313. HONORING SAN ISIDRO, by Bibsy M. Carballo, Sunday Times Magazine

By Bibsy M. Carballo    /    Photos: Romeo Vitug 

Photos of  San Isidro, courtesy of Jayson Maceo

The Sunday Times Magazine, 21 May 1972, pp. 26-27

Sincerity Flamboyance, Festivity.

Nowhere else in the world, perhaps, is as much tribte and homage given to the food god than in the coconut-producing towns of Quezon province,

Perhaps it had to do with the utter dependence of the crop on the whims of nature; perhaps it can be explained through the people’s love for ritual and spectacle. Whatever the reasons, the fifteenth of May each year is a special day dedicated to San Isidro, patron saint of the farmers.

In Sariaya, boys clamber up abamboo
pole to try to topple it.

For weeks before this day, all regular work stops and the entire towns busy themselves in preparing the buntings and delicacies that will hamg from wondows and bamboo poles around the town.

Although each town celebrates the feast in its own way with even urbanized Lucena paying lip service with a few street decorations, the towns of Lukban and Sariaya, are the perennial competitors in the art of celebrating San Isidro.

The street is a mad sceneof happy grabbing and elbowing.

Lukban, with its candy-colored kipings in fancy shapes, its fruits and baskets, its entire window facades in a riot of colors. Sariaya, with its bamboo poles festooned with goodies which are torn down as the venerable San isidro passes by in the procession in the early evening; less colorful, less party-pretty, bit more exuberant and spontaneous.

A satisfied grin on his face, Sariaya well-wisher
walks away with his prized possessions.

And, as always, in keeping with the tradition of prayers for food and a good harvest, no visitor is allowed to go home empty. Food is literally pushed down one’s throat; it is an insult to decline. Houses are opened up to entire strangers; and as the Alcalas of Sariaya have found out, no one has really been proven to be the loser by such a reckless gesture.

267. FROM SAN LUIS GONZAGA TO SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA

The first time I saw this antique ivory santo in a Mabini antique shop, it was a puzzler to both the dealer and me. It was slightly larger than the usual tabletop size, with an-all ivory head, heavily stained and with a crack running down one cheek. Only one hand was of ivory, the other was made of wood. It stood on a squarish base.

Unusual too were its metal accessories—it had a halo that looked like a gear of a large clock. It was also holding a staff and was carrying a metal basket. I knew at once, that the baskets and the staff were not original to the piece—maybe these were added to give more value to the santo, but which added more confusion as to the identity of the santo.

The condition, the price and the anonymity of the santo were perhaps the reasons why the santo stayed on the store shelf and remained unsold, for in my next visit—it was still there. This gave me the opportunity to examine the santo upclose. I had suspected it to be a figure of San Luis Gonzaga (St. Aloysius Gonzaga), because the tell-tale signs were there—the receding forehead, the straight nose, the gaunt look. His right hand could have held a spray of lilies, and the other hand, a crucifix—both iconographic attributes.

I sounded off santo restorer, Dr. Raffy Lopez, about this find, and I asked him to take a look—he might be interested in the mystery piece. And so he did, and after some negotiations, he brought the santo home.

He had agreed with my initial assessment, that the ivory santo was that of San Luis Gonzaga. It was also perfect for his next project—he was doing work in Lucban at that time, mounting a Marian exhibit. He was inspired to make a San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (St. Louis of Toulouse), Lucban’s patron, and felt that his newly-acquired santo could be transformed into one.

The first step Dr. Lopez took was the bleaching of the ivory head, which was badly stained and aged by time. The thorough cleaning revealed the white ivory beneath. The late Edgar Torres gave the santo its new encarna.

 The proportion of the wooden body was corrected as well—the body was cut at the waist and the torso was elevated to half a centimeter more. This would make the santo a stand a little under 16 inches.

Next came the painstaking work of recreating the bishop’s vestments. Dr. Lopez fashioned an alb made from exquisite lace and a miniature stole that was hand-painted with the tiny images of the four Evangelists.

Beneath the alb is an embroidered ruby-red cassock. The holy bishop is arrayed in a deep yellow cope, heavily embroidered with gold thread, forming floral patterns. On his head is a bishop’s miter of the same color scheme.

Completing the look are the silver works, consisting of book and the crosier, that were specially designed by Dr. Lopez and executed by silversmith-jewelers from Quiapo and Pateros. San Luis wears a ruby ring, as well as a pectoral cross with a ruby inset. His original halo was re-plated and used. A discarded silver crown—symbolizing his royal associations, rests at his feet, on a tiny peaña appended to the saint’s own gilded peaña decorated with stylized acanthus leaves.

Finally, the whole santo ensemble was encased inside a virina, and, for awhile, remained in the ownership of Dr. Lopez, until a private collector from Lucban acquired it. It has been a long journey of transformation, but now, that has come full circle, for the old San Luis has returned home to Lucban at last—as San Luis de Obispo de Tolosa.

Many thanks to Dr. Raffy Lopez, Mr. James Yee for providing the photos and restoration details.

262. Santo Stories: SAN PATRICIO: Lola Taring’s Namesake Santo

PATRICIA'S SAN PATRICIO. Lola Taring’s namesake santo, as he appears today, a gift from a kind priest on her birthday. Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is rarely seen as a religious statue in the Philippines. On his March 17 feast day, people celebrate by wearing green, a color traditionally assigned to him.

In the picturesque town of Lucban, Quezon, Patricia Villa (b. 1914/d. 2008), was known in her younger days as a pioneer catechist who taught catechism in the town’s public schools for free.

But she is also known as the owner of an old wooden santo, remarkable in that, it is almost never seen in household altars for personal devotion.

 Lola Taring, as she is called by her “apos”, owned a 15 inch image of San Patricio de Irlanda (St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland) that she treasured and kept in her lifetime. How it came to be in her possession stems from a simple act of generosity from a visitor priest who once visited Lucban.

The daughter of Leocadio Villa and Feliza Venzuela, Taring practically grew
up in Lucban. As she was born on the feast day of San Patricio—17 March 1914-- she was named Patricia. Her parents made her aware of this coincidence, and Taring developed a devotion to her namesake saint.

Early on, Taring displayed extraordinary piety, and was known to attend the daily 6 a.m. mass without fail. She received her informal education from the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, a local religious congregation for women founded by the servant of God Alfredo Maria Obviar, the first residential bishop of our Diocese.

 On her 13th birthday in 1928, she had a special visitor in the person a certain Rev. Fr. Caparas, from Cabuyao. Fr. Caparas’ godmother happened to be Taring’s cousin, Remedios Deveza (who herself, owned a Virgen de los Remedios, featured in a past article on this blog).

The good father came with a special birthday surprise which he presented to the new teenager—a painted baticuling image of San Patricio, the celebrated bishop of Ireland, in his traditional green vestments, wearing a mitre and holding a brass staff. The santo is represented crushing a few snakes underfoot. The figure stands on a peaña on which is inscribed the date of presentation to you Taring. The image was said to have been bought in Manila.

For most her young life, Taring treasured the image of San Patricio, and druing the dark days of World War II, the santo was the only possession that she carried while Lucbanins fled the town that was about to be overrun by Japanese forces.

 Surviving the war, the image was restored by one of the shops of Maximo Vicente after the liberation in 1945. Unwittingly, the encarnador—who was not familiar with the Irish saint and its iconography—painted the vestments yellow.

 Taring lost both her parents early; she also never married, and although she had a house in Lucban, she stayed with the Rañola Family, whose daughter, Luz, was a close family friend and a kindred spirit, and who, like her, was also a soltera. The Rañola Family, by the way, owned the magnificent Santo Entierro in Lucban.

In her golden years, Lola Taring lived the rest of her life in Lucban, attending to church duties as a Lourdesian. She passed away at the ripe old age of 94 on 25 October 2008. The image of San Patricio was left in the care of a grand nephew, Jayson Maceo, who had lived with her and had been doted since he was a toddler.

In July 2016, the image of San Patricio was re-painted by artist Kiko Aguilar and regained his original green vestments, based on an estampita. The snakes at the foot of San Patricio are now missing. It is now under the care of the Maceo family, where it has been encased in a protective virina.

 Surely, Lola Taring is smiling down on her descendants who continue to cherish and love her namesake santo—the least they could do to honor her life and her memory.

 (Many thanks to Mr. Jayson Maceo for providing the details of this story, as well as the photos to accompany the article)

182. Images of the Boy Bishop: SAN LUIS OBISPO

IVORY IMAGE OF SAN LUIS OBISPO. An heirloom image of a family from Lucban, Quezon.

San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is known primarily as the patron saint of Lucban, Quezon and Baler, Aurora. Little is known of him in other places of the Philippines, but in the United States fore example, the mission house named after him (Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse), occupies a prominent place in California history, it being the fifth mission founded by San Junipero Serra in 1772.

SAN LUIS OBISPO. The oldest known San Luis image from Lucban, which used to occupy a niche in the facade of the old church.

St. Louis was born on 9 February 1274 to Charles of Anjou and Maria Arpad of Hungary  in Brignoles, Provence, and spent his childhood years in Nocera, Italy. While his father was at war, he was taken to Barcelona as a captive and studied under Franciscan friars for 7 years.

LUCBAN'S SAN LUIS. Another local image of the boy bishop from the church of Lucban.

When he became of age, he was named archbishop of Lyon despite his captivity; he assumed his father's secular titles upon his father's death, gaining his freedom in 1295.

SAN LUIS IN AN URNA. An antique tabletop image of San Luis Obispo, from a Lucban family.

Thereafter, he went to Rome and gave up all his royal inheritance in favor of another brother, Robert of Anjou. He took the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and two years later, in 1297, Louis was consecrated Bishop of Toulouse. There, he earned a saintly reputation with his activities--feeding and serving the poor.

HEIRLOOM IMAGE OF SAN LUIS. Carved in the round, this private devotional image of San Luis is another Lucban family heirloom.

He died at age 23, exhausted from his labors, on 19 June 1297. His case was promoted by Pope Clement V in 1307, and he was canonized by John XXII on 7 April 1317.

SAN LUIS ENSHRINED IN A RETABLO. A 1960s image of San Luis carved by a Bicolano craftsman rests in a side altar of the Lucban church.

His cult became popular first in Medieval Hungary, but the Franciscans spread the devotion in Europe, observing his feast day in their calendar and taking his relics in 1423 to Valencia, where he was made patron saint.

SAN LUIS FOLK SANTO. An offering from one of Manila's antique shops. Personal Collection.

As expected, very few images of San Luis de Obispo can be found in the Philippines, mostly concentrated in Lucban.  Rarer still are home devotional santos of this young bishop-saint, a few of which are shown here.

SAN LUIS, POPULAR STYLE. A naive carving of San Luis Obispo, with very folksy qualities. Private Collection.

His iconography shows the boy bishop as a young, beardless religious, attired in a bishop's robe and holding a crozier and a book, often with a discarded crown by his feet.

(Many thanks to Mr. Jayson Maceo, for the use of his photos)

38. Santo Stories: VIRGEN DE LOS REMEDIOS of the Maceo Family

By Jayson Maceo

Family santos are highly regarded as heirlooms, precious enough to be kept and passed on from generation to generation. This is the story of one such treasured image, that became the object of a dispute, resulting in its loss. But the story has a happy ending, despite the fact that the original image was never regained. Here, Jayson Maceo, writes the story of a family image that once was the center of their Marian devotion in their picturesque town of Lucban, Quezon.

**********

The story of our family image begins with this old prayer booklet entitled “Novena nang Casantosantosang Virgen de los Remedios'. This novena was originally owned by my great-grandmother's cousin, Remedios (Lola Medoy) Deveza, the only child to survive from the marriage of Julio and Procesa Deveza. Her three older brothers all died in infancy, and so her parents offered a novena to the Virgin of Malate—Nstra. Snra. De los Remedios—in the hope that their next child would come to this world alive. Their prayers were answered with the birth of a baby girl on 6 November 1905(?), whom they would name Remedios.


In gratitude, an ivory image of the Remedios Virgin was commissioned by her mother Procesa after her birth. Remedios took possession of the image when she came of age. She remained a soltera throughout her life and died Nov. 12, 1995. But before she passed away, she decided to give the image of Our Lady to my great grandmother's sister Patricia (Lola Taring). She bequeathed this, together with the image of Sta. Juliana of Liege and the original novena of the Virgen de los Remedios.

After her death, however, a series of disputes happened, and in the process, we lost possession of the Virgen de los Remedios. What remained with us were only Sta. Juliana and the tattered novena of the Virgin. I was just ten years old at that time. We were all saddened by the loss of the Virgin, most especially Lola Taring.


Besides, Lola Taring was too old then to commission a new image. She would soon die on 25 October 2008. But before she moved on, she handed down to me the novena and her hope that someday, our family would have a Virgen de los Remedios of our own. Her prayers were answered just a few days before her second death anniversary with this new ivory image of Nstra. Sñra de los Remedios, commissioned from the expert santo restorer and maker, Dr. Rafael Lopez.

The new ivory image of Our Lady of Remedies was a product of a series of creative consultations with Dr. Lopez, who provided me much guidance as to the eventual look of the Virgin.

Initially, I had wanted to have the ivory head carved from an old ivory ball given to the family, but I was drawn to a beautiful ivory head and hands that Dr. Lopez had in stock. We ended up trading ivory parts and thus, this head and pair of hands became the basis for our new image.

While the body was being constructed, the delicate encarna work on the ivory face was begun by the master artist and painter, Rafael del Casal.

He presented several options for the peaña, reconstituted from two bases. Two cherubs were added as a finishing touch.

The Virgin's tunic was executed in pink satin, with a cape in blue green shade. The embroidery was based on an old design, while the metalworks were of my own preference.

As a final touch, a sliver of wood from the original Virgen de los Remedios of Malate was given to me by a friend which we encased in the gold and coral tambourine necklace of our Virgin.

On 13 October 2010, we finally reclaimed our very own Virgen de los Remedios with the completion of the 26 inch tall ivory treasure. In her hands, she holds the rosary given to me by Lola Taring, a few years before her death.


She had her homecoming in Lucban that same month--on 24 October--just a day before the 2nd death anniversary of Lola Taring. A traditional 'padasal' was held to mark her day of passing and honor her memory.

The next month, during her feast on November 21, another special 'padasal' was held, a fitting and perfect tribute to Our Lady--our Virgen delos Remedios-- that once was lost, but now found again.