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by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.
December 1, 2011
“Work is love made visible,” says Kahlil Gibran (1923) in his magnum opus, The Prophet.
I always try to work with love, but sometimes, work becomes overwhelming and suffocating. Sometimes, I cry to the heavens to help me stay alive, to help me survive an impossible day of work, work, work!
Thus, when I received an invitation from a long-time friend, Sr. Fidelisa Portillo, SPC, to attend a free Paulinian Sisters’ concert, I felt as if my work environment had been intruded upon. I had no time to attend a concert because I needed every second to mark the essay drafts of my students. I teach four academic writing classes, you see.
“How can I say no and not offend my friend?” I asked myself.
A tiny inner voice answered, “Why don’t you make time for the soul? for the spirit?”
* * *
It was Wednesday, the 23rd of November, 2011. Tired to the bone and feeling completely drained after a long day which began at 3:00 a.m., I took a taxi at 5:30 p.m. from De La Salle University to St. Paul University Manila, the venue of the 100 Voices Concert.
Dubbed “100 Years in 100 Voices,” the Paulinian Sisters’ Concert was held in thanksgiving for 100 years of formation of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in the Philippines. It was in 1911 when a formal Novitiate of the Paulinian Sisters was established in a swampy piece of land in Malate, Manila. The Novitiate began with only five postulants.
Today, there are 249 St. Paul Sisters serving in 35 St. Paul schools, 85 Sisters staffing management and medical positions in 11 hospitals, 59 Sisters doing pastoral work, 62 Sisters toiling in foreign missions, and 91 retired Sisters praying non-stop in their Vigil House (St. Paul University Philippines, 2009).
As I was settling down in my seat about five rows from the stage, Sr. Fidelisa, the friend who invited me, approached with a wide smile. “Sr. Tess is here,” she beamed. I stood up and there was Sr. Teresita Bayona, a Sister friend whom I haven’t seen for more than 10 years. We hugged tightly and happily.
Promptly at 6:00 p.m., the lights went out at the Fleur-de-Lis Theater of St. Paul University Manila. With a spotlight shining on the Philippine flag, the audience stood up and sang the national anthem with pride. It gave me goose bumps to be part of an audience which actually sang the Philippine National Anthem, and did not just listen to an audio recording.
The spotlight was turned off. Then the audience sat down and waited expectantly in the dark. I heard a faint humming from a distance, then I saw a candle light quiver and flicker. All of a sudden, there seemed to be thousands of flickering candle lights from everywhere. The curtains parted and showed an altar on the stage.
The 100 Voices Concert had begun.
Singing Toi Notre Dame (Wackenheim, M. & Rozier, G. Lyrics.), one hundred Sisters, wearing white veils and habits and holding lighted candles, gathered in front of the altar on the stage. They sang facing the altar, instead of the audience. It was a mesmerizing opening number.
After a brisk change of stage setting, the Sisters came back in colorful dresses and aprons. They performed a lively and choreographed number, The School of the Wooden Shoes (Orlino, T. & Reuter, J.) It was delightful to watch the Sisters dancing in a graceful but demure way.
Really exhausted, I think I dozed off as Sr. Sta. Ana’s composition, Te Deum, was being sung. Before I knew it, the stage setting had been changed again. I couldn’t believe my eyes that there were four, yes, four grand pianos on the stage!
Sisters Remedios A. Sandalo, spc; Maria Theresa L. Asencio, spc; Maria Corazon R. Querubin, spc; and Veneranda A. del Rosario, spc walked in with dignified elegance and took their places. Four pianists performing on four grand pianos at the same time was such an exuberant and super-abundant way of magnifying the Lord! It was awesome and the audience applauded the Sisters’ piano number joyfully.
As the stage crew took the grand pianos from the stage noiselessly and efficiently, an audio-visual presentation on the daily routine of novices was shown. It didn’t take longer than a minute, I think.
When the curtains were drawn apart, the audience was thrilled to see five, yes, five organs and a drum set on the stage. We all clapped eagerly as the five Sisters took their seats. The four pianists, it turned out, were organists, too. They were joined by the fifth organist, Sr. Nicole P. Dabalus, spc. A guest male performer played the drums. (Sorry, I didn’t get his name.)
The organ ensemble was applauded vigorously by the appreciative audience. It was followed by a guitar ensemble, then an ethnic instrument showcase, and finally, a Christmas suite of original compositions by some Paulinian Sisters.
It was 8:30 p.m. and I knew that I must hurry and catch a bus home to Cavite. As the conductors, Sr. Ma. Anunciata A. Sta. Ana, SPC and Sr. Teresita Estrellita L. Orlino, SPC, were being introduced, I crawled out of the auditorium which had an overflow crowd as quickly as I could. I wanted to get home fast, give my aching and aging body some rest, and be ready to start another grueling day of marking students’ drafts and teaching academic writing.
I arrived home at 10:00 p.m. As I was walking from the roadside to our house, I noticed the modest green and yellow Christmas lanterns adorning the street posts. They sparkled merrily. I looked up at the sky and noticed hundreds of little stars twinkling down at me. I felt a sense of peace and gratitude as I unlatched our gate.
Sr. Fidelisa might not have known how badly I needed aesthetic and spiritual nourishment. But the Divine Potter certainly did! Thus, I remembered another poem from Gibran (1923):
our friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.