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

XCV. The Shrine of the Ascension, Part Two: Angels of the Installation

(Continued from Part One.)

In the second week of October, Mr. Kiko Vecin had brought the completed image of the Christ of the Ascension to our family mausoleum in Bayan, San Rafael, Bulacan and laid it on the floor of the niche area while awaiting its installation at some later time, but my aunt decided that it was safer to just keep it in our ancestral home in nearby Barangay Caingin in the meantime.

A few days later, on Saturday 17 October 2009, or just two weeks before All Saints’ Day, I brought over the painted angels and their cross

to the ancestral house to join the Christ prior to their installation the following weekend.

Since I was in town anyway, I decided to check out how the family mausoleum was holding up, a year since we finished constructing it and several months already since I was last there.  I was pleased to note that the all-adobe façade was acquiring the much-coveted mossy faux-antique patina naturally.

The marble markers that I had made several months before

were already affixed to either side of the entrance.

Some months back, a sidewalk of piedra china was also installed in front of the façade,

the same material that was used for the floors of the interior of the mausoleum.  This would protect the plants in the plant boxes beneath the windows from being trampled by passsers-by avoiding walking on the occassionally muddy road, as what had happened last All Saints' Day.  Plus it really just made the façade look more coherent.

Inside, the adobe walls were likewise acquiring a respectable patina.

This included the empty space from where the image of Christ of the Assumption was to hang.

And the enclosed area with the niches was clean and in order,

ready to take on the eight angels on its top shelves.

The following Saturday, October 24^th, just a week before All Saints’ Day, Mr. Vecin and I trooped back together to San Rafael.  My aunt had earlier already hauled all the angels and the Christ from our ancestral house to the family mausoleum, so we went straight there and got to work.

First we tackled the angels.  Before affixing each angel onto the tops of the niches, we staged them first on the ground below.  Here’s how the central group of Cross and Supporting Angels should look like when brought up above.

If the blank marble tombstones were too boring a background for the trio, how about putting them on one of the stone benches for a more characterful setting.

I figured that it was better to stage the remaining angels on a table (that my aunt had also brought over from the ancestral house for anticipated use on All Saints’ Day), so that they would be easier to photograph. The mandolin player was first.

The flautist was next.

And then this very enthusiastic trumpeteer.

We had our own diminutive, though celestial, version of Orpheus, with a lyre.

And a tiny violinist who didn’t need to go through the Suzuki method to fiddle quite skillfully without even sweating.

Mr. Vecin’s personal favorite was the last of the eight, the Little Drummer Boy Angel.

It was time to get going with the actual installations, with Mr. Vecin himself directing the work, and his assistant Mang Jun providing reliable support as usual.

Even our family driver was enlisted into the chain gang.

The angels on the left side were installed first, the drummer being the pioneer, the trumpeteer close behind, and the mandolin player perched just below the topmost level.

Our trusty construction foreman, seen here marking where the cross and the supporting angels were to go on the top level, was the same guy who built this mausoleum from scratch the year before and was most appropriately responsible for this actual installation.

A few moments later, the central group was complete.

After checking the panoramic sketch (that we previously saw in Part One), Mr. Vecin asks for slight adjustments in the positioning of the flautist

and the lyre player.

I see how it’s all taking shape from the far wall across

as the angels are spaced more evenly from each other on both sides.

Having decided that the angels were now properly positioned,

it was time to do the actual drilling and bolting to the tops of the niches.

What would have taken several hours for all nine figures (including the Cross) took considerably less time with a power drill that Mr. Vecin brought along, together with nuts and bolts.

One by one, each angel is fixed in place

until the entire group is completed.

After taking a panoramic view,

and at the risk of giving rise to a cacophony of heavenly sounds, Mr. Vecin and I agree to add a couple more angels, one at each end of the lowest level, to make the ensemble appear more complete somehow.

Anyway, we still had the opportunity to do this, as we still planned to return after All Saints’ Day to install the two large scrolls behind the angels.

Nearly forgotten in all this installation excitement, but fortunately not completely so, was the Christ of the Ascension.  It was actually lying on the floor in front of the niches, trying to stay out of the way.  Fortunately, even if the work crew occasionally tripped on it, its sturdy resin construction ensured that not even tiny nicks could get to it.

The space in which it was to hang was already in preparation,

with individual adobe stones attached to the existing adobe wall by a system of nails, wire, and cement.

This followed the outline of an arch clearly marked on the wall

following the measurements and specifications that Mr. Vecin had provided earlier.

Probably sensing my anxiety given that All Saints’ Day was just a week away, our foreman assured me that this adobe arch, and the hanging up of the Christ itself, would all be completed before the big day itself, and with plenty of time to spare.

Trusting that the Lord would indeed “protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming” of … All Saints’ Day, it was time to go back to the ancestral house, have a slightly delayed lunch (it was already 1 pm by now), and bring Mr. Vecin and Mang Jun back to Makati.

(Continued here.)

Originally published on 15 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:

dragonlion29 wrote on Dec 18, '09 Leo, may office mate ako noon sa Makati, sa unang job ko sa Mercantile Finance Co. sa Pasong Tamo - si Celie Veron Perez-taga Angat/San Rafael. Are you related? xingalung@yahoo.com rally65 wrote on Sep 16, '10 If she is a Veron and is from San Rafael, we are likely related.