Sister Celine keeps her Christmas promise

ILLUSTRATION BY NASTASHA VERAYO

It was the week before Christmas, and Sister Celine didn’t know what to do! She was helping Mother Sol run the Hope of Angels orphanage in Pasay City, but the old nun lost consciousness, leaving Sister Celine to run the whole place by herself!

To make things worse, Christmas was fast approaching and Mother Sol had left no money to buy food, pay the light and water bills—what was poor Sister Celine to do?

After crying her heart out, Sister Celine dried her tears, said a fervent prayer, and called the 16 remaining orphans in Hope of Angels for a meeting.

She brought them up to date on what was happening, assured them that Mother Sol was doing as best she could, and promised them that she would do everything to make the coming Christmas celebration beautiful and meaningful for them.

“But, how can you do that when we have absolutely no money?” The sour note was struck by the eldest orphan, Rita, who was already 15 years old, but still living in the orphanage.

“Yes, we have no money now, but I will go to our neighbors to ask for help. Don’t worry, God will provide!”

A few hours later, Sister Celine returned with some food for her hungry, young wards. At least they wouldn’t go to bed hungry that night!

However, she was shocked to see that the whole place was in turmoil, with children crying and fighting all over the place! As usual, it was Rita who had started the whole commotion!

Sister Celine did her best to pacify everybody, and the hungry kids wolfed down all of the food she had brought home, like they hadn’t eaten for weeks!

Late at night, Sister Celine prayed for guidance to her usual intercessors in heaven—and got her answer when she heard, from very far away, the strains of a beautiful Christmas carol. “That’s it! We’ll sing carols, too, to make some money to tide us over!”

So, the following night, Sister Celine’s orphans went around the neighborhood, singing carols that touched listeners’ hearts and made them donate P20, P50, even P100 to keep the orphanage open!

It was the Season of Giving, after all! So, when Christmas Eve came around, Sister Celine was confident that she would be able to fulfill her promise to her little wards.

But, horror of horrors, when she got up the following morning, she was shocked to discover that the hundreds of pesos they had gotten from caroling—were gone! With a sinking feeling, Sister Celine realized that the usual suspect, Rita had stolen the precious money and run off with it!

That’s when the hardships of the previous days really hit Sister Celine hard, and she cried out in anger and self-pity—until she heard the children also crying. “No!,” Sister Celine ordered herself. “Don’t give the kids a bad example—there’s still time to keep your promise to them!”

—But, how? Thinking instinctively, they went straight to the public market, which was full of people buying food for Noche Buena that night. Carols are usually sung at night, but there was no time to be lost, so for the first time, the people heard Christmas carols being loudly and fervently sung—in the morning!

The performance boosted the crowd’s Christmas spirit, and they went off to their homes with joy on their faces.

Sister Celine and the kids were even happier, because they discovered that they had enough money for a truly delicious Noche Buena feast!

So, that night of all nights, after hearing midnight Mass, the orphans gathered around the dinner table, which was full of yummy dishes!

Youngest child

—But, before they began eating, Epy, the youngest child, piped up: “If tonight is Christmas Eve, where’s our Christmas tree?”

The unexpected question stumped Sister Celine. How could she have forgotten? Every Christmas season, Mother Sol made very sure that the orphanage would have a tree, because the children felt that it symbolized the colorful, loving spirit of the season. —What to do?!

There was no time to buy a little tree.  Her eyes darted around the big room—and rested on a clothes hanger hanging on the wall.

“Quick, quick,” she instructed the kids, “get more hangers—hangers!”

The urgency in her voice made the kids rush to their rooms and snatch up all the hangers they could find.

As fast as she could, Sister Celine formed the skeleton of an “instant” Christmas tree on the wall. —But, their “tree” looked thin, even skeletal. So, she told them to find “something, anything, everything to decorate our tree!”

The kids excitedly scooted off, and when they came back, they brought “anything and everything” bright, cheerful, colorful and meaningful—a toy, a red bandana, an old Christmas card, a fan, ribbons, bright bits and pieces of this and that, and that and this, which they proceeded to hang on their “instant” Christmas tree!

—When they were through, they stepped back to see what they had created—and, they gasped because—their Christmas tree was beautiful!

Even better, it was made up of different things from their own lives, things that meant something special to each of them—and now, to all of them!

As the tree shimmered beautifully for all to see, Sister Celine and her little orphans cried happy tears as they held each other tight, feeling like a big, loving family—at last!

When she finally found her voice again, Sister Celine sang out, “Merry Christmas, children. Happy Birthday, dear Baby Jesus. And now—let’s eat!”