A CULTURAL ANALYSIS ON THE

RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT AND PRACTICES RELATED TO

A Thesis Proposal
Presented to the Faculty of Graduate School
Bulacan State University
City of Malolos, Bulacan

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

JOY B. ALCANTARA
November 2017
 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The devotion of Filipinos to their Catholic religion does not only revolve around the

church and its rituals but also on images of veneration known as santos. Introduced during the

Spanish colonial times, santos, often carved out of wood or precious ivory, are sacred to most

Filipinos, lavishly processioned during Lent, fiestas, and other holidays (Castro, 2016).

Bulakeños do claim and practice such a quite unique devotion and piety to the

Untouchable Virgin-martyr – Sta. Ines de Bulakan whose feast day is celebrated every 21 st of

January. This saint who is the object of a mystical religious practice is the very same St. Agnes

of Rome (c. 291 – c. 304) – the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged

couples, rape survivors, victims of sexual assault, virgins, Girl Scouts, and the Children of Mary.

She is one of the seven women who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, is commemorated by

name in the Canon of the Mass; and is being venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic

Church, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, in the Anglican Communion, and in Lutheranism

(Wikipedia, from St. Agnes, disambiguation, 2017).

The image of Santa Ines (St. Agnes of Rome) housed in the Visita de Sta. Ines in

Bulakan, Bulacan is that of a de bastidor image where it the image is meant to be vested. The

image has a wooden mannequin type of body while the face and hands are that of ivory. Ivory

cracks are visibly seen in the image that proves the antiquity of the image. The image holds a

palm branch that sometimes it is intertwined with lilies, the traditional symbols of purity and
martyrdom in Catholic iconography. She also holds a book with a silver lamb on top of it to

signify that her name Agnes in Latin means "lamb".

Sta. Ines (St. Agnes) may have been the daughter of a Roman noble family, and one

surname that has been ventured is that of the Clodia Crescentiana. The story surrounding her life

asserts that she consecrated her life to Christ at the age of ten, which brought with that a

commitment to remain a virgin (encyclopedia.com., 2017). According to legend, the young men

she turned away became so angry and insulted by her devotion to God and purity that they began

to submit her name to authorities as a Christian follower. She is a Christian martyr who died at

Rome around 304 in the persecution of Diocletian: the last and fiercest of the persecutions of

Christianity by the Roman emperors. She is said to have been only about twelve or thirteen when

she was condemned to death. Even the pagans cried to see such a young and beautiful girl going

to death. It is said that she was condemned to be dragged through the streets naked yet Agnes'

hair grew instantly to cover her entire body and all the men who attempted to rape the beautiful

virgin were immediately struck blind.

Ellsberg (2007), in his book Blessed Among All Women: Women Saints, Prophets, and

Witnesses for Our Time Paperback pointed out that in the story of Agnes, the opposition is not

between sex and virginity. The conflict is between a young woman’s power in Christ to define

her own identity versus a patriarchal culture’s claim to identify her in terms of her sexuality.

According to the view shared by her “suitors” and the state, if she would not be one man’s wife,

she might as well be every man’s whore. Failing these options, she might as well be dead.

Agnes did not choose death. She chose not to worship the gods of her culture. Espoused to

Christ, she was beyond the power of any man to ‘have his way with her’. ‘Virgin’ in this case is

another way of saying Free Woman.

generation is that men – straight and gay alike are not allowed to touch the miraculous patron.

Even the priests are of no exemptions. Some people commented on this practice as something

sexist, and still others wished that such peculiar religious practice be modified if not possible to

be eradicated.

The Liturgical Feast of Sta. Ines de Bulakan is celebrated every January 21, with its

course of the 9-day novena, the petite Sta. Ines is dressed in different vestments every day. The

image is brought in procession twice —in the morning and in the evening—borne on a decorated

andas by women, who also heap tributes of songs and poems to their beloved patron in a

tradition called “Luante.” Folk stories often told of the virgin-martyr’s refusal to anything that

has something to do with men. A certain blog by Castro (2017), told of cases that when male

designers made a vestment for Santa Ines, the vestment would not fit her, either it is too loose or

too tight for the image.

During the feast of the Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion every 15 th of August, the image of

Sta. Ines accompany the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption along with other patron saints of

each barangay in Bulakan, Bulacan and the participation of Santa Ines in the said procession is

one of the most anticipated yet the same strict warning bearing Paunawa: Bawal Humawak ang

mga Lalaki is also given and observed among uninformed men; lest misfortune comes—in the

form of floods, storms, lightning strikes and other natural calamities.

There were some cases in the procession of Sta. Ines which accounted that even gay men

sneakily joined the procession of the patroness which is exclusively flanked by women, but

whenever the andas of the Patroness suddenly would not move or became strangely heavy, the
women began to suspect that there was a male in the procession and they would ask these gay

men to leave or stay in the corner and then the procession continued swiftly.

Some blog comments told of this religious commitment and practices related to the

veneration to Sta. Ines de Bulakan was that it was such a discriminatory/sexist religious

practice which is being hoped to reform itself soon. While Sta. Ines (St. Agnes) models saints

honored for both their personal dedication to Christ as virgins and for witnessing their faith in

Christ in the face of terror; critics view veneration of her as wrong fanaticism and devotional

cult.

Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to describe the religious commitment and practices being accorded by

the barrio folks of Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan to their mystique patroness – Sta. Ines de

Bulakan.

Specifically, this study will seek to answer the following questions:

1. In what ways do the barrio folks of Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan manifest their

religious commitment to their patroness –Sta Ines de Bulakan (also St. Agnes of

Rome)?

2. What religious practices related to venerating Sta. Ines are being practiced or

observed by the barrio folks of Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan?

3. What other folk stories relative to the being untouchable of the image of Sta. Ines to

men are being told that would shed light to the tradition being questioned by critics?
 4. What are the perceptions and personal views of the barrio folks of Sta. Ines, Bulakan,

Bulacan concerning the call that their religious practice toward their patroness be

reformed soon?

5. What implications in terms of folk religiosity, cultural ethnicity, and sexism may be

derived from the findings of the study?

Significance of the Study

This study is deemed significant to the following:

Bulakan Cultural Heritage. Content and findings of this study may be of significance in

promoting and enshrining the Bulacan Cultural heritage in the light of Bulakeños’ religious

commitment and practices specifically that of which is accorded to the patroness, Sta. ines de

Bulakan.

Catholic Catechism. This study may be utilized as a material to further understand the religious

commitment and practices being observed by people in relation to their homage to Sta. Ines de

Bulakan. Qualitative accounts to be made included in this study may beef up the teaching of

catechism pertinent to people’s deveotion to Sta. Ines.

Barrio Folks of Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan. This study may serve as a concrete account of

how people pay respect to their patroness. Furthermore, this study will serve as a qualitative

documentation of how the people of Barangay Sta. Ines preserve and observe their religious

commitment and practices to Sta. Ines de Bulakan. Hence, this study will serve as an account of

their history.

Future Researchers. This research may provide a source of additional baseline information to

the very scarce related literature available on the topic under study.
Scope and Limitation

This study will focus on describing the religious commitment and practices related to folk

religiosity in Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan.

The study will be conducted among select respondents from Sta. Ines, Bulakan, Bulacan

identified through purposive sampling.

This study will not cover the argumentative review of related literature; and will not

provide data on whether or not the barrio folks agree with the religious commitment and

practices accorded to their patroness – Sta. Ines.