LXXI. How Saint Martha Became Part of the Family, Part Five: Lodged In Our House, Welcomed Into Our Home.

(Read Parts One, Two, Three, and Four first.)

After her inaugural 2004 processions, we moved Saint Martha to pride of place, and stood her on a low table adjacent to the dining area inside my aunts’ house, illuminated by a specially-installed ceiling-mounted spotlight.

And in the months and years following these first processions, this family-owned image of Saint Martha went through a series of upgrades, beginning with a set of real antique metal keys, suspended from a key fob made by the Vecin Workshop and fastened to her belt, replacing her original single silver-painted wooden key.

We also ordered a modest banner, which could be carried in procession a few meters in front of the carroza, to indicate to the clueless devotee that indeed, the lady with the halo around her head, keys hanging from her waist, and holding a tray of bread was Saint Martha.

In truth, there was not really a pressing need for this, but it at least enabled us to eschew the crude-looking computer-printed, or worse, pentel-pen-on-cardboard, signs usually foisted on helpless processional santos by well-meaning procession organizers.

We next invested in a proper urna (case for santo images), which we commissioned from the Bloomquist Workshop of Lipa, Batangas.  Greg and Marilou Bloomquist decided to echo the arched design of a rare Art Deco platera (plate cabinet) standing nearby, that my aunts also acquired from them.

After raising the base of the image slightly, Saint Martha then stood more confidently inside her new narra-and-glass urna.

Like the Barasoain Santa Marta, our Saint Martha held a palm branch (made of plastic in the case of Barasoain, painted wood for ours).  This was an iconographic element long associated with her, from the tradition that after settling with her siblings Mary and Lazarus in southern France after the Crucifixion, she overpowered a ferocious dragon that was terrorizing the local populace by dousing it with holy water sprinkled with a palm branch, as is still sometimes done in Roman Catholic services today.  In fact, several devotional images of Saint Martha even depict her trampling upon the aforesaid dragon, sometimes morphed into a crocodile for added cuteness.

However, a palm leaf is also well-established in Christian tradition as a symbol of martyrdom – witness numerous saints’ images holding them.  To avoid confusion and since Saint Martha is not known to have been martyred, we decided to prematurely retire her palm leaf, and replace it with an "Easter" lily of purity, another of the symbols associated with her, Saint Martha having been long-venerated as a Holy Virgin even in the early Christian church.

We could have gone for a jug of wine in her right hand – in fact even at the outset Mr. Vecin had made a silver-painted wooden jug, with a matching grasping hand even, in case we get tired of any of her other symbols.

But this would involve fastening the jug to her chest with screws, and therefore cutting holes through her beautiful garments – not exactly a savory undertaking.

Therefore, for Holy Week 2007, we took the opportunity to replace Saint Martha’s wooden palm with an Easter Lily branch nicely-scuplted from wood and quite realistically painted.  While we were at it, we decided to retire her three-year-old garments, and commission a new set in a different style, still from the Vecin Workshop’s in-house garment maker, Ramon Gutierrez.  The result of these two changes was most pleasing.

And this group (my aunt in the foreground beside Saint Martha, with Mr. Buboy Rivera, another regular Vecin client; Dardo the Vecin Workshop’s in-house dresser; and Mr. Vecin himself) was most pleased to pose for this photo.

For Holy Week 2007, then, Saint Martha joined the procession in her new threads.

And for Holy Week 2008, the silk flowers were updated to more closely match her new garments’ colors.

This change in decorations, however, met with somewhat mixed (or even polarizing) reviews.

At a certain point, one wonders if perhaps overinvestment in certain areas has started to take place, leading to diminishing returns.  Our Saint Martha-loving family, however, is undeterred in our devotion.  We commissioned a small, 18-inch scale Saint Martha for home devotion, also from the Vecin Workshop.

And we also asked the Bloomquist Workshop to build an antique-style kamagong (ebony)-and-glass urna for it.

And as our family gears up to bring Saint Martha out in processions for her sixth-ever Holy Week in early April 2009, we all say

Saint Martha, pray for us and bless us!

Originally published on 13 February 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 Feb 25, '09, edited on Feb 25, '09 I like the idea of a duplicate Sta. Marta mini-santo for home devotion. I bet you're gathering materials for your next Desmayado article!

rally65 wrote on Feb 25, '09 arcastro57 said I like the idea of a duplicate Sta. Marta mini-santo for home devotion. Which is why we ought to commission a Mini-Pagkarapâ as well!

gregandmarilou wrote on Feb 25, '09 This entire series has been terrific, Leo, beautifully written and photographed. Sooo ... when's that book coming out?

antigualla wrote on Feb 25, '09 Leo, I agree with gregandmarilou. Your quest and realization of a family devotional icon is awe-inspiring. Thanks for sharing. By the way, are you and your family not considering feting Santa Marta on her feastday on July 27? The Lenten Season is not exactly conducive to a more festive celebration and July would be in Ordinary Time so the saints can rock as much as their devotees would like to. Just a thought. Regards.

annriv wrote on Mar 24, '09 hi!! Saint Martha is also the saint assigned to our family for the Holy Week procession for 2 years na. This 2009 is our third year. We would like to ask how we can order from you the St. Martha mini-santo duplicate for our home devotion. Please email me at mrsoliven@hotmail.com. Our family's family name is also Rivera from Cebu. Thank you so much.

rally65 wrote on Mar 24, '09 annriv said We would like to ask how we can order from you the St. Martha mini-santo duplicate for our home devotion. I will just send you a PM with the contact detail of the Vecin Workshop. They also made the small Saint Martha for us.

jopas1 wrote on Sep 27, '09 I really enjoyed reading your article about how St. Martha became your family saint.I was almost tempted to do justice to our St. Martha by composing a write up as well.Many thanks.

rally65 wrote on Sep 27, '09 jopas1 said I really enjoyed reading your article about how St. Martha became your family saint.I was almost tempted to do justice to our St. Martha by composing a write up as well.Many thanks. You should go ahead and write your story up as well, for all of us to read.

iloveme97 wrote on Apr 18, '11 Hi! I would like to ask an approximate amount of how much did the life sized St. Martha cost? (if it is all right w/ you) I inquired because my family is planning to sponsor a 3 foot statue of the virgin mary and we haven't been able to inquire much yet. thank you

rally65 wrote on Apr 18, '11 iloveme97 said Hi! I would like to ask an approximate amount of how much did the life sized St. Martha cost? (if it is all right w/ you) I inquired because my family is planning to sponsor a 3 foot statue of the virgin mary and we haven't been able to inquire much yet. thank you I've sent you a PM.