XCIX. The Shrine of the Ascension, Part Four: Not Just On All Saints’ Day

In the tradition of making good progress on personal and family projects without necessarily completing them with finality, we turned to “improving” on our family mausoleum further in the weeks following All Saints’ Day.  (Rational thinkers will assert that we’re now potentially approaching the point of diminishing returns.  But it doesn’t matter – some projects are so enjoyable that it’s almost worth it.)

When Mr. Kiko Vecin installed the eight (mostly musical) angels just a week before All Saints’ Day, he proposed that we add a couple more of them, to somehow complete the panoramic tableau.

I agreed that two more angels positioned at the lowest level on the edges would probably make the entire ensemble look better.

We came to a consensus that a pair of singing angels would complement the instrumentalists nicely.  For variety, one would be singing from some sheet music (actually, a scroll), and the other more flamboyant one would have a tambourine in hand.

By early December, the two new angels had been fully carved and were ready for final painting.  Here’s how they looked without their “tools.”

On Saturday, December 12^th, Mr. Vecin and his gang returned to San Rafael to complete the installation of this angelic choir.

I photographed the new angels before they were fixed in place up above.  First, the tambourine-wielding angel.

Then, the sheet-music-on-scroll sight-reading singing angel.

And finally – all together now!

It was decided that the tambourine angel would take the place of the lyre angel in the middle of the right half of the scene, and the lyre angel would then move to the right-most edge.  Both of them would however be mounted on taller bases, to somehow compensate for the fact that the tops of the niches were not regularly spaced in width and height.

Here’s how the right flank looked with everyone in their new positions, more or less.

The same thing was done on the left flank – the trumpeteer angel was moved to the left-most edge, and the scroll angel took its place, but not before both had been given new taller bases.

Separately, the large copper-finished scrolls with inscribed prayers in Tagalog for the repose of souls had also been completed.

While the original plan was to mount these scrolls above and behind the angels on either side, we decided to consider other options.  Mr. Vecin suggested that we think about mounting them above the windows on each lateral end of the niche area.

We admitted that placing them above the angels would probably congest the overall view somewhat, and indeed placing them elsewhere might look much less obstructive.  I decided to have my aunt (who was away on a pre-Christmas recollection on this day) decide subsequently, and just inform the installers in due course.

In the meantime, we just stood the scrolls temporarily on the floor of the niche area

just under the newly-completed ensemble of now-ten-angels-plus-one-cross.

The fresh flower arrangements from All Saints’ Day six weeks previously had now evolved quite unexpectedly into attractive dried flower arrangements

thus adding a novel dash of earth shading to the set-up fairly well.

On a separate note, contrary to what I thought on All Saints’ Day, Mr. Vecin felt that there was actually nothing wrong with the way the Christ of the Ascension was mounted, despite the fact that the head of the image was not perfectly centered.  In his opinion, this gave it an appearance of movement and dynamism, and departed nicely from the artificial perfectly-centered and precisely-measured way most images were mounted on walls.  (So I guess that settled it. For now.)

Despite that, it was easy to prove that the arch of the Christ was quite perfectly aligned – by design – with the center window of the façade.  One just had to stand in a specific spot on the street in front, and just zoom in as needed.

As we were about to take off, Mr. Vecin spotted an interesting artifact in one of the neighboring family mausoleums across the road – a small and unpretentious beautiful antique crucifix.

- - - - - - -

My aunt eventually decided to have the large scrolls placed above the windows on either lateral side of the niche area.  (I confess that it was also much easier to undertake this installation than if we were to have placed the scrolls above and behind the angels.)  It wasn’t until Christmas Day, less than a week ago, though that we all got to see the results.

Above the left-side lateral window was placed the scroll with the words

PAGKALOOBAN NAWÂ SILÁ NG PANGINOÓN

NG PAMAMAHINGÁNG WALÁNG HANGGÁN

(Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord)

and above the right-side lateral window were these words

AT TUMANGLÁW NAWÂ SA KANILÁ

ANG LIWANAG MAGPAKAILANMÁN.

(And may Perpetual Light shine upon them.)

Everything having been completed to everyone’s satisfaction, it was definitely time for yet another Christmas family portrait.

But with a difference this year – we were at our family’s much-loved Shrine of the Ascension.

After all, even the dearly departed ought to be visited on Christmas Day.  And if right now you don’t agree, it doesn’t matter because it’s certain that in the (very) long run, you will!

Originally published on 30 December 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:

firstperson wrote on Dec 31, '09 wow!! so you can sketch. obviously, you have lots of talents, and varied interests. hats off to you... jamaica1ph wrote on Jan 1, '10 Leo, You never stop to amaze me!!! Mike

rally65 wrote on Jan 4, '10 firstperson said wow!!! so you can sketch. obviously, you have lots of talents, and varied interests. hats off to you... Er, no, I didn't do that sketch -- that was done by Mr. Vecin's in-house designer. (If I had done the sketch, it would look infinitely better than that! Ha ha ha.) firstperson wrote on Jan 5, '10 upssss... ok, i stand corrected. nonetheless, the concept is very remarkable. ;-P

XCVI. The Shrine of the Ascension, Part Three: Lounging with Angels

(Continued from Part Two.)

Because I couldn’t wait until the day itself, I decided to go back to the Family Mausoleum on October 31^st.

My primary (perhaps sole) objective was to ensure that the Christ of the Ascension was already hung up as specified.

After walking all around

and assuring myself that indeed it was not only fastened securely (by means of a metal bracket attached to the wall)

but was also surrounded by its new adobe arch,

I tried to momentarily ignore the fact that it was slightly off-center (Christ’s head should be a bit more to the right, I think)

because anyway our foreman assured us that this could be easily adjusted later.  After all, from most places, especially the entrance, it was just right.

The eight musical angels and their central cross were assuredly still in place.

Tables and chairs from the ancestral house and flower arrangements set on the floor

were also already on hand for the following day.

And I managed to take a last shot of all our newly-arrived residents (of celestial rather than mortal origin) – all together in the same shot.

- - - - - - - - - -

The following day was the big day. After a slightly-later-than-intended start, we managed to get the big family van through the mass of humanity on the road behind the San Rafael Church leading to the cemetery, and arrived at the family mausoleum shortly before noon. Needless to say, shadows were short.

Inside, the mausoleum was clean and serene (and even rhymed),

perhaps a marked contrast to the congestion right outside,

so much so that perfect strangers decided to wander in and check the place out. They’re quite welcome anyway.

One corner of the mausoleum was perfect for just keeping out of everyone else’s way and sitting quietly, so I set a chair there.

But someone else discovered it.

And soon enough the rest of the family gang had moved in.

We placed a pair of simple but appropriate votive candles beneath the devotional object of this Shrine, the image of the Ascending Christ.

And at least one of the party again thought this to be a great place to be seen and photographed,

even with inflatable companion.

Elsewhere, the musical but strangely quiet angels were much admired by all who cared to crane their necks even momentarily.

After a sumptuous lunch (with the family’s usual and unpretentious favorites of basic spaghetti and straightforward barbecue among others), we did what we enjoy doing together the most – we just lounged around

and discussed matters of great universal importance,

an especially opportune undertaking when divine advisers are on call,

and secure in the knowledge that our new permanent residents

were watching over us.

And so passed our thankfully uneventful second-ever All Saints’ Day in our final resting place – or, as this devotional family might prefer to think of it, the only named Shrine of the Ascension for many miles around.

Salamat sa Diyos!


Originally published on 22 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:

jamaica1ph wrote on Dec 10, '09 Thanks for sharing Leo! You are a great storyteller!

rally65 wrote on Dec 11, '09 jamaica1ph said Thanks for sharing Leo! You are a great storyteller! Thanks for the visit and the appreciation!

dragonlion29 wrote on Dec 18, '09 Leo, I worked in Makati in the late 60s and one of my office mates was Celia Veron Perez, from San Rafael, and Angat. Any relation?

rally65 wrote on Dec 18, '09 dragonlion29 said Leo, I worked in Makati in the late 60s and one of my office mates was Celia Veron Perez, from San Rafael, and Angat. Any relation? I don't personally know anyone by that name, but she just might be related to us. San Rafael and Malolos have plenty of Veron relatives around.