KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : O TERESITA

 

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as Saint Therese the Little Flower and also Saint Therese of Lisieux, was only canonized in the year 1925. That's only 101 years ago.

When Mangilao's population grew large enough, a chapel was built where a priest from Hagåtña would say Mass now and then. It was dedicated to the new saint, Saint Therese. Since there is an older Saint Therese (of Avila), the Spaniards distinguished this new Saint Therese from the older one calling the newer one Teresita, meaning "little Teresa or Therese."

We can safely assume that Påle' Román María de Vera was the writer of the Chamorro text for this hymn (although I do not have proof for this assumption). He uses the image of Santa Teresita as a flower of God who sends us flowers (meaning graces) from heaven.

LYRICS

O Teresita, flores Jesus / hågo gi tano' paopao Yu'us

(O Teresita, flower of Jesus / you were on earth the fragrance of God)

guennao gi langet gagågue ham / meggai na flores chuda'e ham.

(there in heaven intercede for us / shower upon us many flowers.)

Flores Jesus, na' florise ham / ni kilu'us ya un nå'e ham.

(Flower of Jesus, make flowers bloom for us at the cross and give them to us.)

O Teresita, patronan Guam / i minames-mo fanu'e ham

(O Teresita, patron of Guam / show us your sweetness)

gi korason-mo sininok hao / as Jesukristo sa' ya-ña hao. (1)

(you burned within your heart / for Jesus Christ because He loved you.)

Ginefli'en Yu'us ni taotao / sumongge hao sa' gos songga hao. (2)

(The love of God for people / enflamed you for you were most ardent.)

I hinengge-mo gos na'manman / i ninangga-mo metton åpmam

(Your faith was most wondrous / your hope was enduringly firm)

lao i guinaiya, lu takhalom / mumåpta' hulo' gi korason.

(but your love, though deep inside, opened upwards in the heart.)

Mañiñila' kalan i atdao / ha sosongge i anten taotao.

(It shone like the sun / and fired up the souls of men.)

I korason-mo gos manñaña' / bula minames kalan nåna

(Your heart was most tender / full of sweetness like a mother's)

i gråsia siha ni i Manå / gi dos kanai-mo man mánkana' (3)

(the graces which were like manna / were hung on your two hands)

håye ya-ña u fåtto gusse' / ya yo'ase' un nånå'e gue'.

(whoever wishes can come quickly / and you would kindly give him.)

I man malångo ma ogagao / nu i hinemlon i tataotao

(The sick searched for health of the body)

i sensen-ñiha yan i ante / fa'maolek, Saina na yo'amte.

(their flesh and soul make well, oh healing Lady.)

Na' huyong hao mames yan geftao / sa' gos låhyan numanangga hao.

(Show yourself to be sweet and generous / for they are many who hope in you.)

NOTES

(1) Sunok is an obsolete word meaning "to burn something."

(2) Songga is another obsolete word meaning "flammable, able to be burned."

(3) Grace is likened to manna, the miraculous food (like wafers) which God sent the hungry Israelites in the desert.

FUNERAL RECEIPT FROM 1930

 

FUNERAL RECEIPT 1930

Once in a blue moon someone needed proof from the village priest that they paid the Church for funeral services, so that they could prove to a judge either that the person is the chief next-of-kin (and can thus be awarded certain rights over the estate) or to be reimbursed.

Juan Pablo was the half-brother of the deceased, Francisco Pablo Torres, and both were the sons of Angela Pablo, who had been married to a Torres and then later to a Castro. The deceased had no children so his half-brother paid for the funeral expenses.

What is of interest here is also the language used. This receipt is written in Chamorro by a Spanish priest, Father Bernabé de Cáseda, a Capuchin. He spent many years as priest in Inalåhan, where a few boys were named Bernabé in his honor. But this receipt was written when Father Bernabé was stationed in Hagåtña.

Here's what he wrote  (I will use my own spelling and make some corrections of his typos) :

Guåho si Fr. Bernabé de Cáseda hu na' magåhet na si Juan Pablo ha apasiye pot i funeråt Francisco Pablo Torres ni måtai a 27 de Disiembre de 1929, ini mo'na na salåppe' :

Pot i entiero primera klåse $21.00

Pot dos responso gi gima' $12.00

Pot i Misa Kantåda $5.00

Totåt $38.00

Which means :

I, Fray (Friar) Bernabé de Cáseda certify that Juan Pablo paid for the funeral of Francisco Pablo Torres who died on December 27, 1929, the following money :

For a funeral first class $21.00

For two prayers for the dead at the home $12.00

For a sung Mass $5.00

Total $38.00

NOTES

Fray. This priest gives himself the abbreviation Fr. which does not stand for "Father" but rather "Friar." Father Bernabé was a Capuchin Franciscan, who are friars, in Spanish "Fray."

Hu na' magåhet. Literally means "I make true," meaning that he certifies, or he assures the truthfulness of. He could've just as easily said "Hu settifika" for "I certify" but he uses indigenous terms instead.

Apasiye. It is misspelled "apasise" in the document. It means "to pay for."

Måtai a. This is a mix of Chamorro (måtai, died) and Spanish (a, at). Meaning on December 27. Strictly Chamorro would have been "måtai gi."

First Class Funeral. In those days, funerals came in first class or not first class, which meant less services or less ceremonial additions.

Responso. This was a prayer said for the dead, usually said in the home but sometimes at church or at the cemetery.

Sung Mass. In those days, Mass could be recited, without singing, or Mass could be sung, meaning the priest chanted a lot of the Mass. A larger fee was paid for the priest's extra effort at a Sung Mass.

In today's value, $38 back then is now worth $738.00.

FATHER BERNABÉ DE CÁSEDA

ONE BAD THING ABOUT THE PÅPA' SÅTGE

 

Felipe was arrested in 1930 by an American Marine patrol man in the San Ramón district of Hagåtña. This area is behind the Cathedral, all the way to the bottom of San Ramón Hill, mainly taken up by the Courthouses today.

What was Felipe's crime?

Peeping through the cracks of the floor board of the house of a man named Vicente and his wife while the couple were in the house.

Felipe was hiding in the påpa' såtge, the open area under a house raised on stilts or columns.

The patrolman caught Felipe and called him out, and Felipe ran, but then stopped running.

Appearing before the judge, Felipe said he was in the påpa' såtge to answer the call of nature, and when he realized a patrolman was chasing him, stopped running.

The patrolman's version of the story was that he noticed the legs of someone under the påpa' såtge, so the patrolman crouched down to inspect who it was and aimed his flashlight at Felipe. Felipe ran and only stopped because the patrolman shot his pistol once in the air.

Due to Felipe's admissions, despite his own reasons for doing what he did, he was found guilty of prowling and resisting arrest.

Raising houses above ground kept the house cooler, kept flood waters and critters out and created storage space underneath.

But, if one was not careful, a raised floor meant people could take advantage of peering through the cracks between the planks or floor boards.

THE PÅPA SÅTGE'

is the open area created under a house on pillars