FAITH UNARTICULATED

FAITH UNARTICULATED

(Free Choice)

Nestor Alagbate

J216

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                    "Viva la Virgen!" the officiating priest proclaimed over a public address system. "Viva!" the vast multitude of believers responded. The crowd was so dense I could hardly see the image of the Virgin. I could only guess the distance of the bulk of the procession judging from the sound coming from the public address system. As shouts of "Viva!" grew louder, I surmised the image approached closer. I firmly stood my ground on the spot of the sidewalk which I gained with much grit, and defended my stronghold with the same amount of pious fortitude.

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                    At last I saw the Virgin. "Viva!" I assented, my voice drowned by the thunder of the tumult. Her petite image swayed now to the left, and then to the right, with the faithful frantically shouting in alarm, for fear that the image might eventually succumb to the grasp of the beseeching hands of the devotees. They applauded every time the image regained upright position. The procession erratically inched ts way into the multitude, now darting forward, and then inching a few steps backward. The sea of humanity swept me away from my fiercely defended spot, and it took only a fraction of a second for the surge to dash my arduous hours of fortitude.

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                    The three hundred year-old image stood firmly on a silver pedestal borne by barefooted men, and the smell of liquor filled the air. The men, called voyadores, drank before the grueling ritual to benumb their battered bodies. Their mesmerized eyes bore untold stories of supplication and thanksgiving; stories of faith as countless as the multitude of the believers chanting "Viva!" My own stories of supplication and thanksgiving joined theirs, albeit untold. "Se siempre la Reina de nuestra region," the faithful affirmed in song in profound gratitude for the countless favors she has interceded in behalf of "el pueblo amante de Maria" since 1710. Her crown as Reina de nuestra region, a title bestowed upon her by the Papal Legate in 1924, glistened under that September afternoon sun.

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                     By sundown, she eventually reached the river where a flat-bottomed casco waited. Amidst unceasing chants of "Viva la Virgen!" the silver  pedestal was placed on an ornate pagoda on the frilled casco. The faithful on the banks either clapped or waved their hands with handkerchiefs bearing her image, while the weary voyadores vigorously paddled in their bancas pulling the casco upriver. Our unarticulated wishes and thanks sent her off to her sanctuary, while a heartfelt Resuene Vibrante resonated from the multitude. The sea of candles illumined the riverbanks as he voyadores dutifully towed her, until she vanished from our sight, as we made a faithful resolve to see her the next September.

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