Flame Pillar of Rizal

LAST PART: Last Letters of Rizal

Dec. 30, 1896 – 3:00 in the morning, Rizal heard mass and confessed. Then, heard another mass. This was based on the account of Fr. Vicente Balaguer, professor of Rizal in Ateneo and one of the Jesuit priest claims that he managed to persuade Rizal to denounce Masonry and return to the Catholic faith. We cannot say wholly that Rizal retracted for this.

Back to the account, at this point, Rizal asked a question, "Can my soul go to heaven right now?"

After his breakfast, he wrote a letter for his father.

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6:00 A.M. 30-XII-96

My beloved father:

Please pardon me for all the pain with which I have repaid you for all your concern and efforts to give me my education. I did not want this; nor did I expect it. Goodbye, father, goodbye.

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Another letter, undated, was addressed to his sisters. There were some advices and instructions after his death:

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I ask for your pardon for the suffering which I have caused you. But one day or another I have to die, and it is better that I die now in the fullness of my consciousness.

Dear father and brothers: Give my thanks to the Lord who has granted me serenity before my death. I die resigned, and hope that with my death they will leave you in peace. It is better to die than to live with suffering. Be consoled. I suggest that you pardon one another, the little, trivial things of life and try to live united in peace and harmony.

Treat your parents the way you wish your children to treat you. Love them very much in memory of me. Bury me in the earth. Put a stone and a cross, with my name and the dates of my birth and death. Nothing more. If you wish, to put later an enclosure around my grave, you may do so. No anniversaries. I prefer to be buried in Paang Bundok (now Manila North Cemetery). Have pity on poor Josephine.

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Right after this, he wrote his last dramatic letter, undated. It is addressed to his dear brother Paciano:

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It has been four years that we have not seen each other nor written each other, not for lack of affection on my part nor on yours, I believe, but because, knowing each other so well, we did not need to speak to each other in order to understand one another.

Now that I am going to die, it is to you that I dedicate my last lines, to tell you how much I regret leaving you alone in life, burdened with the care of the family and of our aged parents. I bear in mind what you have labored to give me my career. I believe I have tried to make good use of my time.

My brother: if the fruit has been bitter, it was not my fault, but that of circumstances. I know that you have suffered much because of me. I am sorry, I assure you, brother, that I die innocent of the crime of rebellion. If my previous writings have contributed to this, I should not deny it at all, but then I thought that by my exile I was expiating for my past.

Jose

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I also found another letter, dated Dec. 29. The day of arrival of the judge, to inform him of the sentence in his case. Rizal sat down and wrote:

My dear parents and brothers:

I would like to see some of you before I die, though this may cause much pain. Let the brave ones come. There are some important things that I have to tell you. Your son and brother who loves you will all his heart.

Jose Rizal
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Photo: This was his letter to his family

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AUTHOR'S FAREWELL NOTE:

Here is the last entry of my work for this volume 1. Dear readers, on his last day, Rizal was surprisingly calm. He knew that he was making history and wished to act in an exemplary manner till the last moment, in a manifestation of his personal courage. Thus, in order to maintain his serenity. He wanted a life of such high purpose and achievement for the future Filipinos. Novelist, poet, historian, linguist, scientist, educator, doctor, painter, sculptor –seems endless for him. He tried to liberate his people by lighting up their minds. He told the truth and exposed injustice, and paid for it with his life.

And here is how he faced death:

The military doctor felt his pulse and found it absolutely normal.

"You have it very well, man," he said respectfully as the soldiers took aim and he removed himself from the line of fire. "You have it very well."

And that's it, he died... In this ending, I'll leave you a mark question for your mind and answer this, what would the Filipino people become without Rizal?

Next year (2023), I'm sure there will be another Rizalism volume for this. Read more! Adios!