Viva, San Roque!

Ika-19 ng Agosto, 2011
Kapistahan ni San Roque
Bisita ng Zamora
Meycauayan, Bulacan

Maligayang Kapistahan! :-)

Rizal @ 150

Si robbyandharry ay nakikiisa sa sambayanang Pilipino sa pagdiriwang ng ika-150 Guningtaon ng Pagsilang ng ating Pambansang Bayaning si Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

Hero ko si Rizal! :-)

Cristo Series

The Cofradia de la Santa Vera Cruz, a parish-based organization of Lenten images owners, in observance of Christ's passion and death will be featuring three ancient images of our Lord Jesus Christ in commemorationof this year's Semana Santa: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar and The Patient Christ. Enlarged photographs of the said images will be hanged at the facade of St. Francis of Asssi Parish Church in Meycauayan City.



Panalagin sa Halamanan
(The Agony in the Garden)



Ang Paghampas kay Jesus sa Haliging Bato
(The Scourging at the Pillar)



Ecce Homo, "Narito ang Tao"
The Patient Christ

Ang Lupang "Quinatitirican" ng aming Pamamahay

In 2005, I found a folded 1904 document, hiding inside our old aparador regarding the partition of the lot owned by our family. Funny how they Hispanized the Tagalog words. I thought, only Kapampangans do it that way. Here's the transcript.

Dito sa Bayan ng Meycauayan Hucuman ng Bulacan nang icalabingwalong arao ng Julio taong isang libo siyam na raan at apat. Caming mag-Inang Bonifacia Carillo at Marcelo Villano mga tawong tunay dito sa nasabing bayan ay may mga edad na carampatan, sa fecha nito guinawa naming at ipinagawa itong casulatan at documento nang aming reparticiong mga magpipinsang boo at pamangquin tungcol sa lupang bacood at palayan na quinatitirican ng aming pamamahay sa lugar ng Licod sacop din nitong bayan na ang tacal ay dalawanpo at tatlong areas at animnapo at pitong centiareas o caya ay walong luang at apat-napo at pitong brazas cuadradas at humahanga sa nayong hilagaan sa solar ni Fausta Villano, sa timugan ay solar ni Catalina Villaflores, sa silanganan na tumawid nang carsada ay palaisdaan ni Fernando Nieto at sa canluran ay sangja o daang tubig: ay ito’y aming naguing caparti at cabahagui sa aming nasabi-nang mga camana na sila’y, Domingo Villaflores, Felipa Villaflores, Justa Villaflores at Silvino Villaflores, at itong aming pagpaparting ito ay guinawa naming sa aming tunay na pagca-caharap at magandang pagca-casundo na walang nilit at pumilit ni humiguit na sino man sa amin. At sa catutohanan nang lahat nang itoy hindi yari sa Mataas na Tribunal ng ESTADOS UNIDOS dito sa capuluang Filipinas na quina-u-uculan nang mga ganganitong casulatan ay doon naming itinutulad ang boong lacas bagsic capangyarihan na parang yaring hatol na napag-hatulan na sacali’t, may magtatalurica sa amin at siyang ipilit, ipatupad ang lahat nang ditoy napapalaman tuloy nang firma ang bawat maalam at hindi ay naglagay nang aruego na pumirma sa ilalim ng caniyang pangalan at ang mga Herederong dito’y hindi na sinaysay ay gayon din at ang mga sacsing macapagbibigay lubos pacatutoo ngayong arao buan at taong nasabi-na.

The Calle Licod mentioned in the deocument is now Brgy. Zamora and the lot is now presently numbered as 44 J. Lesgaspi Street. :-)

Semana Santa sa Meycauayan, nasa blogspot.com na!

Isa ang bayan ng Meycauayan sa mga may pinakamakukulay na pagdiriwang ng Semana Santa sa bansa. Hanggang sa ngayon ay mamamalas pa rin ang mga gawaing kahit na mabilis na tumatakbo ang panahon ay hindi pa rin naglalaho.

Tunghayan ang kulay ng mga tradisyon, makiisa sa mga paniniwala at malasin ang sigla ng buha- pananampalataya sa Parokya ni San Francisco ng Assisi sa kanyang pagsariwa sa paghihirap, pagpapakasakit, pagkamatay at muling-pagkabuhay ng ating Panginoong Jesukristo.

Remembering September 26th

One year ago, we experienced one of the most catastrophic natural calamities that struck our country. Typhoon Ondoy was a very desvastating event in our lives. Many lives and properties were lost. We were caught unprepared. I was unprepared.

September 25th, Friday. After my routine classes, many were busy preparing for the upcoming Sponge Cola concert sponsored by St. Mary's College of Meycauayan Alumni Association. Although I do not have direct participation on that activity, except to sell tickets as I am an alumnus, I once in a while took glance on what's happening inside the school's gymnasium on where the concert will be held. I am planning not to attend the concert since I am not a fan, but I was advised to attend because I was assigned to join the ushers for the event. I hesitated because I am planning to take rest the next day or to spend time in Manila, but since I am an alumnus I have to nod my head. Lest that I know, that nod would later save my life, and my school files!

September 26th, Saturday. The rain that poured the previous night was so heavy that it made our barangay flodded. (Actually, a slight rain would turn barrio into a swamp with an ankle-deep flood that would subside three or four days later.) Despite of the heavy rains and if I am not mistaken, a typhoon-signal was raised earlier that morning, I still managed to come to school. Rain poured so heavy that at nine in the morning it turned the school grounds a big fishpond with a knee-deep flood. Organizers canceled the event near lunch time as the flood waters entered the school gym. My co-teachers were planning to go home because they were worried what might happened next. Its better for them to be with their family rather than at school at that time. But as we planned to go home, floods went higher and we cannot find any form of public transportation. We have no choice but to stay and wait for the next thing. Flood waters started to invade our faculty room that we to save our files atop of our tables. Flood waters rushed so fast that in less than an hour, we have to save again some files that were placed on low tables. Computer sets and other important documents were evacuated at the school library located at the second floor. We thought that waters will stop raising but to our surprise, it raised past our faculty tables. The tables, full of files papers and personal things, in halo-halo form began to topple like a domino one by one. Seeing this scene prompted us to think some plan how to save those papers. Like Lego blocks we have to build pyramids using three tables, making the topmost table the repository of our files. Rushing waters made the tables so weak that some tables toppled. After we realized that we can't save all the files, we left the faculty to evacuate at the library. Realizing that we have nothing to eat, we returned at the faculty to get any available food. Thanks to some candies and to the canned sardines we were save to starvation!

It was my first time to see chest-deep flood waters near the national highway. The place where SMCM stands is one of the few high places in downtown Meycauayan City. Realizing this, I was worried how high flood rose back our home. I was informed through a text message from my brother that only two of our ten-step staircase were visible. I was so worried that the waters might reach the second level of our house. Thanks be to God, waters stopped to rise. We are so lucky because we have evacuated everything from our silong last June as we expected floods to came. But who would thought a nearly ten-foot high flood. Never in my entire life I have seen such.

Spending that night was the longest night that I've ever had so far. All teachers that were stranded were anxious. We prayed the rosary so hard for the rain to stop. Communication was so difficult. With electricity down, we don't have any news on whats going on outside Bulacan.

Heavy rains stopped leaving Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal and other parts of Luzon devastated for almost a month. I was not easy for many to recover. Until now, I could still see some families living on shabby tents in Marilao because they don't have the means to build again their lives. What's more heartbreaking is that many people died during the storm. A family of 5 in Daungan, Meycauayan died when their house was gushed in to the river along with them by raging waters. The mother was found along with water hyacinths near Meycauayan Bridge two weeks after.

Remembering these things were painful. Maybe it is nature's way of telling us that we should start to rehabilitate our once-glorious nature. We should start now, because I don't want to another Ondoy to wake us up again.

Remembering Remembrances

Remembering Old Intramuros, one would always marvel its ancient churches, government buildings, promenades, baluartes and thick walls. Most often than not, monuments erected in memory of a person or an event is not viewed in such awe as compared to the edifices that were enumerated earlier. I think, it is befitting that we must give these “commemoratives” the proper commemoration that they deserve.

Citizens' Gratitude

Earliest of the monuments around the perimeters of the ancient Walled City is the Rey Carlos IV Monument. Casted in 1808, it was erected in the Philippine soil, in front of the Manila Cathedral in 1824 in gratitude to His Royal Highness, the King of Spain, because of the shipment of the vaccines used to cure small pox that infested the Philippine inhabitants in the early 1800’s. The place where it stands was known as the Plaza Mayor during the Spanish Colonization, Plaza McKinley in the American Period and nowadays, Plaza Roma. The Statue of the King was replaced by a monument dedicated to Gomburza in 1960’s and was returned on its original site in 1981.

The inscription in the monument reads: Al Rey de Carlos IV en gratito al non beneficio de la vacuna los habitantes de Filipinas.

From a Governor General to a Governor General

Taking a ride along the Bonifacio Drive outside the Walled City, one may see a marble memorial dedicated to the 41^st Governor General of the Philippines, Simeon de Anda y Salazar. It was erected in 1871 through the efforts of the then Governor General, Carlos Maria dela Torre, to commemorate Anda’s efforts to fight British forces during their brief invasion of the Spanish colony. The Monument was first erected just outside the Fort Santiago, near the mouth of the Pasig River. It was dismantled in 1960’s and was moved to the present site during the construction of the Del Pan Bridge. The place where the monument currently stands is now known as the Anda Circle.

Lost Treasure

In 1848, a monument dedicated to the discoverer of the Philippine Islands was erected. Inscribed with Fernando Magallanes’ name, it was a monumental column decorated with laurel leaves and anchors, symbols for his victory in navigation. The bronze globe as well as the merlions was probably exported from Belgium. It had once erected outside the Puerta Isabel II until it was moved to near the Aduana Building at the back of Intendencia in 1904 after part of its wall was leveled down. The monument is a casualty of the Second World War, and now lost in oblivion after the US Military clean up crew bulldozed the said column, pushing it down to the Pasig River

The Cross and the Sword

The triumph of the cross and sword over the Philippine Archipelago commemorates the Legazpi-Urdaneta Monument. It was commissioned by the Spanish government in the Philippines in the late 1890’s to the famous Catalonian sculptor, Agustin Querol y Subirals. By the time of its completion, it was already the Americans who were occupying the islands. It was shipped from Barcelona to Manila and was stored inside the customs storeroom for decades until it was finally erected between 1929 -1931, at the time of American Governor General Dwight F. Davies. The bronze and granite monument depicts Miguel Lopez de Legaspi holding a sword (now missing), symbolizes Spain’s triumph in ruling the colony and Fray Andres de Urdaneta holding a cross signifying the victory of the Catholic Church.

Well-Traveled Queen

The Queen of Spain, Reina Isabel II instructed Ponciano Ponzano, a Spanish sculptor to cast a bronze statue of her image and likeness, which will be shipped to Manila where it will be erected in her honor. The statue of the queen arrived in the Philippine soil on July 14, 1860, with much pomp and pageantry as if the queen in her flesh came. It was first erected at the Plaza Arroceros. Due to the queen’s mismanagement of her royal court, an uprising known as the Carlist Revolution of 1868 was plotted against her. He went into an exile and was replaced by her son. Meanwhile in the Philippines, a new government was established, in the person of Governor General Carlos Maria de la Torre, a Carlist. His first anti-Bourbon move in the islands was to dismantle the former queen’s statue and to dump it in a bodega. Due to the fear that the statue will be melted down and its iron be used for other purposes, the Sociedad Economica de Amigos de Pais requested that they would like to keep it as a work of art. But because it was not funded by the Spanish Government in the Philippines, it was not handed to them. It was instead stored in one of the bodegas inside the Ayuntamiento. When the Anti-Bourbon campaign slightly subsided, the statue finally found a new place to stand. In 1896, Malate Church served as her second home. It stood there until fierce typhoon Yoling toppled her down in 1970. The statue was returned to Intramuros in 1975, when it was restored in time for the state visit of her great great-grandson Principe Carlos, later King Carlos of Spain. How befitting that she was installed near an ancient gate where her name was also inscribed, the Puerta Isabel II.

His Eminence

An archbishops’ educational legacy to the Filipinos was immortalized by a quaint but proud statue erected near the church of Santo Domingo and facing the portals of the Universidad de Santo Tomas inside the Walled City. Dedicated to Archbishop Miguel de Benavides, OP, it commemorates his desire to build an educational institution, with the funds he bequeathed together with his personal library collection. His dream came to a reality in 1611 when the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, was known later as the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, the first Catholic university in Asia. The statue was commissioned in Paris in 1889 and was probably casted by Tony Noel, a name found at the back of his image. It was unveiled inside Intramuros in 1891. The statue was transferred to its new location after the Second World War at Espana, Manila, the new university site purchased by the Dominicans in 1927. A fiberglass replica was placed in 2003 at the same spot where it was originally installed.

With the exemption of the Benavides Monument, how ironic that these ancient monuments, originally installed to give credits to whatever they commemorate, are now neglected. Do we really need another World War for them to be destructed just to see their historical and cultural significance? If that happens, all we can say then is “sayang…”

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Photo Credits

The University of Michigan Digital Library and Photographic Archives

Blessed Baptiser

Today is the Feast day of St. John the Baptist, Cousin of Jesus Christ and the Precursor of the Savior.

Miracle on Rose Petal

The first time that I heard about strange religious images on rose petals is that of the Miracle of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces in the City of Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals were showered from the skies, thought to came from the Virgin Mary herself. Within the rose petals are the manifestations of religious images and likeness of Mary, Jesus and from the other saints. The Virgin appeared to S. Teresita Castillo in 1948.

I was hoping that someday, I would like to have my own petal someday from Lipa. But Lipa was too far from my hometown in Meycauayan, Bulacan. How can i obtain one?

Miracle was just around the corner.

I got my answer through my friend, Marvin Dalag. I have this bunch of friends who are very inclined with santo things (religious stuff to be more precise). We were invited by Paul from Guiguinto that there will be a healing mass, an activity prepared for their upcoming fiesta in 2008. Marvin told us that it was a special healing mass because rose petals will be distributed by Carmelo Cortez and it would depend on whose petal that religious images will appear. I said to my self, "whoah, I don't have to go to Lipa just to have those rose petals". But who was Carmelo, by the way? How did images appeared on rose petals? I have too many questions in my mind. Marvin, again, provided the answers.

Mary and the Roses

It was in June 12, 1991 that a young lady dressed in white appeared to Bro. Carmelo. first witnessed manifestations of rose petals with religious images, and healing. Her heart was visible, just like the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but this time with the Holy Eucharist at the center encircled by stars. She had a rosary and a Mt. Carmel Scapular on each of her hand. It was the beginning of his mission.

Mary's Wishes

The Lady told Bro. Carmelo her wishes. First, that people should go back to the Catholic Church. Second, that people should receive the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. And third, that believers should pray for the priests. The Lady who appeared to Bro. Carmelo was later known to be the Mother of Eucharist and Grace. He was also given the gift of healing through the rose petals. At first, many raised their eyebrows, but as time flies, many were convinced and believed.

Mary's Shrine

Bro. Carmelo built a humble shrine in Barrio San Vicente in the town of Sta. Maria in Bulacan with the permission of the then Bishop of Malolos, Most Rev. Cirilo Almario, D.D. Through God's intercession, the shrine became bigger and bigger as help from devotees came for the construction of a better shrine for Mary. It was here, hundreds of pilgrims gather every first Saturday of the month to witness healing and miracle. The shrine was declared as the Diocesan Shrine of Mother of the Eucharist and Grace of the Diocese of Malolos. It also has a replica of the Special Places in the Holy Land; the Annunciation Cave, the Nativity Cave, The Holy Sepulcher to name a few. It is the first and the only Holy Land replica in Asia.

First Encounters with 'Melo

It was in Guiguinto that I first saw Carmelo Cortez. An ordinary man with an extraordinary mission. After the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. I didn't know that it was the signal for the start of the healing. People started to sit on pews. Those who are sick, on wheel chair and old are the priorities. Carmelo went on to them, applied some rose-scented oil on their palms and placed a single rose petal on their chests. After these, he placed his hands on their head, a sign that Carmelo is praying for that person. He did these to all people gathered inside the church. I was seated a the back so I have longer time to wait for my turn. I was nervous when i saw Melo was approaching me. I was not sick that time. I was just praying that all in our family will be well, specially my Nanay. I also wanted to have my rose petal with images on it. "What if there will be no images?" I asked myself. Then I thought of those people who curiously looking at their petals, gazing marvelously on the images imprinted miraculously on them. Then I thought, maybe if I would just believe, miracles will happen.

As Carmelo placed a rose petal on my chest, I closed my eyes. I placed my hands over my chest, praying. Melo laid his hands on my head. And then, he left for the person next to me. I opened my eyes to see whats on the petal. I raised the petal to the light and there, I saw and image of the Child Jesus, His arms spread, as if welcoming someone to be embraced. He wants to embrace me.

From then on, at least once every year, I am able to witness the miracle on Rose Petals. It was a very enlightening moment that at this age, miracles like this still happen. Maybe its one way of God's reminder that He is still with us. All we have to do is to believe. :-)

Mary's Month of May

The Hermandad de la Virgen Maria of Malolos City, Bulacan would like you to be part of this year's Marian Exhibit entitled Rosa Mystica; it would showcase various statues, images and icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary, most specially the devotion to her. Exhibit runs from May 2 to May 7, 2010 and would be mounted at the Diocesan Museum of Malolos, Barasoain Church Complex, City of Malolos, Bulacan.

The Schedule of Festivities is as follows:

May 3 - 7 - Monday - Friday
9am - 6pm Marian Exhibit Viewing Time

May 7 - Friday
7pm - Closing Ceremonies of the Exhibit
8pm - Egress of images

May 9 - Sunday
5pm - Celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the Templete del Santo Nino

6pm - Marian Procession
Assembly area: streets adjacent to the Templete (Santo Niño Chapel at Pariancillo)
The Blessing of the Virgenes in their carrozas will be done before the procession.
Any camarero who wants their Virgen/es to participate in the procession is most welcome.

Viva la Virgen! Viva!