Awit ng Paghahangad

Awit ng Paghahangad
by Adrian Maramba

The song 'Awit ng Paghahangad' by Bukas Palad Music Ministry is used for the death of Pope Francis. Pope Francis passed away at age 88 on the 21st of April, 2025, at early morning (Vatican Time)

On a quiet morning at San Roque de Alabang Parish in Muntinlupa, the 9:30 AM Mass concluded, followed by the special blessing of religious souvenirs—small devotional items meant to serve as reminders of faith and grace. After the service, Adrian Maramba asked to take a quick selfie with Fr. Jose Duabe, the priest who had presided over the liturgy and the blessing. It was a simple, heartfelt gesture: a keepsake marking their meeting and the shared act of worship at the historic parish.

Later that same day, Adrian traveled across Alabang to St. Jerome Emiliani and Sta. Susana Parish, located at Commerce Avenue, Ayala Alabang Village in Alabang—just a short distance away. The visit continued his day of faith, moving from the mother parish of San Roque to the Somascan-run church dedicated to the patron saint of orphans and abandoned children.

The selfie captured more than just two people together: it was a snapshot of connection, gratitude, and the warm welcome found in parish life, before stepping out to continue one’s journey through the communities of Alabang.

Composed in 1992 by Fr. Charlie Cenzon, SJ, and brought to life by the Bukas Palad Music Ministry, Awit ng Paghahangad is rooted deeply in Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” It was born as a prayer set to music—a hymn of intimate longing, trust, and joyful surrender—and quickly became a beloved anthem across the Philippines, especially among Jesuit communities, youth ministries, and all who yearn for God’s presence amid life’s trials. Long before it became a tribute, it already carried the very heart that would define the papacy of Pope Francis: humility, simplicity, thirst for God, and refuge in His care.

When news broke on April 21, 2025, that Pope Francis had passed away at age 88, Filipino Catholics everywhere turned instinctively to this song. For twelve years, he had walked the path the lyrics describe: he began each day seeking God above all, lived with the deep thirst of one who depends entirely on divine mercy, found shelter “in the shadow of Your wings,” and clung faithfully to the Lord through every joy and struggle. His historic 2015 visit to the Philippines—where millions lined the streets to welcome him—had already sealed an unbreakable bond; Filipinos saw in him the same spirit of selfless love and humble longing that breathes through every verse of Awit ng Paghahangad. In his death, the song ceased to be merely music; it became the voice of a people laying bare their gratitude, and the mirror of the soul that had spent its whole life yearning for union with God.

During the days of mourning that followed, Awit ng Paghahangad echoed in cathedrals, parishes, chapels, and homes across the archipelago, offered again and again as the perfect prayer for his eternal rest. When his body lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, and later at the solemn Requiem Mass on April 26, 2025, the words seemed to speak directly of his journey: “O Diyos, Ikaw ang laging hanap… Nauuhaw akong parang tigang na lupa”—“O God, You are the one I always seek… I thirst like parched ground.” It was his life summed up in song: he sought God in the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, and in every person he met; he thirsted for justice, peace, and mercy; he trusted God’s protection even when the road was hard; and he sang with unshakable joy, urging the world never to let anything take away its hope.

After the Mass, his plain wooden coffin was carried through the streets of Rome—past the ancient Forum and Colosseum he had walked in prayer, past crowds calling his name—toward his chosen resting place, breaking centuries of tradition by laying him not in St. Peter’s crypt, but in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore). This basilica had been his spiritual home from the start of his papacy; he visited it constantly to kneel before the icon of Salus Populi Romani—“Health of the Roman People”—entrusting every journey and every burden to her care. He had asked simply: “My resting place should be simple and close to Mary,” and so he was laid to rest in a modest niche between the Pauline Chapel and Sforza Chapel, marked only by a plain marble stone inscribed with one word: FRANCISCUS. As he was carried toward that quiet spot, the words of the hymn rose again: “Sa lilim ng Iyong mga pakpak, umaawit akong buong galak”—“Beneath the shadow of Your wings, I sing with all my joy.” It was the fulfillment of his lifelong longing: to rest close to God and to the Mother he loved, sheltered forever in His embrace.

And so the story of Awit ng Paghahangad became inseparable from the story of Pope Francis: what began as a prayer written in simplicity became the song that walked with him through his final days, accompanied him on his last journey, and remains now as our enduring remembrance—that the soul which longs for God with all its being will at last find itself home, safe in His love, singing unending praise. As Bukas Palad and the faithful sang in tribute: “Holy Father, you thirsted for Him all your life; now you drink forever from the spring you sought. You clung to Him on earth; now you rest in Him eternally, your song of longing turned to endless joy.”

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.


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