Father Roniel Sulit was sweating and shaking as he delivered the homily during the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, going viral for a real-life display of what happens when former lovers cross paths, and before the altar at that.
The bride, Maria Korina, giggled from behind her veil, seated beside her groom as Sulit wished the couple a happy married life while wiping beads of sweat on his forehead. The video of the ceremony at the Parish of Sto. Nino de Lipa in Batangas has been viewed 10,000 times on Facebook as of early Wednesday.
"Para madali na ito at ika'y makasal na, dahil hinihintay n'yo talaga ang araw na ito. Si Korina po ay aking ex. Nakakahiya, live pa naman tayo," he said, referring to fact that the wedding was streamed on social media.
"Okay, itigil ang kasal. Hindi ako sisigaw ng ganun," he told Korina and Manuel, her groom.
When Korina and her husband Manuel got engaged, Sulit said she sent him a photo of the ring, telling him he has fresh content for his vlog. Sulit maintains a YouTube page, Fr. Roniel El Haciendero, with more than 113,000 followers. The social media posts did not identify the couple by their full names.
Sulit said he reached peak nervousness or "kaba level" when he admitted during the ceremony that Korina was his ex, based on snippets of a vlog entry, which he deleted.
He also joked at how the officiating priest, Fr. Jansen, was nowhere to be found before his homily.
"Si Jansen ay kasabwat ko eh, best friend ko ho 'yung magkakasal kay Korina. Kaya hindi nadating si Jansen ay parang ayaw ituloy," he joked.
Sulit recalled how he met Korina at church when she was serving at the local parish. "Past is past," he said.
"'Yun po ay matagal na at ngayon naman may kanya-kanya na kaming buhay. Ako'y pari na at ngayong araw na ito, si Korina ikakasal na," said Sulit.
During the homily, he wished the couple well.
"Sana maging maayos, maging masaya, maging matiwasay ang inyong buhay may-asawa, alam kong masaya kayo sa isa't isa," then addressed a laughing Korina, "tawa ka nang tawa."
"Sabi nila 'pag ikinakasal ang mag-asawa hindi lang dalawa ang kinakasal, tatlo. Hindi ako 'yun, ang Diyos 'yun."
Netizens who were moved by Sulit's homily jumped to his YouTube page, pointing out why the viral vlog about his ex was scrubbed off his page.
In one video where he explained what love means in Moira dela Torre's song "Paubaya", a netizen said: "Naisip mo ba ung ex mo father nung ginawa mo tong content na to? Bakit prang nasasaktan ako?"
"Fr.Roniel dun ga po s pgkasal nyo s inyong ex grabe po mgkahalong saya at lungkot ang na feel ko. Hndi ko po alam kng bkit hndi ko maipa liwanag e," another said.
"kaway kaway sa mga andito pagkatapos makita ang vlog ni father nung kinasal niya ang kanyang ex."
"Ang First song po ay para sa inyo ni korina Fr. "Pinagtagpo kayong dalawa pero hindi tinadhana " hehehe.. God bless po Fr. And keep safe always."