71. THE ANGELS OF ANGELES

El Pueblo de los Ángeles (The Town of the Angels) owes its name to its patron saints, Los Santos Ángeles de los Custodios (Holy Guardian Angels), and the name of its founder, Don Ángel Pantaleón de Miranda, who, together with his wife Doña Rosalia de Jesus, created a new settlement out of Culiat, a forested area north of San Fernando, in 1796. On December 8, 1829, it finally became a separate municipality. The center of worship of Angeles is the Santo Rosario Church, completed in 1897. To pay homage to their patrons, several residents commissioned images to be carved, and they remain in existence today, surviving wars, natural calamities and the passage of time.

SAN ANGELO CUSTODIO

The image of the guardian angel was finished in 1830 and was passed on by the founders of Angeles to the succeeding heirs and descendants. It is currently under the care of Teresita Nepomuceno Wilkerson (handed down by father Juan Nepomuceno, founder of Holy Angel University), and is enshrined at the Holy Angel Chapel at the university grounds. A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. The belief that God sends a spirit to watch every individual was common in Ancient Greek philosophy and the idea also appears in the Old Testament, although it is not specifically articulated. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus says of children: "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven". The 48 in. antique wooden image was recently restored in 2006.

SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL

Gabriel's name means 'God is my strength'. Gabriel is the Angel of child conception or the process of adopting a child, also the Angel of resurrection, mercy and peace and benefactor of " messengers". He is the patron of all who work in the field of communications. postal workers, and clergy. This image dates from 1916, with Jose Sanchez as the original owner. The heirs of Vicente Henson now take care of this almost-century old image.

SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

Michael's name means 'He who is like God' or 'He who looks like God' He is the leader of the Archangels, he is the Angel of protection, justice & strength. The antique image shows San Miguel in his traditional representation--awe-inspiring with his silver wings, holding a sword and a scale to weigh the souls of men. He tramples the Devil underfoot. Also from 1916, the original owner was Roman Evangelista who bequeathed it to Francisco and Domingo Evangelista.

SAN RAFAEL ARCANGEL

Rafael's name means 'God heals' or 'God has healed' based upon the Hebrew word, Rapha, which means 'doctor' or 'healer' Rafael is a powerful healer of physical bodies, both for humans and animals. He is the Angel of Love, Joy and Laughter, the Patron Angel of all those in the field of Medicine.The fish is San Rafael’s primary attribute, in reference to his instructing his young traveling companion, Tobiah, to use the liver of a fish to cure the blindness of Tobit, Tobiah's father. This image was made in 1915, commissioned by Mariano V. Henson and passed down to Januaria and Manuela Lacson.

70. RETRO-SANTO: Mater Dolorosa of Dolores, Quezon

Enshrined in the main altar of the parish church of Dolores, Quezon, is this image of Our Lady. Of unknown origin, the 150 cm. high image depicts our Sorrowful Mother with seven swords piercing her heart and tears flowing down her sad countenance. The Virgin has her hands joined together, and wears a cloak of violet which is replaced with one of black on Good Friday.
Her feast is observed on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday with solemn rites and procession (Turumba) which is marked with peculiar acts like turning to the image and clapping the hands.

Her devotees visit here every Friday during the whole year, and in the Marian Year, all the parishes in the Diocese of Lucena made pilgrimage to her shrine during the Fridays of Lent.

69. A Santo Find: SAN RAFAEL, On A Wing & A Prayer

I was out looking for vintage paintings one Sunday morning at my North Fairview dealer’s antique warehouse when, from the corner of my eye, I saw this winged santo at the far end of the room.

With the detached fish placed between his legs, I thought at first, it was a San Miguel Arcangel. I had the impression that the saint was stepping on a dragon, the common iconography of this popular archangel.

I was wrong, of course, it was a wooden San Rafael alright, missing a right hand and with a wobbly pair of wings. It was dressed in a tunic, of rather plain velvet, wore a brass halo and held a pilgrim’s staff in one hand from where a wooden fish, damaged at the tail, once hung.

The fish is San Rafael’s primary attribute, in reference to his instructing his young traveling companion, Tobiah, to use the liver of a fish to cure his father Tobit's blindness. San Rafael, 16 inches tall, stood on a simple, square base painted with marbleized effects, typical of those made in the pre-war era.

Despite these flaws, the santo was a well-carved piece. Besides, San Rafael figures are not very common sights in antique shops and tabletop manikin versions are even harder to find. To make the story short, I went home lugging not just paintings but also a damaged San Rafael santo that weekend afternoon.

A week after my purchase, I sent the santo to restorer Dr. Raffy Lopez for repair. Raffy’s services are much sought after in the restoration of tabletop santos, especially of ivory. He orchestrates his group of workers that include a skilled carver, encarnador and vestment makers who still makes embroidered santo dresses in the old-fashioned way.


I pretty much entrust all the work to Raffy—from woodwork, re-painting and vesting. I usually just request for updates, and this he does by sending cellphone pictures of the work in progress.
Here, for instance, we see the repair on the tail of the wooden fish.

And here, we see that a new right had had been carved.


The splotches on the face of the old santo have also been covered with a primer, preparatory to painting.

For the vestments, we agreed on a white textured cloth, styled with funnel sleeves and embroidered tunic with scalloped hems.

A few more days after, Raffy sent me a picture of the completed santo, complete with a garland on his head. I noticed that the halo was not yet in place so I asked Raffy to put it as well.

To his horror, he could not find the original brass halo that came with the santo. A few calls to his carver yielded negative results. Not even my prayer request to St. Anthony could save the day—the halo is officially lost. I wasn’t worried though, because vintage halos regularly appear in flea markets; I always find one or two in antique shops too. In fact, by the end of the day, Raffy texted me to say that a common friend of ours, who was with him that day, had generously volunteered to give me a spare gothic halo he had in his keeping.

But St. Anthony was not done yet, apparently. On my way to Cubao to pick up San Rafael, I passed by an antique dealer whom, I haven’t met in years. Rummaging through his odds and ends, guess what I found—a silver gothic halo that was almost the size of the lost one! To make the day even better, the halo was given to me, for free!

Once I arrived at Raffy’s, he easily placed the halo on San Rafael’s head—the final touch to santo’s restoration. In a way way, this angel of healing, rescued from an antique warehouse, was himself "healed" by one of the country's acclaimed restorer of santos!

68. Another Teotico's Work Found: NIÑO DE LA PASION

Another work of Domingo Teotico surfaced in the collection of ecclesiastical artist Thomas Joven. Domingo Teotico was an important santo maker who studied at the Academia de Dibujo yPintura, and who later trained under when Lorenzo Rocha and Leoncio Asuncion.

He opened a religious statuary shop in Quiapo and became an award-winning sculptor--2nd prize in the Open Competition sponsored by the Sociedad de Escultores de Sta. Cruz in 1880 and a Silver Medal for a bust of Pope Gregory XV, at the tercentenary celebration of Sta. Teresa de Jesus in 1882.

This particular dated and signed image is that of the Santo Niño de la Pasion, depicting the Christ Child, with a downcast gaze, holding a cross--symbol of His Passion. It is a tabletop santo (35 cm.) of the manikin type, and it stands on a base on which the sculptor has carved his name and the date the work was finished (Feb. 1, 1903).


Tom has had the image for years and only discovered the signature of Teotico as he was about to change the plain-looking base, which, during the process of restoration, revealed the artist’s etched name , just below the Christ Child's left foot.



This is just the second image seen this year made by the Sta. Cruz-born carver, documented with the artist's own signed name. It is hoped that many more will surface in the future.

( Many thanks to Mr. Thomas Joven for the use of his photos)

67. DR. RAYMUND F. FELICIANO: Giving Santos Their Best Shot

This exclusive interview series first appeared as SSF Personalan on Semana Santa Filipinas, the biggest online group of santo owners and enthusiasts. It features personalities directly involved in the “santo trade”: ecclesiastical artists, carvers, artisans, encarnadors, painters, lateros, bordadors, costureras, cultural activists and avid santo fans. Today's featured subject is a doctor of medicine with a unique passion. For over two decades now, he has been taking pictures of our Holy Week traditions--santos, religious processions, churches, Lenten exhibits--all over the Islands, from back in the days of analog photography to the age of digital cameras. The result of this lifetime undertaking are thousands and thousands of santo photos compiled in over 70 albums and donated to the Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angel University in Angeles City.


DR. RAYMUND FELICIANO, 43, is a clinical pathologist who currently teaches pathology subjects at St. Luke’s Hospital in Q.C.. A resident of Angeles, his paternal roots are in Mabalacat. Not only are we townmates, but we also discovered we went to the same small high school in the city—Chevalier School (although in my time, it was known as Sacred Heart Seminary). He graduated from the College of Medicine at UST in 1989. Over donuts, coffee and Coke, SSF sat down one afternoon with Dr. Feliciano to talk about his passion for photography, travel, religious processions and our revered Semana Santa traditions.

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Q: DOC, FIRST, ALLOW ME TO THANK YOU FOR COMING OVER ON A WEEK-END TO CHAT WITH ME ON SUCH A VERY SHORT NOTICE. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THIS WILL BE A REVELATION TO YOU—BUT DO YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN CYBERSPACE ARE ACTUALLY FAMILIAR WITH YOUR PHOTOS BECAUSE OVER 500 OF THEM ARE UPLOADED ON 2 FLICKR GROUPS—SEMANA SANTA FILIPINAS AND SANTOS: IMAGE OF FAITH?


DR. F: Well, a flickr member sounded me off that my Holy Week pictures daw are regularly posted on flickr, so I must thank you too for doing that. To be honest, I thought I was alone in my interest for religious processions and Holy Week imageries, so it came quite as a surprise when you showed me the flickr groups and the photo pools that contained my pictures. Ang dami palang santo enthusiasts. Yes, I did read about Semana Santa Filipinas in a recent Inquirer article. Now I have started making friends with complete strangers..

Q: WE ARE OF COURSE, AMAZED AT THE QUANTITY OF SEMANA SANTA PHOTOS YOU HAVE TAKEN AND AMASSED IN DOZENS OF ALBUMS..THE FIRST OBVIOUS QUESTION IS, HOW AND WHEN DID YOU START?


DR.F: I have always been a photography buff. In college, I took photographs which found their way in our school organ. This was in the late 1980s. I was just toting an instamatic camera then.. switched to a standard analog camera. If you noticed, yung earliest albums ko of Pampanga churches, from way back 1987-1989 yun. I wasn’t serious then, mga typical works lang yun of an amateur student photographer..

Q: BUT WHY THE SPECIAL INTEREST IN RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS?

STO. ENTIERRO, Mabalacat, Pampanga

DR.F: Yung earliest recollection ko kasi was going to the Holy Week processions in Mabalacat, hometown ng late father ko. He used to take us there to watch the processions. Kahit konti lang yung mga santo, naaaliw din ako, kasi, puro antiques. Antique images hold some fascination for me. especially when they are in their carrozas..That opened my eyes to the enduring appeal of our religious processions.

Q: WHEN DID YOU START BECOMING SERIOUS IN PURSUING THIS HOBBY?

STO. ENTIERRO, Samal, Bulacan

DR.F: I actually found inspirations from 2 things. Yung una, yung program na “Travel Time”, hosted by Susan Calo-Medina. I watched that program a lot, and got hooked on the interesting places they feature…yung mga provincial scenes. Then, I found this book “Simbahan”, written by Regalado Trota-Jose, which featured a “must-visit” list of different churches in the Philippines. It also had chapters on sacred art like santos, that piqued my interest. It was simply a matter of making my interests converge—travel, santo, photography. So, in 1993, I decided to embark on a yearly pilgrimage to different places, and to capture in pictures the different provincial Holy Week festivities.

AGONY IN THE GARDEN, Polo, Bulacan

Armed with a copy of the “Simbahan” book, I systematically started to cover the 23 towns of Pampanga. I just commuted then, I traveled by jeep, by bus. I took pictures of churches first, often asking permission from the parish priests, o kung wala sila, from their secretaries. They allow me naman to take photos.

LA PIEDAD, Paete, Laguna

After Pampanga, I went to Bulacan, then Laguna. I had to get myself a map as I was unfamiliar with most of the places outside of Pampanga. So, yun yung unang na-cover ko in 1993—Pampanga, Bulacan and Laguna.

TANGGAL SA CRUZ, Malolos, Bulacan

The next year, 1994, I covered the Holy Monday procession in La Union and Ilocos Sur, then I went back south for the Holy Wednesday procession in Dasmarinas, Cavite, and headed home to Pampanga para naman sa Good Friday events.

STA. MAGDALENA, Guiguinto, Bulacan

Q: WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF WHAT YOU HAVE COVERED SO FAR? HOW DO YOU FIND TIME FOR THESE? PLANNING THESE TRIPS MUST BE A LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE..

DR.F: Down south, I have gone as far as Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo. Up north, I have gone as far as Claveria, Cagayan. My most recent photo trips this year were in Tabaco, Daraga and Legazpi, all in Albay.

CRUCIFIXION, Molo, Iloilo

I have learned to plan these things in advance, so long before Holy Week, may itinerary ako. I have no qualms about riding a plane, at kung walang plane, a boat, or a jeep. Yung mga places to sleep over naman, thank God, wherever I go, may acquaintances at friends naman ako, so I usually get free lodgings..

LA ULTIMA CENA, San Pablo, Laguna

Q: SURELY, YOU MUST HAVE A LOT OF INTERESTING SIDE STORIES TO TELL IN YOUR ANNUAL PHOTO ODYSSEY AROUND THE COUNTRY? CAN YOU SHARE THESE WITH US?

STA. VERONICA, Paranaque

DR.F: Oh, a lot. Halimbawa, I was really excited to see the churches that were featured in Trota’s book, “Simbahan”. Using the book as a guide, I went to visit the pictured churches, but sadly, they are no longer as they used to be. Some of the rich, colonial architecture have been irrevocably altered as in the case of the churches in Moncada, Tarlac. Yung sa Cardona, Rizal also disappointed me. And the one in Jala-Jala. I was also shocked with the way the church in Montalban, Rizal was refurbished, wala ng air of antiquity, except for a couple of santos.

VIRGEN DE LA SOLEDAD, Sta. Ana

I also have observed variances in local Lenten customs. Many practices have been “customized”. For example, yung oras ng prusisyons may vary. In Angeles City, 5 p.m., but in Sta. Ana, it is as late as 8:30 in the evening.

PRUSISYON, Bacoor, Cavite.

Then, there are the quaint Palm Sunday processions in Maragondon, Cavite. All the santos associated with the Passion, including the Resurrected Christ, but excluding the Sto. Entierro, participate in the procession. Same for Polo, Valenzuela in Bulacan. The Church allows only the images of the Dolorosa and the Sto. Entierro on Good Friday, so that’s the only way the other images can come out in processions.

GOOD FRIDAY SANTOS, Valenzuela, Bulacan

In Baliwag, a procession is held during the “Linggo ng Pagpapakasakit”. In Bulacan. Bulacan, there’s a Holy Tuesday procession. In Molo, Iloilo and Cabiao, Nueve Ecija, there a procession is held on Holy Thursday.

SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

In 1994, I was lucky to have observed and photographed the last complete Bacolor procession. Because the following year, the lahar engulfed the town and the procession fell into disarray.

STA. SALOME, Guagua, Pampanga

Q: WHAT ABOUT THE SANTOS THEMSELVES, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ABOUT RELIGIOUS IMAGES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY?

DOLOROSA, Daet, Camarines Sur

DR.F: Oh, so many range of characters and expressions. In Balaoan, La Union, yung mga santos doon—from San Juan Ebanghelista to Sta. Magdalena--, may distinct Chinese features. I have seen smiling Dolorosas. Yung sa Tanay, Rizal, yung Dolorosa doon, gulat and expression. Yung sa Bacolor, halos puti na lang yung nakikita sa mata ng Dolorosa, with her upward gaze.

DOLOROSA, Tanay, Rizal

Identifying santos now has become easier as most of the carrozas come with labels on which is written the santo’s name. I am pretty much familiar with the names of santos and tableaus, although occasionally, I am stumped with the usual Salome-Jacobe-Cleofe mix-up.

RESURRECION, Angono, Rizal

Q: QUICK, GIVE ME 5 PLACES WITH THE BEST-LOOKING SEMANA SANTA IMAGES.

DR.F: One would be Sasmuan, Pampanga with their antique santos and fabulous carrozas. Two, the antique images of the inland towns of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. Three, the antique santos of Balayan, Batangas. Four, the images of Binan, Laguna. Five, the images of Vigan.

TERCERA CAIDA, Balayan, Batangas

JESUS MEETS HER MOTHER, tabletop tableaux. Binan, Laguna.

CRUCIFIED CHRIST, Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Q: AND YOUR VOTE FOR THE BEST CALANDRA?

DR.F: That has got to be the calandras of Sta. Rita, Bacolor, Sasmuan and Guagua.

SASMUAN CALANDRA, Sasmuan, Pampanga

GUAGUA CALANDRA, Pampanga

Q: BEST DOLOROSA?

DR.F: The Good Friday Dolorosa of Guagua, also those of Vigan, Arayat, Sta. Barbara in Iloilo and Mabalacat.

DOLOROSA, Guagua, Pampanga

DOLOROSA, Arayat, Pampanga

Q: BEST VERONICA?

DR.F: Sta. Cruz, Marinduque, Vigan and Mabalacat’s Veronica.

STA. VERONICA, Mabalacat, Pampanga

Q: BEST SAN JUAN? MAGDALENA? SAN PEDRO?

SAN JUAN, Meycauayan, Bulacan

DR. F: The San Juans of Meycauayan and Daet are my choices. The Magdalena of Meycauayan, Cainta, Arayat and Minalin. The antique Magdalena of Angeles has a one-of-a-kind headdress. For San Pedro, the ones of Lubao and Vigan.

SAN PEDRO, Lubao, Pampanga

Q: FOURTEEN YEARS OF PHOTO DOCUMENTATION AND YOU’RE STILL AT IT. HOW LONG DO YOU PLAN TO DO THIS?

DR. F: For as long as I can. In fact, I have visited some places twice. Though next year, my travels are going to be limited. I have just lost my father this year, and so my available free time will now be dedicated to caring for my mother. Next year, I will limit my trips to nearby provinces. I am looking at visiting and photographing the processions of Capas and Concepcion towns in Tarlac.

LA PIEDAD, Concepcion, Tarlac

Q: AS A PARTING SHOT, ANY MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS OF SSF AND SIF WHO ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR PHOTOS FROM YOUR ALBUMS?

DR.F: Thanks for the interest in my work. We are like classmates with a common interest for santos and Semana Santa traditions. See you next Holy Week!

STO. ENTIERRO, Albay

Q: WELL, THANK YOU TOO FOR ENTRUSTING YOUR ALBUMS TO THE UNIVERSITY. REST ASSURED THEY WILL REMAIN IN GOOD HANDS SO THAT RESEARCHERS, HISTORIANS AND SANTO ENTHUSIASTS WILL FIND USE FOR THEM AS VALUABLE VISUAL REFERENCES OF OUR HOLY WEEK TRADITIONS FOR HERE AND IN THE FUTURE.