Jesuit Clappers

photograph by Totomai Martinez

Jesuit Clappers

“Do not ask for whom the bell tolls--it tolls for thee.

--Ernest Hemingway.

I’ll never forget

              the weekend I spent in the 

                             town of Hilongus, on the southern

                                         end of Leyte, in the Philippines, facing

                             west toward the Camotas Sea,

               not far from where the Battle of Leyte Gulf,

perhaps the largest naval battle in history,

was fought in WWII.

I was fascinated with Hilongus,

because even in this day & age

                       it remains more of a large village, with

                       a spirited population of 50,000, more than

                       half of which seemed to be children, as

                                   the 38,000 Catholics enjoyed being fruitful. There are

                       no skyscrapers,

                       no shopping malls,

                       no big banks,

                       no big city amenities.

I happened to be there on the weekend

just before Christmas when they held 

their Annual Town Fiesta, lots

               of fire works wheels, fire crackers,

               parades, street vendors, & music everywhere;

                          with a lot of drinking, gambling, & cockfighting going on.

I came specifically to visit

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church,

a grand tourist attraction,

& an important symbol of civic pride. 

             They adore sharing the legend of Mama Mary, 

             whose apparition, they say, once stood holding

             a flaming sword to protect the church from the ravages

             of the pirates of Mindanao.

Actually, I am a church bell tower fanatic,

                 & the great octagonal church bell tower there,

                                constructed by the secular patron

                                 Don Leonardo Celis-Diaz, is now

                  re-plastered with Portland cement.      It stands alone,

                  separate from the other structures in the complex.

At three stories high, it is reputed

             to be the tallest bell tower ever built

                      by the Spaniards. The tower belfry sports

                                    eight narrow arches, some with doors

                                                    on them, as ivy & sapling trees sprout

                                     from the centuries old cracks.

                      The tall cross atop the tower dome,

             is but an outline of a crucifix,

its holy center open to the sky. 

The beautiful church itself was

completely rebuilt. Its huge front door

used to double as a gate to a bastioned 

Spanish fortification.               Behind the church, some of the 

                        old fort’s walls, & part of an ancient convent         is extant,

                        & it is now converted to a tourist’s Devotion Garden--

reminding me of the first time I visited the Alamo

                        in downtown San Antonio, surprised that it has

                        been converted into a book store & gift shop, finding

               myself much happier visiting the crumbling movie set

         constructed for the John Wayne movie, THE ALAMO,

located on a movie ranch outside Bracketville, TX., which

just somehow seemed more authentic,

                                     more interesting,

                                     more complete,

                                     more historical. 

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this prose poem to you?