POST-WAR SIMPLICITY

After the war, there was not much in the way of high quality material for the builidng of new churches.  The idea was to build temporary and quick chapels and churches, and wait till funds could be raised and supplies were more available, to build a more lasting structure.

Here Father Alvin LaFeir, Capuchin, stands next to his simple altar.  The wooden platform underneath is not even painted nor surfaced with tiles or carpeting.   For the sanctuary wall, just some ecclesiastical fabric tacked onto a wooden wall.  The tabernacle is made of wood.

If someone can identify this church, please let me know. 

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

GUMA'YU'US HUMÅTAK

ÅNTES

The Umatac Church (San Dionisio) around 1830.  The boys in the bottom right-hand corner march in procession, all dressed in identical white shirts, under the watchful eye of probably the village maestro or teacher.  Teachers taught religion and the boys would have learned how to serve and sing at Mass.

PÅ'GO

The Same Spot Today

When the old church was ruined beyond repair in an earthquake in the 1800s, the priests stopped re-building the church and instead built a new one at its present location further inside the village.

Counter to one's expectations, the Spanish missionaries tended to build the churches at the extreme end of the village, not right smack in the middle of the village.  Even in Hagåtña, in Spanish times there was hardly anything east of the present-day Cathedral, where the PDN building is now.  That was all jungle.  In Inalåhan, we see the same thing.  That church was built at the far end of the village.  The same with Humåtak.

The idea may have been to avoid homes and the noise and business of everyday domestic affairs happening right around the church.

The ruins of the old church lie next to what used to be F.Q. Sanchez Elementary School.

INARAJAN CHURCH - AS IT WAS BEING BUILT

St. Joseph Church was dedicated in 1940

So this could have been taken in 1939 or 1940

NOT MANY LIKE THESE AROUND

Behold the bell of the Garapan Catholic Church in Saipan, dating back to 1895.  The Spaniards still ruled the Marianas at the time.

The year 1895 is written on the bell, as well as the original patron of the church (and the entire island of Saipan), San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer).  "Labrador" can be made out pretty clearly in the photo, especially if you click to enlarge.

It survived World War II.  Amazing.  Not much did.

TAMUNING SODALITY

Capuchin Father Timothy and the members of the Sodality of Mary in Tamuning, 1950s.

Know anybody?

THE POWER OF SACRED IMAGES

Santa Barbara Church in Dededo, reflecting the influence of its large Filipino community, includes many sacred images representing Biblical figures of the Passion (Saint Mary Magdalene, Veronica, etc.), just as was done by the Chamorros before the war.

In this video, a woman is profoundly stirred and weeps when she kneels before the Sånto Entiero, the representation of Christ in repose.

THE SÅNTO ENTIERO

Sinajaña

"Sånto Entiero" is a phrase taken from the Spanish which means "Holy Burial."  A "Misan Entiero," for example, means a "funeral Mass."  The centerpiece of traditional Chamorro Good Friday devotions after the official liturgy is the Santo Entiero, a statue depicting the deceased Christ lying in repose.

My grandmother's sister, Ana Torres Reyes, was the caretaker of the Sånto Entiero in Sinajaña.  No expense was spared every year to clothe it in the best and even to procure a wig made of real human hair.  It is a fine statue, with excellent, life-like details.

This has to be one of the finest, most human-like representations of the dead Christ we have on Guam.

Notice the excellent detail of the hands.

Venerating the Sånto Entiero in Agaña Heights.

In Dededo, Santa Barbara parish has a larger than life-sized Sånto Entiero.

THE MONUMENTO IN INALÅHAN

I found the parishioners of Saint Joseph Church, Inalåhan, still before the Monumento close to 10PM on Holy Thursday night, singing "Were You There."

YOUTH OF SINAJAÑA PRAY THE ROSARY IN CHAMORRO

The man åmko' were pleased tonight to hear the youth of Sinajaña, Saint Jude Parish, pray the Rosary in Chamorro.  Maolek bidan-miyo!

HUEBES SÅNTO

In the Marianas on Huebes Sånto (Holy Thursday), the Blessed Sacrament is placed in a tabernacle on a side altar, called the monumento.  For as long as the church remains open, altar servers and people adore God before the monumento, making up for the Apostles who slept while Jesus prayed during His agony in the garden this night almost 2,000 years ago.  Many people go around the island on Huebes Sånto evening, visiting the different churches and praying before the monumento.

Chamorro Catholics sing this hymn to the Blessed Sacrament :

Umatuna i Sen Såntos Sakramenton i attat;

yan i Bithen na tailåmen mamapotgenñaihon-ña!

It is taken from the original Spanish, which you can hear in the above video, which goes :

Alabado sea el Santísimo Sacramento del altar;

y la Virgen concebida sin pecado original.

In English : Praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, and the Virgin conceived without original sin.

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT INARAJAN'S CHURCH

Way up towards the ceiling, on both sides of the nave of the church, are circular stained glass windows with the advocations from the Litany of Saint Joseph written in Chamorro.  You can just make out in this photo the words "Må'gas i Sagrada Familia," or "Head of the Holy Family."

The most significant historical feature of Inarajan's church is the tomb of Father Jesus Baza Dueñas, beheaded by the Japanese on July 12, 1944.  Pale' Dueñas had been pastor of Inarajan just before the war and remained there during the war.  Suspected of having information about American radio man George Tweed, he was apprehended by the Japanese, tortured and eventually killed.  He met his death in Tå'i, in the general vicinity where the school named in his honor stands today.  After the war, with the help of eye witnesses, Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo located the grave, identified the body and had the remains respectfully interred in the church he pastored.  You can see that he was buried in the sanctuary of the church, not far from the tabernacle.

The metal plaque marking his grave says the following :

ORIGINAL LATIN

"In pace et honore hic jacet Rev. Dns. Jesus B. Dueñas tempore bello occisus die 12 a Julii 1944 hic inter suos sepulturam invenit die 21 a Martii 1945." 

Which more or less means : In peace and honor here lies the Reverend Sir Jesus B. Dueñas, slain in time of war on July 12, 1944;  his grave was discovered on March 21, 1945. 

Secular or diocesan priests like Father Dueñas were given the honorable title, in Latin, "Dominus" which means "lord" or "master."  Perhaps the English word "Sir" would get closer to the intended meaning.  "Dominus" became "Don" in Spanish, to bestow honor on men of higher rank.

Father Dueñas died at the young age of 33, traditionally believed to be the same age when Christ died.  He had been a priest for just six years.

The church as seen right after World War II

The present church in Inarajan was built in 1940 by the Spanish Capuchin Pale' Bernabé de Cáseda.  It used to have the words "Ite ad Joseph" written above the main church doors.  That phrase means "Go to Joseph," because just as Saint Joseph was the protector of the Virgin and Child, we ought to seek him as our defender, the patron of the universal Church.