Flores De Maria, treasured memories, now and forever!
My recollection of the flores started with our participation of the activity when Manang Aurora and I were very little. Most people thought that we were twins. We were born 1 year and 7 months apart from each other. There was Dodong Julito after me but boys at that time were not yet allowed to participate in the flores.
We played the role of angels and we really felt we were real angels, then, every time we would go to church for the flores. It was Lola Danday who would eagerly prepare for our outfit as angels. Ang our wings were prepared in advance before we would go to church. It was Anding Pilar who prepared our angel’s wings including our floral headdress to complete our get up. Our neighbours, who were older than us, were the ones who would bring us to church and back to our homes.
Participation in the flores during our time was a childhood dream. It was a dream made possible by Nang Coring, Nong Tekyo, Ingko Lumin, Manding Iyay, and Custod, whom we called and still would like to call as the red riding hood.
Nong Tekyo and Ingko Lumin, I fully remember, always carried a bamboo stick. Why? It was because both used these sticks as a prompter’s instrument to command order and sequence for our entrance and exit during our procession for the flores – from the foot of the church to the altar.
Both Nong Tekyo and Nong Lumin were the prompters and they did their role with perfection. As the bamboo stick would move, we would know when and where to sway the flowers we brought. Another movement of the bamboo stick would tell us when to kneel and when not to move. It was fun, exciting, and honorable to be part of the flores.
What added to our excitement was the Catechetical class in the morning. We were like scholars competing for our knowledge in Catechism. After our class in the morning, we had the repaso for the flores in the afternoon. It was part of the guidelines that nobody would be able to participate in the repaso for the flores if she did not attend the Catechism class in the morning.
We, the girls in the flores all appeared elegant and angelic in our attire, all white. We were all dressed in white. The florres was a season we always looked forward to after the Holy Week.
Nindot kaayo among mga pagbati nga makasul-ob mi ug bag-o nga sinina nga puti inig abot sa Flores de Mayo. Our old dress, then, was replaced by the new dress for the Flores de Mayo. And that old dress was already to be worn during ordinary days. It was the new dress, after the Flores de Mayo, that we had to wear during mass on Sundays and fiesta celebrations like the Ascencion and Pentecost. There was (and still is) always a theme for each feast and a special song for each group of girls and flowers participating in the procession of the flores.
As a young girl, I preferred to ne in the the lutchis, the binggala for we were to stand and kneel at the foot of the altar (on the stairs) in front of the Blessed Virgin. Mao na ang hagdanan nga hagkanan sa Birhen. It was a great honor on our part, as young girls, to be assigned in this place because we would be at vantage point where we could see all the other girls participating in the Flores de Mayo.
During our time, the queue of girls participating in the Flores de Mayo would reach as far as the lower portion of the corro especially when there was a fiesta celebration within the flores celebration.
Then there is the Rosa Mystica – Mary, the mystical rose. It’s the pink rose covered with the leaves of the talisay. When it was time for the procession of the Mystical Rose, the song would always be a solo rendition by Nang Deding Ginete Ramo and up to this day, I believe, nobody could still match the singing voice and style of Nang Deding. It is, indeed, different when one, like Nang Deding, got some training in music. She studied at the Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion in Cebu for this.
Then, there was Mary, the morning star. This was a stick with a star attached to it with a flimsy band with the colors of the rainbow attached to the handle that is turned and spread when the song Estrella De Los Maris was sung.
The final set of letters for the flores procession was the Ave Maria. There were two (2) sets of girls who would carry the letters Ave Maria. One set was composed of older ladies and the other set was composed of younger ladies. The big Ave Maria was for the older ladies. There was an Ave Maria for the teenagers where the letters had some holes. These holes had to be inserted by the younger ladies with flowers from the kalachuchi tree.
Lola Danday, before, would never allow the young girls to come to the flores bringing the mga buwak sa kalachuchi nga naay mga piyuros. Dili siya mosugot nga ihurot ug dala ang tibuok bugway sa kalachuchi labi na ug naa pay piyoros. Matud pa niya, ang piyoros siyang kay mahimo pang mobukad kini sa mga sunod nga adlaw. Mahimo pa ang piyors, matud niya, nga ika halad sa birhen sa mga sunod nga adlaw kay dugay baya ang buwan sa Mayo. So we had to pluck the flower one by one excluding the piyoros.
We have that big kalachuchi tree in front of our house. That was intentionally planted so we would not have scarcity of the flowers especially during the season of Flores de Mayo. Before, we would reach as far as Taguihon and Payahan just to pick some kalachuchi to be offered to the Blessed Mother. This tree has grown very huge now. Dili na makatkat ug mga bata. And the children now are not so keen in climbing the tree of the kalachuchi because they are not also keen in going to the flores. How much more now, with our churches still closed?
At present, despite the Covid crisis, I feel the joy of seeing the flores procession pass by our house. It pains my heart to see the Birhen sa Flores placed on a small vehicle, driven around the town. My usual picture of the procession of the Birhen sa Flores is one with a throng of people singing and giving praises to the Blessed Mother.
Now that I am glued to our home during this crisis, I still offer flowers to the Blessed Mother at our home altar. All my roses are in bloom: the red ones and the belles of Portugal in white. All these blooms are on my altar and all these are meant for the lady whom we adore.
We are thankful that technology has connected all of us to one another despite the crisis. Live streaming is efficient, too. On our screen, during the live streaming, I could see the eagerness of people through the candles lighted when the image of the Blessed Mother is passing by.
As May is ending today, I am hoping that the dalagitas and the dalagas of today will continue the tradition that our town hold dear.
My glossary of names associated with the flores includes the following: Nang Socorro “Coring” Manding – she brought the flores to our town. A colegiala at Sta. Isabel before World War II, Nang coring is an epitome of a cultured lady; Nong Tekyo or Eutiquio Cutab Caballo – he was a florist, choreographer, director, pastry chef rolled into one. By present day standard, he is an event planner and organizer; Ingko Lumin or Iluminado Plaza Real – he was Nong Tekyos partner in everything they did together. Nong Lumin was more of a “behind the stage” man. He was a chef in the true meaning of the word; Custod – the red riding hood. I didn’t get her real name. All I know of her is, she was always there in every activity of the flores, ready with her stick when we were unruly; Nang Deding Mercedes Ginete Ramo – she was a singer. She sang Estrellas De Los Mares like no other. Baclayon has not yet discovered a talent that could surpass the ability of Nang Deding;