He served the Lord until death

“Rev. Frs. Peace. We pray for the eternal rest of Fr. Sixto. He died at 3:00 pm today. God bless.”

This is the text message that the Davao clergy received last August 6, the day that Fr. Sixto Vistal, former parish priest of San Miguel Parish in Panacan and parochial vicar of Sta. Ana Shrine Parish. He should have celebrated his 60^th birthday last August 7.

Fr. Vistal breathed his last in San Pedro Hospital in Guerrero St., Davao City. He was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer which led him to lose his weight dramatically.

“My God what a life! And it is yours, O priest of Jesus Christ, O Priest of Jesus Christ!”—this line is part of the song entitled “The Priest” whose words come from a Dominican priest Fr. Henri Dominique Lacordaire, and the music composed by Fr. Vistal himself, which he said had inspired him to persevere in the priestly ministry.

During an interview with this reporter in 2008, Fr. Vistal, who hailed from Bohol shared that he never thought that he will become a priest someday. Poverty has almost stopped him from enrolling in college. The director of his school in high school was instrumental that he went to the seminary in Bohol. He even left the seminary since he no longer had a benefactor to support his studies.

He earned a living by sawing jeans and pants. He learned tailoring during high school. Fr. Sixto was able to go back to the seminary through the help of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, where he continued his seminary formation. He went on with his theological studies in St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary in Catalunan Grande, Davao City.

The song entitled ‘The Priest’ was composed by Fr. Sixto when he saw the stampeta of Fr. Lacordaire’s “On the Dignity of the Priest”—which prompted him to set the text into lyrics. The song was also intended to be sung during the ordination of a fellow seminarian in February 1982.

Fr. Sixto was ordained deacon at the San Pedro Cathedral in Davao last November 11, 1982 and was ordained priest in Zamboanga last March 27, 1983.

Archbishop Romulo G. Valles and some priests administered the sacrament of anointing last August 5. He received the commendation of the dying in the morning of August 6.

“I want to continue serving the Lord until I die,” said Fr. Sixto during the interview last 2008 when asked about how he sees himself in the coming years—a thing that he did until his last breath. (@johnfrancesf)