XCIV. The Shrine of the Ascension, Part One: Angels and Designs

A year ago, I wrote about how my family and I rebuilt and refurbished our Family Mausoleum in San Rafael, Bulacan, leading up to All Saints’ Day 2008.

Since then, there had been one burial there, of the remains of my mother’s eldest sibling and only brother, Amador Veron-Dulay (1 February 1934 – 14 February 2009).  Born and raised in Malolos but a resident of Caloocan for the past half-century, he passed away after a short hospitalization at Manila Doctors following about two years of battling cancer. After a closed-coffin wake at the Guinhawa Chapel in Malolos, his cremation and funeral took place on Tuesday 17 February 2009, making him the first beneficiary of our new, improved family plot.

Over the past year, and despite the satisfaction expressed by friends and more distant relatives who been able to come and see it, it was felt that there was something missing from this mausoleum.  It wasn’t actually too difficult for this santo-loving Roman Catholic family to pinpoint what that was, because in its current incarnation, the place seemed more appropriate for iconoclastic Protestants – apart from the iron cross at the top of the façade (if that could be counted at all), there was not a single religious image in sight.

Fortunately, but discreetly, there were long-standing plans to remedy that.  The center section of the rear wall, which in the original architectural drawings would have also featured a large grilled open window opening, was sealed in the course of construction.  The intent was to mount a life-sized religious image on this large surface.

And the tops of the niches, a series of steps and platforms of different levels, would be perfect for other iconographic explorations.  In early 2009, I had taken measurements of those spaces, which, despite the potential limitations posed by the property line and the resulting angled wall behind, seemed large enough to hold religious figures.

After some months of discussion and brainstorming with our regular religious image designer and maker of several years now Mr. Francisco “Kiko” Vecin, and an actual visit to the site by him in early August to confirm the measurements, we converged on specific designs for these two spaces.  For the large central space on the rear wall, we decided to commission a large image of Christ.  This was not a difficult decision at all, because when the previous window opening was boarded up in the course of construction the year before, we had already decided in advance that an image of Christ would definitely be placed there.  

Naturally, the question turned to – what sort of Christ? A Crucifix with a dying or dead Christ would have been a no-brainer – even wakes, funeral parlors, and mortuary chapels use them in abundance.  On the other hand, many family mausoleums everywhere latterly feature a Resurrected Christ, no doubt invoking the Christian promise of the metaphorical resurrection of all the dead (family members) on the Last Day.

This family, however, wanted something more than just a coming back to life.  Given that life on earth is, after all, a vale of tears, it would of course be preferable to be in heaven instead.  Thus, we latched on to the Second Glorious Mystery of the Ascension, in the (arguably sacrilegious) hope that one day, all those buried (and still to be buried) here would go up to heaven as well and be reunited there in God’s eternal company.

Thus was decided that a large life-sized image of Christ of the Ascension would be mounted on that central wall space.  Not only that, the entire family mausoleum itself would be (rather self-importantly) called “The Shrine of the Ascension” – “Dambana ng Pag-Akyát sa Langit” in Tagalog.  We were so sure of this that as early as April 2009, even before the image of the Ascending Christ could start to be made by the Vecin Workshop, we already had marble markers made for this purpose.

These were then mounted appropriately on either side of the entrance.

Prior to the actual crafting of the image of the Ascension, Mr. Vecin proposed three designs for the family’s consideration. The first one was a simple, near-minimalist rendition.

The next was in a relatively flamboyant flapping-garments baroque style.

The third was somewhere in between, a classically-garbed Ascending Christ, and was the one that we eventually chose.

For the tops of the niches, and consistent with the glorious theme brought to fore by the Ascension, we decided that rather than the usual mournful and weepy figures often seen in classically-styled mausoleums and funerary monuments in many places in the West and even in the Philippines, we would go for child angels in happy and glorious guises.

To this end, Mr. Vecin proposed that the center-top level, right above the four great-grandparents’ niches, feature two angels supporting and presenting a large cross.

The levels on the left would feature similar angels in various “happy” poses.

And so would the right side.

In fact, the angels on either side would be holding large banners – tarpaulins in current language – on which would be inscribed the standard Tagalog prayers for the repose of souls:

PAGKALOOBAN NAWÂ SILÁ NG PANGINOÓN

NG PAMAMAHINGÁNG WALÁNG HANGGÁN

(Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord)

AT TUMANGLÁW NAWÂ SA KANILÁ

ANG LIWANAG MAGPAKAILANMÁN.

(And may Perpetual Light shine upon them.)

The resulting panoramic view, showing the scrolls in position, is this:

Shortly after these designs were made, we got to wondering if perhaps these scrolls, held aloft as they were by baby angels, would not be wide or large enough for the inscriptions to be seen clearly by a viewer on the ground. Also, would these angels be sufficiently “glorious” in appearance, or in fact just too “hard-working”?

After some weeks of brainstorming and research, I hit on the answer – what about musical angels, like those that adorn the renaissance- and baroque-period church organ cases throughout many parts of Europe, particularly the Flemish- and German-speaking areas. I showed Mr. Vecin the photographic results of my internet trawling, and we agreed that this was a much more satisfying solution, and that he would produce new designs along these lines.

In short order, the previous angels generally kept their poses but now acquired musical instruments – drums and a trumpet,

a flute and a violin,

and a harp and a mandolin.

The central angels already had enough to do, what with supporting a cross that was even larger than they were, so it was decided that they would not be given musical instruments any longer. On the other hand, the banners previously intended to be held by the other angels would evolve into larger scrolls, and would instead be hung as backdrops on the left and right sides.

By mid-September, the carving in wood of the central angels and their cross had been completed, and they were then ready for painting.

Shortley thereafter, the drummer and trumpeter too were ready for their next steps.

By early October, the central angels had been painted in what Mr. Vecin referred to, perhaps appropriately, as “bone white.”

The cross too had been painted in the same color.

On the other hand, the Christ of the Ascension could not be done in wood, as it would hang in the open courtyard of the mausoleum and be exposed to the elements.  If we were in the Renaissance or Baroque periods, this would have to be rendered in marble, but as Michelangelo was not currently available to make a selection from the Carrara (or Romblon) quarries, moulded concrete might therefore be an alternative.  However, the image’s large size would make the result extremely heavy and might thus pose engineering problems in the installation and mounting process.

Instead, Mr. Vecin strongly recommended resin – a weatherproof and hard-wearing material that he had had previous experience with.  This was also easier to work with and the resulting sculpture could also be adjusted and fine-tuned more quickly than either marble or concrete.  Also, even a life-sized resin image would be a fraction of the weight of the equivalent in other materials, thus making transportation and installation quite convenient.

So despite some delays occasioned by weird weather all around in September and early October 2009, the classically-styled image of the Ascending Christ was essentially finished by mid-October

and was also being painted in Mr. Vecin’s specified color of bone white.

With just a few days to go before All Saints’ Day 2009, all that was left to do was to go to San Rafael and actually install the images.

(Continued here.)


Originally published on 8 November 2009.  All text and photos copyright ©2009 by Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

Original comments:

arcastro57 wrote on Nov 26, '09 I wonder what the lifespan of resin is. Now this shrine/family mausoleum has the potential of becoming another tourist destination!

rally65 wrote on Nov 26, '09 arcastro57 said I wonder what the lifespan of resin is. Now this shrine/family mausoleum has the potential of becoming another tourist destination! According to Mr. Vecin, several of his clients specify resin because the images are intended to be positioned outdoors and be exposed to the elements. From his experience, resin images actually stand up better to heat, sun, rain, and dust than cement. Locally-available marble is also too soft and brittle and is therefore not only problematic to sculpt realistically but will also deteriorate outdoors. Philippine marble is thus only for use indoors -- e.g., floors and walls.

arcastro57 wrote on Nov 26, '09 Will he make a mold first? How is the price? Cheaper than wood, I suppose.

rally65 wrote on Nov 26, '09 For this one, there was no mold, since it was a one-off image anyway. There was just a design drawing from Mr. Vecin that the resin sculptor used as reference, plus Mr. Vecin checked the sculptor's portfolio of past and currently in-progress works to see if his style was acceptable. Yes, the price will be less than the equivalent detailed wooden image; it's roughly the same price as a same-sized processional mannequin (without the garments).

jamaica1ph wrote on Nov 27, '09 Nice thread LEO..... where is the continuation of the story?

rally65 wrote on Nov 27, '09 jamaica1ph said Nice thread LEO..... where is the continuation of the story? Mike, it's still in the slow-cooking oven -- please wait for it.