EARLY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

AND EARLY EDUCATION IN

CALAMBA

• Calamba is indeed, the cradle of genius

• “Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo” ( In Memory of My Town ) - the first poem written by Rizal

when he was 15

Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo(Kalamba – Laguna)

Cuando recuerdo los días,Que vieron mi edad primeraJunto a la verde riberaDe un lago mumurador;Cuando recuerdo el susurroDe Favonio que mi frenteRecreba dulcementeCon delicioso frescor;

Cuando miro el blanco lirioHenchir con ímpetu el vintoY el tempestuoso elementoManso en la arema dormir;Cuando aspiro de las floresGrata esencia embriagadora,Que exhalan cuando la auroraNos comienza a sonreír;

Recuerdo, recuerdo tristeTu faz, infancia preciosa,Que una madre cariñosa¡Ay! consiguió embellecer.Recuerdo un pueblo sencillo,Mi contento, dicha y cuna,Junto a la fresca lagunaAsiento de mi quere.

¡Oh! si mi insegura plantaHolló tus bosques sombríos,Y en las costas de tus rios,Hallé grata diverión;Oré en tu rústico temploDe niño, con fe sencilla,Y tu brisa sin mancillaAlegró mi corazón.

Vi al Creador en la grandezaDe tus selvas seculares;En tu seno los pesaresNunca llegué a conocer;Mientras tu azulado cieloMiré, ni amor ni ternuraMe faltó, que en la NaturaSe cifraba mi placer.

¡Niñez tierna, pueblo hermoso,Rica fuente de alegrías,De armoniosas melodías,Que ahuyentan el pesar!¡Volvedal corazón mío,Volved mis horas suaves,Volved, cual vuelven las avesDe las flores al brotar!

Mas ¡ay! Adiós! Vele eternoPor tu paz, dicha y reposo,Genio del bien, que bondosoSus dones da con amor;Por tí mis fevientes votos,Por tí mi constante anheloDe aprender, y ¡plege al cieloConservase tu candor!

• His first sorrow was the death of little Concha (Concepcion) who died when she was 3 years old

• He was called “Manong Jose” (7 years old)– Pious and son of the Catholic Church

I. EARLY EDUCATION IN CALAMBA

First teacher of Jose Rizal was his mother!

Jose

lear

ned

the

ALPH

ABET

at

the

age

of 3

.

• “She taught me how to read and say haltingly the humble prayers which I fervently to God”

Uncle Jose Alberto

(the youngest brother of Doña Teodora)

—who gave wise direction in the regular

studies of Jose

Uncle Gregorio

—was a tireless reader, with a flair for

the artistic

“Work hard and perform every task

very carefully; learn to be swift as

well as thorough; be independent

in thinking, and make visual

pictures of everything.”

Uncle Manuel- a man of athletic belt,

developed the physique of

the young boy Jose

-His father Francisco kept an old man Leon Monroy in the family for many months for the purpose of teaching the boy the beginnings of Latin

*Maestro Celestino and Maestro Lucas Padua

- private tutors at home

*at the age of 5

- he began to draw with his pencil and mould in

wax or clay any object

- he has painting ability

- he’s good in playing magic tricks and skills in manipulating

puppets

*when he was about 6 years old-his sisters laughed at him while

spending so much time making those images rather than participating in their games. He told them:

“all right laugh at me now! Someday when I die, people will make monuments and images of me!”

*Father Leoncio Lopez

-whom Rizal paid a beautiful tribute (in “Noli Me Tangere”)

II. THE STORY OF THE MOTH

• “ See that you do not behave like the little young moth. Don’t be disobedient, or you may get burnt as it did?”

III. EARLY EDUCATION IN BIÑAN

*At the age of 9

• Don Francisco sent his son to Biñan to continue his studies in Latin under

Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz

-Rizal described his teacher as “tall, thin, long-necked man, with sharp nose and body bent slightly forward”

Biñan, Laguna

-Rizal excelled in all his subjects especially Latin and Spanish languages.

-his way life was

methodical and well

regulated.

-Rizal’s school days in Biñan was remarkable.

-Justiniano wrote a letter to his parents that it was time to sent Jose to College in Manila

-an old painter who owned a shop (painting), where Rizal learned painting- he gave Rizal lessons in drawing and paintings.

* Juanco

-Rizal stayed at Biñan for ONE and a

HALF years

- Jose left Biñan on December 7, 1871

IV. LITERARY TALENTS

-at the age of 8

I as an appeal to his countrymen to love their national language.

“Sa Aking mga Kabata” (To My Fellow Children)

-Rizal wrote a poem in Tagalog entitled

Kapagka ang baya’y sadyang umiibig

Sa kanyang salitang kaloob ng langit,

Sanglang kalyaan nasa ring masapit

Katulad ng ibong nasa himpapawid

Pagka’t ang salita’y isang kahatulanSa bayan, sa nayo’t mga kaharianAt ang isang tao’y katulad, kabagayNg alin mang likha noong kalayaan

Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita

Mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda

Kaya ang marapat payamaning kusa

Na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala

Ang wikang Tagalog tulad din sa Latin

Sa ingles, Kastila at salitang Anghel

Sapagkat ang Poong maalam tumingin

Ang siya’y naggawad, nagbigay sa atin

Ang salita nati’y huwad din sa iba

Na may alfabeto at sariling letra,

Na kaya’y nawala’y dinatnan ng sigwa

Ang lunday sa lawa noong dakong una.

V. FIRST TASTE OF INJUSTICE

The tragic incident happened in the family

-when his mother Doña Teodora was arbitrarily arrested on a malicious charge that she allegedly aided her brother-Jose Alberto, in trying to poison Alberto’s wife

Rizal’s Mother: A victim of injustice

The police forced Doña Teodora to walk in barefoot nearly fifty kilometers over a rough road to the prison at Sta. Cruz

VI. AWAKENING OF JOSE RIZAL’S

CONCEPT ON LOVE OF

COUNTRY

• Jose found his brother Paciano distracted over a ghastly tragedy

- the execution of the GOMBURZA

Paciano Mercado y Alonzo Realonda

-GOMBURZA were sentenced to death by means of GARROTE on February 17, 1872, at Bagumbayan, Manila

-(GOMBURZA stands for the names of the three Filipino Priests:

*Fathers Mariano Gomez*Jose Apolonio Burgos

*Jacinto Zamora

-Paciano Rizal had loved and well-neigh worshipped Fr. Burgos,

“the most popular professor in the

university.”