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Mabuhay Pilipino! (Long Life!): Filipino Culture in Southeast Louisiana
By Laura Westbrook
Brief Historical Overview / Filipino Heritage and Language
Social and Benevolent Organizations / Businesses
Religious Observations and Celebrations / Secular Celebrations
Dances from the Philippines
Conclusion
Religious Observation and Celebrations
Most Filipinos in Louisiana regularly attend Catholic church services and also participate in church-based activities during the week or on special occasions. Regular and special religious observances take place throughout southeast Louisiana. Regular monthly activities include the evening novena and mass in honor of Our Lady of Fatima held at the Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church (7300 Crowder Boulevard, New Orleans), with a pot-luck community dinner afterward, which takes place on the first Saturday of every month. On the second Saturday of each month, Marcelina and Ernesto Espiritu host a novena in honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Saint Catherine Laboure, who received the first vision of the Medal of the Immaculate Conception) at their home in Chalmette. On each third Sunday, an afternoon novena and mass are held in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at the Infant Jesus of Prague Church (700 Maple Avenue in Harvey), with a community potluck dinner afterward. On the fourth Sunday of each month, the Our Lady of Medjugorje Prayer Group holds a novena and meeting, which are usually at various members' homes. In addition to regular church-based and other weekly observations, Louisiana Filipinos celebrate special religions occasions such as Flores de Mayo/Santacruzan and special feast days such as the Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz.
Flores de Mayo/Santacruzan is one of the primary annual celebrations that brings together congregations throughout Louisiana, and draws friends and family from other areas. The observation of Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan combines spiritual and social celebration in a day that both honors the season and commemorates a time-honored religious story. Organized each year by Filipino volunteers, it is usually held in the Catholic Church attended by the person or group organizing the festivities. Sometimes, they choose to go to a church that has a Filipino priest. According to Nannette Franzuela, formerly of Gretna but since Hurricane Katrina living in Jacksonville, Florida, explains, "This facilitates everything, because the priest already understands the culture."
In New Orleans, as well as in the Philippines, Santacruzan is always held in the Month of May, the month of the Blessed Virgin. This is also because in the Philippines, May is the time flowers are in bloom and the weather is cool and dry, before the rainy season begins in June. The secular celebration of Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) is usually combined with Santacruzan, which commemorates the story, dating to the year 324, of Empress Helen's (mother of Constantine the Great) search for the true cross. Success was celebrated when it was reported that a cross possessing healing properties had been discovered.
Filipino-Americans in New Orleans often have only one Santacruzan celebration, although others may be held in Slidell or Mandeville. Marina Espina says, "There are not many Filipinos here, like in California, New York, or Chicago, where there are many celebrations of the season. In the New Orleans area, people join forces and celebrate at one church. There are several Filipino priests that they can call on in Houma and Thibodaux, and around New Orleans." Nanette Franzuela adds, "It is a way of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, and whatever I can do to honor her, I will. I like doing this because it involves my whole family, just as it shows my children part of the culture their father and I grew up with. Holding the Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan here in America is reaffirming my faith and my roots."
The day begins outside the church with the congregation walking in a procession and singing "Dios te Salve Maria" ("Hail Mary") in Spanish, in between saying the prayers of the Holy Rosary. The procession is led by one of the adult members of the congregation, often using a loud-speaker. Once inside the church, the children and youth offer flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The young people are all dressed in their finest clothes (often white). Lined up in pairs, they place flowers in front of a statue of Mary. The final devotee, the year's appointed "Reyna Elena" (Queen Helena), then places her flowers and a symbolic cross in a place of honor near the statue.
Flores de Mayo Angels, 2001.
Photo: Liz DePano |
Flores de Mayo-Santacruzan procession
Photo: Laura Westbrook |
Participants in Santacrusan celebration at St. Maria Goretti Church.
Photo: Liz DePano |
After the church rituals there is always a feast followed by a program of activities. Everything is coordinated by a committee of volunteers who have pledged their efforts just for this affair. Community ties are strengthened as celebrants feast on Filipino-American food and participate in the program of activities. People come from around the state and beyond, especially after Katrina, to renew friendships and to see the children and youth all dressed up and participating in what local Filipinos describe as one of the Philippines' oldest folk practices.
Nanette Franzuela, who has coordinated many Flores de Mayo/Santacruzan celebrations, describes the preparations and the celebration :
Every year's Santacruzan has a committee that takes care of planning the next [celebration]. They usually meet right after the previous one's done, and take one year to coordinate it. They assign the next year's Reyna Elena, as well as the Segunda Elena [the second queen]. The families with teenage girls are asked if they want their teenager to be Reyna Elena, and if they do, then that family usually heads the coordination of assigned tasks, often the provision of flowers for the floral offering. Because the Reyna Elena is like the "belle of the ball," this is a cherished position. The line is usually long to be one. The Segunda Elena is the next in line, and is presented to be the next year's Reyna.
The Reyna Elena's family, if they want, can donate more food for the feast, which is often "coordinated pot-luck." The Committee coordinates all activities. They have subcommittees for food, flowers, liturgy, music, as well as the after-church presentations. Two months before the affair, they call a meeting to make sure everyone's ready.
The organizing committee, about one month before the affair, also comes up with the line-up of participants. The little girls and boys are usually given the role and title of "Angels;" the older girls, teenagers, are each given the title that is an accolade of the Virgin Mary, such as "Star of the Sea," "Queen of Angels," and so forth. The teenage boys are then asked to be escorts of the teenage girls in the procession. The committee also assigns and makes a list of "Arch Bearers" for the Reyna Elena and Segunda Elena, as well as "Gift Bearers" for the Holy Mass [who offer the gifts of host, wine, and money collected].
The Reyna Elena's family is also in charge of preparing the flower arches that are used in the procession. These are done one week before the affair if they are using silk flower arrangements, and, if fresh flowers are used, the arches are prepared the morning of the event. Together with the members of the Committee, the Reyna Elena's family also helps prepare and decorate the Function Hall where the post-church activities (a feast and a party) are to be held. The young Reyna Elena is "queen for a day" (it is not a title handed down from one queen to the next) and, though she is encouraged to enjoy the day to the utmost, all remember that her primary function is to enact the story of Queen Helena. Mrs. Franzuela describes the activities that take place after the feast:
The activities during the feast part are usually entertainment numbers, like Filipino folk dances, singing, piano playing, and the like. The longest preparation is among those who are asked to present numbers for the program during the festivities. Dancers have to practice their steps, coordinate music and costumes. Filipino dances require a lot of practice, especially when they have to use props like bamboo and the like. Otherwise, there will be a lot of crushed feet and sore legs! Practices usually start three to four months before the affair at the latest. Now, they have actually formed dance groups that perform for other affairs, who therefore practice regularly, too.
I like every part [of this tradition], because each part has a special meaning that flows into the next that we cannot do without. It feels great to participate in one from beginning to end. I was able to do this in 2003 when my daughter, Nina Angeli, who was then 13 years old, was Reyna Elena. I enjoyed coordinating the many activities I was expected to do, and loved the camaraderie my friends and I shared; I would never have done it all without them! It was an exercise in bayanihan [cooperation]. Members of our family came from all over the U.S. to join us in the celebration, and that was a great feeling. Some people think it is very challenging, and it is, but because of the community behind me, we were all able to have a wonderful celebration! Just as well, my daughter had a great experience not all girls get, the chance to be "queen for a day," all in a religious setting.
The Pasion, an enduring Lenten ritual, is the singing, in Tagalog, of the Kasaysayan ng Pasiong Mahal ni Hesukristong Panginoon Natin (Account of the Sacred Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ).(2) The songbook is over 200 pages long, and the ritual song takes many hours to complete, sometimes it may be almost an entire 24-hour period and sometimes the song is sung to a faster tempo in order to be completed within a specific timeframe. The melody is not strictly set; it may be traditional but also may be altered to include modern tunes, and there is room for improvisation. The sung story begins with the Book of Genesis and includes the story of Noah, the birth of Mary, and the life of Jesus. However, accounts may include Old Testament figures such as Moses and David, and also stories important to Filipino legend such as St. Helen's search for the true cross. The story also includes moral lessons and recommendations for proper living.
A person or family hosts the ceremony, and accompanying community meal, usually as a way of giving thanks for blessings that have come to them during the past year. People who attend the ceremony but do not participate in the singing need not sit silently during the entire recital, but may eat and quietly visit while the singing goes on. Adlai DePano of Metairie, who participates each year as a singer in the pasion, describes the event:
There have been several families that hosted this musical tradition but I am most familiar with the one hosted by the Espiritu Family of Arabi. The Espiritus have been hosting these pabasa [literally "reading"] during the Lenten season. Sung in chant fashion in the vernacular [the Espiritus, originally from Rizal Province on Luzon island, do their pasion in Tagalog], the pabasa takes the better part of a day to undertake. Of course, while the volunteer singers take turns chanting the verses [in 8-8-7-7-8 meter], those on "break" partake of food prepared by the host family. This is a significant literary and musical form which I have dreamt of making available through a website for those who want to continue this tradition here in the U.S. and to preserve it for posterity and future generations of Filipino-Americans. This will entail the gathering and notation of the different chant melodies and the posting of the pasion text, which runs into the hundreds of printed pages.
The Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz is another event that brings together the Filipino Catholic community in the greater New Orleans area. For the past 20 years, mass has been celebrated on the last Saturday of September to mark the Feast Day of San Lorenzo Ruiz. The mass is held at the St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in New Orleans East. As with Santacruzan, a family hosts the San Lorenzo Ruiz celebration. In 2008, the Camania family of New Orleans East served as the host family. The host and hostess are called the hermano and hermana (Spanish for "brother" and "sister"). During the mass, participants place before the altar objects reminiscent of the life of San Lorenzo Ruiz (who at this time remains the only canonized Filipino saint in the Roman Catholic Church). After the mass, the congregants retreat to the Fellowship Hall for a shared meal and, frequently, a program for the entertainment of the attendees. Folk dances, folk songs, and community line dancing are often included in these programs.
Adlai DePano sings in the Silayan Choir, which performs for both sacred and secular occasions. The Tagalog word silayan means "to revisit," and the intent of the choir is to keep Filipino culture vital by maintaining contact with traditional songs from home and by sharing them with the larger community. Dr. DePano describes the choir's repertoire and its activities in the community:
Aside from the [San Lorenzo] celebration here in New Orleans, the Houma-Thibodaux Filipino-Americans have been holding similar gatherings. But never have the celebrations "clashed" as theirs is held on the actual Feast Day itself [September 28th] but not when it falls on a weekend. This year, for example, the Houma-Thibodaux gathering is scheduled for Friday, September 26th. This is a happy arrangement because the local Filipino-Americans get to attend two celebrations rather than just one. This year, the Silayan Choir has been invited to provide liturgical music for the Houma-Thibodaux Feast Day mass. The Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux will celebrate the mass, as he has for the last several years. The New Orleans area celebration was once graced with the presence of one of the auxiliary bishops from the Archdiocese [Bishop Nicholas D'Antonio in 1995]. Three years ago, Archbishop Alfred Hughes was scheduled to celebrate the Feast Day mass. But Katrina disrupted the preparations and dispersed much of the Filipino Catholic faithful.
The Silayan Choir is a group of Filipino-American friends, tending now towards senior citizen status, who saw a need for Filipino liturgical music for the many religious gatherings in the community and tried to remedy the situation. We sing with guitar and sometimes keyboard; the more traditionally Filipino pieces are preferably sung with guitar accompaniment. I use a classical guitar with nylon strings and not electric or acoustic. This is a reflection of our Spanish heritage. If we had the means to acquire one, we could use a banduria to reinforce the melody line. [The Filipino banduria is a fourteen-stringed instrument similar to a mandolin.] The group is purely voluntary, largely amateur, and happily Filipino. We favor compositions of contemporary liturgical composers [such as the recently deceased Fr. Eduardo Hontiveros, S.J., who is recognized as the "Father of Filipino Liturgical Music"]. Of course, we have sung secular folk songs for non-liturgical events, as well. For some of these occasions, we have performed to "canned" accompaniment since live instrumentalists are not available.
Secular Celebrations
In Louisiana, the largest non-religious Filipino celebrations is Independence Day, which is an occasion to commemorate the country's history and the journeys taken by those who now make their homes here. Filipinos have traditionally celebrated June 12th as Independence Day, but this date was not recognized by the United States government, in favor of the July 4th date on which independence was granted from the United States, until Republic Act No. 4166 was passed by Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal in 1964. Currently, Filipinos in the Philippines and in the United States observe June 20th as Independence Day, and celebrations typically focus on customs and foods from home. Philippine Independence Day celebrates independence from both Spain and America. For local Filipinos, the most recent celebration was special because it marked the 110th anniversary of the first declaration of Filipino independence.
The Philippine Heritage Celebration is held on or near Philippine Independence Day each year. When Independence Day occurs on a weekday, regular work schedules must still be maintained, so it is celebrated either the weekend before or after June 12. In 2008 the festivities, sponsored by the New Orleans Filipino American Lions Club but organized and attended by Filipinos who were both members and non-members, opened with an invocation by Deacon Patrick Dempsey. In his opening prayer, the island-loving priest of Irish descent declared, with enthusiastic sympathy, "We are all Filipino!" This was followed by the United States Pledge of Allegiance, then the United States and Philippine national anthems, and finally a song of importance to all Filipinos, one that is learned by everyone at an early age. Robert Romero, the president of the Filipino-American Lions Club, explains the importance of this song, called "Ako Ay Pilipino" ("I am a Filipino"), and also discusses the importance of gathering together as Filipinos to remember and celebrate freedom, culture, and community:
The essence of "Ako Ay Pilipino"" can be expressed as one would think about a bird. When a bird is caged, you can see the struggles of the bird, and that his every thought is the struggle to fly free. When the bird is free, it is able to live to its full potential. Our freedom is what lets us live to our potential, and Filipinos bring to their new home in America a long history of struggle for freedom, and a strong appreciation of our freedom. We share this appreciation with our American neighbors. We enjoy the freedom to choose our own occupation, to celebrate our holidays.
The word "celebrate" comes from the Latin and means "to attend in large numbers," so, for us, to celebrate means to be together. To celebrate our freedom is to remember the struggles of our forefathers, and also to connect to each other and share the daily struggles of current times. This gathering is also a time to share the culture and customs with each other and the next generation. I saw a quote recently that referred to "the seed that brings forth the harvest of tomorrow." That's what our culture is, and that is we do when we get together to celebrate our freedom and our heritage. But we are not going to live forever. We pass it on to the new generations so they can remember and continue with pride.
The lyrics are presented here in Pilipino (Tagalog) and in translation.
Ako Ay Pilipino
Ako ay Pilipino, ang dugo'y maharlika
Likas sa aking puso, adhikaing kay ganda
Sa Pilipinas na aking bayan
Lantay na perlas ng Silanganan
Wari'y natipon ang kayamanan ng Maykapal
Bigay sa 'king talino, sa mabuti lang laan
Sa aki'y katutubo ang maging mapagmahal
Ako ay Pilipino, ako ay Pilipino
Isang bansa 'sandiwa ang minimithi ko
Sa bayan ko't bandila laan buhay ko't diwa
Ako ay Pilipino, Pilipinong totoo
Ako ay Pilipino, ako ay Pilipino
Taas noo kahit kanino, ang Pilipino ay ako...
---------------------------------
I Am a Filipino
I am a Filipino; my blood is noble and free.
Natural to my heart, are noble aspirations.
For the Philippines that is my country,
Pure pearl of the Orient,
Where it is as if all the bounty of the Creator has been brought together.
My God-given talents are meant only to do good.
For me it is inherent to be caring and loving.
I am a Filipino, I am a Filipino;
One nation, one soul is my aspiration.
For my country and flag I give my life and soul.
I am a Filipino, a true Filipino.
I am a Filipino, I am a Filipino.
My head held high to anyone, the Filipino is me.
After everyone at the Independence Day celebration sang songs in Tagalog, the audience was entertained by singer Joahn Mactal, who sang the popular song "Isang Lahi" ("One Race") in Tagalog, and six-year-old Elenita Stewart, who sang a pop Tagalog-language song of love and heartbreak called "Bakit Pa" ("Why?").
With the exception of the annual installation of officers in the New Orleans Filipino American Lions' Club, the rest of the evening was devoted to enjoying the food prepared by Chef Pasia and Choleta Pasia, sous chef Christopher Cagandahan, and the rest of his catering group, and to enjoying performances of traditional dances known to all present.
Christopher Cagandahan does elaborate melon carving in the Asian
tradition. Photo: Laura Westbrook |
NEXT - Dances from the Philippines
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