Continuing the Nightingale Legacy: BOC Serenades Patients, Doctors and Nurses of PNP CHS

 Lo! in that house of misery

A lady with a lamp I see

Pass through the glimmering gloom,

And flit from room to room.

                        -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow   (on Florence Nightingale)

During the Crimean war, Florence Nightingale gained the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp" from a phrase in a report in The Times Magazine: She is a ‘ministering angel’ without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow's face softens with gratitude at the sight of her. When all the medical officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds.

Last March 21, 2013, a young band named Praise and Rhythm, learned what it means to be a ministering angel and live out the Nightingale tradition to those who are sick, wounded and plagued with infirmities.

“Their voices had soothed a lot of pains and had alleviated sickness if only for awhile…” a teary eyed PCSUPT Maria Angela Vidal who although also suffering from the discomfort of multiple slipped disks has been blessed by splendid songs the message of love from the band.

The band composed of sisters: Arielle  and  Andrea Manuel (Kuya Boi’s daughters), Vencer dela Pena, Jason Despojo and Paul Monteagudo was tapped by the BOC Movement to sing and encourage the spirit of the PNP personnel of the PNP General Hospital. Although dealing with some equipment problem and a last minute change of venue which frustratingly took them from the auditorium to the surgical ward of the PNP, the band soldiered on and became an inspiration to sick policemen and their dependents.

A hearty mix of contemporary Christian music and radio friendly love songs wooed the crowd and gave them hope and encouragement in their dire conditions. Some songs where about Christ’s love towards man, some of man sins, some of our need of salvation and some of God’s enduring love which calls us to be save.

The concert had a bonus too, as both PCSUPT Angela Vidal and Sis Lorna Sevilla of the Thursday Breakfast Club shared God’s Word and encouragement to the sick. Gen. Vidal shared her life on how God has been kind to her and has kept her spirits despite of her current injuries. Sis Lorna shared the Word of God and His message of salvation to the down-trodden. She also led the crowd to a prayer to accept the Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

At the end of concert, those who performed where equally blessed from the crowd that received the blessing of songs.