VED 103

Religiosity is the cultural embodiment and manifestation of faith.

First derives from an external dissemination of the Christian message by missionaries from the West and is still in
the main understood and expressed in terms of European culture,

second comes from the active reception or appropriation of Catholic Christianity by the natives of the islands.

Official Catholicism was propagated throughout the islands in the context of, first Spanish and then later American,
imperialism.

With a missionary policy coupled with a cultural sense of superiority aimed at an abrupt break with the so called
“pagan” past, the church’s attitude towards the local primal religion was unambiguously negative

As far as the ecclesiastical authorities were concerned, conversion to Christianity was one side of a reality of which
the other was a turning of one’s back on the primal religion as well as the culture of one’s people.

From this point of view, Catholicism intentionally dissociated itself from primal religion or religiosity. And given
the inseparability of religion and culture among the local populace, becoming a Christian implied an uprooting from
the indigenous way of life, too.

Popular religiosity may be considered not so much as what we see as what we see through. This religiosity is like a
window that enables us to “see” primal religion still operative in the people’s hearts and minds.

In addition to this, popular religiosity also points to or indicates the values stemming from the indigenous primal
religion which can contribute to the life of Christian churches in the Philippines.

But discourse regarding popular religiosity elicits another sort of perspective, not “from above” but “from below.” In
this view, focus is not on the missionaries proselytizing, but on the local people actively engaging the gospel,
struggling to make sense of it and adapting it in their own way.

For in the course of the spread of Catholic Christianity by foreign missionaries, the native population was not a
group of passive recipients

What happened here is a local example of the truth of the dictum,“quidquid recipitur secundum modum recipientis
recipitur” (“Whatever is perceived is perceived according to the mode of perception of the perceiver.”).

But there is today a continuing discussion as to whether Filipinos had been truly Christianized, or whatever
Christianity had simply been Filipinized.

It is true that Filipino Catholics were baptized with Spanish names, worshipped with Hispano-Roman rites,
memorized Spanish hymns and prayers, prayed to Spanish saints and knelt before Spanish-looking statues.

The tandem of the cultural-religious belief in Bathala, the supreme diety of the populace, and in kapalaran (fate,
destiny) had led to a particular conviction within popular religiosity.

Among the few things known about Bathala was that everything that happened to people was divine will.
This will was identified with the customs and tradition of the people. A good behavior, which meant one that was in
conformity to Bathala’s will, merited panalangin (blessing or grace) and increased one’s chances to succeed in
his/her undertakings. On the contrary, gaba or curse was merited for a violation of Bathala’s will.

Kapalaran, for its part, expresses what had previously been pre-determined for each and everyone. Whatever the
“turn of fate” is, it is generally believed that it has no relationship to any decision one may make or any effort one
may exert.

As a Filipino proverb expresses it: “Ang aking kapalaran, di ko man hanapin, dudulog, lalapit kung talagang akin.”
(“Although I do not seek for my fortune, it will come to me if it is really mine.”).

What happens in the present happens because God had pre-willed it as part of the divine plan. From the perspective
of people’s experiences, fortunate events are suwerte (good fortune) or luck, and the unfortunate ones
representmalas (evil fortune or bad luck).

God’s existence and the identification of what happens in the world with God’s will are cultural-religious
presuppositions into which the Christian understanding of God had been locally recast.

There is something genuinely positive about this, however. Because everything that happens is under God’s power,
people do not lose hope. This belief helps in seeing God not as help-less, but rather as help-full.

“May awa and Diyos”(“God is merciful”) is a very common expression among Filipino Catholics. God is perceived
to be powerful (makapangyarihan) in situations when people feel powerless about them.

Saints, too, like the spirits can grant favors or inflict harm. Hence, they are revered not because the church had
canonized them as examples of living virtues and good work, but because they possess powers similar to those of
the engkantu (the most powerful environmental spirits), and they can be approached for personal benefits.

A rather strong example showing how saints are regarded as spirits is that of a parish in one of the islands where St.
Anthony is approached by the people to inflict harm on others. Many critical religious commentators have observed
that Catholic practitioners of popular religiosity often put more emphasis on devotion to specific saints than on
participation in the official sacramental rites of the church

A most important cultural-religious element at work in the appropriation of Catholicism has to do with “feeling” as a
manner of perception. The language of popular religiosity is “body language.” It understands realities and expresses
its deepest feelings and thoughts through this language because the body “feels.”

Pagdama integrates feeling and rationality; it avoids a dichotomy between the two. Although pagdama combines
both elements of the affective-intuitive (damdamin) and the rational-cognitive(isip), Filipinos demonstrate a
propensity towards the affective-intuitive. This “worldview” might be stated more accurately as a “worldfeel,”
grasping and expressing reality through feeling.

Thus, the possibility, state and quality of relationships are gauged in terms of feelings (pakiramdaman). We speak
spontaneously of a “felt love” (damang pagmamahal). It would not be a is representation of the Filipino manner of
perceiving to refer to what has been experienced as what has been felt, including those in explicitly religious events
or situations.

Hence, the practice of walking on one’s knees in prayer is a way of “feeling” prayer bodily, whatever the motive
behind this bodily gesture. So is lighting a votive candle for a loved one in a church. In the same vein, joining
processions is to pray and to meditate not only with one’s feet, but also with the entire body movement,
not to speak of seeing lighted candles, feeling their warmth and smelling the odor of their smoke as well as hearing
the almost incessant vocalization of repetitive verbal prayer and the occasional singing of religious hymns. By the
same token, to wipe with handkerchiefs or small towels statues of Jesus, Mary and of the saints is to communicate
by bodily feeling one’s deepest sentiments to the persons represented by these images.

Such action makes these persons “feel” one’s prayer. And to wipe such a handkerchief or towel on some ailing part
of the body is to “feel” the compassionate power emanating from the personages represented by the statues. The
“bodily feel” becomes the communication and communion between the devotee and a holy personage.

Through body language, religiosity is concretely “felt,” actually experienced and not just rationally grasped. If we
have noticed how truthful our bodies are in manifesting what we are actually feeling in them or thinking at the back
of our minds,

then there is something to be said for the authenticity of this kind of language. Body language is authentic language;
it comprehends and expresses what is actually going on.

Revelation, God’s self initiated relationship with people, could be articulated in terms of God making people
“feel” (pagdama) the divine gracious goodness. An incarnational (i.e., bodily) approach to the faith would take the
humanity of Jesus more seriously than it had been in both official and popular Catholicism.

For these two manifestations of the Christian faith, Jesus’ being divine had overshadowed his being human. A more
positive regard can also evolve towards sexuality which had been demeaned within Graeco-Roman dualism.

Furthermore, if pagdama  as sensuous cognition or integrated sensing is truly incorporated in theologizing, the
prospect of integrating theology and spirituality would surely be enhanced.

Little by little, the negative attitude towards this kind of religiosity could diminish significantly and be replaced by a
more positive one of recognizing the work of the Spirit in the indigenous culture and native religion of the people.

Primal religiosity could then gain the respect it deserves in church life in general, and within the theological
enterprise in particular.

Pilgrimages, Apparitions and Popular Piety

Kathleen Coyle, S.S.C.

Pilgrimage is universal. It knows no cultural, religious or geographical bounds. The experience of going on a sacred
journey has accompanied the formation and renewal of people throughout history. The pilgrim leaves home, travels
to a sacred place to gain physical and spiritual healing and hopes even for a direct experience of the sacred, so that
life can be renewed.

The pilgrim encounters the silences and the symbols of the pilgrimage, a sense of bonding with other pilgrims and a
deep sense of relationship with God. The experience of pilgrims changes them in unsuspected ways so that they
return to ordinary life with new hope and inspiration. Often the pilgrim cannot express the depth of his or her search
in words. The pilgrimage itself is as important as the experience of the sacred at the shrine.

Anthropologists have pointed out that pilgrimage has the three stage form of a rite of passage: separation at the start
of the journey which often involves geographical and social separation;
the liminal stage which includes the journey itself, the time at the shrine, the encounter with the sacred and reflection
on the meaning of life; the homecoming when one is ready to face the routines and rigors of life with a new sense of
hope and meaning (Concilium, 14).

Pilgrimage has always remained important in Catholicism.

The inner journey, the inner life and mystery is the same for all. We long to touch holy ground. The human psyche
reaches for concrete symbols when it tries to express its experience of the holy. In Israel it was the ark and the
temple; in Christianity it is the church, the sacraments and sacramentals.

The temple and the church are holy ground, where one experiences the divine in a special way. People wish to draw
near to the sacred, to achieve pardon, to hope and ask for a miracle, to answer a sense of inner call, to honor a vow
made in response to an extreme situation.

The Spirituality of Pilgrimage

The spiritual journey for Christians is to follow Christ himself in a discipleship that involves imitation, intimacy and
service. Conversion implies change; change implies movement; movement evokes pilgrimage. The New Testament
makes it clear that

the experience of meeting Jesus is an invitation to significant transformation, a summons to “Follow Me!” Jesus’
own journey was a journey of kenosis, the self emptying of the Divine Son. Like Jesus and the disciples on the road
to Emmaus, pilgrims freely converse with strangers about what is happening in their lives and reflect on the meaning
of the scriptures in the light of these events.

In Catholic pilgrimages these ritual actions include processions, blessing with holy water, the celebration of the
Eucharist and the anointing of the sick. Because ritual makes use of symbols, songs and other mediating images it
evokes emotional meanings and values that motivate daily living. Ritual is so expressive that its mystery
communicates itself, it speaks to both body and soul. Every gesture is a symbol motion that puts the pilgrim in touch
with the sacred and helps him or her experience that sacredness in visible form.

Sites of pilgrimage are believed to be places where miracles once happened, or may happen again. They represent a
“tear in the veil” that separates heaven from earth (Turner, 7). The pilgrim visits a holy site or holy shrine. When a
pilgrimage system becomes established, it operates like other social institutions. Liturgies and devotional services at
the sites of pilgrimage are structured, and sometimes seasons of pilgrimage are established to cater to the large
number of pilgrims. However pilgrimage ideally is charismatic. It is a pilgrim’s decision or personal response to a
charism.

Popular Religiosity, Apparitions and Visions.

Popular religion is intensely human and emotionally charged, yet tends to be uncritical in accepting propositions of
faith. It often seeks tangible proof, like physical signs and wonders, as a sign of the presence of the divine. Pilgrim
shrines and the miracles that happen there, affirm the presence of the divine.

Pilgrim shrines and the miracles that happen there, affirm the presence of the divine. The apparitions are usually
experienced by the poor, mostly poor women and the young, and the theophanies are described in great detail. The
poor cling to the church as a conduit of comfort and consolation, of support and salvation. Since God has intervened
in human history in the past, there is an implicit hope that God may do so again.

Certain Constants in the Marian Apparitions

There are certain constants in the image of Mary as she is experienced by visionaries through the centuries. The first
popular image of Mary has been that of healer and restorer of health. In the middle ages when medical knowledge
was more limited, causes of many illnesses were unknown and were even seen as punishments for moral
transgressions, people sought divine healing.

Mary’s many shrines became places for seeking cures, and numerous miraculous healings have been attributed to
her. Whether these cures came from natural or psychological means made no difference. They were accepted as
miraculous by those who were relieved of their suffering.

Another constant in popular religious imagination is that Mary remains an intercessor between heaven and earth. Not
only does she plead with God on our behalf but because she is God’s mother, she actually influences God’s
judgments. As Mother of Mercy she uses her intercessory powers, and belief in her power to plead to God on our
behalf has added to the popularity of her shrines, and the stories of miracles attached to them. The granting of
plenary indulgences for participating in prescribed devotions is a guarantee that one’s sins were forgiven.

The Recent Upsurge of Marian Manifestations

However we may interpret the present phenomenon of Marian manifestations and apparitions, and the stream of
pilgrims to Marian shrines, theologians ought to investigate the reasons why the Christian community is drawn to
express its faith and devotion, both in belief in the apparitions of the Virgin, and in Marian pilgrimages.

Many of the apparitions have occurred, or continue to occur in countries of dire poverty, or where the socio-
economic situation has been very bad. Mary's presence has been a sign of hope, and has offered comfort to people’s
lives.

The Church Calls for Caution and Prudence

The prerogative of investigating an apparition and of deciding whether it is worthy of “the assent of human faith”
belongs officially to the bishop in whose diocese it has occurred. The church realizes only too well that vestiges of
magic can be found not only in adults of today but also in advanced religions  in their doctrines and rituals.

It therefore advises discernment and prudence. The Church cannot ignore phenomena, which a substantial number of
people believe to be supernatural in essence, yet the danger that imaginative visions may be the product of abnormal
psychological states is fully recognized and is carefully inquired into.

Even if an apparition has the approval of the church, we are not obliged to give it our consent if upon mature
reflection we feel unable to believe in it. Edward Schillebeeckx points out that the church’s approval of an apparition
or a private revelation is never an infallible proof of its historical truth and authenticity. It means that the church
does not regard belief in the apparition to be misguided or harmful to the faithful. It also confirms as Schillebeeckx
emphasizes that:

It is merely an official confirmation of the fact that sufficient evidence has emerged from the investigation to enable
us to be cautiously certain in our acceptance of the divine authenticity of the apparition on rational grounds... the
Church does no more than give her official permission that Mary may be venerated in a special way at the place
where the apparition occurred, ...in her judgment, they are in no way contrary to faith and morals and that there are
sufficient indications for their pious and cautious approval by human faith (Schillebeeckx, 197).

The Church’s Teaching on Apparitions

There is no definitive church teaching about what happens during an apparition. Some theologians suggest that an
apparition is a manifestation of the charismatic element of the church in which a person’s imagination is inspired to
receive a message from heaven. Others suggest that such an occurrence could be interpreted as the nearness of God
to those who are outside the official channels of access to the holy

As with other devotional practices, however, official church approval does not require the faithful to believe in
apparitions or in their historicity. They are to be respected in so far as they inspire people to deeper faith and
consistent social action and they are to be judged by their fruits: love, justice and peace. Here is a word of caution
from the U. S. Catholic Bishops:

Even when a private revelation has spread to the entire world, as in the case of Our Lady of Lourdes, and has been
recognized in the liturgical calendar, the Church does not make mandatory the acceptance either of the original
story or of particular forms of piety springing from it (U.S. Bishops, #100).

Any theological reshaping of the image of Mary must take into account the images of Mary in popular religious
imagination because pilgrims continue to flock to shrines to contemplate the intimacy of God in the figure of Mary.
In the words of Paul VI in his encyclical Marialis Cultus, Marian theology must strive to emphasize:

“the figure of the Virgin most Holy, ...perfect model of a disciple of the Lord: laborer of the earthly and temporal
city, and at the same time diligent pilgrim toward the heavenly, eternal city; promoter of the justice that liberates
the oppressed and the charity that succors the needy, but above all active witness of the love that builds Christ in
hearts (#37).

Since all believers embrace some aspects of popular religion in their devotional life popular piety will need a Mary,
‘so full of God, yet so much ours,’( who is a heavenly healer, a caring intercessor, prophet, comforter and friend.
What theologians and pastoral leaders ignore, ordinary people will provide: Lourdes and Fatima, Sheshen and La
Vang  and one hope-filled Guadalupe will probably always be with us.