Palo, Leyte, Philippines, June 4, 2020
Photo: phvieparchy.org
Speakers of the Filipino Waray language will now be able to pray in church in their native tongue.
In particular, the Hours and Typika were translated by the Blessed Matrona of Moscow Training Center. Waray is the language of one of the peoples living on the Visayan Islands, spoken by parishioners of the community of St. Nikolai (Velimirovich) in Palo, Leyte, who can now begin their Orthodox prayers in their own language, reports the Filipino-Vietnamese Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Previously they were able to pray only in English or the Filipino Tagalog language.
Waray was and is spoken by those living on the island of Tubaboa, where 6,000 Russians, together with St. John (Maximovitch), found temporary shelter 70 years ago.
“Thus, by the prayers of St. John, Orthodox preaching has come to the descendants of those Filipinos who extended generous hospitality to the Russian refugees,” the diocese notes.
July 2 is officially commemorated as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco Day in the municipality of Guiuan, which includes Tubabao Island.
In 2017, an app was launched presenting 300 sayings of the Holy Fathers in the Cebuano language, spoken by about 20 million Filipinos.
