The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home

CHAPTER XXVIII 139
gobernadorcillo, who rubbed his hands and informed us that it was a pity that they had not made the princess
join in combat with the giant who had stolen her away, which in his opinion would have been more
marvelous, especially if the giant had been represented as vulnerable only in the navel, like a certain Ferragus
of whom the stories of the Paladins tell. The Very Reverend Fray Damaso, in his customary goodness of
heart, concurred in this opinion, and added that in such case the princess should be made to discover the
giant's weak spot and give him the coup de grace.
"Needless to tell you that during the show the affability of the Filipino Rothschild allowed nothing to be
lacking: ice-cream, lemonade, wines, and refreshments of all kinds circulated profusely among us. A matter of
reasonable and special note was the absence of the well-known and cultured youth, Don Juan Crisostomo
Ibarra, who, as you know, will tomorrow preside at the laying of the corner-stone for the great edifice which
he is so philanthropically erecting. This worthy descendant of the Pelayos and Elcanos (for I have learned that
one of his paternal ancestors was from our heroic and noble northern provinces, perhaps one of the
companions of Magellan or Legazpi) did not show himself during the entire day, owing to a slight
indisposition. His name runs from mouth to mouth, being uttered with praises that can only reflect glory upon
Spain and true Spaniards like ourselves, who never deny our blood, however mixed it may be.
"Today, at eleven o'clock in the morning, we attended a deeply-moving spectacle. Today, as is generally
known, is the fiesta of the Virgin of Peace and is being observed by the Brethren of the Holy Rosary.
Tomorrow will occur the fiesta of the patron, San Diego, and it will be observed principally by the Venerable
Tertiary Order. Between these two societies there exists a pious rivalry in serving God, which piety has
reached the extreme of holy quarrels among them, as has just happened in the dispute over the preacher of
acknowledged fame, the oft-mentioned Very Reverend Fray Damaso, who tomorrow will occupy the pulpit of
the Holy Ghost with a sermon, which, according to general expectation, will be a literary and religious event.
"So, as we were saying, we attended a highly edifying and moving spectacle. Six pious youths, three to recite
the mass and three for acolytes, marched out of the sacristy and prostrated themselves before the altar, while
the officiating priest, the Very Reverend Fray Hernando Sibyla, chanted the Surge Domine--the signal for
commencing the procession around the church--with the magnificent voice and religious unction that all
recognize and that make him so worthy of general admiration. When the Surge Domine was concluded, the
gobernadorcillo, in a frock coat, carrying the standard and followed by four acolytes with incense-burners,
headed the procession. Behind them came the tall silver candelabra, the municipal corporation, the precious
images dressed in satin and gold, representing St. Dominic and the Virgin of Peace in a magnificent blue robe
trimmed with gilded silver, the gift of the pious ex-gobernadorcillo, the so-worthy-of-being-imitated and
never-sufficiently-praised Don Santiago de los Santos. All these images were borne on silver cars. Behind the
Mother of God came the Spaniards and the rest of the clergy, while the officiating priest was protected by a
canopy carried by the cabezas de barangay, and the procession was closed by a squad of the worthy Civil
Guard. I believe it unnecessary to state that a multitude of Indians, carrying lighted candles with great
devotion, formed the two lines of the procession. The musicians played religious marches, while bombs and
pinwheels furnished repeated salutes. It causes admiration to see the modesty and the fervor which these
ceremonies inspire in the hearts of the true believers, the grand, pure faith professed for the Virgin of Peace,
the solemnity and fervent devotion with which such ceremonies are performed by those of us who have had
the good fortune to be born under the sacrosanct and immaculate banner of Spain.
"The procession concluded, there began the mass rendered by the orchestra and the theatrical artists. After the
reading of the Gospel, the Very Reverend Fray Manuel Martin, an Augustinian from the province of
Batangas, ascended the pulpit and kept the whole audience enraptured and hanging on his words, especially
the Spaniards, during the exordium in Castilian, as he spoke with vigor and in such flowing and well-rounded
periods that our hearts were filled with fervor and enthusiasm. This indeed is the term that should be used for
what is felt, or what we feel, when the Virgin of our beloved Spain is considered, and above all when there
can be intercalated in the text, if the subject permits, the ideas of a prince of the Church, the Señor Monescillo,
[83] which are surely those of all Spaniards.