Poon Hesus Nazareno

In September 1999 when Fr. Joseph Cogo, CS took over as the new Pastor of Our Lady of Pompei Church, he opened the idea to Fr. Bobby Sison of a weekly Filipino Mass. With the support of the Pastor, Fr. Bobby started planning the activites for the new millenium and came up with the idea of launching the Misang Pilipino sa Village on January 9, 2000 the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Since it was also the actual feast day of Poon Hesus Nazareno. Cely Medrano suggested that the devotion to the Poon Hesus Nazareno to be included in the Mass.

At first, it was not possible because the church do not have the image of the Poon Hesus Nazareno. Cely Medrano was schedule to go home to the Philippines in December so she readily accepted the responsibility of getting the image. Despite many obstacle she encountered, she was able to bring image to New York. She said the experience was very satisfying and worthwhile. She donated two images, the big one was enshrined in the church and the smaller image is given to the Hermano Mayor to keep for the duration of her Hermanedad until the transfer to the new Hermano Mayor. Cely Medrano was the first Hermana Mayor of the Poon Hesus Mazareno sa Village.