315. THE CHURCH SANTOS OF SAN JUAN NEPOMUCENO PARISH, San Juan, Batangas

All photos courtesy of Dr. Raymund Feliciano

In San Juan, Batangas can be found a church dedicated to the Bohemian (now Czechoslovakia) martyr-saint, San Juan Nepomuceno or St. Johann of  Nepomuk.  The Prague University graduate was appointed pastor of the church of St. Gallus. After earning a doctorate, he was made a canon, and then Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Prague in 1393. 

In San Juan, Batangas can be found a church dedicated to the Bohemian (now Czechoslovakia)  martyr-saint, San Juan Nepomuceno or St. Johann of  Nepomuk.  The Prague University graduate was appointed pastor of the church of St. Gallus. After earning a doctorate, he was made a canon, and then Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Prague in 1393. It was said that because of his refusal of King Wenceslaus IV’s  command to reveal the confessions made by his  Queen Sophia, the king ordered him tortured and thrown into the Moldau River. As such, San Juan is the patron saint of Czech Republic, bridge builders, confessors and is invoked against floods, slander and indiscretions.

 Though not a popular devotion, a few parish churches are dedicated to this “martyr of the confessional, thanks mainly to the Recolteos who propagated the devotion. The San Juan Nepomuceno Church, first erected in 1843 in San Juan, Batangas is one of the few to hold him as titular patron. A stone church replaced it through the efforts of Fray Damaso Mojica. Floods damaged it in 1894, but was rebuilt on its present site.

The Recollects ran the church until 1978, and the administration was transferred to the Oblates of St. Joseph. The same missionary order was responsible for making more major church improvements in 1995. 

The 3-level church façade features a newer portico, three rosette windows between 4 columns,  a second-tier supported by 2 columns with a niche containing a stone statue of San Juan Nepomuceno, and  a pediment topped with a cross. The bell tower, with its midcentury design,  seems out of place alongside the more ancient church.  The churchyard is secured with concrete fence. 

The age-old statue of San Juan Nepomuceno is featured prominently in the central niche of the altar mayor. He is shown wearing his biretta, and around him is a halo of 5 stars  commemorating the stars that hovered and lit his body, on the night of his murder. His iconography includes a crucifix and a pam of martyrdom. In Latin America, he is depicted with a padlock on his lips to symbolize his vow of confidentiality of confessions. 

Inside the church are a number of old, church-owned images including a Dolorosa, Sto. Entierro and a Nazareno.

In comparison with the more well-known churches of Batangas like San Sebastian of Lipa, St, Martin of Tours Basilica of Taal and St. Rafael in Calaca, the San Juan Nepomuceno Church may not look  as spectacular , but remains one of the cultural treasures of the province.

SOURCE:

Oblates of St. Joseph website:

http://osjphil.org/parish-17.html

294. VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE: From an Image on a Tilma to a Sculpted Santa

VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, from the workshop of renown
Kapampangan carver, Nick Lugue, 2002

The apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a Catholic convert, Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian of Mexico, began in Tepeyac Hill in 1531. There, the 57-year old Juan was told by the Lady to inform the Bishop what he has seen.  Juan Diego succeeded only in talking to the Bishop on his second visit; in turn, the Bishop advised the native to ask the Lady for a sign to prove that she was indeed Mary. In Her next apparition.the Lady asked him to gather roses growing on top of Tepeyac Hill, which Juan Diego collected and wrapped in his tilma, a cape made of cactus fiber.

After the Lady arranged the roses, she sent back Juan Diego to the Bishop. Appearing before the religious leader, Juan Diego let fall of the roses wrapped with the tilma. But it was not the blooms that stunned the Bishop, for there,impressed on the tilma, was the picture of the Blessed Mother—just as the native described Her.

Upon his return to the village, Juan Diego was surprised to find a sick uncle cured, who told him of his meeting with a young woman bathed in soft light. This Lady told him She had sent his nephew to see the Bishop with a picture of herself.  She then told Juan Diego’s uncle that she and the image be called “Sta. Maria de Guadalupe”. It was clear that She was one and the same woman--the Blessed Virgin--seen by both Juan and his uncle, the same one whose likeness was now on the tilma.

Thus began the spread of the worldwide devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The devotion is centered on the tilma with the miraculous imprint of the Virgin’s image that shows no sign of being painted or sketched. It is enshrined in the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which has become the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere.

For centuries, attempts have been made to replicate the image sculpturally—and it has always been a challenge to represent the image tri-dimensionally, as it has quite a complex iconography.

The Lady stands upon a crescent moon, in reference to the woman of Rev. 12:1 who has symbolically the "moon under her feet",  a symbol of her perpetual purity. An angel supports her,  a testament to her royalty. The Lady’s mantle is blue-green or turquoise, the color of eternity and immortality. The limbus or gold border of her mantle is another sign of nobility. The stars on her mantle are indicative of her supernatural character and her personage as  the Queen of Heaven. They are the pre-dawn stars of the winter solstice that appeared on the morning of 12 December 1531.

The bow, tied high around her waist, is a  symbol of new life. Its  position and the slight swelling of the abdomen indicates that the the Lady is infanticipating,  almost ready to give birth, which would further confirm her identification with the woman of Rev. 12 who is about to deliver her child. The whole figure is surrounded by a strange light, a mandorla, with scalloped edges.This representation, crafted by award-winning religious sculptor Nick Lugue of San Vicente Apalit, was commissioned by a patron from Batangas, who donated the 4-foot image to a local church where She now reposes.

SOURCES/REFERENCES:

Picture of the Guadalupe Virgin:http://www.patheos.com/blogs/holyrover/2017/05/03/with-the-virgin-of-guadalupe-in-mexico-city/

Pictures from Don Sevilla III, Nick Lugue

163. Retro-Santo: SAN GUILLERMO ERMITAÑO

SAN GUILLERMO, the antique processional santo of Laoag on his decorated carroza, on the occasion of  his feast day in 1932, which coincided with a Marian Congress. Dated 14 February 1932.

San Guillermo Ermitaño ( St. William the Hermit), founded the Williamites (Gulielmites) branch of St. Augustine. He was born in France but led a life of immorality even while he was married. His conversion started when he was said to have an audience with Pope Eugene III who advised him to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as an act of penance for his sins. After 2 years, he returned to Italy and became a hermit in the woods near Pisa, before moving on to Monte Prumo and in 1155, in the desert of Maleval. He is often confused with San Guillermo de Aquitania (St. William, Duke of Aquitaine).

San Guillermo is often depicted holding a skull to symbolize man's mortality, and a crucifix, upon which he reflected on Christ's passion as a hermit in the desert. Sometimes, he is shown holding a penitent's whip. He died on 10 February 1157 (his feast day) and was beatified in 1202.

He is the patron saint of several Philippine towns including Laoag City (Ilocos Norte), Magsingal (Ilocos Sur), Talisay (Batangas), and Passi City (Iloilo).