Chapter 5
Rizal’s Last 25 hours
Rizal’s last 25 hours until his execution was the
most controversial in his biography since it is
claimed that his supposed retraction and
Catholic marriage with Bracken allegedly
occurred within this time frame.
From 6 am to 12 noon
- December 29 6 am. Judge Advocate
Dominguez formally read the death
sentence to Rizal.
- 7 am he was transferred to either his
“death cell” or “prison chapel”.
- He was visited by Jesuit priests Miguel
Saderra Mata and Luis Viza; they
brought the medal of the Ateneo’s
Marian Congregation of which Rizal was
a member & a wooden statue of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus he had carved in
the school.
- He put the wooden image in his table but
he rejected the medal
- 8 am, Antonio Rosell arrived after his co-
priest Viza left. They had breakfast.
- Later, Lt. Andrade came and Rizal
thanked his defense lawyer
- at about 9 am, Santiago Mataix of the
Spanish Newspaper El Heraldo de
Madrid interviewed Rizal.
- Priest Federico Faura came at about 10
am; he advised Rizal to forget about his
resentment and marry Josephine
canonically. They had a heated religious
discussion witnessed by Rosell,
- 11 am, Jose Vilaclara and Vicente
Balaguer also visited Rizal; they tried to
convince Rizal to write a retraction. Rizal
believed that if he signed the retraction
document without believing nor feeling,
he would be a hypocrite and thus he
would offend God.
From noon to 7 pm
- At noon, he was left alone in his cell. He
had lunch, read the Bible, and
meditated.
- About this time, Balaguer reported to
the Archbishop that the only hope for
Rizal was his retraction.
- He also wrote to Blumentritt his last
letter in which he called him “my best,
my dearest friend”.
- 2 pm, he had a talk with Estanislao
March and Jose Vilaclara.
- 3:30 pm Balaguer returned to his cell
and allegedly discussed again about his
retraction.
- 4 pm Doña Teodora and his sisters
went to see him. As they were
leaving, Rizal handed Trinidad an
alcohol cooking stove.
- 5:30 pm the Dean of the Manila
Cathedral, Don Silvino Lopez Tuñon,
went to see Rizal to exchange some
views with him.
- 6 pm Josephine Bracken arrived just
as Rosell was leaving. They
emotionally talked with each other.
The Night of December 29
- 7 pm Faura returned and convinced Rizal
to trust him and some other Ateneo
professors. Rizal allegedly confessed to
Faura.
- 8 pm Rizal took his last supper. He also
told Dominguez that he had forgiven his
enemies and the military judges who
sentenced him to death.
- 9 or 9:30 pm Manila’s Royal Audencia
Fiscal Don Gaspar Cestaño arrived and
had a friendly talk with Rizal.
- Historians Gregorio and Sonia Zaide
alleged that at 10 pm, Rizal and some
Catholic priests worked on his
 retraction. Supposedly, Balaguer
brought to Rizal a retraction draft
made by Archbishop Bernardino
Nozaleda. Rizal did not like it for
being long. A shorter retraction made
by Jesuit Pio Pi was then offered to
Rizal, which he allegedly liked.
- It was said that he wrote his
retraction renouncing his
freemasonry and his anti-Catholic
ideas.
- Rizal spent the night resting until
dawn of December 30
Early Morning of December 30
- 3 am the Zaide’s alleged that Rizal
heard Mass, confessed sins, and took
Communion
- 4 am he picked up the book Imitation
of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, read,
and meditated.
- 5 am he washed up, and did his
routine before reading the Bible and
contemplating.
- Breakfast: 3 soft-boiled eggs. Rizal’s
grandniece Asuncion Lopez-Rizal
Bantug mentioned and narrated that
Rizal ate two of them.
- Ambeth Ocampo wrote “three
hardboiled egges” and related that
Rizal did not have any breakfast.
- Both historians nevertheless wrote
that Rizal placed the boiled egg to a
cell corner, saying that “This is for the
rats, let them celebrate likewise!”
- Some accounts state that Bracken
was forbidden from seeing Rizal on
his fateful day.
- Zaide, however, wrote that at 5:30
am, she and Josefa came. Bracken
and Rizal embraced for the last time
and Rizal gave Josephine the book
Imitation of Christ with a dedication
“To my dear and unhappy wife,
Josephine/ December 30th, 189/ Jose
Rizal”
Slow Walk to Death
- 6:30 am, wearing a black suit, bowler
hat, tied elbow to elbow, Rizal began
his slow walk to Bagumbayan.
- He walked along his defense lawyer,
Andrade and two Jesuit priests,
March and Vilaclara.
- After some minutes, they reached
the historic venue.
- Filipino soldiers were deliberately
chosen to compose the firing squad.
- Behind them are their Spanish
counterparts ready to execute them
should they decline to do the job.
- Rizal refused to kneel and declined
the traditional blindfold. He said that
he was not a traitor to his country
and Spain, he even requested to face
the firing squad.
- Rizal finally agreed to turn his back to
the firing squad on the condition that
he be shot not in the head, but in the
small of his back instead.
- After the agreement, Rizal shook the
hand of his defense lawyer.
- The military physician asked for
permission to feel the pulse of Rizal.
He was startled to find that Rizal’s
pulse was normal.
- After the command, Rizal yelled
Christ’s last two words
“Consummatum est!” (it is finished!)
as he simultaneously exerted and
effort to twist his bullet-pierced body
halfway around. Rizal fell on the
ground at exactly 7:03 am,
December 30, 1896.