74. RETRO-SANTO: Ntra. Sñra. Virgen de la Regla

In the parish of Opon (now Lapu-Lapu City) , Cebu resides the venerated image of the Virgin bearing the title, Ntra. Sñra Virgen de la Regla (Our Lady of the Rule). This devotion started with St. Augustine, who hand-carved a statue of Mary that was brought to Spain upon the destruction of the city of Hippo. Here, the image wrought miracles and was reputed to have prevented the pillage of the country by the Moors.

The location of the image was lost, however, until an Augustinian monk went to Cadiz upon instruction from the Virgin who appeared to him in a dream in 1330. He found the image in an underground part of the cave. The devotion soon spread to Spanish colonies and in the 18th century, the Augustinians introduced Filipinos to Our Lady of the Rule.

In 1735, the parish priest of Opon, P. Francisco Avalle showed the people a picture of the Virgin, which was received favorably. An image was soon carved from the trunk of a Philippine hardwood, giving the icon a swarthy complexion. Our Lady was enshrined in the main altar of the Church of Ntra. Sñra Virgen de la Regla which was under the ministry of the Augustinians from 1730-1929, to be replaced by the Dutch immediately after.

Also in the church is a cloth relic of the Blessed Virgin, given in 1909 by the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, P. Ambrosio Agius. Reports of miracles attributed to the Virgin abound—from the healing of a barren and paralytic women to cures of abdominal and blood disorders, as in the case of Lauron Cruz who was instantly healed of his blood disease upon lighting candles before the image in 1735.

The image of Ntra. Sñra Virgen de la Regla was canonically crowned on 27 November 1954 during the First Marian Congress.

73. Santo Stories: ANG MAHAL NA SEÑOR NG PAETE

(Excerpted from the article , Ang Mahal na Señor, English translation “Mire of Heaven” by Elmer Beltran Ingles. Original Filipino text by Manuel Baldemor. The Paete Phenomenon, p. 43-44, by San Santiago Apostol, Foundation of Paete, 1991)


According to town historians, the Catholic image of the dead Christ is the oldest, most miraculous and the most important of all images. It is said to have come from Mexico and the oldest-known saint in the stone church of Paete.


Before Lent, it is blessed with incense and daily and nightly prayers are offered. It is bathed with wine and the liquid is kept in small bottles to be distributed to devotees. The used wine becomes sacred and is believed to be a good cure for any ailment.

The Jesus Christ figure also receives the biggest amount of donation from devotees from all over the land. Donations are in the form of blankets, silk clothing and pillows. Excess donations are given to the church to be used as altar mantles or clothes for sacristans. The clothes and pillows are often borrowed for use of sick persons or those afflicted with grave ailments.


While the vigil for the dead Christ is in progress in te house of the recamadero (the keeper of the image), Catholics and even Aglipay take turns in kissing the hands and feet of the image. Men with devotion or personal pledges go on shifts in carrying the image in the procession. The feel the weight on their shoulders if their sins against God and their fellowmen are grave. It is said to be lighter when volunteers do it in gratitude for past blessings. Newly circumcised boys serve as support group with the wooden poles which they used to steady the float during the procession. After the Good Friday rites, everyone is invited to the house of the recamadero for a yummy bowl of sotanghon ( a variety of noodle) and hot biringhi dipped in refined sugar.

72. Find of the Year: A SAN PIO QUINTO IVORY SANTO

At an out-of-print book shop cum gallery in Cubao, I came to pay for vintage fiesta programs I needed for my historical research----and I went home with this incredible ivory image of Pio Quinto ( St. Pius V, born Michele Ghislieri 1504-1572) in its original altar.

“Expect the unexpected” was once our ad agency’s creative credo, and it also rings true when it comes to finding sacred treasures such as this one. En route to the Main Avenue office, I had texted my dealer earlier to say that I was dropping by to pay for my purchases worth Php400. He was kind enough to open his office for me on a weekend (it was a Sunday) and then casually told me that he had a santo that I might be interested in. In his absence, he instructed a househelp to bring out the image for my perusal.

As soon as I entered the shop, I saw this dirty gothic urna that was threatening to fall apart. Through the dusty glass, I could still make out the figure of a santo with a papal tiara, holding a 3 bar-staff, which I immediately identified as the papal saint, Pius V. It also didn’t take much to recognize that the head and hands of the image were of—gasp!-- precious ivory!

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HIS FACE. The image, when I first saw it in its grimy, dusty state. The urna was collapsing and a bunch of plastic flowers lay crumbling at the image's base.

The image was decorated with tulle and plastic flowers that were crumbling with age. Tacked inside was this torn 1906 prayer card to honor the beatification of Tonkinese (Vietnamese) martyrs.

VIET-ERANS OF THE FAITH. This damaged prayer card commemorates the beatification of Tonkinese beatos: Martyrs Vicente Liem, Castaneda, Ochoa, Jose Kang, Hermosilla, Almalo, Frederich.

I paid for my book purchase, and then rang up the dealer to tell him nonchalantly that I had seen the santo and was not impressed (I am so good in feigning disinterest). I suppose, I told him, given the santo’s sorry state—it would be priced accordingly. But of course, he replied, and then proceeded to quote the price of the santo—inclusive of the urna.

THROUGH A CLEAR GLASS, DARKLY. Peering through the front glass panel of the urna, the image of Pius V was clearly, unmistakably of ivory.

I nearly choked at the unbelievable bargain-basement-300-feet-below-sea-level -price. Why, it’s only 1/6 of the current market price for ivory santos of this quality. I just continued on with my best Oscar performance and gave him a ho-hum response. Round off the price, I said, and I will not only issue a Pay-to-Cash check now, but I will also rid your shop of this dusty, grimy santo with its shaky urna. He agreed! I hastily gave him a check, lugged the santo to the car and Pio was mine!

CLEAN AND PURE IN SPIRIT. The ivory image cleaned and re-dressed in its original satin vestments.

Back home, I quickly removed the santo from its case. It was still wearing its original hand-sewn satin vestments in yellow and green. It was even wearing an alb with lacey edgings that you can’t see.

HEADS AND HANDS OF A SAINT. When removed for cleaning, the head turned out to be a solid piece of carved ivory. The finely carved ivory hands were attached to the manikin body with wooden pegs.
The ivory head and hands were in excellent condition. I was wondering about the hairless head. Did it have a flock of hair at some point? The wooden feet were painted to look like papal shoes, decorated in the intricate estofado style. The metal accessories were intact—from the staff to the tiara which was only missing a finial. A restorer dated this as a pre-War piece, possibly made by one of those commercial talyeres in Quiapo district.

Two weeks after, off to santo restorer Dr. Raffy Lopez I, and my santo went. I wanted to save the original vestments but the professional santo restorer prevailed on me to discard them. Instead, for my tabletop image, he opted to get design and color inspirations from the vestments of the original Pio Quinto of Sto. Domingo.

LA NAVAL'S PIO QUINTO. The original lifesize San Pio V of Sto. Domingo in his crimson and cream-colored vestments. Pix courtesy of Wilfred Jason Naval.

He even added a wig to the bald pope! After a month, these were the results:

IVORY SAN PIO QUINTO, (St. Pius V) as restored by Dr. Raffy Lopez.

I have also repaired the urna by myself, stabilizing loose joints with glue and nails and replacing the lost moldings, thanks to my frame shop. And by the way—to rid myself of any guilt feelings--I have also told my dealer that the santo he sold me was of ivory. This was not the first time this happened. Two years ago, he sold me a painted San Roque that turned out to be ivory. For sure, he wouldn’t have let go of these images had he not made a reasonable profit. To him, it was a fair done deal. To me, it was my find of the year.

71. THE ANGELS OF ANGELES

El Pueblo de los Ángeles (The Town of the Angels) owes its name to its patron saints, Los Santos Ángeles de los Custodios (Holy Guardian Angels), and the name of its founder, Don Ángel Pantaleón de Miranda, who, together with his wife Doña Rosalia de Jesus, created a new settlement out of Culiat, a forested area north of San Fernando, in 1796. On December 8, 1829, it finally became a separate municipality. The center of worship of Angeles is the Santo Rosario Church, completed in 1897. To pay homage to their patrons, several residents commissioned images to be carved, and they remain in existence today, surviving wars, natural calamities and the passage of time.

SAN ANGELO CUSTODIO

The image of the guardian angel was finished in 1830 and was passed on by the founders of Angeles to the succeeding heirs and descendants. It is currently under the care of Teresita Nepomuceno Wilkerson (handed down by father Juan Nepomuceno, founder of Holy Angel University), and is enshrined at the Holy Angel Chapel at the university grounds. A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. The belief that God sends a spirit to watch every individual was common in Ancient Greek philosophy and the idea also appears in the Old Testament, although it is not specifically articulated. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus says of children: "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven". The 48 in. antique wooden image was recently restored in 2006.

SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL

Gabriel's name means 'God is my strength'. Gabriel is the Angel of child conception or the process of adopting a child, also the Angel of resurrection, mercy and peace and benefactor of " messengers". He is the patron of all who work in the field of communications. postal workers, and clergy. This image dates from 1916, with Jose Sanchez as the original owner. The heirs of Vicente Henson now take care of this almost-century old image.

SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

Michael's name means 'He who is like God' or 'He who looks like God' He is the leader of the Archangels, he is the Angel of protection, justice & strength. The antique image shows San Miguel in his traditional representation--awe-inspiring with his silver wings, holding a sword and a scale to weigh the souls of men. He tramples the Devil underfoot. Also from 1916, the original owner was Roman Evangelista who bequeathed it to Francisco and Domingo Evangelista.

SAN RAFAEL ARCANGEL

Rafael's name means 'God heals' or 'God has healed' based upon the Hebrew word, Rapha, which means 'doctor' or 'healer' Rafael is a powerful healer of physical bodies, both for humans and animals. He is the Angel of Love, Joy and Laughter, the Patron Angel of all those in the field of Medicine.The fish is San Rafael’s primary attribute, in reference to his instructing his young traveling companion, Tobiah, to use the liver of a fish to cure the blindness of Tobit, Tobiah's father. This image was made in 1915, commissioned by Mariano V. Henson and passed down to Januaria and Manuela Lacson.

70. RETRO-SANTO: Mater Dolorosa of Dolores, Quezon

Enshrined in the main altar of the parish church of Dolores, Quezon, is this image of Our Lady. Of unknown origin, the 150 cm. high image depicts our Sorrowful Mother with seven swords piercing her heart and tears flowing down her sad countenance. The Virgin has her hands joined together, and wears a cloak of violet which is replaced with one of black on Good Friday.
Her feast is observed on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday with solemn rites and procession (Turumba) which is marked with peculiar acts like turning to the image and clapping the hands.

Her devotees visit here every Friday during the whole year, and in the Marian Year, all the parishes in the Diocese of Lucena made pilgrimage to her shrine during the Fridays of Lent.

69. A Santo Find: SAN RAFAEL, On A Wing & A Prayer

I was out looking for vintage paintings one Sunday morning at my North Fairview dealer’s antique warehouse when, from the corner of my eye, I saw this winged santo at the far end of the room.

With the detached fish placed between his legs, I thought at first, it was a San Miguel Arcangel. I had the impression that the saint was stepping on a dragon, the common iconography of this popular archangel.

I was wrong, of course, it was a wooden San Rafael alright, missing a right hand and with a wobbly pair of wings. It was dressed in a tunic, of rather plain velvet, wore a brass halo and held a pilgrim’s staff in one hand from where a wooden fish, damaged at the tail, once hung.

The fish is San Rafael’s primary attribute, in reference to his instructing his young traveling companion, Tobiah, to use the liver of a fish to cure his father Tobit's blindness. San Rafael, 16 inches tall, stood on a simple, square base painted with marbleized effects, typical of those made in the pre-war era.

Despite these flaws, the santo was a well-carved piece. Besides, San Rafael figures are not very common sights in antique shops and tabletop manikin versions are even harder to find. To make the story short, I went home lugging not just paintings but also a damaged San Rafael santo that weekend afternoon.

A week after my purchase, I sent the santo to restorer Dr. Raffy Lopez for repair. Raffy’s services are much sought after in the restoration of tabletop santos, especially of ivory. He orchestrates his group of workers that include a skilled carver, encarnador and vestment makers who still makes embroidered santo dresses in the old-fashioned way.


I pretty much entrust all the work to Raffy—from woodwork, re-painting and vesting. I usually just request for updates, and this he does by sending cellphone pictures of the work in progress.
Here, for instance, we see the repair on the tail of the wooden fish.

And here, we see that a new right had had been carved.


The splotches on the face of the old santo have also been covered with a primer, preparatory to painting.

For the vestments, we agreed on a white textured cloth, styled with funnel sleeves and embroidered tunic with scalloped hems.

A few more days after, Raffy sent me a picture of the completed santo, complete with a garland on his head. I noticed that the halo was not yet in place so I asked Raffy to put it as well.

To his horror, he could not find the original brass halo that came with the santo. A few calls to his carver yielded negative results. Not even my prayer request to St. Anthony could save the day—the halo is officially lost. I wasn’t worried though, because vintage halos regularly appear in flea markets; I always find one or two in antique shops too. In fact, by the end of the day, Raffy texted me to say that a common friend of ours, who was with him that day, had generously volunteered to give me a spare gothic halo he had in his keeping.

But St. Anthony was not done yet, apparently. On my way to Cubao to pick up San Rafael, I passed by an antique dealer whom, I haven’t met in years. Rummaging through his odds and ends, guess what I found—a silver gothic halo that was almost the size of the lost one! To make the day even better, the halo was given to me, for free!

Once I arrived at Raffy’s, he easily placed the halo on San Rafael’s head—the final touch to santo’s restoration. In a way way, this angel of healing, rescued from an antique warehouse, was himself "healed" by one of the country's acclaimed restorer of santos!

68. Another Teotico's Work Found: NIÑO DE LA PASION

Another work of Domingo Teotico surfaced in the collection of ecclesiastical artist Thomas Joven. Domingo Teotico was an important santo maker who studied at the Academia de Dibujo yPintura, and who later trained under when Lorenzo Rocha and Leoncio Asuncion.

He opened a religious statuary shop in Quiapo and became an award-winning sculptor--2nd prize in the Open Competition sponsored by the Sociedad de Escultores de Sta. Cruz in 1880 and a Silver Medal for a bust of Pope Gregory XV, at the tercentenary celebration of Sta. Teresa de Jesus in 1882.

This particular dated and signed image is that of the Santo Niño de la Pasion, depicting the Christ Child, with a downcast gaze, holding a cross--symbol of His Passion. It is a tabletop santo (35 cm.) of the manikin type, and it stands on a base on which the sculptor has carved his name and the date the work was finished (Feb. 1, 1903).


Tom has had the image for years and only discovered the signature of Teotico as he was about to change the plain-looking base, which, during the process of restoration, revealed the artist’s etched name , just below the Christ Child's left foot.



This is just the second image seen this year made by the Sta. Cruz-born carver, documented with the artist's own signed name. It is hoped that many more will surface in the future.

( Many thanks to Mr. Thomas Joven for the use of his photos)