Adding some colorful distractions to the Visita Iglesia of Maundy Thursday

Note:  This photo essay  appeared in the 21-27 March 2014 issue of the FilAm Star, a weekly newspaper published in San Francisco, CA 'for Filipinos in mainstream America.' This blogger is the Special News/Photo Correspondent in the Philippines of the paper.

 

 

The Holy Week is a month away.  It’s time to prepare for the long vacation, which, my hometown experiences tell me, is capped by family and class reunions on Black Saturday after the religious rites of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

The folk rituals of Holy Week among Roman Catholics, local or Pinoys living in foreign soils, include visiting seven churches, a tradition called Visita Iglesia, on Maundy Thursday.  Many faithful go on excursions to neighboring towns in the provinces, so it’s not surprising to see jeeploads of city folks visiting churches in Laguna and Rizal, or Bulacan and Pampanga. 

I have not gone on a Visita Iglesia in all my life although I have visited many churches for their historical and cultural heritage values at other times of the year.  I can in fact help balikbayan friends and relatives choose seven churches in Metro Manila for their visita on Maundy Thursday.  My mind tells me that there should be certain colorful enrichments along the pilgrimage route from the first to the seventh church.   After doing the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, and the fourteen Stations of the Cross, an enriching break between churches may do wonders both to body and soul of the local and balikbayan pilgrim.

In my list are three churches built during the last century:  the UP Church of the Holy Sacrifice at the University of the Philippines in the Diliman campus, and the Santo Domingo Church on Quezon Avenue, both in Quezon City, and the Redemptorist Church in Paranaque City, more popular as the Baclaran Church.

The UP Church of the Holy Sacrifice, a round chapel with a thin shell concrete dome, still astounds me even if I still see it often after graduating from the university many years ago.  The altar is at the center, a double-sided crucifix hangs above it, and all around are wall panels painted with murals depicting the passion of Jesus Christ.  The creative geniuses who put all these together in 1955 later became National Artists: Leandro Locsin, Arturo Luz, Napoleon Abueva, Vicente Manansala and Ang Kiukok.  The church was recognized as a national historical landmark and a cultural treasure in 2005 by the National Historical Institute and the National Museum.

The pilgrim may not be able to escape the lure of the standard food fare of UP Diliman: banana cue or turon, available any time at the university shopping center a short walk across the church.  A leisurely stroll under the canopy of giant acacia trees on the academic oval up to the Oblation monument can be conducive for meditations before proceeding to the next church in the visita route.

The Santo Domingo Church is the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila.   According to historical accounts, the most magnificent of several Santo Domingo churches rose in Intramuros after the severe earthquake of 1863, but this was levelled to the ground by the Japanese bombs of December 1941.  The present structure built in Quezon City and inaugurated in 1954 is the sixth church.   This is where the image of Our Lady of the La Naval that survived the Second World War is enshrined.

When he recites the visita prayers, the pilgrim is surrounded by Stained-glass windows depicting the original 15 mysteries of the holy rosary by Galo Ocampo, and the colorful murals on the life of St. Dominic painted on the overhead cupolas by National Artist Botong Francisco.

From there is a short distance to Banawe St., teeming with restaurants for a quick snack or simple meal.  The Ma Mon Luk is still around for the mami and siopao of the good old days before moving on to the next church.  

The pilgrim may want to have the Baclaran Church last in the visita.  This church was consecrated in December 1958; earlier in January, it was declared the National Shrine of the Mother of Perpetual Help.  Devotees come here on Wednesdays to pray the novena before the picture of the Mother of Perpetual Help not the typical sculptured Marian image.   

Baclaran’s other popularity comes from the stalls of garments that can match those of Divisioria in terms of variety and prices.  Thus, a pilgrim’s journey to the next church may be broken by a quick trip to the clothes market.

Our next set comprises historical and popular places of worship:  San Sebastian, Quiapo and Sta. Cruz churches.  Depending on one’s capacity to walk, the pilgrim may want to traverse Ongpin St. of Chinatown to get to the Binondo Church and further on through Divisoria to the Tondo Church. 

This group already makes up five.  The pilgrim may however opt to divert from Sta. Cruz to Intramuros for the San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral.   Or, the pilgrim may consider another alternative for the visita: the Marian churches of Ermita and Malate.

The gothic architecture of the San Sebastian Church or the Minor Basilica of San Sebastian continues to stun visitors.  It is the only pre-fabricated all-steel church in the country; the steel sections came all the way from Belgium and were assembled on site.  Historical accounts say that the church was declared a minor basilica in 1890, and it was inaugurated the following year. 

The antique image of Our Lady of Carmel graces the center of the main altar, which tapers into a spire where the image of St. Sebastian is enshrined. 

The San Sebastian leg gets the pilgrim pass by Mendiola, the favorite culmination point of protests rallies before and after martial law, subjects of dissent seemingly the same, if he is old enough to remember.  Claro M. Recto or Legarda is not far behind for cool refreshments before hitting Quiapo.

The Quiapo Church is the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, center of worship on Fridays of the devotees of the antique life-sized image of the Poong Nazareno, and the hub of intense veneration every 9^th of January during the long procession of the image around the Quiapo district.  

The main door of the basilica opens into Plaza Miranda, site of miting de avances of political parties until the last election of 1971, and of protest rallies and demonstrations until the declaration of martial law in 1972.

Pilgrims to and from Quiapo church can be distracted by the commerce on Carriedo St.: Nazareno t-shirts and towels, colorful praying candles, flower garlands, native delicacies, medicinal herbs and anting-antings.   They may also get detoured to Quinta Market on Echague St. for mangoes and other fruits of the season, or to Excellente store for a large chunk of ham to feast on after the meatless Holy Week.

The Sta. Cruz Church, recently renovated, was completed in 1957. Like most of the churches of old Manila, the original stone church one sees in history books was totally destroyed during the Second World War. 

Today, there is just the rotunda with a running old fountain between it and the entry gate to Chinatown.  The pilgrim may find plenty of distractions on Ongpin St. on the way to Binondo Church:  lucky charm bracelets, jewelry, varieties of hopia, and carts of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

To me, Binondo Church and the Plaza San Lorenzo nearby comprise the focal point of Chinatown. The church is formally Marian being the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish Church, but because the Filipino saint was born here, it was declared the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. The present church was rebuilt from the old structures that survived the American bombs of 1944.

The pilgrim may opt to walk the distance from Plaza San Lorenzo to the Tondo Church past the tempting distractions of the new mall on Reina Regente and the Divisoria stalls on Claro M. Recto.

The Manila Cathedral had been under structural reinforcements for some time, and may open in time for Holy Week.  The cathedral was declared the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in 1981. Since the Spanish times, it has been the seat of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The first cathedral was built in 1581. The fifth, built after the earthquake of 1880, was reduced to rubble during the liberation of Manila from the Japanese.  It was rebuilt in 1954 to 1958.

San Agustin Church, the oldest church in the country, survived the bombs that razed Intramuros to the ground during the battle of Manila.   UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1993.

 A pilgrim can take a stroll on top of the walls around Intramuros, or tour the walled city on board a horse-drawn cart or calesa.  There is Casa Manila across the San Agustin Church where a museum, souvenir stores and restaurants are located for the refreshment of tired minds and bodies.

The Ermita Church is the Parish Church of Nuestra Senora de Guia, the oldest Marian image in the country.  The story goes that one of the men of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi found the local people worshipping the image on a trunk surrounded by pandan leaves.       

Roxas Boulevard is the scenic connection between the Ermita Church and the Malate Church, where another Marian image is enshrined: the image of the Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, brought from Spain in 1624.

The Malate Church is also a short walk from the light railway station on Quirino Avenue and the fruit stalls on San Andres St. can be an inviting distraction for the hungry soul. 

Jeepneys plying the Mabini and MH Del Pilar routes may take the pilgrim from one church to the other passing through the entertainment and commercial areas of Ermita and Malate. 

Thus, the pilgrim may actually find some reinvigorating distractions when he goes through the spiritual experiences of Visita Iglesia of Maundy Thursday:  local histories, cultural views, and food tripping.

Amid the multitude of devotees during the fiesta of the Nazareno 2014

Note:  A slightly different version of this photo essay was published in the 17-23 Jan 2014 issue of the weekly FilAm Star ("The newspaper for Filipinos in mainstream America") with the title "Amid the legions of devotees during the fiesta of Nazareno."  The blogger is the Special Photo/News Correspondent of the said weekly, which is based in San Francisco, CA.

The scramble to the top of the andas.

The feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo is not a moveable feast. The 9th of January is a special day that many devotees fix their minds and hearts on even before fireworks lit up the sky on New Year’s Eve. That’s because the nine-day novena masses for the revered Poong Hesus Nazareno begin right on the 31st of December.

The Hijos de Nazareno guarding the Nazareno.

The subject of intense devotion is the wooden life-size sculpture of Jesus Christ carrying a cross that Augustinian friars brought to Manila from Mexico in 1607.  According to popular lore, it got its dark color after getting partly burned when the galleon carrying it caught fire.

This is the third year that I followed the translacion (procession) at day time. I never got to see the completion of the journey from the Quirino Grandstand to the Basilica Minore of Quiapo at long past midnight. I learned that the Nazareno got back to the shrine past one o’clock Friday morning, and that was faster than last year’s 22 hours.

I did not also witness the revival of the dungaw (Tagalog term for looking at) tradition at the Plaza del Carmen by the Basilica Minore of San Sebastian, which used to be part of the translacion until the early 1900s .  The Recollect priests brought out the image of Our Lady of Carmel, which was also from Mexico and as old as the Nazarene, to re-enact the meeting of Mary and her son on his way to his crucifixion.  This is one reason why the procession route was longer this year.

The Nazareno and thousands of devotees crossing the Jones Bridge

The other reason was that the Nazareno had to cross the Pasig River via the Jones Bridge since the customary McArthur Bridge had been found to be structurally unsafe for carrying a huge crowd, the last estimate being around 3 million.  In fact, Coast Guard emergency units were on the alert and deployed below the bridge as the image and the multitude of devotees passed through.

I was immersed in the thick of mostly barefoot male and female devotees at several points on the Taft Avenue to Jones Bridge leg of the procession. They were either resting before they get back again into the frenzy of grabbing the thick manila rope that pulls the andas (carriage), or of climbing onto the carriage so that they can touch the image. I was amazed at the audacity of young women in jeans who attempted the climb that’s dominated by male devotees.  From my perch on the barrier at the foot of the Jones on the Escolta side, I saw one girl getting stepped on by a male climber as she lost her grip and slid down. I saw her next on a stretcher being carried to the first-aid station located below my perch.

The ones on top of the carriage are called Hijos de Nazareno (sons of the Nazarene) wearing yellow shirts whose duty it is to protect the image during the procession.  Devotees toss to them their hand towels to be wiped on the image, but sometimes they do not get these back.  One brother who shared my perch on Jones Bridge was telling me he has lost three towels already.  It is best, he said, if the hijo saw you throw the towel so he’d know where to fling it back.  Other hijos are deployed around the carriage.  Aside from providing further security to the image, they also offer their shoulders to step on for those who want to climb and touch the Nazareno.

Rope bearers or namamasan.

On this day, the devotees call everyone kapatid (brother or sister).  They’re not only helpful to one another but to spectators like me as well. A kapatid who helps pull the rope is called a namamasan. When this brother raises his hand, this means he already needs help, and non-pullers take him away from the dense frenzied wave of rope bearers..

During this year’s commemoration, zealous devotion went beyond the customary expressions of walking barefoot, waving white towels while shouting ‘Viva, Nazareno’, jostling to get to the ropes, and striving by all means to touch the image on the carriage.

Before Cardinal Antonio Tagle finished celebrating the early morning Mass at the Luneta, overzealous devotees broke through the barricades, climbed the stage, and seized the image to mount on the carriage so that the procession can begin.  The clergy could not do anything to stop the mob. The Cardinal had to finish the Mass at the backstage.  That extreme behavior again raised the issues of idolatry, fanaticism, superstition, and the apparent lack of authentic religious formation among many of the Nazareno devotees. 

Other devotos.

I was at the evening mass at the Quirino Grandstand the night before, the eve of the fiesta, also celebrated by the Cardinal.  The crowd of devotees encamped around the Luneta paid solemn attention to the rites, and observed decorum when communion and the anointment with holy oil were administered through the wire fence.  The long line of devotees that snaked several times from the area across the Rizal monument to the back of the grandstand where they can kiss the foot of the Nazareno was very orderly. 

There are of course many others who went to the Basilica Minore in Quiapo, the vigil at the Luneta and during the translacion and celebrated the feast of the Nazarene in their own somber acts of thanksgiving for miracles brought into their lives, and of unwavering faith that he will answer their prayers for themselves or their loved ones. 

This reminds that the translacion of the old days were solemn rites.  Through his painting of the procession of 1847, Jose Honorato Lozano tells us that the crowd at the Quiapo church square (now the Plaza Miranda) was big but orderly.  Even then the Black Nazarene was mounted on the andas with the clergy following the carriage under a canopy, and a brass band provided the processional music.

His painting tells us that the women in the procession wore black mantles or veils and carried lighted candles.  Lozano does not say how the men dress up for this fiesta but he says that generally the men wear their shirts over their trousers.   The painting suggests the men pulled the ropes, or they carried the andas on their shoulders.

While I saw several devotees with lighted candles during this year’s procession, the women did not have black mantles or veils anymore, and most, just like the male devotees, were  barefoot, and wore pants or shorts and t-shirts of yellow or maroon, colors associated with the Poong Hesus Nazareno of Quiapo.