The Del Rosario Feast

[background: the feast of our lady of the most holy rosary (in short, del rosario), has been celebrated w/ flare in our quaint town in samar since the '30s. the daily dawn rosary & mass for the month of october is highlighted by a procession usually on the last sunday, by the del rosario image & ladies in filipiniana ternos (called the reginas) representing the 15 mysteries of the rosary (now, 20). all these is taken cared of by the year's hermana, who chooses the next regina who will replace her position. my mother 'inherited' her regina post from my paternal grandma. the regina draw lots to determine when they will be hermana. nanay got the 2006 slot. during the tedious preparation, my sisters & i realized that we were like preparing for another wedding: a full-color souvenir program/invitation; white umbrellas + miniature del rosario images for give-aways; cutie girls donning wings to shower the del rosario w/ confetti; fresh flowers from dangwa; hundreds of luminaries; the bishop to officiate the mass; a dinner-reception...the list is endless!]

oct. 28 - the reginas & hermana pasadas (past hermanas) coverged at our house to fetch the church's del rosario image (she has been staying in our house since january) w/ a mass at 3pm intended for the deposed hermana pasadas. we got a word from the parish that monsignor japzon will be an hour late. so it afforded our visitors more time for merienda cena & chitchat.

merienda cena at our garden w/ my sister chinky & niece shannen

manning the buffet table.

in gray dress is nanay welcoming her guests.

in background is our 105 yr old paternal ancestral house.

the del rosario image is our own: a gift from my paternal grandpa to my paternal grandma during her hermanaship many years back.

oct. 29 - the procession around town promptly took off at 3pm.

up front is the church's del rosario image, followed by our own image.

the cross bearers led the procession, followed by the color-coded reginas who were sheltered by white umbrellas. thanks to the holy cross studes.

the procession passed by our house where the del rosario images were showered w/ confetti.

in pomelo pink is the lovely hermana (ehem, my nanay) flanked by the out-going & in-coming hermanas.

that's our eldest sister dodit who now, is a regina w/ her really tall, 14 yr old son anjo, my parents' first ever apo.

at center in blue, is the most reverend bishop of eastern samar, his excellency leonardo medroso. for the record, that mass was the last he officiated in his capacity as bishop of e. samar as he is scheduled to hold another post middle of november. the church decor was really oh wow!

what was another oh wow, was the pleasant surprise to see many people join the procession. the church was also filled to the brim, much like standing room only! in fact, the single pew reserved for our family was already occupied by church-goers.

tatay even had to stand at the rear part of the church & i was thankful to see him later seated in a plastic stool. this explains why we were not able to have a family picture at the church: tatay, my bro-in-law jerome & husband had to rush home right after the mass ended because of the influx of people who rushed to the reception. the turn-out of guests was rather tremendous, of which we are truly grateful.

nanay w/ winged b-girl, benyl & shannen: 3 of the 8 cutie girls who showered the del rosario images w/ confetti.

our family.

as aptly put in the souvenir program: our heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped make this year's del rosario feast a success.