procession
yesterday was another usual day.
by usual, i mean another day replete with unusual-ness. first, i was nursing a fever until lunch time due to my over eager molars. their eruption started during my final advanced metaphysics class [i guess, like me, they couldn't wait to get out ;)]. second, i missed my payatas youth choir for the second week in a row! thirdly, it was my first time in 10 years to have ever missed the la naval procession. let me focus on this third movement of the day.
the la naval feast is one of the most anticipated marian feasts of the year. if one were dominican as i was for eight years, it was the apex of the first semester. la naval represented so many things -- won battles, timeheld traditions, pomp and grandeur, swarming devotees and angelic choirs. since it was a fixed celebration on the second sunday of october, it meant that it either concluded or heralded the beginning of the final exams in ust or pdcis. for dominicans, it is also a day of gathering. most priests and brothers from all over the country would congregate at sto. domingo church in q.c. to pay their respects and sing in the majestic, "Despedia ala Virgen." even when i left dominican formation three years ago, i still attended the last two la naval feasts since i was working in ust high school, a dominican institution.
yesterday, i intentionally missed the feast. i had to move on.
but moving on is not, as some would suppose, moving on in forgetfulness and hollowness. nay, a true moving on is one done in remembrance and gratitude. for past times. for present memories. for forthcoming hopes.
thankfully, i was not the only one moving on. from the many text msgs i received yesterday, one stood out. amidst the numerous text msgs of surprise, disapproval, bewilderment and curiosity regarding my decision to enter the jesuit pre-novitiate, it was my former calamba prior's txt msg that etched itself forever in my heart. after inquiring if it was true that i was under sj formation and after verifying if i was happy, he ended our correspondence by saying, "i'm happy ur happy pare. i will not love you less." it was a message worth a million salve's, an outpouring of compassion sung in a billion gloria's.
such is the victory of la naval. hers is not only the victory over the colonial seas, but the victory over our churning hearts.
viva la virgen!
by usual, i mean another day replete with unusual-ness. first, i was nursing a fever until lunch time due to my over eager molars. their eruption started during my final advanced metaphysics class [i guess, like me, they couldn't wait to get out ;)]. second, i missed my payatas youth choir for the second week in a row! thirdly, it was my first time in 10 years to have ever missed the la naval procession. let me focus on this third movement of the day.
the la naval feast is one of the most anticipated marian feasts of the year. if one were dominican as i was for eight years, it was the apex of the first semester. la naval represented so many things -- won battles, timeheld traditions, pomp and grandeur, swarming devotees and angelic choirs. since it was a fixed celebration on the second sunday of october, it meant that it either concluded or heralded the beginning of the final exams in ust or pdcis. for dominicans, it is also a day of gathering. most priests and brothers from all over the country would congregate at sto. domingo church in q.c. to pay their respects and sing in the majestic, "Despedia ala Virgen." even when i left dominican formation three years ago, i still attended the last two la naval feasts since i was working in ust high school, a dominican institution.
yesterday, i intentionally missed the feast. i had to move on.
but moving on is not, as some would suppose, moving on in forgetfulness and hollowness. nay, a true moving on is one done in remembrance and gratitude. for past times. for present memories. for forthcoming hopes.
thankfully, i was not the only one moving on. from the many text msgs i received yesterday, one stood out. amidst the numerous text msgs of surprise, disapproval, bewilderment and curiosity regarding my decision to enter the jesuit pre-novitiate, it was my former calamba prior's txt msg that etched itself forever in my heart. after inquiring if it was true that i was under sj formation and after verifying if i was happy, he ended our correspondence by saying, "i'm happy ur happy pare. i will not love you less." it was a message worth a million salve's, an outpouring of compassion sung in a billion gloria's.
such is the victory of la naval. hers is not only the victory over the colonial seas, but the victory over our churning hearts.
viva la virgen!
posted by dougs at 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
you have a gift for writing. with the two things you've written here, plus the copy i have of your work, that is very evident.
welcome to the blogging world!!
uy! kapwa doggie!
kumusta?
buti naman may blog ka na... gaya ni Fr. Jboy. Mabuhay kayo!
visit my blog din bro, although, ayun, since last month pa ako nag-update...
link kita ha? tsaka ano, link mo nga pala yung blog natin sa C5 ok?
http://cantocinco.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog
ayun lang po.
God bless!
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