NOTE: This series is based on the findings of a study done in 2018 made possible by a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). It is Sisay Kita?’s modest contribution to the observance of the Dicoese of Virac’s Golden Jubilee comes August 27, 2024.
Thus far in two previous installments, we have argued to the prime importance of the ermitas as living heritage of Virac, describing their material features, historical development and functions in the Catholic establishment. We have identified an “ermita religiosity” which refers to the belief and practice system that the ermitas have spawned and sustained. In this third part, we delve on the aspects of this kind of religiosity that is the staple of the common people.
Popular religiosity
Ermita religiosity is largely the “popular” type which is differentiated from the “institutional” kind. In most of the major religions in the world, there is always the formation of two identifiable sectors: the institutional and the popular. The former consists of the religious officialdom, typically a hierarchy of legitimized personnel. Its concern is to sustain the authoritative teachings and regulate practices. In the Catholic Church the institutional sector sees to the transmission of correct doctrine and dispensing of the sacraments. Basically, it does regulatory function. On the other hand, the popular sector constitutes the masses of ordinary believers. The abiding aim of these practitioners is to make their faith work for the challenges of everyday life: economic, health, relationships, etc. As such, it is basically about gaining divine favors for practical needs. It is also less about the “purity” of doctrine or “correctness” of practices. It is more expressive and improvisational.
Differently oriented, the popular and institutional can get into conflict. Popular religiosity, sometimes referred to as “folk Catholicism” or “natural religiosity” had been constant source of anxiety by the religious authorities. Indeed, history is filled with cases of open struggle that led to break-aways such as the so-called “cults.” But mostly, popular religiosities are tolerated. In Virac, thanks to the ermita establishment, there is a happy symbiosis of the institutional and the popular. Indeed, the ermita serves as the space of interface between the two sectors.
Novena-based, patron saint-centered
The novenario is a devotional pack consisting of formulaic prayers pertaining to a holy personage or an important religious event. The establishment of the novenario is a veritable “master stroke of genius” of the Catholic Church because it afforded the ordinary folk a most accessible means to express their piety. This is essential especially during those periods when priests were in rare supply and the institutional religious fare at the parish was not easily accessible for those in the remote areas. So for the purpose, the authorities printed and published novena prayer booklets in the vernacular with official imprimatur.
What made the novena truly popular is its petitionary orientation. It is a religious means to ask for favors. On the other hand, the devotion to the saints is encouraged by the Chruch because these holy persons are supposed to serve as models of holiness. But to the ordinary devotee, this purpose is mostly marginal. The saints are seen more as intercessors for the granting of heavenly favors. So, each saint has particular efficacies: San Antonio for finding lost things, San Roque for healing, San Isidro for good harvest, etc. It seems there is a saint for every known human concern. The novena therefore is resorted to for addressing immediate and pressing needs. In this respect, we can recognize yet another connection between pre-colonial animist belief with Catholicism. It is an established axiom among scholars of Filipino religiosity that the ease by which the natives were converted was due to the compatibility of the belief in anitos or ancestor-spirits with the devotion to saints.
To the credit of the Spanish friars, the novenas were rendered in the vernacular. Therefore, recitation of novena is instructive of the saint’s life as model for holy living. Even so, beyond being informative, novena praying is a ritual where the performative aspect conjures a life of its own such that form becomes more important than content. The recitation rather than the meaning becomes the important thing. Even while worded mostly in the vernacular, certain special parts are recited in Latin (e.g. the Vexilla, Stabat Mater and the Litany to the Virgin Mary) which the participants do not comprehend. Imbued with stylized performance (singing of gozos, gestures such as making the sign of the cross, antiphonal recitation, etc.), the novena acquires a mystified, magical efficacy that appeals to the sense of emotional awe of the participants. And all that supernatural power production within the agency and disposal of the ordinary folk.
In ermita religiosity, one patron saint is not enough. An ermita usually pays fealty to at least two, one primary and the other secondary. So the fiesta has to be observed for two days. The primary one takes center stage on the very day of the fiesta and the second fiddle is accorded honors on a segunda dia. Who are the saints favored among the Virac communities? There are total of 27 of them. When it comes to gender, 13 of them are males, excluding Jesus himself who comes in five different manifestations. There are only two females: Mary who is so honored in eight various manifestations, and another one, Sta. Elena. But even while the males dominate in terms of name count, there is a strong Marian presence in the actual number of barangays devoted to the Mother of Jesus. The top favorite is the Nstra. Sra. de Salvacion, with 13 barangays and sitios invoking her as lead heavenly advocate. Among the male saints, San Roque, San Isidro and San Vicente Ferrer are top three favored ones. The Marian preference likewise figures out among the secondary patrons. Of the 81 communities, 34 adopt Mary in her various manifestations as secondary advocate.
The choice of patron saints reflect quite well the sort of aspirations invoked by the devotees. The Salvacion devotion speaks plainly of the need for protection, or salvation – from harm and bad fortunes. San Roque is a healer saint, San Isidro sees over the crops of the predominantly agricultural villages, and San Vicente is known for his all-around efficacy for various needs. The combination of saint-protectors and providers speaks clearly of the popular, pang-masa character of ermita religiosity.
While the ermita’s religious fare centers on the feast day of the patron saint, it also maintains a line-up of other devotions that practically fills up the religious calendar. In this regard, the communities differ depending on the tradition established and the industry and commitment of the ermita leadership. An exemplar case of such commitment is the barangay of Gogon. Fiesta is celebrated in October 24 in honor of St. Raphael the Archangel. But the three months period from August through September is busy with novenarios to two other saints, namely the Salvacion and San Miguel. October is particularly dense because they also hold auroras or early dawn procession for the Rosary Month. In January, the youth observe a devotion to Sto. Niño. By the Holy Week, they do a pabasa or recitation of the Pasyon and the Via Crucis around the two barangays covered (Gogon Proper and Sirangan). By May, they hold the santacruzan. In addition, two Marian house-to-house devotional praying go the domestic rounds, one is the “barangay” (devotion to the Lady of Fatima) and the other to the Virgen Milagrosa. Other noteworthy barangays of such irreligious fervor are Rawis, Talisoy and Calatagan (now the seat of the newest parish).
The ermita organization
To run the affairs of the ermita, a set of officers is constituted headed by the matanda (literally the “elder”). He or she might have a segundo matanda as assistant. The organization is structured according to the novenario such that matanda’s work force is composed of nine cabos or coordinators, one for each of the nine days of the novena. The cabo heads a cluster of households that together sponsor their assigned day of novena praying.
The matanda and the cabos are the adult component of the ermita leadership. There is a youth arm known as the jovenes led by a male-female partnership, the president and presidenta, assisted by and line of lower-ranking officers. The youth have specific tasks in the ermita affairs. Typically, they are responsible for the sprucing up of the ermita for special occasions and organizing of the pabayle or vesper public dance. They also take charge of the santacruzan.
Two other personnel working with the matanda and his team are indispensable to the ermita’s operations. One is the parapoon or novena prayer leader and the camarero who takes care of the ermita properties (the saints and their wardrobe, the caro and other appurtenances). The parapoon is an elderly woman who is adept in all aspects of novena praying. She may have a small circle of responders who become understudies for the role once the lead parapoon retires or becomes indisposed. Some of these pious women in fact do some freelance parapoon role for novena praying outside of the ermita system, those commissioned for more private purposes such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc. In some cases, an ermita may maintain its own kampanero (bell ringer) and para-samno (decorator).
Officers of the ermita organization are elected by the constituents. It used to be that the matanda enjoyed high prestige in the community and was regarded equally with the secular barangay captain. The jovenes for its part was training ground for leadership for young people. Many of those who honed their aptitude to lead in the jovenes eventually were able to win positions in local elective positions.
The ermita organization is embraced into the parish pastoral federation known as the Centro Catolico which is essentially the parish’s laity and grassroots arm. It is noteworthy that the Centro Catolico had already been instituted from way back, probably during the Spanish period. The written records kept by Talisoy documented how in 1933 a board member of the Virac Centro Carolico came to the place to help organize the barangay level ermita affairs which led to its formal inclusion into the parish institution.
Non-religious functions of the ermita
Finally, the ermita is bigger than its strictly religious utility. As catalyst of community-making, it permeates other aspects of community life. It serves secular purposes. Before the advent of building barangay halls, the ermita was where the barangay council met and barangay assemblies wereheld. During elections, it was routinely used as a polling place. Government agencies would hold seminars in the ermita, such as those for 4Ps beneficiaries. It is also used as venue for vaccinations, feeding programs, distribution of ayuda, canvassing for Miss Purok. During typhoons, ermitas to this day are reliable evacuation centers. The chapel of San Vicente for example was refuge of several families during the battery of super typhoon Rolly in 2020.
In final installment of this series, we tackle how ermita religiosity developed further upon the impact of the reforms of Vatican II and the revitalized pastoral program of the new Diocese of Virac created 50 years ago.