Quite ironically, the bright sky on that night brought by the romantic moon didn’t offer a vista of little, twinkling, and sometimes falling, astronomical dots. What I saw instead are big ones that are very well-decorated with indigenous and recyclable materials that are brought to life by lights of different colors in the spectrum. Had I been so crazy, I would have thought some of the stars up above camped in this part of the world!
Past a dark and eerie driveway bordered on the sidelines by old, towering trees is the great seminarians’ abode, home to the future gatekeepers of the Catholic church. These people are also the young men who carried on the tradition of putting up giant lanterns not just for the sake of having it, but to remind themselves and the faithful community in general, of the great celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Through their artistic collaboration to produce such amazing lanterns, they were able to bring such magnitude of joy eminent during the holidays.
This tradition traces its roots way back in the year 1996, according to the dean of the seminary and our host for that night, Rev. Fr. Emerson delos Reyes. In the past years, he said, belens (or nativity diorama) add up to the hype of the seminary’s Christmas tradition other than the giant lanterns. In recent years, they shifted their focus on the latter, with seminarians organized in several groups thinking of different sets of designs every year in a competition that has meted their calibre for arts and design.
In the seminary’s gymnasium, about ten giant Christmas icons were on display, each having distinct and intricate designs that are rich with meanings and symbolisms.
One particular design that caught my attention was the smiling snow man, the famed symbol of a White Christmas everybody in the Philippines is dreaming--that kind of moment when you wake up on a bright Christmas morning with falling snow outside your window and freckles across your nose. This particular fixture stands smiling beside an old ship adorned with a cross and a handful of stars, made more vibrant by the tiny dots of yellow lights.
