307. Retro-Santo: STA. SALOME of CANIOGAN, MALOLOS, BULACAN

THE MYSTERY PICTURE OF STA, SALOME, ca. 1920s.

A decade ago, in one of my visits to a local antique dealer, I picked up this photo postcard of what seemed to be a family before an heirloom wooden statue of Sta. Salome, on a small wooden carroza. The people are dressed in modest clothes, in their Sunday’s best—nothing expensive or flashy. The women on the left looked like they were in mourning clothes, indicating a death in the family, maybe the pater familia. The grove of slender bamboos in the background gives the scene a real, rustic feel. It would appear that they are about to leave for a procession.  I liked how this 1920s photo evoked the spirit of bygone days in the province, —simple, unhurried, when people’s devotion to their faith was deeper, more unwavering.

But what drew me to the picture was Sta. Salome herself. It is the plain-ness of the carving that makes her remarkable. She projects a sweet expression, a slight smile evident on her face. The santa who cleaned Jesus’ tomb clasps a broom on one hand—a walis tingting—and a hanky on her left hand. Her vestments, though with traces of gold embroidery, have a  homespun quality to the way they were created. The ends of her half-cape are folded over into “palikpik” that extended till her shoulders. She wears a belt that is uniquely trimmed with a ribbon. 

On her head, Sta. Salome  wears a brass diadem, and an umbrella-type halo or paragua. She stands on an ochovado base, outfitted with spindly albortantes, topped with glass floral shades and adorned with paper flowers.

PHOTO: YVES PAULINO

The mystery over this vintage picture, however, had just begun.

Who is the family that owns this beautiful Sta. Salome?

Where was this taken?

More importantly, what fate befell the santa and her carroza?

If she survived, where is it now?

PHOTO: YVES PAULINO

For years, these questions remained unanswered. In the meanwhile, I even used the picture as an illustrative example of Philippine processions in an article I wrote for one of my blogs. Sometime in 2015, one blog reader from Bulacan—Yves Paulino-- saw the picture and noticed some startling similarities with the image of Santa Salome of Caniogan in Malolos.

PHOTO: YVES PAULINO

The overall stance of the image—for instance, in the way her hands were posed, were similar to their Sta. Salome. And so were the diadem and the “payong”. The manner in which she was dressed-- specifically, the upright ‘palikpik’—was very similar too. The most telling, however, was the unique belt. Upon closer scrutiny, Paulino noticed that the santa in the picture was wearing a unique ribbon belt—identical to the original belt on the waist of  the Caniogan image.

PHOTO: WENCY CAMIGAY, flickr.com

Despite these striking similarities, Paulino wanted to be really certain. Since my blog was about Pampanga, he assumed that the picture came from the province, and therefore the image had a Kapampangan provenance. Besides, I had identified the image in the picture was a “Sta. Maria Jacobe”. He then sent me period pictures of their santa so that  could compare the 2 statues myself.

PHOTO: JHENNEL PAULINO, FB page

When I saw the picture of their patroness, I could tell right away that this was indeed, the same one as in my picture. I pointed out that I did not identify the image as coming from Pampanga, In the caption, I had written  “….A family from Central Luzon rolls out it heirloom image of Sta. Maria Jacobe”. It is also to be noted that certain provinces interchange the names and attributes (broom and hanky vs. censer) of Maria Jacobe and Salome.  I had no doubt in my mind that the mystery santa in the picture was indeed, the Sta. Salome of Caniogan, Malolos.

PHOTO: WENCY CAMIGAY, flickr.com

The only missing information are the real identities of the people in the picture. No one in Caniogan seem to know, not even the old folks in the neighborhood. They could only tell that “someone long ago, donated the image for the chapel to use”.  

PHOTO: WENCY CAMIGAY, flickr.com

Today, the image of 5 foot  Sta. Salome with her bastidor body has her own chapel in Caniogan, and she remains under the care of “hermanos”, who,  on rotating duties, take care of the image. An assigned hermano gets to take home the statue, her vestments and even her cabinet where she is kept. Nowadays, the younger set takes care of dressing her up for her “fiesta”. All these years, she wears her original ribbon belt and her diadem, but her halo and her broom  have been replaced. She also wears a donated human hair wig.

PHOTO: JEMUEL PALACIO PAULINO

Not only did the antique image survived too, but even her wooden carroza shown on the picture is still in existence, used by the old Santa Cruz of Caniogan—a slender, holy cross that is also a treasured sacred art of the barangay.

PHOTO: STA, SALOME CANIOGAN, MALOLOS FB page

Sta. Salome’s double feast days are observed with festive dancing and celebrations—first, during the Easter Salubong, where she is feted with a procession after her return  from the Sta. Isabel Church, and on Oct. 22, her official Feast Day, where a novena is held in her honor.

PHOTO: ROBERT 'BOB' BERNABE, FB page

The only mystery left are finding the identities of the family members  in the picture. No one in Caniogan seem to know, not even the old folks in the neighborhood. They could only tell that “someone long ago, donated the image for the chapel to use”.  But that is immaterial at this point in time, for in their stead, a whole community of people have come to rally around Sta. Salome, showering her with love and devotion that are sure to last into the next generation and beyond.

PHOTO SOURCES:

Sta. Salome Close Up: flickr via Wenceslao Camigay, https://www.flickr.com/photos/wency_gentrias/2954162271

Picture of Sta. Salome with Sta. Cruz: Sta. Salome (Caniogan, Malolos) FB Page, https://www.facebook.com/stamaria.salome.3?ref=br_rs

Sta. Salome Chapel: Wenceslao Camigay, https://www.flickr.com/photos/wency_gentrias/2958003486/

Photo of Sta. Salome in church altar: Bob Bernabe FB ( posted on Sta. Salome FB page)

Medium shit of Sta. Salome: JehnNel Paulino FB ( posted on Sta. Salome FB page)

Other vintage pictures: Yves Paulino

Photo of Sta. Cruz with Carroza, Jemuel Palacio Paulino

245. AN ENTOURAGE OF AGOO'S SORROWFUL SANTAS

Agoo, before the founding of La Union province, was once a part of Pangasinan. It is one of the oldest municipalities in the Philippines, and in ancient time, its excellent harbor was frequently visited by Japanese and Chinese traders. Christianization was undertaken by both Franciscan and Augustinian missionaries, until secular priests took over in 1898.

Agoo has been made famous for the alleged Marian apparitions of Virgin Mary to Judiel Nieva, who reported seeing a statue of Our Lady of Agoo atop a Guava tree, weeping with blood. Pilgrims flocked to Agoo to see the "seer", but the highly sensationalized apparitions were declared a hoax in 1993.

But nothing can take way the display of deep Ilocano devoutness and traditional pomp during the season of Lent.. The Good Friday procession is the highlight of the Semana Santa, a devotion manifesting the fervor and faith of the hardy Agoo folks.

There are about 30 carozas beautifully adorned, all lined up at the Plaza dela Virgen, a remarkable tradition dating from the Spanish times and the Penitential Procession of Women in honor of the Mother of Christ, all dressed in black.

The funeral entourage also consists of mourning virgins--saintly women depicting the female characters associated with the ministry and  Passion of Jesus, a selection of which are featured on this page.

All photos were taken in 1994 by Dr. Raymund Feliciano, exclusively for this blog.

Source: http://www.visitmyphilippines.com/index.php title=AGOOSEMANASANTA%3Cbr%3EAgoo,LaUnion&func=all&pid=5663

235. CARU-CARUHAN DE BINANGONAN: Santos in Miniature

MINIATURE TERCERA CAIDA (third fall of Christ). 

In Binanongan, Rizal, miniature statues of saints take center stage instead of the usual life size ones. This recalls the religious tradition in Colombia, where children process their own child-size santos.

AGONY IN THE GARDEN (Nanlumo)

This relatively-new Binanongan tradition is called "caru-caruhan" (play carrozas), and it is held during the Lenten season. It began sometime in the 1980s, when children began imitating the Holy Week tradition of bringing out images for the annual Lenten ritual.

JESUS AND STA, VERONICA

Along Regidor St., the children would parade their homemade santos made of sticks, cloth and other available materials. Over the years, the image became more sophisticated, well-made and life-like,

SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

The wooden tabletop  images are small, no more than 20 inches tall, and are outfitted and arrayed in embroidered vestments and metalworks. There are single representations of Lenten characters as well as tableaus.

JESUS  MEETS HER MOTHER MARY

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The little santos have their own mini "andas" on which they are borne during the procession. The event is highly organized, and there is even a cofradia dedicated to propagating the devotion and practice in the hope of instilling religiosity among the youths.

ECCE HOMO

The group plans the program, including the Wednesday procession that culminates in the gathering of the santos depicting scenes from the passion of Christ in an exhibit hosted by the St. Ursula Church.

CHRIST RECEIVING HIS CROSS

This unusual tradition lives on in Binanongan where it is also known as the Caro-carohan de Regidor to honor its place of origin.

STA, VERONICA

It has become a popular tradition, regularly covered by the media, and visited by local tourists and devotees, who delight in watching the miniature santos as well as the spirited display of devotion of Binangonan youths.

STA. POTINA

Featured here are representative images from the 2008 procession, taken by Holy Week photo documentarian Dr.Raymund Feliciano.

STA. SALOME

151. CASA DE SANTOS: From a Buy and Sell Ad to a Trove of Sacred Treasures

Incredible how a simple ad posted on a free classified advertising paper—Buy and Sell Philippines—can lead me to a treasure house of antique santos in a nondescript San Juan neighborhood. It had  been my habit to scan the antique section of the weekly issue of Buy and Sell Philippines, and in 2005, one particular ad caught my attention. It was from a seller from San Juan, advertising a set of antique processional santos which she wanted sold as a lot for a whopping Php 475,000.

I am not easily deterred by such big ticket prices, as I had taken note that the ad had been appearing in previous issues for quite some time now, with no apparent takers. With nothing to lose, I ended up visiting the Seller's place, which turned out to be a small accessoria that had a narrow flight of stairs leading to the second floor residential area.

When she opened the door, a heavenly assemblage of large santos greeted me, two standing on the floor, another on top of a mesa altar. I couldn’t believe my eyes---here before me were three, beautifully carved images of Sta. Maria Salome, a complete San Isidro Labrador and a kneeling Cristo for an Agony in the Garden tableau. The dealer then recounted that these were owned by a family who had recently migrated to Canada. She was left with the task of selling these images as they could no longer take care of them.

One by one, I checked them out, noting their original outfits, the carving style and the patina of age. The image of Sta. Salome was particularly appealing; she had her original wig and was wearing her old rhinestone jewelry. Her censer though was missing. She was a tall santa, perhaps 54 inches tall, with a complexion that has become kayumanggi with age. What struck me upon seeing her were her pair of large, expressive eyes which, at one point, looked slightly cross-eyed ('banlag').

 

Next to her was a very large kneeling Cristo for an Agony in the Garden tableaux. This image had well-carved features, right down to the noodle-like strands of His full beard. It had a hallowed-out body to make it lighter when carried during processions. The only negative points were the hands--which seemed like replacements, and the absence of the Angel, which has long since disappeared.

The last of the santos was a complete San Isidro Labrador, which, although smaller (48 inches), had a fairly large base that had all the attributes present--the plowing angel with the cattle, and the kneeling landlord. The cattle was moulded from escayola or plaster of Paris.

I had to keep my emotions in check after assessing the santos, deferring my negotiations for another time, another visit. But my wonderment never ceased at the thought that, in this little accessoria, past a narrow, dingy eskinita lined with  intoxicated tambays lost in their drinking sprees, was this roomful of sacred treasure, precious santos, uncared for and forgotten, waiting for their next generous owner to come along.

(POSTSCRIPT: After much haggling, i finally got the Agony Cristo, which I felt was the best of the lot. I would have wanted to bring home Sta. Salome too, but my budget was good only for one santo. I was later told that Sen. Jamby Madrigal, whose mother was a formidable santo collector, snapped up both the Salome and the San Isidro santos. Today, I have fully restored this Agony Cristo, complete with His Angel, and the whole ensemble is processed annually in my home city of Mabalacat during the Lenten festivities)

63. Santo Makeover: STA. SALOME GETS A SWEEP-OVER

I first learned about the image of Sta. Salome from my sister-in-law, Lulu Castro (nee Segovia), who, upon seeing my growing collection of processional santos, told me of their own special image that had been with their family for generations. It is that of Sta. Maria Salome, one of the holy women who were present at the Crucifixion of Jesus, and who later came to clean His tomb.

There are many versions of Salome’s history. It is said that she may have either been the younger sister or a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It can be said with greater certainty that she is the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the two apostles, John and James the Greater.

Traditionally, Sta. Salome holds a whisk broom. But in many places in the Philippines, she is also identified with Sta. Maria Cleofas, wife of Cleophas and mother of James the Less—who is depicted as swinging a censer. To complicate the situation even more, another Mary—Sta. Maria Jacobe—appears in Holy Week processions holding an incense boat. This has resulted in the transpositions of the three Marys’ attributes, and it is not uncommon to see a Salome image holding a censer and a Jacobe wielding a broom.

Which is why, when my sister-in-law recalled that their image once held a silver broom, I unknowingly corrected her—that what they have all along was, in fact, a Sta. Maria Cleofas, not a Salome. Of course, now that I know more, I also know better.

The story behind the Sta. Salome image of the Segovia family began in far-away Cadiz, in the island of Negros. The current owner of the image, Federico "Papang" Segovia Jr., had a great grandmother, whose name had long ago been forgotten, who bore a son who turned out to be very sickly. As a panata (vow), Papang’s lola promised to sweep the churchyard clean if her son got well from his many maladies. He did, and so the old lady not only kept her promise, but also had an image carved in the likeness of Sta. Salome, who kept Jesus’ tomb clean with a broom. She had this image processioned for many years, in gratitude for her answered prayers. The sickly son grew up to become a priest--Fr. Roman Segovia.

The image stands 51 inches tall, and was meant to be born on an anda. The face is lean and narrow, expressing quiet sadness with its half-opened mouth showing teeth and large sorrowful eyes. The nose is straight and long, with deeply-carved nostrils, while the neck had rings—minute details that are a sign of a carver’s remarkable skill.

The manikin-type body, while not as finely finished, is interestingly carved. There are portions in the back and lower torso where the wood was hollowed out—to keep the image light and easy to carry. The image stands on a simple , flat base with serrated trims, to be attached to the top of a presumably, more ornate anda. A silver broom, now lost, and a plain, stick-in halo (payong) were the only accessories of this family santa.

The image stayed in Cadiz, until the two old maid sisters of Papang's father, Federico Segovia Sr., took the image and brought it to Guimaras, Iloilo, where some family members relocated. Federico Sr. bequeathed the image to his son, Papang, and stayed in his care.The family image stayed in Iloilo, until it was retired when the processions ceased.

How Sta. Salome came to Pampanga was another fascinating story. When Papang Segovia joined the military, he rose to become a sergeant and was given provincial assignments and Angeles, Pampanga became his destination in the late 1950s. Fearing that with his absence, no one in the family could take care of Sta. Salome anymore, he decided to bring the image with him to Angeles. He dismantled the image and stowed the pieces in different suitcases, sailing to Manila with his dismembered family treasure in tow. From Manila, the image traveled with him to Angeles.

Angeles was one of the hot seats of the Huk movement then, a honky-tonk town with a reputation for terror and violence. But with the family protector with him, Papang felt safe in a strange new place. He would eventually meet and marry Imang Liling, a photographic model, and settled permanently in the city to raise a family of two boys and one girl—Lulu, my sister-in-law.

For over forty years, Sta. Salome was stored in its own urna in the utility room of the Segovia village residence in Angeles. Though hidden, it was never forgotten; people from Iloilo who made occasional visits to Angeles would ask every now and then about the santa’s whereabouts, not knowing it was safe and secure with the Segovias.

It was only a few years ago that I managed to see Sta. Salome up close. Her beauty was still discernible under thick layers of encarna and sloppy paint work which rendered her face, a chalky white. A finger had broken and some of the trims on the base had fallen off. Her frayed old abaca wig and tattered vestments were also in danger of disintegrating, and a replacement tin halo was not appropriate to this incredible, antique piece. I knew it was time for Sta. Salome to have a major and complete make-over.

It was easy convincing Lulu to have their family heirloom restored. After all, she was next in line to inherit the image. In Dec. 2007, she secured the image, and I turned it over to Pampanga’s leading ecclesiastical artist, Tom Joven, for restoration. It was a project that would take many months of painstaking restoration, beginning with the tedious process of stripping the layers of paint accumulated through the years--all by hand. In Salome’s case, she had over 3 layers of paint, and as each layer was removed, the finer details of the carving appeared.

Suddenly, the contour of her nose (which I initially thought was rather big), took on a more natural, refined line. Her facial features—her cheekbones, jowl lines, lips and teeth—became more clearly defined. Tom opted to use lightened natural skin tone for the face, as opposed to the whitish encarna of before. He likewise changed the arch of the brows to give it a sadder, more expressive look.

Here’s a before-and-after look of the Sta. Salome:

Bewigged with long, deep-brown colored curls and adorned with an antique rhinestone tiara, the restored Sta. Salome looked very lovely indeed. The pale, creamy colored complexion that is true to the period, suits her very well.

The new vestments, commissioned from Plumaria of Jerome de Jesus were another work of art in themselves. The mix of colors are very contemporary—sky blue for the cape, maroon for the skirt, cream for the bodice, gold for the edgings—but provide a contrast to the traditional styling that included even the mandatory embroidery, all done by machine.

Now all Sta. Salome needs is a broom and a halo—and she’s on her way to joining a Holy Week procession, perhaps next year! In the meanwhile, the Segovia Family are happy to have their heirloom family image back, in her restored glory.

I, too, was totally surprised at her incredible transformation-- Sta. Salome looked like a different Santa altogether. When I finally came to see and fetch her after months of anxious waiting, you could say the all-new Sta. Salome really swept my breath away!

Credits: Restoration/Encarna/Woodwork by Thom Joven, Vestments by Jerome de Jesus of Plumaria, Wig by Bella Francisco, Brassworks by Jeric.