The Obando Fertility Rites [1] are a dance ritual, Anitist in origin, that later became a Catholic festival celebrated every May in Obando, Bulacan, Philippines. Locals and pilgrims, sometimes dressed in traditional costume, dance and sing in the town's streets to honor and beseech Obando's three patron saints: San Pascual (Paschal Baylon), Santa Clara (Clare of Assisi) and Nuestra Señora de Salambáo (Our Lady of Salambao).
The fertility rites were initially done in hhonorof the anito Diyan Masalanta, the Tagalog goddess of love, Lakapati, the Tagalog fertility deity, and Bathala, the supreme deity of the Tagalog people. The rites were performed within the vicinity of a dambana. When the Spanish arrived, they forcibly converted the natives to Roman Catholicism and changed their religious beliefs regarding the fertility rites. [2]
The rites are observed in a triduum: 17 May for St. Paschal Baylon, 18 May for St. Clare of Assisi, and 19 May for Our Lady of Salambáo. Each of the three days usually begins with a morning Mass said by the parish priest. A procession, held immediately thereafter, consists of the three saints' images followed by bands playing instruments made of bamboo or brass, and devotees who dance the fandango while singing the hymn, Santa Clara Pinung-Pino (Saint Clare, Most Refined). The image of each saint leads the procession on his or her designated feast day.
The rites, especially the fertility dance, are popular with pilgrims from all over the Philippines, most of whom supplicate the triad of saints for a child, a spouse, or general good fortune. Throughout the three days, devotees joyously dance in the streets as a form of prayer, asking for the spirit of life to enter into the wombs of women.
St. Clare of Assisi is the oldest saint declared patroness of Catanghalan (the town's former name), her image was first enshrined in the chapel built by missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor in the town. St. Clare was a 13th-century Italian nun, who founded the Poor Clares according to the rules and teachings of her contemporary, St. Francis.
St. Clare became the patroness of good weather because her Spanish name, Clara, also referred to clearer skies after a storm. This formed the basis for the Filipino custom of offering chicken eggs to St. Clare to ensure good weather, as the Spanish word for egg white or albumen, clara, is also a pun on her name. Devotees participating in the rites would sometimes hold eggs as they swayed to the fandango.
The introduction of St. Clare by Spanish Franciscans as a replacement for pre-colonial Tagalog gods, especially the deity of conception Diyan Masalanta, transformed the old, animist Kasilonawan dancing ritual into the offering of the fandango to the saint to prevent or cure sterility in women. Eventually, St. Clare evolved into the patroness of individuals seeking a mate and to have children, particularly daughters.
During the 18th century, the Franciscan missionaries built the town church and introduced the veneration of Saint Paschal Baylon. His surname, Baylon, was taken to mean "one who likes dancing", ultimately derived from the Spanish bailar ("to dance"). Like St. Clare, the saint also became a patron invoked for fertility, wealth, and abundance.
An anecdote tells of how a childless couple from the neighboring town of Hagonoy met a youth selling crabs. The young man told the couple to visit Obando and participate in the rites to ameliorate their condition. Upon entering Obando Church, the couple was amazed by the sight of Saint Paschal's image, for its face looked exactly like the young crab vendor. This is the origin of St. Paschal's patronage of childless couples who wish to have children, particularly sons.
On 19 June 1763, the image of Our Lady of Salambáo (formal title: "Our Lady of Immaculate Conception of Salambáo"), was the last saint whose cultus was introduced to Obando.
Legend tells of three fishermen named Juan, Julián, and Diego dela Cruz, who caught the Virgin Mary's image in their salambáw , a fishing net supported with bamboo crosspieces and mounted on a raft. They were fishing at a place known as Hulingduong, Binwangan (now part of Malabon), and, when they decided to bring the image to the neighbouring town of Navotas, their boat suddenly grew heavy and immobile. When they eventually decided to bring the image to Obando instead, their boat quickly lightened and became easy to paddle. This was taken a sign that the Virgin wanted to be enshrined in Obando Church. She is still venerated there as the local patroness of fishing and good harvests.
During World War II, the church and a large portion of Obando were ravaged by fire; included amongst the damaged property were the images of the three patron saints. A few years after the war's end, both the Archbishop of Manila and the vicar of Obando Church forbade the fertility dance due to its pagan origins. During the prohibition, normal religious processions were still held on the triduum, but without the lively street dancing.
In 1972, parish priest Rev. Fr. Rome R. Fernández and the Komisyon ng Kalinangan (Commission on Culture) of Obando helped in having the ban lifted and in reviving the ancient dance ritual, which is still practised to this day.
A contingent representing this festival took part in the celebrations of the 1998 Philippine Centennial.
In his 1887 novel Noli Me Tángere, José Rizal, the Philippine national hero, has a character in Chapter 6 ("Captain Tiago") attribute her long-sought pregnancy to the rites. The pregnancy results in the birth of one of the novel's principal characters, María Clara. [3]
In 2012, the rites were featured in the pilot episode of the Filipino teleserye Ina Kapatid Anak , which used fertility issues as a plot device.
Padre Dámaso Verdolagas is a fictional character in the novel Noli Me Tángere. The novel was written by José Rizal, one of the leaders of the Propaganda Movement in the Philippines. Noli Me Tángere is a controversial and anticlerical novel that exposed the abuses committed by the Spanish friars and the Spanish elite in colonial Philippines during the 19th century.
Noli Me Tángere is a novel by Filipino writer and activist José Rizal and was published during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. It explores inequities in law and practice in terms of the treatment by the ruling government and the Spanish Catholic friars of the resident peoples in the late 19th century.
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Obando, officially the Municipality of Obando, is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,978 people.
A triduum is a religious observance that lasts three days.
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Our Lady of Salambáo is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in Obando, Bulacan, Philippines. The Virgin Mary under this title is venerated as the local patroness of fishing, owing to the image's discovery in a salambáw, a type of big fishing net supported by bamboo crosspieces and mounted on a raft.
Jerónima de la Asunción, O.S.C. was a Spanish Catholic nun and abbess who founded the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines.
Colegio de San Pascual Baylon or the College of St. Paschal Baylon (CSPB), formerly Escuela Catolica and St. Pascual Institution (SPI), is a collegiate school at Obando, Bulacan in the Philippines. The school started as a catechetical school on February 11, 1913, through the efforts of Rev. Fr. Juan Dilag, then parish priest of Obando. It became a pre-elementary school, and elementary institution in 1936, added a secondary level in 1939 through 1943, then became a college. Formerly managed by the Sisters Religious of the Virgin Mary, it is currently managed by the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph, a religious congregation in Bulacan. It was formally recognized by the government of the Philippines in 1921. Its name was derived from one of Obando, Bulacan’s patron saints.
The San Pascual Baylón Parish and National Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Immaculada Concepcion de Salambao, commonly known as Obando Church, is a Roman Catholic church located in the municipality of Obando in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malolos.
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José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered a national hero of the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.
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