Darwin Ramos: Servant of God, Master Of Joy

In August 2012, Reverend Father Thomas de Gabory met Darwin Ramos, the child who would become Servant of God, and like those who had known the boy, was touched by his deep spirituality at a very young age.

“He was an ordinary boy. But people who lived with him knew he was special…He was like a missionary in his illness,” De Gabory told The Philippine STAR. “I met him when he was already terminally ill” or a month before Ramos died on Sept. 23, 2012 at the age of 17, De Gabory said.

According to De Gabory, Ramos had an intimate union with Jesus Christ and developed a spiritual life that impressed people and inspired love for others despite his condition.

De Gabory, a French Dominican priest, was named postulator for Ramos’ beatification and canonization on March 14, 2018 after he was nominated by the Darwin Ramos Association, which was created in response to the increasing reputation of Ramos’ holiness.

Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco confirmed the nomination by a decree dated May 25, 2018.

It was on March 29 of this year that the Vatican, through a declaration made by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, gave the go-signal for the Diocese of Cubao to initiate the process for beatification and canonization of the teenage boy.

The postulator guides the cause for beatification and canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church five years after the death of the person that people believe should be saint. Rev. Fr. Robert Young, a Filipino priest and Canon lawyer, was appointed vice-postulator.

There are two phases before beatification – the first is diocesian, which started last Wednesday, Aug. 28, and then in Rome, De Gabory said.

He explained that a tribunal, composed of the episcopal delegate (judge), promoter of justice (devil’s advocate), and the notary in charge of transcribing the declarations of the witnesses and drawing up the acts of the inquiry according to the instructions of the episcopal delegate, would investigate the life of Ramos.

“The postulator has to get all the testimonies regarding the favors and graces received through the intercession of Darwin. Some people can testify they got some favors after praying through the intercession of Darwin,” De Gabory said.

Asked how long the process for beatification and canonization would usually take, De Gabory answered: “The diocesian phase, I hope two or three years. The one in Rome sometimes takes 20 to 30 years. But sometimes more.”

“But I hope it will be faster for Darwin,” he said.

During the start of the cause for the beatification and canonization of Ramos held at the Diocese of Cubao, De Gabory, who flew to the Philippines from the province of Toulouse, France where he lives, expressed belief that Ramos is already with Christ in heaven.

But De Gabory said he still has “to prove” the truth about Ramos’ life before the tribunal.

Grateful

Ramos’ mother Erlinda said she is thankful that she has a son who might soon become a saint as his life does not only remain an influence on his brothers and sisters, but will also be a good example to Filipino youths.

He is the 18th Filipino — and the youngest — to be declared a Servant of God. He joins the likes of Mother Jeronima Yañez dela Fuente, sisters Cecilia and Dionisia Talangpaz, and former archbishop Teofilo Camomot who have also been declared as Servants of God.

In a press conference in Quezon City, Rev. F. Danilo Flores, the promoter of justice, gave assurance that they will exhaust all remedies ”to prove that Darwin, a servant of God, indeed has the reputation for holiness and to be declared as saint.” 

A life of faith amid suffering

Based on information from darwin-ramos.org, Ramos was born on Dec. 17, 1994, the second of nine children of a laundrywoman and her alcoholic husband. He spent his childhood in poverty in the slums of Pasay City. To augment her mother’s meager income, Ramos and his younger sister would collect plastic waste in the streets of Pasay, which they would sell in junkshops.

At six years old, Ramos showed symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe form of muscular dystrophy caused by a genetic disorder.

The disease, which commonly affects young males, is caused by an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact and results in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. It was named after French neurologist Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne who first described the disease in the 1860s.

Because his muscles had become too weak for him to stand up, Ramos stopped scavenging for plastic waste. This put his family deeper into poverty. From the slums, his family was forced to live in the streets near the Libertad Station of the LRT Line 1. His alcoholic father took advantage of Ramos’ condition and forced him to beg from passersby entering and leaving the station.

In 2006, Ramos was found by street educators from the Anak-Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation (Anak-TnK) who, with his consent, took him to live in the foundation’s shelter for children with special needs.

Filipino master of joy

At the shelter, Ramos discovered Catholicism and began to live a spiritual life. On Dec. 23, 2006, he was baptized at the EDSA Shrine and took his first communion and confirmation ceremony a year later, celebrated by Rev. Broderick Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila.

“Darwin had a direct connection with God. He had an amazing spiritual dimension. He was a child who was totally filled with God. I have never met a child who, despite his tremendous suffering, managed to repeat so many times, ‘Thank you,’ ‘Sorry,’ ‘I am so happy.’ He always had a smile on his lips. He was never, or very rarely, in a bad mood, even in moments of great suffering. It was his interior strength, a strength that came neither from himself nor those around him but from his direct connection with God,” a priest who knew Ramos at the foundation said in 2018.

A caregiver of the foundation also testified about Ramos’ unfaltering faith amid suffering. “One day, when Darwin was feverish, he insisted to be helped in getting out of bed to join the others in the center so that he could lead the evening prayer. It was Jesus before anything else.”

“Joy was ever-present at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Center. This center was home to young boys with special needs, who were all caring toward each other. This was a real brotherhood. Darwin was always delighted to receive visitors. But instead of our asking him how he was doing, he was more concerned with how we were. I taught him some French words, which he perfectly remembered. Darwin was also a great singer,” said a former volunteer from the Catholic Organization for International Solidarity (Fidesco International) who had a chance to get to know Ramos.

Based on other testimonies about him, Ramos remained faithful to God even as he was close to death. When he was brought to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center on Sept. 16, 2012, he enjoined the priests who brought him to the hospital to pray with him as he “fought the devil.” He also expressed his gratitude to them in writing, even though he was too weak to write.

Ramos died at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

“Misery dehumanizes. But sometimes, poverty allows God to take his proper place in one’s life because poverty does not allow hindrances in approaching God… Darwin never spoke of his illness but always of his mission. He considered his illness as a mission given by Christ to witness to the Joy found in trials and sufferings,” read the part on Ramos’ message published on darwin-ramos.org.

“Darwin was so configured to sufferings such that the last week of his life was in the image of Christ’s own Passion. His ‘Holy Week’ began on a Sunday when he was hospitalized. It is like Palm Sunday; the name Ramos comes from the Spanish word ramas, which means palms. Darwin’s Good Friday was punctuated by a big smile that revealed the joy of victory. His Holy Saturday was marked by silence, like that of the Virgin Mary who was waiting. Darwin died on a Sunday morning, at sunrise, at the time when Christ, the Sun of Justice, rose from the dead on Easter morning,” it added.