By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Urna: the home altar during my grandmother’s time
When I was growing up, that’s immediately after World War II, most homes had their urna: the home altar.
The urna is made of wood or glass and it is used to store and display a santo image. The urna is a fascinating aspect of Catholic art and crafts
The icon put inside the urna is the patron saint of the town or the kapilya. In our case, in the town of Baclayon, our patron saint is the Birhen De La Immaculada Concepcion. Right now, we still have the icon owned by my greatgrandparents but without its original urna. My Oyang Tiva, the last occupant of the karaang balay bought an urna made of glass since she did not want any form of dust or dirt to clog the carvings of the urna.
Most often, the old folks would light a candle every time they would pray in front of the santo placed inside the urna. They would light the lamp called the kingkilla beside the altar. It was a sight to witness the blackening of the lamp due to the soot produced by the lamp light. Maitom gyud ang urna tungod sa aso gikan sa kingkilla.
When Oyang died, the urna and the santo became under the care of my mother. When she died and when my father died (five years after), the urna was just kept inside the cabinet for security reasons.
My mother’s house was eventually rented out for economic reasons and some treasured items had to be kept somewhere. Her blue and white jars are at the karaang balay and the icon is kept temporarily in my home.
Amidst Covid quarantine., a candle is lighted on the altar where our icon is placed. And since we are in the month of May, flowers are all over my altar for the Flores De Maria. The greens and the flowers come from my garden. For whom shall we offer the flowers except to the blessed Virgin? The kalachuchi, the red bougainvillas, the stripe of white and green from the song if India and Africa. I have plenty of green macans from Oyang’s shrubs for these were her favourite plants from her garden. She did not use flowers for the carro of the Nazareno because according to her our carro represents kasakit. That was in her time. Today flowers become an expression of grief and joy.
Today, while I am starting to write this article, is May 13. This is the anniversary of the apparition of our Lady of Fatima to the three children. What a joy for us to see the procession of our lady from Tagbilaran to Baclayon and back. People were on the streets waiting for the procession to pass by. We lighted candles on the roadside. We in the neighborhood really cherish the sight. It is a respite from quarantine to see familiar faces even if we are practicing social distancing.
We pray that this pandemic will soon come to pass. We pray for perseverance since life after quarantine is never a walk in the park. There will be world economic recession.
May 13 is the death anniversary of my dear friend, Nong Ite Mendez. I don’t know why it’s Ite when he has a beautiful name of Graciano. We worked together in our greening project in the plaza fronting the church in preparation for the celebration of the 400 years of Christianity in Baclayon in 1995. Most trees are gone giving way to the highway after the earthquake in 2015. Nong Ite was a highly principled man. It was in his plants and trees that he found unceasing joy. I sat down with Nang Letty in that afternoon at their home when Nong Ite made his last breath. We were just there with Nang Letty at their veranda.
The month of May is always that vibrant because of the kaleidoscope of colors that flowers bring. And with these, beautiful memories are created and indelibly imprinted in our hearts.
