possible to our own town to avoid more sacrifices on the part of our modest family. If at another time I accepted its support, it was because the future was smiling on us; but now that things have changed (the family was experiencing financial strains). I believe it is my duty to go home and try with my work and savings to contribute as much as possible to our livelihood.

Through the efforts of his parents, Rizal pursued additional studies in medicine in Madrid. Rizal was very grateful for the unselfish help of his parents.

On February 3, 1888, Rizal left the Philippines for the second time. In his short stay in Calamba (from August 1887 to January 1888); he discovered the Spanish authorities in the Philippines opposed freedom of expression concerning the welfare of the Filipinos and the administration of the country. He wrote: I left my country to give my relatives peace.

Now and then he advised his relatives to love and respect their parents. In a letter to Soledad, he urged her to keep improving herself so as to be model of virtues.

I enjoin you . . . to consider the gray hair of out parents; they are already very old and we should sow with glory their old days . . . thanks to our parents you are educated and informed. I speak to you as my sister and I repeat to you: Think of the old age of our parents, of your honor and of ours. You have many nieces; give them a good example and be worthy of yourselves.

Before leaving for Cuba as a volunteer doctor on September 2, 1896, Rizal wrote moving words of farewell.

Take very good care of yourself, wrote Rizal to his mother, and take care of my old father so that we may meet again . . . With nothing more, my beloved mother, I kiss your hand and my father’s with all the love and tenderness that my heart is capable of; give me your blessings that I greatly need.

Before his unjust execution on December 30, 1896 Rizal bade farewell to his family:

Dear parents and brothers: Give thanks to God that I may preserve my tranquility before my death. I die resigned, hoping that with my death you will be left in peace.

And to his brother Paciano he left a message to tell their father how much he loved him.

Tell our father that I remember him, but how? I remember my whole childhood, his tenderness and his love. Ask him to forgive me for the pain I cause him unwillingly.

CharityCharity is the greatest of all the virtues because it inclines us to love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbors for the sake of God.

The Holy Bible tells us:

Without charity the outward work profited nothing; but whatever is done out of charity, be it ever so little and contemptible, all becomes fruitful.

For God regards more with how much affection and love a person performs a work than how much he does.

Charity is another admirable virtue of Rizal. He had a deep understanding of his fellowmen and did what services he could for them. He was glad to help them because doing works of mercy is participating in the providence of God. IN a letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal expressed happiness in helping men.

“I feel happy when I can give joy to somebody.”

When Rizal was a student in the University of Sto. Thomas (1878-1882), he taught Latin to many boys in Calamba, Laguna during summer vacations. During the exile in Dapitan, he taught several subjects including good manners and right of conduct to a number of boys. Upon his return to Calamba in August 1887, he made physical exercise popular, treated many patients and performed operations on several others. These medical services were done even if the patient could not afford to pay them. He kept busy on similar enterprises during his exile in Dapitan, constructing little “hospitals,” and giving away medicine free.

Rizal rendered other woks of charity: serving as interpreter to passenger during his return trip to the Philippines in July 1887, offering his room to several friends who wished to visit the Paris Exposition in 1889, acting as guide to the Filipinos who visited Paris Exposition, collecting insects for several German scientists during his Dapitan exile, and complying with different requests made by friends and other individuals.

Forgiveness as an act of charity was also shown by Rizal in many instances. He forgive Lieutenant Porta who lashed him on the back, Archbishop Pedro Payo for doing great harm to the cause of justice undertaken by the Filipinos, Juan Lardett, the Frenchman, who made insulting remarks on the Filipino farmers in Dapitan, and his enemies who desired his execution.

Love of Country“My Dreams Was My Country’s Prosperity.” Dedication to one’s was an admirable virtue of Rizal. In saying that it is man’s duty to seek his own perfection, Rizal set an ideal for man to attain.

Our life is a perpetual toast, an eternal aspiration, an insatiable desire. . . It is a useless life which is not consecrated to a great idea. It is a stone wasted in the fields without becoming a part of any edifice.

Man needs an objective to which he must aim his actions, he must delineate a purpose, see beyond matter and the general hubhub, he needs something worthy of his being and of his faculties.

If we have no duties, if we live for no one but ourselves, if selfishness were, even if not a virtue, a state that is not censurable, how happily I would spend my life beside my family neither demanding nor wishing for anything, neither expecting nor hoping to be useful to anyone but myself. But as God has not made anything useless in this world, as all beings fulfill a role in this sublime drama of creation, I too, have a mission to fill as for example: alleviating the suffering of my people.

He elaborated on this idealism:

Rizal dedicated his whole life in securing freedom for his country and happiness for his people, a devotion unparalleled in the history of his country. “My mission,” he told his former mentor at the Ateneo, Father Francisco Paula de Sanchez, “is to make men worthy.” “I swore to avenge cruelties and injustices,” Rizal wrote Mariano Ponce. “The whole thought of my whole life,” wrote Rizal to Governor-General Eulogio Despujol, “has always been love of my country and her moral and material development.” To his people he addressed a manifesto: “My dream was my country’s prosperity.”

Courage

“If I’m to Be Condemned for desiring the Welfare of My Country, Condemn Me.”

Rizal’s courage in loving his country is a virtue that is very relevant today. His moral courage to do only the best for his people is worth imitating by our leaders. Rizal possessed the essential element of responsive leadership that is, attending to the needs of the people in order to keep their love and affection.

Because Rizal believed that man was given a conscience to distinguish between right and wrong and because he believed that only reason can correct his errors, he appealed to the conscience of every Spaniards to judge what he was doing for his people.

I would like Filipino people to become worthy, noble, honorable, for a people who makes itself despicable for its cowardice or vices exposes itself to abuses and vexations.

Now, if I’m to be punished or condemned for having desired the unity of my fellow countrymen, the welfare of my countrymen, her material development, her equality as far as possible to the provinces in Spain in order not to be called a colony, if this is punishable, condemn me.

Will-Power “Always with Our Gaze Fixed on Our Country.” Rizal’s decision to give his life for his country demonstrated the perfection of his will to do the duty assigned to him by God.

This was an admirable virtue considering that Spain had adopted a policy of implanting an inferiority complex on the Filipinos the better govern them. Rizal did not accept the belief that his people were irredeemable.

The worst and cowardliest of man, is always, something more than a plant, because he has a soul and an intelligence, which, however, vitiated and brutalized they may be, can be redeemed.

Honesty

“The greatest Honor that a Son Can Pay to His Parents Is integrity and a Good Name.”

In writing the Noli Me Tangere, Rizal expressed his frankness regarding of its consequences.

I have lifted the curtain . . . in order to show is behind the deceitful and glittering words of our government. I have told our complaints, our defects, our vices, our culpable and cowardly complacency with the miseries over there (in the Philippines). Whenever I have found virtue, I have proclaimed it and rendered homage to it . . . The incidents I relate are all true they have happened.

During his exile in Dapitan, Rizal assured Blumentritt that his letters, although censored by the Politico-Commander because he was a deportee, were candid expression of the truth.

I would cut off my hand first, rather than write an untrue thing.

These thoughts and acts of honesty were the outcomes of faith in this virtue. In a letter to his mother when told not to forget his Christian duties, Rizal said:

The greatest legacy that parents can bequeath their children is rectitude in judgment, generosity in rights, and steadfastness in adversity; the greatest honor that a son can pay to his parents is integrity and a good name, that the acts of the son may never make his parents live with indignation or shame, and the rest God will provide.

Devotion for Truth“It is Not Good to Hide the Truth.” Rizal’s constant search for the truth in serving his country was inspiring virtue that endeared him to his people. “ An Honest Men is the Nobles Work of God.”

During his student days in Madrid, he reassured his mother of his love for truth.

I think its best not to hide the truth from you, because you would hear about it anyway.