Angelina Quitugua cannot wait for the day when she can go up with her husband to receive Communion during Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Ewa Beach. After nearly 16 years attending Mass with her husband Jerry, come Easter Vigil she will wait no longer.
“It is like being born again,” she said. “We will be able to have the body and blood of Christ. Do you know how long it has been to watch my husband go up there?”
Born and raised in Ewa Beach, Quitugua is an infusion technician at St. Francis Medical Center West. She began RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish more than 15 months ago.
Though not raised in any religious faith, she said she’s always wanted to be baptized.
It was her husband’s strong faith that first attracted Quitugua to the church. They were married at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in 1999.
Quitugua and her husband, who was raised Catholic in Guam, have twin eight-year-old boys and a six-year-old daughter who have all been baptized.
“I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of what he and my children had.”
Quitugua enjoys learning about Scripture and the church’s liturgical year. She also appreciates the more private, contemplative style of prayer found in the Catholic Church.
“It is more real,” she said. “It is more intimate. The Bible says, when you pray, you pray by yourself in darkness, in quietness. He will listen.”
Baptism puts her “on God’s side,” she said.
“It means I am cleansed of my original sin,” she said. “I will be in the Kingdom of God when I pass from this life, no doubt. That is how I feel.”
Four people will be baptized from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish this Easter Vigil. All have grown spiritually during their RCIA class’s Scripture study and open discussions, Quitugua said.
As for herself, Quitugua said the Wednesday classes have helped put her life in perspective.
“With me, everything was the house,” she said. “Now, I have just let the dust settle, let go and love my husband, love my children and love life more.”
“I can’t put into words how excited I am,” she said. “This is the beginning of my new life. This is a clean slate. Not many people have the opportunity to do it. I am glad it worked out this way.”
She said that her husband has been encouraging her.
“My husband is very happy,” she said. “He cries every time I go through a rite. It is something that he wanted for a long time.”
“I don’t even know why it took so long,” Quitugua said. “I made excuses, but now I think, why didn’t I do this before?”