SI JOSÉ YAN SI MARÍA

 

They say that modern man doesn't know how to wait, and so we jump right into Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. In many homes, the Christmas tree comes down on December 26 and people find it odd when others continue to say "Merry Christmas" till January 6 or so.

We celebrate too early and we end it too early.

But the traditional Catholic way is to wait and to prepare, and then to extend the celebration of Christmas to January 6 (Three Kings) or later even.

Nothing told us kids growing up 50 or more years ago that Christmas was coming than to hear this song, Si José yan si María, being sung by the family kneeling before the family belen or nativity scene.

There are two melodies of this song. One, it is said, is older, perhaps we can say the original. The second, it is believed, is newer, and is the same melody used in a Saipan Christmas song, "Hingok i Dos na Saklestan." But, since we have no evidence one way or the other, which is the older, all we can say is that this is what people think or believe.

Here is the "older" melody.

Here is the "newer." I think this is the melody sung nowadays by most, but in my childhood it was the "older" melody that was sung more.

LYRICS AND MEANING

This song is meant to prepare us for the birth of Jesus. That story begins with the Annunciation by Archangel Gabriel to Mary at which Mary conceived Jesus in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not by man; the marriage of Joseph and Mary so that Mary would have the help of a husband and that Jesus would have a human foster father, and grow up in a normal family setting.

But Joseph had to take the pregnant Mary with him to his ancestral town of Bethlehem to register for the census, and it is there that Mary gave birth, fulfilling the prophecy.

So already we have the themes of a PILGRIM GOD, a God who leaves heaven and journeys to the earth, entering human life through the womb of Mary, which is like a gate for God to enter our world. In addition, the infant Jesus still in Mary's womb travels from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where He is born. So the refrain says "Oh Yu'us na pelegrino," "Oh Pilgrim God." We cannot go to God on our own power, so God comes down to us.

And when God comes to us, He doesn't receive a triumphant welcome. There is no room in the inn. The baby is put in a manger, which is a wooden trough for animal food, and thus we can assume there are animals around him, and was possibly in an animal shelter, and by tradition a cave. All He has for worshippers are humble shepherds, sent by an angel.

So the song has the message that the Chamorro faithful give the baby Jesus the welcome He did not get but which He deserves.

Si José yan si María / esta guennao man maså'pet.

(Joseph and Mary / are suffering there.)

Koro : O Yu'us na pelegrino / sugo' mågi giya hame.

(O pilgrim God / stop and stay with us.)

1. Taitutuhon na Tiningo' / taihinekkok na Finaye / takkilo'-ña i ta'chong-mo / ke i sagan mapagåhes.  Håfa na un dingo på'go / i ginefsagan i langet?

(Knowledge without beginning / endless wisdom / your seat is higher than the clouds.  Why now do you leave / the riches of heaven?)

2. Saina hao, Yu'us Lahi-ña / ni i bula mina’åse' / mama'taotao yan humuyong / Yu'us Taotao, che'lon-måme.  I Mesias hao, i Kristo / hagas ham man ma sangåne.

(You are Lord, God the Son / full of mercy / you were made man and became / God and man, our brother.  You are the Messiah, the Christ / which was told to us from of old.)

3. An humålom i chatanmak / ya ma chakchak i ha'åne / un na' sulo' gi sankattan / i atdao-mo, bula guåfe.  Hågo i ma'lak na åtdao / i mañiñila' na kåndet.

(When the dawn comes / and the day breaks / you make shine in the east / the sun, full of fire.  You are the bright sun / the shining light.)

4. Cha'-mo chåchågo' Asaina / guine gi fanågon-måme / gos manengheng i sanhiyong / meggai lokkue' i mañakke.  Maila' hålom, Påtgon Yu'us, sa' yan-måme dinanña'e.

(Don't go far, Lord / from our shelter here / it is very cold outside / there are many thieves as well.  Come inside, God Child, because we would like to join together.)

5. Guai fanhakman i gimå'-ta / yagin magof hao humåtme.  Maila' hålom giya hame / sugo' ya un ma adahe / kalan i ma'gas i gima' / yan Rai i lekka' na långet.

(Our house has a door / if you would like to enter.  Come inside among us / visit and be cared for / as the head of the house / and King of heaven exalted.)

6. Nangga nåya gofliion / in sangåne hao magåhet / i taotao-mo hao yumute' / sa' mañåguat manmandage.  Ti u cho'gue i Chamorro / sa' ti ennao påyon-mame.

(Wait for a while, beloved / we tell you truthfully / your people abandoned you / because they are insolent liars.  The Chamorro will not do that / because that is not our custom.)

7. Sugo', dikkike' na påtgon / maila' ya un ma dandåne / ni man na' magof na dåndan / guine gi åtpa yan låbet.  Hago ha' siña dumåndan / sa' manungo' hao yan faye.

(Stay, little child / come and we will play for you / joyful songs / here with harp and violin.  You alone can play / because you know how and you are capable.)

LANGUAGE NOTES

Guai. This is a word most Chamorro speakers, even older ones, are not familiar with and so they often change it to gai. But guai is an old form of the word gai, which means "it has, there is."

Fanhakman. This word, meaning "door" comes from FAN+HÅLOM+AN. Hålom means "to enter." The FAN and the AN make it "place of" or "time of" entering. Fanhaluman can be shortened to fanhakman.

*** Agradesimiento para si Señot Lawrence Borja para i dos audio na file.

NINA'HUYONG YU'US TÅTA

 

This is a big favorite among many people. 

The nice melody has a lot to do with it, but the words are very meaningful and have a lot to say about who Mary is for us Catholics. I'll get to that later in this blog post. But first the audio :

And to share the way it is sung in Saipan, which is basically the same melody as Guam's but with some slight variations. The Saipan recording is special to me because this is the sound we all heard when we were kids; no organ, no piano. Just Chamorro women singing full throttle the hymns from memory :

LYRICS

1. Nina’huyong Yu’us Tåta, sinantusan i anti-mo, sen masåmai bula gråsia, tai isao i ha’ani-mo. Ennao mina’ man sineyo as Yu’us i taotao siha, ya ha ågang man sen magof ini na Abe Maria.

(O daughter of God the Father, your soul is holy, very beautiful, full of grace, your life is sinless. That is why the people were sealed by God, and they called out most joyfully this Ave Maria.)

2. Nånan Yu’us i Lahi-ña, iya hågo nai in li’e’ na gaige si Jesukristo i Yu’us i ginefli’e’. Hame nai in taitai på’go ayo na finiho siha na sinangan i Atkånghet as Gabriel: Abe Maria.

(Mother of God the Son, in you we see present Jesus Christ the God of love. We now pray those words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel : Ave Maria.) 

3. I Tetsero na petsona i Espiritu i Tata ha na’huyong iya hågo i patgon-mo ni Saina-ta. Ennao gue’ man ga’chong-måme i tres na Petsonas siha ya in sangan gi me’nå-mo ta’lo i Abe Maria.

(The Third Person the Spirit of the Father brought forth in you your child who is our Lord. Those are our companions, the Three Persons, and we say before you again the Ave Maria.)

MEANING OF THE HYMN

This hymn is about Mary in relation to the Three Persons in one God; the Most Holy Trinity.

Mary is DAUGHTER of God the Father. That is why, in the first verse, she is called Nina'huyong Yu'us Tåta. Nina'huyong means "creation." Mary is sinless and most holy, but she is not God. God is uncreated and existing from all eternity, without beginning or end. God created Mary, just as God created all of us. We are God's sons and daughters, and He is our Father.

Mary is MOTHER of God the Son, and so she is called in the second verse. Mary is not the Mother of God in the sense that she gave Jesus His divinity; of course not. But Jesus was conceived in her womb; lived there for nine months, nourished by her body; and was born of her. And since Jesus is fully God, in that sense we can say she is Mother of God. Mary gave Jesus His blessed humanity, His human flesh; and brought Him into the world.

Mary is SPOUSE of God the Holy Spirit. The conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary was not accomplished with the help of a human father, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. So Mary is in that sense the spouse of the Holy Spirit.

When the Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with his "Ave," or "Hail," he was speaking the words of God, for an angel is God's messenger and only says and does what God instructs him to say and do. So when you and I say, "Hail Mary," we are only repeating what Gabriel said, and what the Three Persons in One God said through Gabriel. God Himself chose Mary to be His daughter and spouse, and prepared her from her conception to be the sinless Mother of Jesus. God honored Mary, and when we honor her, we only do what God Himself did.

*** Agradesimiento para si Señot Lawrence Borja para i audio files.