In Memory of Fr. Jerome Calcagno, CM

Father Jerome Calcagno, CM, was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, born on September 7, 1923. He died at Our Lady of Wisdom Health Care Center in New Orleans on August 22, 2005. He was 81 years old.

Postcards
by Emiliano Dumalaog

During my college days in Angono, I seldom received any mail. I was
envious of other seminarians who regularly received letters from
family and friends. Remember that it was long before the advent of the internet, cellphones and other means of instant messaging. So, I was quite surprised one day when I received a letter from the United States. It was from Fr. Jerome Calcagno. It contained several
postcards and a note from him explaining that he remembered how I wanted to collect postcards. The postcards commemorate the newly restored Statue of Liberty in Staten Island. I was touched by the unexpected gesture of thoughtfulness from Fr. Jerome. Imagine, months have passed since I last saw him and I only mentioned that I am fond of collecting postcards in one of my short conversations with him.

Still, it was not totally unexpected of Fr. Jay ( as we seminarians
affectionaly called Fr. Jerome) to show that he cared. I know that
eventhough his stay in Tandang Sora was relatively short, the whole
community came out to wish him farewell when it was time for him to return to the United States.

Farewell, Father. Even though I no longer collect postcards, I have enough good memories to last me a lifetime.


A Sad Link
by Arthur Jimenez

Emoy's writing moved me to google JEROME CALCAGNO.. Lo and behold a link.. the first hit in the google search result.. The Obituary of Father Jerome Calcagno, CM (1923–2005). I was speechless. My ears became numb... I just couldn't believe..

I was one of the privileged few who had a peek into Fr. Jerome's inner sanctum. I've been his room cleaner for the whole time he was with us at SVS. Although the cleaning assignments changed, he asked me to go there and check his room after the assigned cleaner did his part. Giving me a copy of the key to his room was an act I couldn't believe him doing... It was a privilege and a gift so special that I cherish until now.

It just took me, then, 10 to 15 minutes cleaning his room by the fire exit. First, there was nothing to clean except for some occasional hair that fell or fine dust that entered. Second, his room was sealed with windows often shut because it was airconditioned. My job was nothing compared to the "kuskos-piga-buhos" ritual of toilet cleaners... Nothing compared to cobweb removers "tingala-sungkit" moves. Everytime I entered his room, I was transported to another place in time with scents so different from the usual.. almost like opening a balikbayan box from the US..

Every time I cleaned and Fr. Jay was not around, he always left a note and a small present.. candies, stampitas, chocolates, some US magazines which needed further "CUM PERMISU SVS".. This thing made me really look forward to house cleaning time..

The way he wrote the letter "J" in his name is something I tried to copy with the way I wrote my name but to no avail. I kept the short notes he left me until I left SVS. The last time I heard from him, he was assigned in a parish in New Orleans. That was the return address he wrote when he sent me a Christmas card with a 20-dollar bill carefully wrapped in carbon paper... The dedication went, "Arthur, Merry Christmas!... Sorry, no baluts anywhere!"

Then this link.. and I'm at a loss... Why is it an obituary?

Fr. Jay, wherever you are.. Thank you!! I'm very sure, you know what I mean by that!



Who Can Ever Forget
by Jung Del Barrio

Who can ever forget Fr. Jerome Calcagno... He was our (Special Class) English/Religion teacher during my first year at SVS. Talking about fond memories, i have both bad and good ones. I'd start off with the bad then.

Remember Ronald "Bagyo" Bona? The monicker bagyo was actually for the volleyball serves Ronald had in his arsenal of volley skills which almost ended up in a fight during an inter seminary sportsfest. No libero would dare accept Ronald's serves. hehehe!

Anyway, Ronald then had a wound on his left leg which grew to around 50x when he had it topped with penicillin. He was seated in front of me during one of Fr. Jerome's lectures when, accidentally, I nudged "the wound". Ronald then erupted into a scream which also resulted into a scream from Fr. Jerome. Ronald tried to explain but to no avail so we were both sent out of the room. I also tried to, since I was the culprit but Fr. Jerome was too insistent. After a mouthful of prudent "what-nots" we decided to leave the room. Ronald went out first but when I started to turn my back I was again given a mouthful, telling me that i am very disrespectful. He said that I wasn't suppose to turn my back while I am being given those mouthfuls. Being the promdi and the fact that I was not able to speak for what I thought should be shrugged off since it was an accident, I cried... This was one of the many times that I used the chapel as my refuge whenever I succumbed to the usual homesickness of the newbies in the seminary.

Tough as he may have appeared to me, I learned something about Americans. They have to stand firm to what they believe is the right way to form a seminarian. Pinoys will always be pinoys. We sometimes get to be guilty even if we know for a fact that we are not. In short we visited Fr. Jerome in his room. Thankfully, we were able to deliver our prepared speech of apology. Apologies accepted. End of story. We got to see again the smile on Fr. Jerome's face whenever we see him in class.

The good one was when we were asked to memorize the poem "Who is Jesus Christ?" ..and mind you, we were also asked to recite that poem in front of the class... and you know what? To this day I can still recite the poem. It really pays when you memorize a poem by heart. and to top it all, to get even, I now ask my students to recite the same poem. During the time that I was reciting the poem I have always asked myself: "What good would this poem do to me?" ..except of course for the fact that we were taught the proper (American) pronunciation of every word not to mention the pauses and the breathing...

Fr Jerome, wherever you are, you are part of the foundation of every Special Class student you handled. You taught me a lot of things which a Pinoy formator can never teach. This may be too late but I really would like to thank you for sharing the gift of wisdom, the smile which launched 999 ships (second only to Manong Leva).. The same smile which pushed and will continue to push me to follow the footsteps of Lolo Enteng in my chosen vocation...



"Pussycat!!"
by Francis Tanglao

We are so fortunate we had the opportunity to know a great man/formator in Fr. Jerome. I remember the many times I turned him "red" with my silly/stupid answers to his questions.

He happened to teach our English class and he asked us if we could name cats.. (i.e. lions......) I was probably not paying attention at that moment and to his surprise when he called me my answer was... "PUSSYCAT!!" He turned very red and just burst into laughter. I will miss him.


(photo courtesy of Vincentian.Org)