CHAPTER

3:
CHILDHO
OD IN
CALAMBA
“Ah tender childhood, lovely town,
rich fount of my felicities”
_Jose Rizal
Jose Rizal was born on June
19,1861 at Calamba, Laguna as
the 7th child of Francisco
Mercado Rizal and Teodora
Alonzo y Quintos
 Calamba “Cradle of a Genius”
Calamba with its fertile fields with rice and
sugarcane, its evermore green meadows
of innumerable fruit trees and bananas,
its singing birds abounding in lakes, river
and fields, its starry nights “field with the
poetry of sadness,” its lovely sunrise over
lakes and mountains, and its charming
panoramic views, is a fit place to nurture
a growing child. So it came to pass that it
became “the cradle of a genius.”
Earliest childhood memories
He was frail, sickly, and
undersized child
His father built a little nipa
cottage in the garden for him to
play in day time
He learns the Angelus prayer
At 3 he learned the alphabet
from his mother
 First Sorrow

When he was 4 years old is

sister Concha died of sickness in
1865.It was the first time Rizal
shed tears.
 Devoted son of
church
Rizal is a religious boy. At the age
of 3 he began to take part in the family
prayers. His mother taught him the
Catholic Prayer.
When he was 5 he was able to
read haltingly the Spanish family Bible.
He loved to go to church, to pray, to
take part in novenas, and to join the
religious processions.
Artistic Talents
Since early childhood Rizal revealed his
God-given talents for the art. He drew
sketches and pictures on his books and on
the books of his sisters. He carved figures of
animals and persons out of wood. He also do
magic, he entertained the Calamba folks and
friends with his clever sleights-of-hand and
magic lanterns.
At 5 he began sketching with
his pencil, mould clay and wax
object
 Prodigy of the Pen
He was born poet. His mother
encourage him to write poetry. He first
earned money by means of a pen
through the drama he made.
At 8 he wrote his first Poem
“Ang Aking Mga Kababata.” He
wrote it in appeal to our people
to love our national language.
 Pilgrimage to
Antipolo
June 6, 1868- Jose and his father left
Calamba to go in pilgrimage to Antipolo, in
order to fulfil his mother’s vow which was made
when Jose was born.
He and his father rode in a casco(barge). It
was his first lake voyage. He did not sleep the
whole night as the casco sail towards the Pasig
River because he was awed by the
“magnificence of the watery expanse and the
silent night.”
 First Education from
Mother
Jose’s first teacher was his mother. A
woman with good character and fine education,
Doña Teodora was a splendid teacher. She
was patient and loving but strict as a tutor. He
learned the alphabet, prayer, and read.
Encouraged him to write poems. But when he
misbehaved, she spank him with her slipper.
Notwithstanding with the whippings
administered by his mother, he loves her and
was appreciative of many things he learned
from her.
The Story of the
Moth
Favorite story of Rizal by
his mother Dona Teodora

The young moth did not heed the reapeted

warning of the old moth not to get so
close to the light which to the young moth
was so beautiful and attractive and so the
young moth et its death by burning itself
by reason of curiosity and attraction to the
luminous light.
 The tragic fate of the young moth,
which “died, a martyr to its illusions,”
left a deep impress on Rizal’s mind.He
justified such noble death, asserting
that “to sacrifice one’s life for it.”
meaning for an ideal, is “worthwhile.”
And, like that moth he was fated to die
as a martyr for noble deal.
 Lakeshore
reveries
Rizal used to meditate at the
shore of Laguna de Bay on the sad
conditions of his oppressed people.
Young that he was he grieved
deeply over the unhappy situation
of his beloved fatherland. The
Spanish misdeeds awakened in his
boyish heart a great determination
to fight tyranny.
Influences in the Hero’s
Boyhood
Rizal all had the favorable influences,
which no other child in our country had
enjoyed.
These influences are:
Hereditary influence
Environmental influence
Aid of Divine Providence
 Hereditary Influence
Rizal evidently inherited his
passionate love for freedom and his
serenity of life’s outlook from his Malayan
ancestors.
From his Chinese ancestors he
derived his serious nature, frugality,
patience and love for children.
From his Spanish ancestors, he got his
elegance of bearing, sensitivity to insult
and gallantry to ladies.
 From his father, he inherited
a profound sense of self-respect,
love for work, and the habit for
independent thinking.
From his mother, he inherited
his religious nature, the spirit of
self sacrifice and the passion for
arts and literature.
 Environmental
Influences
The scenic beauty of Calamba and
the beautiful garden of Rizal’s family
stimulated the inborn artistic and
literary talents of Jose Rizal. The
religious atmosphere at his home
fortified his religious nature. His brother
Paciano, instilled in his mind the value
of brotherly love. From his sisters he
learned to be courteous and kind to
women.
 Aid of Divine
Providence
Rizal was providentially destined to be the
pride and glory to our people. God had
endowed him with the versatile talents of a rare
genius, the unsurpassed spirit of nationalism
and the valiant heart to sacrifice himself for a
noble cuse. He gave up his particular genius and
hero during the darkest period of our history
inorder that our suffering people might be
emancipated from Spanish tyranny.
A poem written by Rizal
in 1876, age 15, while he
was a student in Ateneo
de Manila, In
remembrance of his
hometown.
Reporters:

Rafaela May Carpentero

Charmagne