“RIZAL’S MORAL

LEGACIES FOR OUR

DAILY LIFE”
(Chapter VII)……
Leading Virtues:
Why we need to Love of Parents
know Rizal’s Moral Charity
Legacies? Love of Country
Love of God Courage
Purity and Will-power
Idealism
Honesty
Noble Conduct
Love of Fellowmen
Devotion to Truth Courtesy and
Self-Sacrifice Politeness
Fortitude Thrift
Serenity Gratitude
Self-Control Love for Justice
Initiative Living by Example
Tolerance
Prudence
Obedience
Why we need to know Rizal’s Moral
Legacies?
• The enduring greatness of Rizal lies in the
richness of his ideas and the nobility of his
examples. The validity of his progressive
thoughts and soul-searching teachings is his
legacy to humanity.
• Rizal's prophetic insights and matchless
visions on how the Filipinos can travels the
road to progress so that they can enjoy the
fullness of nationhood ---- economically,
politically, educationally, socially and
culturally under the mantle of national
solidarity --- are inspiring.
Love of God
• When he was studying in Madrid, Spain
(1882-1885), Rizal assured his mother of
his trust in God.

• When his sister Olympia died after

childbirth upon his arrival in the Philippines
from Europe in August, 1887, Rizal
remarked: “I console myself saying that it
was the will of God and what He does must
be the best.”
Purity and Idealism
• “Pure and Spotless Must the Victim Be.”
Another virtue of Rizal worth emulating was
his insistence on purity of thoughts and
clean behavior.

• Perfection in virtue is a condition of our

union with God.
• In his famous El Filibusterismo, a Decalogue
for the Political Redemption and Human
Dignification of the Filipinos, Father
Florentino softly pressed the challenge to
perfection of character traits on the dying
Simoun who used his ill-gotten wealth to
destroy Philippine society in working woe,
distorting justice and fomenting avarice.
Noble Conduct
• “Do Good Always”
• Purity of thoughts and clean behavior
require that religiousness be shown in
“good conduct”, “clean conscience” and
“upright thinking”.

• Rizal exhorted mothers to awaken the mind

of the child and prepare it for every good
desirable idea.
Love of Fellowmen
• “Let Us Think Well of Our Fellowmen”.
Another great virtue of Rizal in
conformity with what God desires was
his love for his fellowmen.
• Love of neighbor to be sincere entails
involvement in his behalf.
• Rizal’s thought on love our fellowmen
are timely in these time.
Love of Parents
• “I Beg My Beloved Parents to Always Bless
Their Son”

• Rizal’s great love for his parents was very

admirable. His concern over their sacrifices
and his thoughtfulness are worth initiating.
Charity
• “I Feel Happy When I Can Give Joy to
Somebody”

• Charity is the greatest of all the virtues

because it inclines us to love God above all
things for His own sake, and our neighbors
for the sake of God.
Love of Country
• “My Dream Was My Country’s Prosperity”

• Dedication to one’s duty was an admirable

virtue of Rizal. In saying that it is man’s duty
to seek his own perfection, Rizal set an idea
for man to attain. He elaborated on this
idealism.
• Rizal dedicated his whole life in securing
freedom for his country and happiness for
his people, a devotion unparalleled in the
history of his country.

• “My mission”, he told his former mentor at

the Ateneo, Father Paula de Sanchez, “is to
make men worthy”.
Courage
• “If I’m to Be Condemned for Desiring the
Welfare of My Country, Condemn Me”

• Rizal’s courage in loving his country is a

virtue that is very relevant today. His moral
courage to do only the best for his people is
worth imitating by our leaders.
• Rizal possessed the essential element of
responsive leadership, that is attending to
the needs of the people in order to keep
their love and affection.
Will-Power
• “Always with Our Gaze Fixed on Our
Country”
• Rizal’s decisions to give his life for his
country demonstrated the perfection of his
will to do the duty assigned to him by God.
This was an admirable virtue considering
that Spain had adopted a policy of
implanting an inferiority complex on the
Filipinos the better to govern them. Rizal
did not accept the belief that his people
were irredeemable.
• He had a clear vision of what to do to make
his people happy and he exerted his best to
accomplish this objective.
Honesty
• “The Greatest Honor that a Son Can Pay to
His Parents Is Integrity and a Good Man”

• Integrity is uprightness or a state of being

of sound moral principle. Rizal’s honesty
was the result of his constant love and
search for the truth. He possessed I to a high
degree of excellence which everyone of us
should imitate.
• Lest we forget, sincerity is a sign of humility,
the virtue which makes us know the truth
about ourselves, to accept the truth and live
according to it.
• The basic element of humility is the
acceptance that whatever we possess we
owe to God who has planned a duty for us.
Devotion of Truth
• “It is Not Good to Hide The Truth”

• Rizal’s constant search for truth in serving

his country was an inspiring virtue that
endeared him to his people. The is the same
simple trait our people are looking from our
leaders.
• Wanting to get at the cause of his people’s
backwardness, Rizal made intensive studies
and carried on extensive observations on
the progress of nations.
Self-Sacrifice
• “My Ambition Is Not to Win Honors”
• Another admirable virtue practice by Rizal
was abnegation or self-denial. Self-denial
means giving up one’s desires for a better
cause, as a working for welfare of one’s
country. Self-denial implies self-sacrifice,
love and humility.

• Rizal sincerely believed that he was not the

only man capable leading his people.
Fortitude
• “Do Not Fear that Some May Fall”
• Fortitude or perseverance means strength
of mind in meeting or enduring pain,
adversity or peril. Rizal practiced fortitude
in serving his country.

• Fortitude in any undertaking requires faith

and hope according to Rizal.
Serenity
• “It is Necessary that there be Serenity of
Spirit”
• A man is serene if he has an unruffled mind.
Serenity of spirit stems from strong
personal discipline.
• Rizal related a conversation between a
school teacher and Crisostomo Ibarra
wanted to know the problems of learning
and teaching. When asked by Ibarra about
his problems, the teacher spoke against
corporal punishment inflicted on the pupils.
• Rizal’s regard for tranquility of spirit,
physical and moral repose and willingness
is never more timely than today.
Self-Control
• “I Have Deprived Myself or Many Pleasure”
• What is self control?

• How did Rizal Practice self-control?

• When a man can check his actions and

feelings, he has self-control. The will acts
only in seeking what is good, depending on
the intellect for its data. This is the reason
why we must take great care in presenting
only good ideas to the will.
• Rizal showed much self control his lifetime.
Two important examples are worth
recalling. During his students days in
Madrid, he manifested self-control. Once he
visited the house of the Paterno brothers
(Antonio, Maximo and Pedro). They showed
him their house and Rizal was thankful for
their hospitality. When Pedro proposed that
Rizal exhibit the pictures he had, he
refused.
Initiative
• “The Greatness of a Man IS in Guiding the
People in Its Forward Way”

• Initiative or self-direction is a person’s

readiness to think a line of conduct and
ability to carry it out on his own
responsibility. Initiative is a virtue needed
in the progress of society.
Tolerance
• “One Must have a Deep Respect for every
Idea Sincerely Conceived”

• A person who respects the contrary

opinions of another is tolerant.

• Tolerance is a virtue requiring sympathetic

understanding of the differing opinions and
honest mistakes of another. Tolerance
challenges us to show the utmost patience
and practice real charity.
Prudence
• “For Reasons of Delicacy I have Suppressed
My Correspondence”

• Prudence is virtue that guides our mind in

choosing the best means of accomplishing a
thing. It directs us to the most polite and
profitable course of action.
• It guides all other virtues because it points
out the mean between excess and defect in
the other virtues. If we do not practice
prudence, we are liable to folly and
excesses.
Obedience
• “I Obeyed Parents”

• When a person does what he is told, he is

obedient. Complying with that the
authorities require of us is obedience.

• Obedience may call for a little sacrifice on

our part of the good of the whole group.
Rizal was a model of obedience.
Courtesy and Politeness
• “I Want to be Polite and Nice”
• Politeness and courtesy are virtues that give
harmony and charm in our daily life.

• Courtesy is graceful and considerate

behavior toward others, It demand
attention, politeness, refinement and
affidability. Politeness is a quality of being
well-bred.
Thrift
• “I Economize”

• Thrift is virtue of being economical in the

use of material, money, time and energy.
Rizal practiced the habit of thrift when he
was a student in Madrid, Spain he would
have his shoes repaired instead buying new
ones. Now and then he economized in food
expenses.
• When Paterno brothers wanted him to join
the Ateneo de Madrid, a cultural society, he
turned down the suggestion saying, “I find
the dues a little exorbitant.
Gratitude
• “I Am Very Grateful”

• When a person shows gratefulness, he has

grateful nature. “He that urges gratitude”,
wrote Seneca, pleads the cause of both God
and men, for without it we can neither be
sociable nor religious.

• There is much greatness of mind in

acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.
Love for Justice
• “Let Us Be Just”
• Justice is the moral habit by which a man
gives to another what is his due. A man
with a good conscience finds joy in being
just.

• Rizal fought hard for justice not only for

himself and his family but also for his
people.
Living By Example
• “Gladly I Depart to Expose Myself to Danger
to Confirm with My Example What I have
Always Preached”

• Rizal’s examples on idealism, charity and

surrender are inspiring. Events showing his
love for country and people and dedication
to duty are worth-while imitating.
• Instances in which he displayed
courage, will-power, leadership and
self abnegation are admirable. Events
revealing his honesty, love and faith in
God, love for fellowmen and love
parents are shining virtues for
everyone.