Two days before the storycon for a film to be starred in by erstwhile bold actress Vida Verde and to be directed by award-winning visual artist Bon Labora, I invited Lucban, Quezon-bred entertainment writer Gerry Olea and movie columnist and editor Art Tapalla to cover the event.
Art readily said yes while Gerry responded with an unsure reply. "Try ko. Just got home from Paete, Laguna. Last Thursday, Saturday, nasa (I was in) Nueva Ecija and Aurora naman ako.
"Hopefully, makabawi na ako ng tulog at pahinga (I could make up for lost sleep and rest)," noted Gerry in his Facebook Messenger.
Olea went and participated in the Turumba 2024 celebration in the town of Pakil in Laguna Province over the weekend.
It was a festive as well as a religious event that venerated the Virgin Mary of Sorrows or the Virgin of Turumba.
According to Wikipedia, Turumba comes from the etymology "natumba sa tuwa (fell off or trembled in great joy) which was first celebrated in the 18th century in Pakil where the image of the Virgin Mary was found.
Gerry witnessed the holy observance in honor of the icon.
There were a lot of activities including a procession where the image was paraded with a cortege of religious participants of marching priests and acolytes with dancing and singing among parishioners.
We remember when our late cousins Amy and Gerry Pacheco who were natives of Pakil and the excitement their relatives got when they invited them to share the joy of a fiesta and in the deep spirituality of the Pakil people.
During the fest, there was a prayer to the Holy Virgin Mary of Sorrows of Turumba which went like this: "Namimighati at kalinis-linisang Birheng Maria, Ina ng Masintahing Anak na Lubhang tigib ng lumbay sa lahat ng ina sa mundo, naninikluhod po ako sa mahal mong harapan, Ina naming maawain at nagsusumamo sa iyo ng buong pagpapakumbaba, na kung itong awa't kagalingang hinihingi ko ay magiging karangalan ng Panginoong Diyos at ikagagaling ko, ay idalangin mo sa Kanyang kapangyarihan, na ipagkaloob sa akin at kung hindi ay ang Kanyang kasanto-santosang kalooban ang tutupdin ko at pasasalamatan, nang maging dapat akong magpuri sa pagka-Diyos Niyang walang hanggan (Most chaste Holy Virgin, Mother of Her Most Loving Son who is the most Sorrowful Mother in the world, we are beseeching You in all humility in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ to give us the holiness and righteousness which I will fulfill and thank for in his Infinity).
Devotees and fanatics with handkerchiefs on hand to wipe off the Virgin for miracles, health panacea and wishes were ready to sway in the waves of people not unlike the mammoth crowds during the Black Nazarene in Quiapo or Lady of the Penafrancia in Naga City or Sto. Nino in Tondo processions.
There are always commotion and missing out on big and small things religious like in one of the Facebook posts of a participant which read: "I lost at the end the handkerchief that I will throw to my brother to wipe it off from the virgin someone else tried to take it, good thing it was recovered."
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #TurumbaFestival2024