A Place of Prayer.

RIGHT, exterior of Nana Ake's house.

BELOW RIGHT, Interior of the chapel part of Nana Ake's house.

RIGHT, Exterior of the house.

BELOW RIGHT, The Holy Sepulcher inside the chapel-part of Nana Ake's house.

About a month or so ago

when we were having a property fenced in Bulacan, we decided to visit the house of Nana Ake in Bustos.

Nana Ake was a "faith healer," who was known for having healed

many people of varying ailments and diseases. She passed away in the 70's.

Her house is like a mini-chapel which houses life -sized relics and icons, some of which her

family owns and others "entrusted' to them for safekeeping by the townspeople.

ABOVE, Another interior portion of Nana Ake's house,

One of the statues which had been safeguarded lately by Nana Ake's heirs is that Mary Magdalene, owned by Toyz' family

for many years, and which had been a regular part of the town's annual Holy Week processions.



RIGHT, Mary Magdalene in Metro Manila now.











Mary Magdalene, according to Toyz, was the centerpiece of their family's annual Lenten "pabasa ng pasyon." When the last of the family elders passed away, this Lenten tradition died with her, too.

Toyz, a regular devotee of the Black Nazarene and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, wanted to bring back the family tradition to life, and thus, worked on reclaiming the Mary Magdalene Statue.

ABOVE, Sto. Nino de Cebu, Maria Ina ng Dukha (of Montemaria fame) and another Sto. Nino from Pakil, Laguna.

When we fetched Mary Magdalene, we were advised that she lost her hair, and part of her ear had been damaged. In place of hair was a purple veil that covered her head.

Days after ensconcing her in the living room, we rushed to Sta. Cruz to buy Mary Magdalene a hair piece; we were lucky to get a bargain from an old shop specializing in sewing dresses for Catholic statues and relics, beside the Catholic Trade Centre. It cost 3,000 pesos.

Back at home, I decided to build a spot for Mary Magdalene, and for the other religious relics - a spot which would welcome household members and guests as they enter the house. A place of prayer.

RIGHT, The place of prayer I built in the living room. Mary Magdalene at left, an image of Sto. Nino de Cebu, Mary of Montemaria, and Sto. Nino of Pakil.

The Silence of Saints.

It was eerie-ly quiet, the streets of Quezon City. Elliptical Road was less dizzying. Quezon Avenue was clear and passable. It was All Saints' Day, November 1st.

I have not celebrated All Saints' Day in Manila for so many years, until yesterday. I went to visit my father's grave and those of other relatives days ahead. So yesterday, I stayed where my mother's body is interred.

Death in a family brings relatives and friends together. Cousin Nina and niece Minet, whom I haven't seen in ages came and so did Tia Sol, and cousin Baby.

"Maliit ka pa nuon," is often heard. "Ilan na ang anak mo, ang apo mo?" too.

"Lamay sa patay," or viewing as it is called in North America, is a unique practise we, Pinoys and also the Chinoys, have.

In the funeral house, I see beautiful and colorful Chinese decors in front of the chapel where a Chinoy is interred. There are Christian and Buddhist ceremonies going on almost every night.

I see food trays being brought continuously. Pinoys and Chinoys share the tradition of feeding their loved ones lavishly. In Canada, Pinoys don't lose this tradition.

During the viewing days, Pinoys feed the people who come along, and especially after the funeral.
My sister prepared a collage - pictures of our mother, with us, with her friends, with our father.

She's beautiful as ever. My Mom.

Mary's Month of May - Flores de Mayo

The month of May is a very special month in our family. It is the birthday month of five of my siblings.

May 9, 11, 12, 14 and 23. One niece also celebrates hers on the 12th. The Fiesta of our town in Nueva Ecija also falls on May 12th, so does the Fiesta in Santa Ana, Manila (Feast of St. Anne), where I spent my childhood years.

May is the merriest month in the Philippines. That's because it is summertime; so most town fiestas occur on this month. The annual Santa Cruzan is also held on this month, which is a Catholic tradition of commemorating the journey to find the crucifix of Jesus by King Constantine and her mother, Queen Helena.

According to historical accounts, Constantine, the emperor of Rome some thousand years ago, dreamt that he should go to the battle field to fight in the name of the Holy Cross. He conquered his enemy and that victory led to his conversion to Christianity. He became the first Christian emperor in history. His mother, Queen Helena, was inspired by all these experiences and in the year 326 A.D., she went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to seek the Holy Cross, the wooden cross on which Christ was supposed to have been nailed. She successfully found the Holy Cross, complete with its inscription `INRI` on its top.

Thus, the religious Santa Cruzan procession is a re-enactment of the finding of the Holy Cross by Reyna Elena.

Of course, May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, in Catholic churches worldwide, there would be a twelve-day novena and floral offerings to Mother Mary, and which would culminate in the Flores de Mayo in the Philippines, the official May procession held by Philippine catholic parishes.

Corollary to this Catholic tradition is the neighbourhood procession called Lutrina. Originally, the Lutrina was meant to be festivities and rituals related to the the planting season which occurs in May.

The alay originally came from the very ancient past when young girls, always the symbol of purity and renewal, went to the sacred caves to offer garlands of flowers to the anito or the spirits of the forefathers. Then, it was reconfigured into the Christian tradition, and alay became the offering of the young for the Holy Virgin, then the offerings were replaced by flowers.

The lutrina, or the prayers were originally uttered by farmers as they walked through barren fields, were pleadings for the first rain. These days, the 12-day lutrina would culminate into the Santa Cruzan, where neighbourhood beauties - young girls and dalagitas - become sagalas. The last of the sagalas is always the Emperatris or Reyna Elena with her little constantino.

Nowadays, in many small nooks of Santa Ana and Mandaluyong, countless lutrinas are being held in May. But when I was growing up in one particular Santa Ana neighbourhood, there was only one lutrina, and it was started by my Lola. It was always started on May 14th, the birthday of one of my sisters. So, all my sisters and cousins, at one time or another, became "sagalas" in this Santa Cruzan and also in theFlores de Mayo.

This is also the reason, why we townsfolk of Punta and Mandaluyong, could eloquently sing the "Dios te Salve Maria."

Here in Toronto, the Filipino Catholic Mission (previously called the Filipino Chaplaincy) celebrates its own Santa Cruzan. At the old chaplaincy, we used to participate in the procession, where young Filipino- Canadian girls and boys donned their gowns and barongs, and the procession would take on the route around the high-rise apartment buildings and a park to the accompaniment of a Banda Filipino or musiko.