UNUSUAL MORNING

UNUSUAL MORNING

It is not the cold breeze. No, it is not the crowing of the roosters or the barking of the dogs. It is neither the sounds of the early tricycle motors that makes waking up in the morning unusual.

Something is missing that keeps you feeling as if you are missing a few beatings of your heart. It has been a constant reminder of the sunrise as far as you can remember that now its absence creates a lonesome mood.

I am referring to the sound of the church bells that used to bring new challenge, new adventure, new hope to the parishioners as they wake up early in the morning to meet the new day.

For quite some time the inviting great alarm sound is not heard on waking up or throughout the whole day. The bells with most beautiful melody have been silenced not because they are no longer needed but because they have been serving their purpose for more than a century that the belfry where they are hanged needed repair and restoration.

The bells were brought down to rest while the bell tower is being repaired. No one still alive remembers how the original belfry, much more the whole church, looked like. No document so far has yet been found to show the original appearance. Since its destruction by a great typhoon during the 1920’s so many incidents have happened. The whole roofing was blown away while the bell tower and the façade were greatly damaged. A temporary church has been erected and was in use until the early 1950’s when the old church was rebuilt.

The temporary church would have offered more historical value as it was used as temporary holding shelter for all the males, 15 years and above gathered by the Japanese during the occupation. But it was demolished completely when the original church was rebuilt.

Before the old church was rebuilt it served as hiding place by guerillas fighting the bandits during the war. After the liberation it was temporarily used as Poultry farm. Aside from regular religious ceremonies, no recorded historical event happened in the church. The National Historical Institute did not find reasons to include it as one of the protected heritage site.

Now a new bell tower is being built to hang again the precious bells of the Parish of Saint John Nepomucene. The wisest thing for the parishioner to do is to help revive the glorious morning when we again shall all be awakened daily by the heavenly sounds of our most important and priceless treasure. Back again will be the laughter of the “iskelas”, the lamentations of the “aguniyas” and the “plegarias”, the wake up calls at 5:00 in the morning and the come home summons during the praying of the “oracion” at 6:00 p.m.