337. THE PCI BANK MARIAN EXHIBIT , 8-30 Sep. 1985, Makati

Highlights from the PCI Bank Marian Exhibit held from Sep. 8-30, 1985 at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Hall, PCIB Bldg. Makati. The Opening Ceremonies were attended by His Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin with Mrs. Imelda Cojuangco as Guest of Honor. 

These pictures of various Marian images were featured in the book, “Bimillennium: Kaarawan ni Maria, 1985 Marian Year Book, published by Mrs. Luz M. Santos. Credits to the book publisher, as well as the photographers of these photos.

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261. Retro-Santo: OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL OF THE OCAMPOS OF QUIAPO

Our Lady Of Mount Carmel of the Ocampos of Quiapo
from the talleres de Nepomuceno, ca. late 1920s.

One of the most fabulous residences in historic Quiapo belonged to the wealthy Jose Mariano De Los Reyes Ocampo, lawyer, real estate proprietor and collector of arts and antiques. His father, Mariano Ocampo, was an acquaintance of the national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

Ocampo owned a 1-hectare estate on both sides of the Estero de Quiapo, and on this sprawling compound, he built his mansion in 1892, in the wood and stone style. Behind the mansion, on the other side of the estero, he built an unusual structure that would come to define his residence.

This was the 3-storey “Pagoda”, built from 1936-1941, the owner’s vision of a Japanese castle. The tower was filled with Eastern imageries like dragons and cranes, but others were imagined from his own cosmic vision—like the figure of a mythical god with raised arms, standing on a giant snake, tongues of flames hovering above him.

A Catholic, he filled his estate with stone statues of saints--but the most commanding was a giant statue of our Lady of Mount Carmel sthat stood on a multi-colored globe. Over time, the estate was divided among the Ocampo heirs--Leonardo, Trinidad, Filomena, Blesilda (Miss Philippines 1954) Lucina and Gloria.

Eventually, the property was sold to differen buyers, and over time, the Ocampo mansion and the Pagoda fell into disarray. Miraculously, the spectacular stone image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel managed to survive to this day, crowded by tenement housing.

The statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, according to Jose’s youngest daughter, Gloria was created in the late 1930’s by a Nepomuceno sculptor--but it could not be the famed religious sculptor Marcelo Nepomuceno who had died in the late 20s. Further research finally revealed the name of Graciano Nepomuceno--in tandem with Anastacio Caedo--as the real maker of the Virgin on a globe.The patriarch was known to be a devotee of the Carmel Virgin, whose old ivory image was housed nearby San Sebastian Church.

 The Carmel statue, fancifully called “Mundo” by the people in the Ocampo compound, shows the seated Virgin holding the Child Jesus sitting on a giant globe.The globe is borne by seven allegorical figures who represent the people of the seven continents of the world. Beside the bearers’ feet are prayers in different languages.

 The statue was inherited by daughter Trinidad who gently reminded the people of the Ocampo Compound--“Huwag galawin ang Mundo”. After all, image has long been considered miraculous. It is said that after a generous woman had the statue repainted, her business flourished. In 2007, a a fire in the Ocampo Compound gutted down many house, but left the statue unscathed, with the blaze stopping just short of Her. But while no one dared to vandalize or desecrate the image, the Carmel Virgin was sadly neglected, abandoned and seemingly forgotten.

When Trinidad died in 2006, her daughter Rina Caniza inherited the statue of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel. A comment from her cousin—who noted how beautiful the statue was but which was just enclosed in a small lot, boxed by 3 houses—prompted Rina to embark on a personal project: to see if the image could be adopted by a Carmelite church, so that the Holy Virgin would be accessible to more people and devotees. So, she approached the parish priest of Mount Carmel Church in Manila and shared her plan.

 It was providential that the Mount Carmel Church was being renovated and had become a national shrine. Rina’s religious donation was easily approved. But with the property so crowded, the only way out for the statue was to use the back property led to to a main road. However, that property had been sold to a private individual, who willingly gave her permission to use her lot to access the Virgin.

 The next challenge was to look for a means to transport the 30 foot-tall image from Quiapo to New Manila, which was partly buried in the ground and weighs between ten to fifteen tons. The job requires more than excavation, but also earth-moving work with heavy equipment. Again, a friend of Rina’s led to an introduction to a contractor who generously agreed to excavate and transport the image to its new location for free. The ideal date for the transfer was July 16, 2016, the feast of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, but a new date has been set.

 We look forward to the day that Our Lady of Mount Carmel have her new home at her very own church grounds—where she will continue to shower her graces to a new generation of Filipino devotees, as in the years gone by.

193. AN IVORY VIRGIN MYSTERY

WHO CAN SHE BE? An antique ivory-faced Virgin, with missing parts, surfaced in the market a few years ago. Her identification remains a mystery, but I suspect she represents "Our Lady of Light", and not "Our Lady of Consolation", as she was previously named by the seller.

 The identification of santos seem simple enough; one need only to look at his emblems and attributes to pin down his/her identity. A more diligent study is needed when the major attributes are missing—the attitude of the saint, his facial features, the pose of his hands, the color of the garment--can help in the identification process.

It is easy to assume that santos in a tableau (an assemblage of more than one holy figure) are easier to identify ( e.g. Crucifixion, Holy Trinity, Coronation of the Virgin), but not in the case of this ivory Marian tableau, whose identity continues to baffle me.

The dealer who showed this to me told me it was a Virgen del Carmen. At first glance, it did look like Our Lady of Mount Carmel—for it featured a small bearded ivory figure emerging from what looked like the fires of purgatorio (purgatory). The depiction of souls in purgatory are usually represented with half-bodies engulfed by flames and European paintings often include these souls (anima sola) with the image of the Virgen del Carmen.

But then, Virgen del Carmen is often represented in brown vestments, and is shown seated with a Nino—much unlike this standing Virgin in gold-embroidered clothes. Also, if this were a Virgen del Carmen, her right hand would have been in a grasping pose, to hold a scapular.

This observation then, led me to think that this was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. I have seen figures of souls in the representations of the Virgen del Rosario, a known intercessor in saving souls from the flames of purgatory.

 However, when I further examined the figure of the man with outstretched hand at the base of the santo, I was surprised to see a pair of eyes on his back. A closer scrutiny clearly showed that the eyes were part of the features of a demon creature about to swallow up the hapless soul!! This unusual scene is depicted in the representation of Our Lady of Light or Ntra. Sra. De la Salavacion, simply here in the Philippines as Salvacion.

 “Salvacion”was one of the favorite Christian images of veneration introduced by the Jesuits, closely associated with their missionary work in Europe and in America. The inspiration for this image came from Palermo, Italy, where Jesuit Giovanni Antonio Genovese asked a nun to create the most effective visual representation for this devotion. The nun saw the image in her vision and had an artist paint it. The painting was housed in the Leon Cathedral in 1732.

 In the Salvacion tableau, a standing Virgin holding the Child Jesus would have her right, outstretched hand snatching a soul from the mouth of a demon—which would have been consistent with this figure, save for the pose of her right hand—the manikin hand could have been repositioned at some time.

 Opposite this—emerging from the cloudy base as seen in this tableau-- would have been the figure of a winged angel offering a basket of hearts, symbolizing saved souls. A pair of smaller angels would have hovered above the Virgin’s head, ready to crown her.

It would have been easy to verify this—there would have been holes or remnants of dowels and wires on the back of the Virgin that are tell-tale signs by which the angels were attached to the body of the Virgin . Unfortunately, this tableau was sold soon, so there is no way to examine the tableau and ascertain the image’s true identity.

 Our Lady of Light is invoked for protection against storms, plagues and other natural disasters. In modern times, she is the patron of electricians.