THE WANDERING JESUS

SINAJAÑA 1967

As far back as I can remember, my family has been responsible for one of the three Lånchon Kotpus in our parish of Saint Jude in Sinajaña.

A Lånchon Kotpus (Corpus Ranch) is the outdoor temporary altar, or station, set up to receive the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament during the Corpus Christi procession. Corpus Christi is an annual feast commemorating our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The Latin phrase means "The Body of Christ."  The bread and wine at Mass are substantially changed into the Lord's true Body and Blood, though the appearance of bread and wine remain.

We process with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the village, not only to publicly express our faith, but also as a kind of symbolism of our pilgrim journey on earth, like the wandering Hebrews in the Old Testament, freed from Egyptian slavery but still a ways off from the Promised Land. The followers of Christ have also been set free from sin and death, but must still travel through life till we reach heaven's doors.

As the Hebrews received bread (manna) from heaven and water from the rock, the Lord feeds us with His Body and Blood. We remember this as we carry Him with us in our procession.

Låncho at the home of Ruperto Aguon Villagomez in Sinajaña

1960s

CORPUS IN THE 60s

Chamorro custom, molded by the Spanish missionaries for three centuries, is to have no less than three outdoor stations or Låncho. When the procession arrives at a Låncho, the priest sets the monstrance - the golden metallic and highly ornamented container in which the Sacred Host is placed - on the altar inside the Låncho for adoration lasting a few minutes.

These Låncho were almost always, according to tradition, in one of the homes of the village. Although my auntie Chong (Asuncion Perez Torres), my grandmother's sister, was chief of operations for one of these Låncho, the Låncho was not at our home. Our home in the 1960s did not have a suitable place for the Låncho. Usually, one wanted a home with a carport or a nice entrance to serve as a Låncho.

There was a house on the far end of the baseball field in the middle of Sinajaña. A road circled the whole community complex in those days. Urban Renewal in the early 1970s did away with that road and the house was also demolished and the land became uninhabitable with the new configuration. This house, pictured above, was owned by Ruperto Aguon Villagomez and family.

But all the fabric and other things needed for the Låncho were stored at our house. When Corpus Christi neared, everything came out of storage to be ironed and aired out. The statue of the Sacred Heart we used for our Låncho belonged to the Capuchin Friary and we would retrieve it just a day or two before the feast to dust off.

CORPUS IN THE 70s AND 80s

SINAJAÑA 1982

While Urban Renewal necessitated the demolition of many homes, it also required the building of new ones. My grand aunt built a new home in a new location, across the street from the public elementary school and very close to the church.

Our new home had a nice one-car carport which could easily be converted into a Låncho. My uncle Ning (my mom's brother) would build the frames and then the ladies would take over.

Our theme never changed : the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We continued to borrow the same statue from the Friary.

My Auntie Chong continued with her usual retinue of helpers : from the Bonño and Kaila clans especially.

This is the house, built in the early 70s, where my grandmother lived (and died) with her single sisters Asuncion and Rita. I also grew up in this house. The carport was converted into the Lånchon Kotpus every year till the late 80s, early 90s. This became the second home for the Låncho since the demolition of the old house by the baseball field.

CORPUS IN THE 90s

When my auntie Chong died in 1984, my mother stepped up and more or less kept the tradition going, but the artistic side of things fell on some others. Danny Toves, I remember, was very involved for some years. Terry Sablan (Akangkang), too. My Uncle Ning continued to be on the team. Members of the Kaila family, too. At times, Tan Kai Balentin donated flowers.

At some point, I don't remember when, it was decided to move our Låncho to yet a third location. But it was just next door, at the home built in the late 40s by Uncle Ben Reyes and Auntie Ana, my grandmother's sister. After both had died, it became Uncle Ning's house. It had a carport, too, with a nice driveway.

That house was destroyed in 1997 by Typhoon Paka, so Uncle Ning built the new one you can see in the pic above. He didn't build a carport but decided to put a canopy up for his car instead. The Låncho continued in this area, but under a similar canopy.

TODAY

When my mother died in 2005, Terry Sablan filled the spot. Of course, many hands helped as well. The Låncho continued in the same spot at Uncle Ning's house.

Then Uncle Ning passed away last year. The future of the house lay in mystery. Recently, it was bought by people we don't know. So, Sinajaña Mayor Robert Hofmann, a good friend and relative, offered to transfer the Låncho to yet a fourth location - the Veterans Park right in front of the church.

It was and still is, though, a continuation of the Kitå'an Lånchon Kotpus of Auntie Chong. The theme is the same, the Sacred Heart. The old Friary statue has been lost, and the design changes a little year by year. But it is still the same Låncho, even after four locations.

The Wandering Jesus, I call it. "Foxes have lairs and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head," Jesus said once. It is almost a parable of the way the world treats Jesus.

But there will always be a group, no matter how small, of dedicated believers who will always assure that the Lord has His place, even if it changes four times in sixty years.

DEDICATED TO MY GRAND AUNT

ASUNCIÓN PÉREZ TORRES

Tan Chong Kitå'an

who for around thirty years, year after year, dedicated her time, talent and money to giving Jesus a suitable place for adoration at Corpus Christi.  I pray she is now adoring Him in heaven.

UNLUCKY 13?

Is it true that the number 13 brings bad luck?

It was a eulogy for the late Escolastica Tudela Cabrera of Saipan, a dear friend and cultural icon, that brought out the following associations with that number, frightful to many but NOT frightful to the Cabrera family.   For them, some happy things happened or are associated with the number 13, and some sad.

Esco's husband, Gregorio, was born on the 13th of January.

He also died on the 13th of November.

Esco herself was the 13th child conceived by her mother, when one counts even the children who died in miscarriage.

In addition, Esco and Gregorio had 13 children.

Esco's first procedure for her heart, in Hawaii, happened 13 years before her last one, which preceded her death.

After her last visit to Hawaii for medical care, she departed Hawaii for Saipan and arrived home on the 13th of October.

Nine days after returning to Saipan, she died.  Our custom is to have nine days/nights of rosary for the dead.

Which means, when we start her rosary for her 1st anniversary of death next year, it will commence on the 13th of October.

The children of the late Esco and her late husband Gregorio are so proud that there are 13 of them that they highlighted this fact on the envelope they gave me as a gift.

HOW DID 13 GET TO BE A BAD NUMBER?

Scholars aren't sure. 

Some say it's because there were 13 people at the Last Supper, with the traitor, Judas, being number 13.  12 Apostles and Our Lord make 13. 

But how can this explain the fact that 13 was believed to be a bad number among non-Jewish and non-Christian people long before the time of Christ?  In the Code of Hammurabi, for example, there is no Law #13.  One goes from #12 to #14.

In some cultures, a year with 13 full moons is a bad omen.

And there are 13 menstrual cycles in one calendar year.  But since the solar calendar triumphed over the lunar, in many cultures (the masculine over the female), 13 became, for them, a bad number.

BUT 13 IS A GOOD NUMBER AMONG SOME PEOPLE

Colgate University was founded by 13 people, with $13 and 13 prayers and 13 articles.  Its address is 13 Oak Drive.  They consider 13 a good number.

And a baker's dozen includes a 13th baked good thrown in to reward a faithful customer or make a new one.

A 13th donut is never a bad thing!

IN THE WORLD OF RELIGION

Even in religion, thirteen is not necessarily a bad thing.

In Judaism, a Jewish male becomes an adult and a full member of the Covenant community at age 13.  That's when he has his Bar Mitzvah.

And when Our Lady appeared in Fatima, on May 13, she told the three children to return to see her every 13th of the month.

The Miracle of the Sun, pictured above, with some people kneeling, looking up at the sky in awe and admiration, occurred on October 13, 1917.  That was the last appearance of Our Lady there.

BY THE WAY...

In some cultures, like in Asia, the number four is the bad one.  That's because the word for the number four sounds like the word for "death."