Voices.

It was during a high school trip to the Mental Hospital in Mandaluyong that I saw first hand the human beings we outside people refer to as "cuckoo."   It was a very disturbing school trip.

We walked along the corridors and were allowed to peer into cells where the mentally ill were kept.  It was a sad, sad sight to behold.

On that day, a film was being shot inside the Asylum and it starred Rita Gomez. Her role was that of an "inmate" at the Hospital.  She was talking to herself, screaming - the way schizophrenics talk to the "people" or to the "voices" that they could only hear.

Next time I would see Rita Gomez was in a play titled "Boses," and I recall the theatre being an old, handsome house somewhere in Quezon City.  

I'd always admired Rita Gomez.  And watching her live was something else. Her presence was hair raising.  Her voice , magnificent.

In the play Boses, she was the only character.  Plus a telephone.  Indeed, it was an unforgettable performance by Rita Gomez.

Another great actor I saw perform on stage was the late Charito Solis.  The play was "Ang Larawan," the Tagalog version of "Portrait of the Artist as a Filipino, and it was shown at the theatre inside Fort Santiago.  Philip Salvador was in the cast.  This was in the late 70's, and Fort Santiago then was a place that had a lot of promise for a "renaissance-type" art and theatre revival.  

Voice. Vox.  

Vox populi, vox dei.  The voice of the people is the voice of God. 

I once joined a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament - Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama, U.S.A  where the Order Poor Clare Nuns reside. The Poor Clare nuns are mostly cloistered nuns or "mongha," as we refer to them in Tagalog.  

At the Basilica, we were fortunate enough to attend the Mass where the Cloistered Nuns were the ones leading the singing.  We could hear them, but could not see them. They were behind the Altar.

Their voices were angelic.  I prayed to God to let me hear them clearly.  And yes, even now whenever I closed my eyes and prayed, I seem to hear their sweet voices.  The distance is great but the Spirit is close. 

Love is like that.  

P.S 

" May 20, 2010 marks the 48th anniversary of the founding and dedication of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama! This is a marvelous day to recall the good things God began through our faithful Mother (Angelica) and pray that she is well rewarded for her work for God and the Church."