CHILDHOOD YEARS

IN CALAMBA
Calamba, Hero’s Town
◦ A hacienda town which belongs to the Dominican Order
◦ Covered with irrigated ricefields and sugar-lands
◦ Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Hometown)
◦ Poem he made when he was 15 year old student at Ateneo de Manila in 1876.
Earliest Childhood Memories
◦ He was frail, sickly and undersized child so he was given the tenderest care by his
parents. A kind old woman also employed as his aya(Nurse Maid).
◦ Daily Angelus Prayer, his mother gathers them all to pray the Angelus Prayer and after
that his aya will tell stories about fairies, tales and others that relate to the Rizal children.
◦ Another memory of Rizal is his Nocturnal walk in the town especially when there is
moon.
The Hero’s First Sorrow
◦ When her playmate and the one whom he learned the sweetness of sisterly love, Little
Concha(Concepcion), died of sickness in 1865 when Rizal was only 4 years old.
Devoted Son of the Church
◦ He grew up a good Catholic.
◦ He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in novenas, and to join religious
possessions.
◦ It is said that he was so devouted that he is jokingly called Manong Jose by the
Hermanos and Hermanas Terceras.
Pilgrimage to Antipolo
◦ June 6, 1868, Jose and his Father went to Antipolo to fulfill his mother’s vow which
made when Jose was born. His mother Doña Teodora couldn’t accompany them
because she had given birth to Trinidad.
The Story of the Moth
◦ The tragic fate of the young moth, which died a martyr to its illusions left a deep
impression on Rizal’s mind. He justified such noble death, asserting that to sacrifice
one’s life for it, meaning for ideal, it is worthwhile. And like a young moth, he was fated
to die a martyr for noble ideal.
Artistic Talents
◦ He was 5 years old when he began to sketch and mould in clay and wax.
◦ One interesting anecdote about Rizal was the incident abaout his clays and wax
images. One day when he was six years old his sisters laugh at him for spending so
much time making those images instead of participating in their games. He kept silent
as they laugh with childish glee. But as they were departing he said to them: “Alright!
Laugh at me now! Someday when I die, people will make images and monuments of
me!”.
First Poem by Rizal
◦ Rizal possessed a God-given gift talent for literature.
◦ At the age of 8, he wrote his first poem in our native language titled Sa aking mga
Kababata(To my fellow children)
First Drama by Rizal
◦ It was a Tagalog Comedy. It was staged in Calamba and was appluaded by
audience.
◦ A gobernadorcillo from Paete purchased the manuscript because he witnessed and
liked it so much and brought it home and was staged in Paete during town fiesta.
Rizal as Boy Magician
◦ During his early childhood he is very interested in magic. With his dexterous hands, he
learned various tricks such as making coins disappear or making handkerchief
vanished in thin air.
◦ In Chapter 17-18 of his El Fili, he revealed his wide knowledege about magic.
Lakeshore Reveries
◦ During the twilight hours of summertime, accompanied by his dog, he used to
meditate at the shore of Laguna de Bay on the sad condition of his oppressed people.
◦ Many years later, he wrote to his friend Mariano Ponce about avenging for the victims
of his fellow countrymen.
Influences on the Hero’s Boyhood
◦ In the lives of men there are influences that caused some to be great and some that
are not. In the case of Rizal he has all the favorable influences few other children
enjoyed during his time.
◦ Hereditary influences
◦ Environmental influences
◦ Aid of Divine Providence