SANTELMO

In a small village far far away people are preparing for the coming Christmas Season. Children are the most excited thinking of the presents they would receive from their godmother or godfather. Who is a godmother or godfather? During baptism a sponsor is needed to witness the ceremony so it becomes official as a member of that church and that church consider them as guardian to look after the child when the parents are not capable to look after their godchild. But there is a difference of considering to be baptized in Christian churches. One church baptize children when they are children while the other church baptize adults when they are over there teenage years The reason why they are baptize when they are babies is that as early at an early age the church has introduce them to the church bringing them every Sunday and they can play with other children attending Sunday school. Christian picture books are use to portray the God that they worship and each of them are told what to do to become a good child. On the other hand the church baptize early adults and adults must have to read the Bible and attend their church regularly and understand what is written in the Bible which is called the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is a

part of God's Plan on how people lived their lives in that period. When God the Father created the world and the second part is the fulfillment of the prophesy that the Son of God Jesus Christ is born to save mankind of their sins or mistakes they have committed or acts considered as unacceptable to God. There is a character in one of the books whom people are very much afraid whose name was Santelmo showing to them during Advent. Advent is the time when people go to church four weeks before the birth of Jesus Christ. They light a candle every week to celebrate until the birth of Jesus Christ the king of kings. It is also the start of Midnight Mass ( Simbang Gabi) a daily mass of their church. Many believe Santelmo show up to people to scare them so they cannot attend the Midnight Mass. Most of the time they don't bring children for fear Santelmo will snatch or kidnap them. It is really scary hearing that once Santelmo snatch the child that's the end of the child's life, they will not see him again. According to legend Santelmo was a father whose child was abducted by unknown spirits and what he did was to scare them so they cannot get near to children so what happened to his son will not happen again. Some people don't believe it saying no one have seen Santelmo at all. This is the time a group of youngsters take the chance to meet lady churchgoers at their same age. If the young man and the young lady will like each other and their parents agree they can start dating if not it is a secret affair between them. They will see each other in their respective schools after the Christmas Season. Many vendors take advantage of the Advent Season to sell their wares infront of the church , candles, statuettes scapulars, rosaries and lanterns. Christmas lanterns come in many colors and shapes . These lanterns adorn streets, buildings, houses fences and they are hang on Christmas trees. Santelmo will not visit houses but he may ride on busses to see if he can snatch a child or not being instructed by their leader that they have to increase the number of children under their custody. People are not aware that children that they snatched are brought to a certain place to form a settlement where people cannot go located in an island. This is too far people do not reach at all. Since they don't see their abductors they feel it was normal for them to be transported to this island. Upon arriving there those who are already elders take care of them and the place look like the same only that their food is quite different. All are liquified food so that it is easy to digest. There is no cooking but all fresh. Fruits and vegetables are the sources of vitamins and minerals to sustain their life. Those who die become invisible like Santelmo, That's why their population don't increase as their lifespan is very short. So all of them live in that island . People are really scared of them Another church don't celebrate Christmas. Their reason is they don't know when Jesus Christ was born. It is not written in the Old and New Testament about the exact date and exact location.. But religious leaders set it in the Middle East. If it is there what season is it? Spring. Summer, Autumn or Winter? How come that Jesus Christ was born in a manger, is it not that it would be too cold for him? How come their was a Star guiding the Three Kings, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar leading to His birthplace? That's why this church don't celebrate birthdays and no gifts to receive at all. But the church practice church festivals they said that it is written in the Bible. One of them is Feast of Tabernacles where church members make preparations instruct their children to save money. At the Feast they said they will taste the life of the coming kingdom when Jesus Christ will return to rule the Earth. It is a whole week of rejoicing and merrymaking with other church members. Those who can afford will throw parties and invite people outside their own church congregation. During the feast there are events that they organize and one is Single's Night where ladies and gentlemen meet and become lovers. One night a family who brought their niece named Matet who is not a member of the church attended the Singles Night. Here she met Bubot a young man, a son of the

church pastor. Bubot was charmed by Matet that he asks her right away about her address, what school she is attending.. Both of them are already working using their licenses at work a doctor and a nurse. They are a very good pair. But how about their religion? Matet believes Santelmo while Bubot reads the bible. God is the center of his worship while Matet worships many saints, If you go to her church inside is full of statues crafted by man and people would kneel down and venerate it. While Bubot reads his Bible and follow the sermon taking notes about the word of God. What happens if they really like each other? Do their beliefs become a barrier to their marriage? Both of them decided to go for counselling in each of their churches. It is all discouragement, But their is a passage in the Bible that says God is the one who chooses the partner of a man and He doesn''t like him to be alone. Matet with the guidance of her aunt was convinced to attend their church. This way she and Bubot became closer and a way for them to know each other. Matet noticed and observed that people always refer to their Bible in all aspects of Christian life, marriage, learning about God's Love and who is God.. Matet seems to learn many things about God's character, all that is good that is applied to men. Her belief of Santelmo is beginning to fade. It must be only the Love of God that prevail when dealing with others. Anger ,hate, jealousy

must not be tolerated as it is not God's character. Soon Matet didn't attend her church anymore but go with Bubot which is agreeable with their parents. After a few months Matet decided to have her baptism where Bubot is attending and later on the church wedding was held. Matet co-workers missed her going to the Midnight Mass. But Matet didn't missed it including Santelmo. It is enough for her to worship only one God.