Apung Mamacalulu

Apung Mamacalulu (Merciful Lord, Our Lord of Great Mercy), or the Santo Entierro (Holy Burial), of Angeles City, is a statue depicting the burial of Jesus Christ and is enshrined at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Christ our Lord of the Holy Sepulchre in Lourdes Sur, Angeles City, Philippines. The shrine attracts thousands of devotees and visitors, particularly during the Friday Masses held in honor of the image.

The tradition of venerating the image of the dead Christ traces its origin to the early Church. The earliest articles of veneration are the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud of Turin, the very shroud believed to have been used in burying the body of the dead Christ. Several representations of the dead Christ became common in the fifteenth century. When Spain introduced Christianity to the Philippines, they brought several representative images of the dead Christ. Known by such names as Santo Sepulcro (Holy Sepulcher), Santo Cristo Yacente (Lying Holy Christ), Santo Retiro (Holy Retirement), Santo Entierro (Holy Burial, Lord of the Holy Sepulcher), the most common portrayal is that of the dead Christ lying in state on a stately bier, a very popular icon in the Philippines. Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ, a noted author on Philippine religious psychology, writes that the Filipinos identify with the suffering of the dead Christ because of poverty and other socio-economic difficulties they experience. Angeles City has widely revered two images of Apung Mamacalulu – one at the Pisamban Maragul and the other at the shrine in Brgy. Lourdes Sur.

Padre Macario Paras had ordered the creation of the image and then gifted it to the Catholic church. It was first installed in a little sanctuary built by Padre Paras on his own premises, which may have also been located somewhere within Barrio Lourdes Sur (then known as Talimundoc, within the vast Paras and Dayrit estates) where it became an object of veneration among the pious inhabitants of the place. An entry in the book of records of the Roman Catholic Church of Angeles [marked as exhibit B in G.R. No. 30242] shows that the image, its carriage, and other appendages, appear to have been given as a gift to the church by Padre Paras. There is also a similar entry found in the church records under the date February 20, 1865, where it appears that the Apu image, with its adornments and carriage, was a gift from Padre Paras and was then in his care. Another document shows that the image, together with its carriage, was transferred to the church in 1872. About 1896 or 1897 during the Philippine Revolution, the image and the carriage were moved and transported to another municipality for safekeeping. Henson writes that during the tumultuous years of the revolution, the image was kept in barrio Sapangbato. It was brought back to the church sometime in 1904, where it remained to this day. The image is taken out on two occasions during procession on Good Friday and during the fiesta held in October.

Around the middle of October 1897, a band of Capampangan revolutionaries staged a raid on Brgy. Talimunduc (now Brgy. Lourdes Sur). They were from the barrio of Tibo, Mabalacat, all on horseback and led by a captain. They entered the Angeles boundary through an area at the foothills of the Zambales Mountains known as Pati by the Aetas, in the Sitio of Mangga, Bo. Sapangbato. On their way to Angeles town proper, they passed the barrios of Amsic and Pampang and succeeded in recruiting young men. In the town itself, they crossed through Henson Street and fell upon Bo. Talimunduc where a group of young men voluntarily joined the Katipunan organization, firmly believing in the cause of Philippine Revolution that was then converging into Pampanga from the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. Upon le

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).