While doing research on Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, I discovered some tidbits about his life. He was essentially a non-practicing Catholic who found conversion before he was executed.
The Sacred Heart image that he sculpted and kept in his room was given some historical importance.
Whether the conversion happened or not is hotly debated. But I guess the best persons to ask would be the Jesuits whom he was in contact with or his descendants.
Fortunately, I discovered the writings of two priests whom I have met personally. Both of them are already deceased. Fr. Victor Badillo is a Jesuit priest and Fr. Marciano Guzman is a descendant.
As a student, Jose Rizal carved a 9-inch statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on baticuling wood, using only his pen knife. He would soon forget about this statue especially when he became a liberal in religious and political affairs.
Fr. Badillo writes:
"In August 1887, Rizal returned to the Philippines and stayed till early 1888. Now a liberal in matters political as well as religious, he visited his Jesuit friends at the Ateneo. On his way out, the Jesuit porter showed him the statuette. Rizal replied, "Other times, Brother, other times. I no longer believe in such things."
https://monkshobbit.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/jose-rizals-statue-of-the-sacred-heart-travel-history-and-other-notes/
At the hour of his death, Rizal would obtain the Sacred Heart image and keep it on the table where he wrote Mi Ultimo Adios.
"On the night before his execution, it was to Fr. Jose Vilaclara SJ, his former Physics teacher, that Rizal made his sacramental confession and be reconciled to the Church."
Fr. Marciano Guzman is a direct descendant of Rizal's younger sister Soledad and attested to Rizal's final conversion:
"The most formidable proof is the document of Rizal's retraction of errors and profession of faith, duly signed and drawn in his own handwriting from beginning to end."
https://monkshobbit.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/fr-marciano-m-guzman-on-the-retraction-and-conversion-of-jose-rizal/
He goes on to narrate all the evidence surrounding his conversion.
In the end, He also mentioned that conversion is not due to any one person, not even the image of the Sacred Heart, but is due to the grace of God.
"Of course, God can and does make use of human instruments and external circumstances to produce a conversion. Nevertheless, we have to affirm that a conversion is the exclusive work of God's interior graces."
I just thought that this was an interesting slice of history.
Rizal celebrates his birthday on June 19. You may want to visit his birthplace in Calamba, Laguna. Happy birthday Jose Rizal!
https://joyposadaswrites.blogspot.com/2015/06/happy-birthday-jose-rizal.html
