Rizal did not continue his studies in the Philippines, instead, he went to Europe to widen his learning and to acquire knowledge about a cure for his mother's worsening eye condition.
He left Calamba on May 1, 1882 and was able to reach Manila in ten hours of journey via a carromata (also known as kalesa). Rizal began writing farewell letters to his friends and family because no one among the family members of Rizal knew his departure for Spain, except Paciano, Saturnina and Uncle Antonio and a few friends. Paciano gave him money for his allowance and Saturnina gave him a diamond ring. For the first time, he did not seek his parent's approval and blessings to go abroad because clearly, they will not approve Rizal's plan.
He left Manila on May 3, 1882, with his brother Paciano and Uncle Antonio Rivera's blessing. He decided to go abroad after completing his fourth year in the medical course. He did not ask Leonor since he knows she will not be able to keep it as a secret. His brother Paciano did everything to ensure that Jose can leave secretly. He secured a passport using the name Jose Mercado and through the endorsements from Pedro Paterno.The Spanish authorities, their parents, family, and Leonor know nothing about his plans.
Bringing with him his disappointments during his days as a student, he left the Philippines for Europe. Initially, he was going to finish his medical course in Barcelona, Spain. Then again, Rizal did not leave the country only to pursue his medical course but also the following:
1. he wanted to make a name for himself in the field of journalism,
2. to observe and study the European society and
3. to prepare himself from being freed from the tasks of liberating the Filipinos from the tyrants of Spain.
This was seen in Paciano's letter to Rizal dated May 26,1882 and reads:
"When the telegram advising us of your departure was received in Kalamba, our parents were naturally grief-stricken, especially the old man who would not speak a word and took to his bed, crying to himself at night, all advice from the family, the parish priest and others not doing any good at all.
He made me go down to Manila to find out his satisfaction how you had managed to make a trip. When I returned, I told them that some friends of yours in Manila had shouldered the expenses, hoping to reassure them. For all that, I could see that he was still depressed and, seeing this and fearing, for another thing, that his continued brooding might make him ill, I told him everything, but only to him, pleading with him to keep it to himself, which he promised. Only since then have I seen him somewhat cheerful and back to his usual self.
This is what happened in the family. As far as our friends, our acquaintances, and strangers are concerned, you will finish your medical course in Barcelona, not in Madrid; to my way of thinking, the main purpose of your going is not to improve yourself in the profession but in other more useful things or what comes to the same thing, that to which you have greater inclination. That is why I believe you should follow it in Madrid, the center of all the provinces, for, while it is true that in Barcelona there is more activity and even less to do business and as afar as a good education is concern, if it should not be available in Madrid, the application of the student can supply it. It should be more convenient for you to be there together with our countrymen who can show you around until you can get the hang of things."
RIZAL'S JOURNEY
From Manila, he boarded the SS Salvadora and sailed to Singapore. On May 9, 1882 the SS Salvadora docked in Singapore and Rizal stayed at Hotel dela Paz for two days and visited the botanical garden, art galleries, parks and some historical places.
After Singapore, he boarded the French ship/steamer Djemnah which left Singapore for Europe on May 11, 1882. Rizal arrived at Punta de Gales to go to Colombo on May 17 because The Djemnah passed through Colombo in Sr Lanka (South part of India) where he was able to wrote in his travel diary: The General Appearance of Punta de Gales is picturesque but lonely and quiet at the same time sad.
On May 27, he landed at Aden in Yemen at about 08:30 am, Rizal was so happy because it was his first time to see a camel and, in his observation, the Aden city is way hotter than Manila.
On June 11, 1882 Rizal disembarked and accompanied by a guide, went around the City of Naples in Italy for an hour. This was the first European ground he set foot on. He was so pleased on the Italian City because of its business activity, lively people and panoramic beauty.
On June 12, 1882 at 10 in the evening, the boat anchored in Marseilles and he slept in board. Rizal visited the famous Chateau d'lf where Dantes, hero of the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned, Rizal's favorite book. There, Rizal stayed for 2 and a half days in Marseilles.
On June 16, at 12 noon, Rizal arrived at Barcelona through train and boarded in the Fonda de Espana. Rizal's first impression of Barcelona, the greatest city of Cataluna and Spain's largest city was unfavorable. According to his travel diary, there's a lot of people and it is a very business district.
RIZAL'S LIFE IN BARCELONA
Upon his coming, Rizal noticed that the community practices freedom and liberalism. But in the end, he adored the hospitality, open-heartedness and courage shown by the people. To welcome Rizal, his fellow Filipinos (most of them were his former schoolmates at Ateneo Municipal), gave him a celebration at Plaza de Cataluna. He roamed around the city and visited the historical spots. Not forgetting his family, he made sure that he wrote them, his relatives and friends a letter. This trip aimed to satisfy one of Rizal's missions: to make a name for himself by sharing his writings and to express his love for his country.
At the age of 21, the first nationalistic piece he made was the essay entitled, El Amor Patrio or Love of Country. While writing this, he used the pen-name Laong Laan, for security. It was published in two text: the Spanish text was the once originally written by Rizal in Barcelona, the Tagalog text was a tagalog translation made by Marcelo H. Del Pilar. It was edited by Basilio Teodoro and published in the Diariong Tagalog in Manila on August 20, 1882.
His next article was Los Viajes or Travels and followed by Revista de Madrid or Review of Madrid but the latter was returned because the publication was ceased because of lack of funds.
ESSAY: Love of Country
It has been said that love has always been the most powerful force behind the most sublime actions. Well then, of all loves, that of country is the greatest, the most heroic and the most disinterested. Read history, if not, the annals, the traditions. Go to the homes, what sacrifices, self-denial, and ears are held on the sacred altar of the nation! From Brutus, who condemned his sons charged with treason, to Guzman the Good who allowed his son to die in order not to fail his duty, what dramas, what tragedies, what martyrdom have not been enacted for the welfare of that inexorable divinity who has not nothing to give you in return for your children but gratitude and blessings! And notwithstanding, with the pieces of their hearts they raise glorious monuments to their motherland; with the work of their hands, with the sweat of their brow, they have sprinkled and made fruitful her sacred tree, and neither have they expected nor received any reward..........
The motherland is in danger! Soldiers and leaders as if by charm, spring from the ground. The father leaves his children, the sons leave their parents and all rush to defend their common mother. They bid farewell to the quiet pleasures of the home and hide under the helmets the tears that tenderness draws. They all leave and die.......
Some have sacrificed for her their youth, their pleasures; others have dedicated to her the splendors of their genius; others shed their blood; all have died, bequeathing to their motherland an immense fortune: LIBERTY and GLORY.........
Fair and grand is the Motherland when her children at the cry of the battle, get ready to defend the ancient land of their ancestors; cruel and arrogant when she sees from her throne the terrified foreigner flee before the invincible phalanx of her sons. But when her sons, divided into rival factions, destroy one another; when anger and rancor devastate the fields, towns, and cities; then ashamed, she tears away her robe and hurling her scepter, she puts on mourning clothes for her dead sons.
Whatever our conditions might be then, let us love her always and let us wish nothing but her welfare. Then we shall labor in conformity with the purpose of humanity dictated by God, which is the harmony and universal peace of his creatures. You have lost the ideal of your souls, you, who with wounded hearts have seen your illusions disappear one by one and like the trees in autumn you find yourselves without flowers and without leaves, and desirous of loving, find no one worthy of you, there you have the Motherland: Love her.
You have lost a father, mother, brother, wife, child, in short, love, upon which you have founded your dreams, and you find in yourselves a deep and horrible void. There you have the Motherland: Love her.
Love her! Oh, yes! But not as they loved in other times by performing ferocious acts, denied and condemned by true morals and mother nature; by making a display a fanaticism, destruction and cruelty, no. A more promising dawn appears in the horizon – a soft and gentle light, the messenger of life and peace – the dawn, in short, of true Christianity, the prelude to happy and peaceful days.
It is our duty to follow the arid but peaceful and productive paths of science, which lead to progress, and thence to the unity desired and asked by Jesus Christ on the night of his sorrow.
Jose Rizal
Barcelona, June 1882
Love of Country was considered to portray the purest, most noble and courageous human sentiment. It reminds us of the love, affection and gratitude to the Philippines. Other forms of sacrifices can be read in the article such as the fathers who gave up their children for the sake of the country. After writing the El Amor Patrio, Rizal suspended writing articles about the country because of his mother's opposition. Apart from this, he also had a difficulty in putting his name to fame and wanted to finish his studies first.
RIZAL IN MADRID
About 3 months after he arrived in Spain, on September 2, 1882, Rizal moved to the capital city to continue his medical studies.
1. Rizal enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid on November 3, 1882 he took up two courses: Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.
2. While studying in the university, he also enrolled at the Academy of San Carlos taking up painting and sculpture, and languages in French, German and English.
3. He also took up shooting and fencing at the Hall of Arms in Sanz y Carbonell.
4. He also showed great interest in taking the examination in Roman law.
Rizal passed the medical examination which he took from June 5 to 26. He was given the degree of Licentiate in Medicine for this and continued his doctorate degree in medicine.
However, he was not able to accomplish the diploma because he failed to present the thesis required for graduation nor paid the corresponding fees. Although it is true that he took and passed the courses in History of Medicine, Surgical Analysis, and Normal Histology in 1884 – 1885. He wrote a request to UCM from Geneva in June 1887 for the issuance of his licentiate degree that was paid on in his behalf by Julio Llorente who was asked to send it to the government of Manila where it was "promptly lost". Due to this, Rizal had to be content with "certified copy" which he received from the Spanish Consul General in Hong Kong in May 1896, eight years after his graduation. He was allowed to practice medicine but cannot teach medicine. Rizal was saddened by this decision and thought that the education system in Madrid had no difference with that in Manila. He then finished his course in Philosophy and Letters and gained the degree Licenciado en Filosofia y Letras. During this time, Rizal was halfway done with his novel, the Noli Me Tangere.
Rizal stayed in Calle Amor de Dios, his residence from September 1882 to May 1883 when he first arrived in Madrid. Rizal lived with Vicente Gonzales, an old friend from his Ateneo de Manila day and a guy whom he fondly called Marques de Pagong. The house could have been chosen for its convenience since it was near the university and the atelier in which Rizal's interest in the arts developed into fine form. He could therefore save on transportation costs.
CIRCULO-HISPANO FILIPINO
The Circulo-Hispano Filipino was a social organization meant to create reforms for the Philippines. The members were mostly Filipino elderlies, who were exiles of 1872. It was led by Juan Atayde, a retired army officer and a Philippine-born Spaniard. They conducted informal programs, which included poetry reading and debates. Even with a busy schedule, Rizal took the time to join his fellow Filipinos in Madrid. The group knew that Rizal is a good writer — he was actually requested to comment or write a few verses to the review published by the group. Rizal was able to do the poem entitled Mi Piden Versos or They Ask Me for Verses during the New Year's Eve reception held in the evening of December 31, 1882.
Rizal, while in Madrid, sent a letter to Don Francisco about joining the Circulo Hispano. But later on, he told him that the society was disbanded because of:
1. the differences among its members who were young student expatriates and retired colonials, and
2. due to their age difference. It was difficult for Rizal during his stay in Madrid.
There were delays in his monthly allowance coming from the Philippines, considering the financial status of Rizal's family caused by crop failures brought by drought and locusts, and the increase in rentals of the Dominican hacienda lands in his hometown. Because of it, he had a limited allowance of 50 pesos a month to 35 pesos when Rizal's farm was affected by the bad harvests. Truth be told, there were times when Rizal attended his classes on an empty stomach.
RIZAL BECOMES A MASON
Influenced by Miguel Morayta, a history professor at the Universidad de Madrid, Rizal became a member of freemasonry with "Dimasalang" as its masonic name. He joined the masonic lodge called Acacia on March 1883. It is an organization outlawed by the Catholic Church because its beliefs are contrary to the doctrines of the church. With this, His reason on joining the Masonry are:
1. Going against the bad friars in the Philippines and their abuses who were unworthy of their priestly killings.
2. To rival against the said friars with the help of the Masons as shield to use in his fight for the Philippines against the Spanish cruel forces of tyranny.
It is said that the mason's view of life is that, knowledge should be achieved by the light of reason and universal brotherhood of men. He became a Master Mason in Lodge Solidaridad on November15,1890. Hence, Rizal was immediately removed from the Catholic church.
Rizal became an excommunicated Roman Catholic who can neither go to confession nor receive the Holy Communion. He was outside the Roman Catholic church for 13 years but later sign the Retraction on the evening of his execution embracing the religion of his birth and went to confession and received Holy Communion, marrying Josephine Bracken inside his death cell at Fort Santiago by Father Balaguer.
WOMEN INTEREST AT MADRID:
Rizal's love interest in Madrid was Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, Don Pabolo's daughter. Because of her good traits and beautiful smile, he got attracted and fell for her but he held back his feelings for Consuelo knowing that he was engaged with Leonor Rivera in the Philippines. Aside from this, Rizal did not want to ruin his friendship with Eduardo de Lete, who is the latter's love interest.
Before leaving Madrid in 1883, Rizal composed a poem that expressed his admiration to Consuelo, entitled A La Senorita C.O. y R which became one of his best poems. The Ortiga's residence in Madrid was frequented by Rizal and his compatriots.
SPOLARIUM On June 25, 1884, in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo Rizal made a speech, the Brindis which gave him praises from the public audience because for the first time, they heard a Filipino delivering a speech fluently in the Castillan language. He stated that Luna and Hidalgo were the pride of Filipino people. Luna was awarded the top prize for his painting Spolarium while Hidalgo got the second place for his painting Virgines Christianas Expuestas al Populacho (Christian Virgins Exposed to the Population).
Both Filipino painters joined the National Exposition of Fine Arts. In his speech, Rizal said that intelligence knows no race and the prizes they got were results of both Philippines and Spain. He also hoped that someday, Spain will accept the changes that the Filipinos have to offer. The speech was published in the newspaper, El Liberal.