When Fr. Apolinar L. Orozco was assigned in Tago shortly after the death of Fr. Cesar Reyes, the first thing he did was to bring back the oracion. And this simple act of ringing the church bell at exactly 6 o'çlock in the évening gives Tagon-ons a sense of deja vu.
Suddenly I was a kid back in the 70s.
Be home before the oracion or there will be hell to pay, our father would say. Thus when oracion found us still playing in school or at the plaza, fear gripped us. But oracion means other things to other people: for Catholics, it's a cue to say the Angelus, then the Rosary; for Protestants like us, it's a signal to set the table ready for dinner; for nocturnal creatures, it's a hint to dust and spread their wings and fly.
For the longest time, no Tagon-on had heard the pealing of the church bell at dusk. Not until Fr. Apol became the cura paroko of Tago.
While our oracion signal came from a century-old bell, today's oracion is announced by a recording of bells clanging, followed by another recording of people praying the Angelus.
Bugsy had better be home before the oracion or there would be hell to pay.
(The beautiful photo of the Immaculate Conception Church of Tago is by Ange Bersabal.)
I thought the picture was taken somewhere in Europe :) here in bojol sir, most of their ancient churches are preserved (some are even restored). The ancient kampanaryos (i always remember you every time i come across one, lol!) are still there, in all their crumbling glory. That's a point for the bol-anons even with their ijo-ijo/ajo-ajo attitude. It is sad that in the rush for development most of our old structures are replaced with modern buildings with contemporary designs complete with shiny tiles from the floor to the ceiling hehehe
ReplyDeletehi, sweetie.
ReplyDeletei was surfing the Net for some photos to accompany this blogpost when i stumbled upon this beautiful shot of tago's immaculate conception church. as i've said on my FB wall where the same post is written and discussed, our church has been photographed countless times but this shot takes the cake. Awesome!
i've been to bohol twice and i agree with you. its mammoth, antebellum churches inspire awe. i also agree with you that generally we Pinoys don't have a sense of history as can be seen in the way we destroy everything old and historic and replace it with a structure that exhibits our penchant for everything gaudy. Sad!
thank you for dropping by. do give my regards to my leaf-eating, branch-clinging, eyeball-rolling cousins.