370. THE 7 ARCHANGELS OF INDANG, CAVITE

In the Parish of Indang, Cavite (est. 1625)  dedicated to San Gregorio Magno (St. Gregory the Great), there not only flourishes a profound devotion to its great patron, but also to the 7 Archangels: Baraquiel, Gabriel, Judiel, Miguel, Rafael,  Sealtiel, and Uriel.

Town lore has it that a painting of the 7 angels was found rolled up in a trash heap behind the church. The unsigned Archangels painting was a local painted version of an 16^th century print made by Flemish engraver Hieronymus Wierix (1553’d. 1 Nov.1619) who did many religious prints.

The ancient painting, in a shadowbox frame,  was enshrined on one side of the altar, and it was in this manner that the people’s devotion came to include the 7 archangels.  Indang’s town fiesta, celebrated on the 2^nd Sunday of May and the following Tuesday, honors their joint patrons– the pope-saint, San Gregorio Magno, and the Seven Archangels. Their actual feast days are marked separately: Sep. 3 and Sep. 29, respectively.

Show here are the old statue carvings of the Seven Archangels which were meant to be used for processions.

SAN BARAQUIEL. Chief of the guardian angels,  a patron of family and married life. He is also invoked as the special guardian of those born on Saturday. Symbols: include a wreath of white roses or a book, representing marital and family guidance. Traditions associate him with  power over lightning and storms, as his name can also be interpreted as "lightning of God.

SAN GABRIEL. Messenger of God; known for delivering significant messages, such as the announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Patron saint: Gabriel is considered the patron saint of messengers, communication workers, and postal workers. Symbolic attributes include a white lily, representing purity, and a trumpet.

SAN JUDIEL. His name—from “Jehudiel”--means "Praise of God". Patron saint of all those in positions of responsibility and encourages those in their work. Often shown holding a crown (reward for spiritual labor) and a whip or a three-thonged whip (punishment for sinners).

SAN MIGUEL. Prominent warrior archangel, leader of God's armies, specially for his role in vanquishing Satan. Venerated as a champion of justice, a healer, and the guardian of the Church. Depicted with a sword, a banner, or scales, and sometimes shown stepping on a dragon.

SAN RAFAEL. His name means "God has healed," and he is invoked for divine healing. He served as a guide for Tobit, hence, also patron of  travelers and pilgrims. Often shown holding a staff or a fish, the latter symbolizing the healing powers he used from a fish's gall to cure Tobit's father's blindness.

SAN SEALTIEL. San Sealtiel. The angel of prayer and worship,  believed to help people with their prayers, guide them in worshiping God, and present their petitions to God. Often depicted holding a censer (thurible), with arms crossed in prayer.

SAN URIEL. San Uriel. The angel of wisdom, prophecy, truth, and light. His name means "God is my light" or "fire of God". Often depicted with a book or scroll and sometimes with a solar orb. In some traditions, he is the one who wields the fiery sword at the gate of Eden.

CREDITS:

All photos, Dr. Raymundo Feliciano Albums, 1994.

Phtoto of the 7 Archangels of Indang: wikimedia commons

363. COMPLETING CULAS: An FB Marketplace Santo Gets Restored

The idea of buying antiques from a Philippine online shop is  unthinkable for many, because assessing their authenticity can be tricky just by looking at photos—you can’t touch a santo, feel its weight, inspect its real condition. You also have to deal with reproductions, dubious fakes, and scammers!

But there are times when nice, genuine santos pop up every now and then on online sites run by reputable sellers, piquing my interest. One such example was this Recoleto SAN NICOLAS DE TOLENTINO wooden figure standing on an ochovado base, found on FB Marketplace.

Recoleto santos are among my favorite collectibles because my “pueblo” was actually evangelized by Recollect saints. Of the 4 provinces of the Recollect Order, one is named as the Province of San Nicolas de Tolentino, created in 1621. Seven friars, led by Fray Andres San Fulgencio first came to the future Mabalacat in 1711, and found a forest settlement inhabited by a community of Aetas, headed by one named Garagan. The saint  also holds a special meaning to me as a Kapampangan since the renown pasalubong biscuit from Pampanga was named after him--“saniculas”. 

The seller sent me more pictures for my perusal, and I was told that it had come from Panay. The 14 inch. San Nicolas reminded me of some Puerto Rican santos where the carving tends to be sharp and angular, with unsmoothed edges and corners, as evidenced by the chiselling of the drapes on the santo’s habit, fingers, sandals, and the 8-sided base.

The Recollect belt clearly identifies the santo, who, a one point must have held his attributes, now missing—a dish on where a dying partridge bird rested which he  miraculously revived upon feeding from his plate. His right had would have held a crucifix garlanded with lilies, to symbolize his purity. This particular hand is an obvious replacement as it was disproportionately bigger than the left.

There are rectangular patches of gold-leafing in his black habit. The painter probably intended to cut and shape these gold patches into stars, which are also his emblems. Legend has it that stars guided him to Tolentino, near his place of birth.

Paint flaking was noted on the base, and the face of the santo. There was a hairline crack running from the waist to the hem of the santo’s habit which has started to open.

After carefully assessing the condition of this folk santo, I decided to complete it by reconstructing its missing elements. But before I could do that, I had to attend to the more pressing concerns:

First, I filled the hairline crack with plastic wood, which was like a wood putty with the consistency of glue, used in repairing flaws on wood. 

Once hardened, the crack was sealed and the filling was painted black. The paint losses on the face and the base were fixed with acrylic paints.

Now, I could go to replacing the missing attributes. First—the missing halo. This was supposed to be the easiest to do, since I keep all sorts of old metal santo accessories, but it turned out the round, brass halos I have are so big.

Then I remembered a pair of round, calado earrings that I wisely bought from a tiangge years before—because they reminded me of santo halos!! So I just added a wire in the center to form an umbrella type of halo, called “paragua”, that I stuck into a ready-made hole on the top of the santo’s head

A plain wooden cross would have been an acceptable replacement for the santo’s missing crucifix. But I found a tiny wooden crucifix  with the metal corpus of Christ and aluminum cantoneras that was actually a remnant of a rosary. I just shaped the end so that it could fit into the grasp of the santo’s hand.

The miniature bird on the platter was more challenging to recontruct. The plate was fashioned from a metal cap (tansan) that I flattened with a hammer. To remove the rubber seal and the brand name ( I used a Red Horse tansan!), I just heated the crown until it looked blackened with age. The “plate” was then pegged on the open left palm of the figure. I ran thru some 5 tansans before I was satisfied with the result.

I have saved the bird for last, because I know this would give me a hard time, To be true to the wooden figure, I attempted to carve a bird, no more than a quarter of an inch long, using balsa wood. But the wood kept on cracking even when I was using an Exacto knife. I gave up after 2 tries.

Then,  I came up with the idea of molding a small bird from plastic wood I used before. I thought it would turn clay-like when it’s drier, but the shape did not hold. Then I tried papier mache, using fine paper pulp from tissue paper and white glue—the result was a sad-looking lump, not a bird.

Finally, I called on a lifeline—a friend and an artist who made miniature dioramas. How could I forget Dodjie Aguinaldo!  So, based on my instructions,  he made me a miniscule quail (pugo) bird, hand-molded from air-dried clay, just 1.5 cm. long. I just painted it after, lacquered it, and set it on top of the tansan plate—a perfect fit!

As a finishing touch, I found an old cast-iron, patinated salvage, once part of a decorative applique for a door, perhaps. I nailed it on the front of the base to make it look remotely like a carroza frontal.

With his completion, SAN NICOLAS DE TOLENTINO, patron of souls in purgatory, has just become my favorite Recollect in my santos grouping which I fondly call my “Re-Collection.”

MANY THANKS TO:

Mr. LOUIE ASINAS, for the smooth, seamless deal on the santo, for your patience in answering my uestions,  and for the photos.

Mr. DODJIE AGUINALDO, for creating the clay bird for this santo