CHILDHOOD

YEARS IN
CALAMBA

Anicete, Carlo Angelo O.

Aquino, Ruzzel Patrick L.

CHILDHOOD YEARS IN
CALAMBA

Jose Rizal had many beautiful

memories of childhood in his native
town, Calamba.
He grew up in a happy home, ruled by
good parents, bubbling with joy, and
sanctified by Gods blessings.
Calamba was named after a big native
jar, was a fitting cradle for a hero.

CALAMBA, THE HEROES TOWN

Calamba, was an hacienda town which

belonged to the Dominican Order.
It is a picturesque town nestling on a
verdant plains covered with irritated
rice fields and sugar-lands.
A few kilometers to the south looms the
legendary Mount Makiling in
somnolent grandeur.

Mount Makiling

CALAMBA, THE HEROES TOWN

Beyond this mountain is the province

of Batangas.
East of the town is the Laguna de Bay.
In the middle of the lake towers is the
distant Antipolo, famous mountain
shrine of the miraculous Lady of Peace
and Good Voyage.

Laguna de Bay

CALAMBA, THE HEROES TOWN

Rizal loved Calamba with all his

heart and soul.
In 1876, he was a student in
Ateneo de Manila.
He wrote a poem Un Receurdo A
Mi Pueblo (In Memory of my
Town)

EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
MEMORIES

The first memory of Rizal, in his

infancy, was his happy days in the
family garden.
Because he was frail, sickly and
undersized child, he was given the
tenderest care by his parents.

EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
MEMORIES

His father built a nipa cottage in

the garden for him to play in day
time.
A kind old woman was employed
as an aya to look at his comfort.
Another childhood memory was
the daily Angelus prayer.

EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
MEMORIES

Rizal also remembered the happy

moonlit nights at the azotea after
the nightly Rosary.
Another memory of his infancy
was the nocturnal walk in the town.

EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
MEMORIES

Recounting this childhood experience in

his student memoirs, Rizal wrote:

Thus my heart fed on sombre and

melancholic thoughts so that even while still
a child, I already wandered on wings of
fantasy in the high regions of the unknown.

THE HEROS FIRST

SORROW

The Rizal children were bound

together by ties of love and
companionship.
Of his sisters, Jose loved most
little Concha (Concepcion)
Unfortunately, Concha died of
sickness in 1865.

DEVOTED SON OF
CHURCH

At the age of 3, he began to take part in the

family prayers.
When he was 5 years old, he was able to
read haltingly the Spanish family Bible.
One if the men he esteemed and respected
in Calamba during his boyhood was the
scholarly Father Leoncio Lopez.

Father
Leoncio
Lopez

PILIGRIMAGE TO
ANTIPOLO

On June 6, 1968, Jose and his father

left Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to
Antipolo.
It was the first trip of Jose across
Laguna de Bay and his first pilgrimage
to Antipolo.
After praying at the shrine of the Virgin
Antipolo, they went to Manila.

THE STORY OF THE MOTH

On the stories told by Dona

Teodora to Jose, it was the young
moth made the profoundest
impression on him.
The tragic fate of the young moth,
which died a martyr to its illusions,
left a deep impress on Rizals mind.

The story the of Moth

ARTISTIC TALENTS

Since early childhood Rizal revealed his

God-given talent for art.
At the age of five, he begun to make
sketches and to mould in clay and wax
objects which attracted his fancy.
Jose had a soul of a genuine artist.

FIRST POEM BY RIZAL

Aside from sketching and sculpturing

talent, Rizal possessed a God-given gift
for literature.
His mother encouraged him to write
poetry.
The first poem that he wrote was a
Tagalog poem entitles Sa Aking Mga
Kababata ( To My Fellow Children)

FIRST DRAMA BY RIZAL

When he was eight years old, he wrote

his frist dramatic work which was a
Tagalog Comedy.
This drama was staged in Calamba in
connection with the town fiesta.

RIZAL AS BOY MAGICIAN

Since early manhood Rizal had

been interested in magic. He
learned various tricks.
In chapter 17 and 18 of his second
novel, El Filibusterismo (Treason),
he revealed his wide knowledge of
magic.

LAKESHORE REVERIES

During the twilight hours of

summertime Rizal, accompanied by his
pet dog, used to meditate at the shore of
Laguna de Bay.
He grieved deeply over the unhappy
situation of his beloved fatherland.
The Spanish misdeeds awakened in his
boyish heart a great determination to
fight tyranny.

INFLUENCES ON THE HEROS

BOYHOOD

In the lives of all men there are

influences which cause some to be great
and other not.
These influences are the following:
1. Hereditary Influence
2. Environmental Influence
3. Aid of Divine Providence

HEREDITY INFLUENCE

According to biological science there are

inherent qualities which a person inherits
from ancestors and parents.
From Malayan ancestors, Rizal evidently,
inherited his love for freedom, his innate
desire to travel and his indomitable courage.
From Chinese ancestors he derived his
serious nature, frugality, patience and love
for children.

HEREDITY INFLUENCE

From Spanish ancestors he got his

elegance of bearing, sensitivity to insult
and gallantry to ladies.
From his father he inherited a profound
sense of self-respect, the love for work and
the habit of independent thinking.
And from his mother his religious nature,
the spirit of self-sacrifice and the passion
for arts and literature.

ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCE

According to psychologist, environment as

well as heredity affects the nature of a
person.
It includes places, associates and events.
The beautiful scenic of Calamba and the
beautiful garden of the Rizal family
stimulated the inborn artistic and literary
talents of Jose Rizal.

ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCE

The religious atmosphere at his home

fortified his religious nature.
His brother Paciano instilled in his mind the
love for freedom and justice.
From sisters he learned to be courteous and
kind to women.
The fairy tales told by his aya awakened his
interest in folklore and legends.

AID OF DIVINE
PROVIDENCE

Greater than heredity and environment

in the fate of man is the aid of Divine
Providence.
A person may have everything in life
brains, wealth, and power but without
the aid of Divine Providence ne cannot
attain greatness in the annals of the
nation.

AID OF DIVINE
PROVIDENCE

Rizal was providentially destined

to be the pride and glory of his
nation.
God had endowed him with the
versatile gifts of a genius, the
vibrant spirit of a nationalist and
the valiant heart to sacrifice for a
noble cause.