Manoling francisco sj biography

Manuel Simplicio Valdes Francisco was born and raised in QuezonCity, Philippines, on Feb. 26, 1965.
Educated at the Ateneo de Manila High School, he grew up playing keyboard, and trained for a career in classical piano.
Francisco, Manuel, SJ, STD, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology.

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Tag Archives: Manoling Francisco

“When the heart is full, the overflow is music.” – Sir Onofre Pagsanhan

I owe much of who I am now because of Jesuit education. One of the things I admire them very much for is their thirst to find God in all things and making use of it to serve in His greater glory– most especially the art of music. Fr. Catalino Arevalo makes this very clear in his foreward in the album, Far Greater Love. He wrote:

If we read through the history of Jesuit missionary work, even just the magnificent pages in Father (Horacio) de la Costa’s The Jesuits in the Philippines, 1581 – 1768, we will see what a significant role music played in the work of evangelization … Already in the first Jesuit centuries, “Jesuit music” made its mark: from the beginnings we have Jesuit contributions to baroque music played in Jesuit churches and taught and sung in Jesuit colleges. We all saw the movie The Mission and were moved by the Indian boys singing its music. The Paraguay reductions wrote a glorious chapter in Jesuit music… As has been wel

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Himig Heswita is almost as old as the Society of Jesus.

As Fr. Catalino Arevalo writes, in his foreword to the album Far Greater Love:

Ifwe read through the history of Jesuit missionary work, even just the magnificent pages in Father (Horacio) de la Costa’s The Jesuits in the Philippines, 1581 – 1768, we will see what a significant role music played in the work of evangelization … Already in the first Jesuit centuries, “Jesuit music” made its mark: from the beginnings we have Jesuit contributions to baroque music played in Jesuit churches and taught and sung in Jesuit colleges. We all saw the movie The Mission and were moved by the Indian boys singing its music. The Paraguay reductions wrote a glorious chapter in Jesuit music… As has been well said, the arts – not least of them music – have always been part of the Jesuit “way of proceeding”.

Such is the tradition from which Himig Heswita springs. It is a tradition that aims to make use of all things, music included to praise, reverence and serve the Creator. It is a tradition that seeks to lead people back to God – by the

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A Liturgical Music Weekend with Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ

The Catholic Sacred Music Ministry recently organised a weekend Liturgical Music Workshop at Blessed Sacrament Church Hall, BDC. The programme comprised a liturgical talk open to all the faithful, and a music composition workshop limited to those with some formal training in music.

Fr. Felix Au, Rector of Blessed Sacrament Church, described how music has a special way of moving our souls and touching our hearts – to express our love for God. He was happy that a talented team of Kuching musicians had come together to try to provide a platform for musicians to compose locally inspired liturgical music. This is one sign of a maturing Catholic community.

Kuching’s Catholic community enjoying a liturgical sing-a-long session with Fr Manoling

The weekend talk and workshop were led by Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ. He grew up thinking he would, one day, become a concert pianist. However, when he was slated to perform his first public recital, he felt God’s calling…his life was to be committed elsewhere.

Fr. Mano