In 1839, when the Philippines was still under Spanish control, the friars of the Dominican Order who supervised the Hacienda de Lolomboy had two special guests. They received two guests who stayed at the Casa Hacienda which was the administrative center of the huge land in Bulacan that covered then from Bocaue to Pandi.
The two guests are all seminarians from Korea: Kim Tae-gon Andres and Choe Yang-eop Tomas. The two of them will fulfill the wish of Christians in Korea to have their own priest. Kim Tae-gon is the first ordained priest, martyred for his faith, and later declared a saint. Choe Yang-eop, second Korean priest, will be the one to water with his sweat the faith planted by Kim Tae-gon with his blood. Choe Yang-eop will later be proclaimed Venerable. How did these two holy foreigners land in our province?
French missionaries in Korea chose young men who could become seminarians. Their standard – proficiency in language learning, particularly Latin. Four were selected. The four young men were taken to China, but for some unknown reason only two of them continued on to the seminary. And this is San Andres Kim and Venerable Tomas Choe.
The two were forced to flee to the Philippines from China when there was trouble there due to the start of the Opium War. When did they arrive in the Philippines? There are some records that say they arrived here in 1837, but this is not certain. One of the possible grounds that they may have reached the Philippines in 1837 is what is stated on a Korean website that says San Andres Kim "returned" to Lolomboy in 1839 and 1842 ("moved back to Rolomboy, where a farm run by the Dominican Order near Manila was located.”)
There are also records, including a letter from San Andres Kim himself, indicating that they returned to Manila in 1842 (or 1841). A book stated that when they left Lolomboy in 1839, they returned two more times until 1841. The sure year that they both arrived in Lolomboy was 1839. This is also the recorded year in the history of the beginning of the Opium War in China. There is no record of the exact date when San Andres Kim and Venerable Tomas Choe arrived in Lolomboy. But, according to the research of Mr. Joseph Kwon, a Korean writer, San Andres Kim Tae-gon arrived in Manila, together with Venerable Tomas Choe Yang-eop, on April 6, 1839.
According to him, the two probably stayed in Manila for half a month (fifteen days) before they went to the convent of Dominican priests in "Rolomboy" (Lolomboy). Because of this, it can be estimated that our beloved patron reached Lolomboy on April 21, 1839.
He stayed in our village until November before returning to China. Since we know that San Andres Kim was born in 1821, we can count that when he was here in 1839, he was only 17 years old and here in Lolomboy he celebrated his 18th birthday (August 21).
What did San Andres Kim do in Lolomboy? Many of the books say that he served as a translator or interpreter because of his language skills. But there are two interesting stories about his stay in Lolomboy.
First, according to Mr. Alfredo German, a history writer from Lolomboy, "from the Hacienda in Lolomboy, Andrew wrote in Korea to his parents and announced that they were happy and happy in the hacienda especially with the big trees, full of fruits, and a beautiful view on the shore of the river [Bocaue River] which according to him is suitable and good to retreat (and) pray to God because of the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings…”
Second, according to Kang Jongmin, while they were in Lolomboy, “the French priests were happy with Sem. Choi (Tomas Choe) who in their opinion will release something when it comes to fitness, learning, and spirituality. On the other hand, they seem uncertain about Sem. Andrew Kim due to poor physique and wrong decisions... Sem's back hurt once. Andrew Kim while lifting the wood of the turkey cage. It was not expected that the pain would stay with him for long, so they did a strange treatment: they put leeches on his chest to reduce the pain and they left seven scars. It took a while for him to recover. When Macau became quiet, they returned there in November 1839. They returned to Lolomboy two more times until 1841.”
In the records of history, Bulacan is called "Home of Heroes" because Marcelo del Pilar, Francisco Balagtas, and many others came from here. But with the stay in Lolomboy of San Andres Kim Tae-gon and Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-eop, Bulacan can also be considered as the "Refuge of the Saints." 185 years have passed, but the stay among the Bulakenyos of the Holy "Blood Martyr" and Holy "Sweat Martyr" of Korea continues to this day and brings people closer to Jesus Christ.
Saint Andres Kim Tae-gon and Venerable Tomas Choe Yang-eop, pray for us.
Written by Mr. Vincent Galileo L. Loiz, M.A.R.S., L.P.T., Guest Researcher, DCSC Research Team and Member, ACSP National Research Team
Basics:
Book: Clark, Francis X. SJ. Asian Saints. Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 2000. German, Alfredo M.. The Bukawe Then Today and Tomorrow. Malolos: Jeanmar Printing Press, 1992. Jongmin, Kang (trans. Kyounglee, Park [English] and Loiz, Vincent Galileo [Tagalog]). St. Andrew Kim Daegon. Seoul, South Korea: Good News Publications, 2011.
Internet: Solmoe Shrine. (2020, October 21) The Life of Father Andrea https://solmoeshrine.modoo.at/?ckattempt=1 Legend's Sanctuary (2024, April 19) Letters of St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon (Korean) https://blog.naver.com/jogaewon/110188670210 https://blog.daum.net/joe3086/921 (No longer accessible) Photos taken by: Angelo Mangahas
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