INTRODUCTION
We commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the famous Bulakeño priests, Reverend Monsignor Mariano Villena Sevilla who was born in Bulakan. This secular priest became known during the Spanish conquest for his contribution to the spread of the “Flores de Mayo” devotion in honor of the Blessed Virgin or better known in different places around the world as “Flores de Maria”. Also, he is a patriotic priest in his promotion of secularization or the trust in Filipino priests to manage the parishes. The purpose of these passages is to reveal the contributions of this priest to church and public work according to historical documents.
A. BIRTH AND EDUCATION (1839 – 1859)
In the note of the Archbishop of Manila Gregorio Meliton Martinez in the Libro del Gobirerno Ecclesiastico of the Archdiocese dated October 14, 1871, he wrote the following details about the priest Mariano Villena Sevilla:
Mariano Villena Sevilla is the son of Tomas Sevilla who is a native of Malabon and Paulina Villena who is a native of Bulacan. Dr. added. Luciano P.R. Santiago in his research that Sevilla was identified as “Mestizo de Sangley” or having Chinese blood. Although some secondary works state that he was born on November 12th, Martinez records that Sevilla was born on November 10, 1839. He was raised in Bulacan, but when he was in school they moved to their home in Calle Pacheco, Tondo, Manila.
When he began his formation to become a priest, he lived at the Colegio de San Jose in Intramuros which was then under the administration of the Archdiocese of Manila after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1771. According to Santiago, Sevilla began at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and transferred to Universidad de Santo Tomas. The Rector of Letran, Fray Jose R. Gonzales, O.P. and two other Dominican friars that Sevilla received the tonsure in a document dated August 19, 1859.
B. FORMATION, ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD, AND EARLY YEARS IN MINISTRY (1859-1871)
Sevilla formally received the tonsure on September 23, 1859 and the ordenes menores on September 21, 1860. He received from the Universidad de Santo Tomas the degrees of Licenciado en Artes (Philosophy) and Bachiller en Teologia (Theology) in November 20, 1861. While Sevilla was studying in Santo Tomas, he was being formed for the priesthood at the Real Seminario de San Carlos which was then also in Intramuros under the supervision of the Padres Paules (Vincentians). Father Ildefonso Moral, C.M., his spiritual director confirmed his certificate as a seminarian in San Carlos for the diaconate on November 26, 1862 and for the priesthood on February 8, 1863.
Sevilla was ordained as a sub-deacon on September 20, 1862 and deacon on December 20, 1862. Sevilla expressed his intention to become a priest to the Archbishop Martinez on February 10, 1863 and was ordained on February 28 of the same year. His first assignment as a priest was as coadjutor priest in the Parish of San Juan de Dios, San Rafael, Bulacan from April to July 8, 1863. He was returned to Manila by the Archbishop to serve as Capellan of the Military Hospital of Manila in Intramuros from October 1864 to June 1867.
Archbishop Martinez also assigned him to be a profesor on May 3, 1867 and secretaria escolar on June 5, 1868 at the Colegio de San Jose. He took the opportunity to study again while in San Jose. He graduated with a Licentiate in Sacred Theology on March 15, 1869 and a Doctor of Sacred Theology on April 16, 1871. Martinez praised Father Sevilla as having “good life and action” and serving “with honor as a faithful subject of Spain”.
C. THE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE 1872 CAVITE REBELLION, THE EXILE IN THE MARIANAS, TEACHING SECONDARY EDUCATION, AND PARTICIPATION IN THE MALOLOS CONGRESS (1872-1900)
Due to the events of January 20, 1872, Father Sevilla was accused along with some Filipino priests and laymen as accomplices in the said strike in Cavite. Governor General Rafael Izquierdo, a well-known Mason, ordered them to be deported to the Marianas on March 14, 1872 aboard the ship named “Flores de Maria”. According to the record of the Vicar General of Manila on April 30, 1872, Sevilla stayed in the Marianas for two years and he was able to return in 1874. When he returned to Manila, he studied again and received the title of Profesor de Segunda Enseñanza in 1877. It was unusual at that time to be a secondary school teacher because it was only in 1865 that the secondary system was established in the Philippines. Besides this work, Archbishop Pedro Payo, O.P. also assigned Sevilla as Censor Eclesiastico for 14 years. He also became editor en jefe of the periodical Apostolado de la Prensa from January 1, 1894 to 1896. At the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, the colonial government imprisoned him again on the suspicion that he was involved in the said rebellion, but he was also released when 1898.
D. LAST PASTORAL ACTIVITIES, HAGONOY PARISH PRIEST, AND DEATH (1900-1923)
With the arrival of the Americans in the Philippines, Father Sevilla remained in his desire to spread education in the Philippines. He assisted his niece Rosa Sevilla de Alvero in establishing the Instituto de Muejeres, the first Catholic school for women built by a layman in July 1900 in Manila. With the release of the document “Quae Mari Sinico” by Pope Leo XIII on September 17, 1902 that aims to fix the administrative system of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Father Sevilla together with Father Manuel Roxas developed a catechism to explain it to the clergy and lay Filipinos that they published on January 26, 1903. Here, he defended the Pope’s desire for the faithful to recognize secular priests and the denunciation of Gregorio Aglipay’s separation from the Catholic Church.
Manila Archbishop Jeremiah Harty appointed Sevilla as Cura Parroco of the Church of Sta. Ana in Hagonoy, Bulacan recorded that he performed his first baptism in the church on November 20, 1901. During his tenure, it is recorded in the First Diocesan Synod of Manila in 1911 that he was also Vicario Forane of Bulacan in 1906, Juez ecclesiastico and Fiscal ecclesiastico of the tribune of the archdiocese in 1909, and examiner of the synod of the archdiocese in 1911. In recognition of his faithfulness to the Mother Church, his 50th year as a priest was celebrated today with great celebration. According to the periodical Cultura Social, it took place in Hagonoy on February 5, 1913 where the guests of honor were Delegate Apostolic Giuseppe Petrelli, Archbishop Harty, the then Assembly Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Representative Rafael Palma. Sevilla was also sent a message from Pope Pius X through his Secretary of State Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val in recognition of “the two qualities for which the learned priest was known: obedience and respect for those who belong to the Church”.
Following this, Father Sevilla was awarded the title Prelado Domestico (D.P.) on November 17, 1913 with the accompanying title of “Monseñor”. The last record of his service in Hagonoy as a Priest was on February 27, 1921. In the last two years of his life, he lived in San Jose, Bulakan, Bulacan according to his death record from the Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion (Sta. Maria Assumpta). This record also states that he received the last sacrament and died (“Fallecio en 24 de este mes”) on November 24, 1923 and was buried on November 30.
E. THE TRANSLATION OF THE PRAYER-BOOK OF FLORES DE MAYO AND THE PROPAGATION OF THIS DEVOTION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD (1865 – 1923)
Father Sevilla’s greatest skill in writing is his ability to translate Spanish works into Tagalog. This can be proven by the recorded books that he translated although they are no longer seen in print apart from his famous work on Flores de Mayo. From 1868 to 1870, he published Novena to Santa Ana (1868), Preparation for the Birth of Jesus in Advent (1869), and Novena in March offering to San Jose (1870). He also wrote Lecciones de Gramatica Casetellana en Tagalo in 1887 used in secondary schools, Las Hijas de María in 1884 and catechism books on being a Perfect Christian, Good and Bad Christians, Receiving Holy Communion in 1895. He also translated the constitution of the Venerable Orden Tercera of the Franciscans in 1908 and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew in Tagalog in 1917 and developed a Catechism about the Four Gospels. In the previous book, Sevilla was called “cacapatid sa Orden” which suggests that he may have been a member of the Orden Tercera of San Francisco.
But of all these, the book “Flores de María ó Mariquit na Bulaclac” can be considered the most famous and still in print, which in the Meditation for the Full Month of May is devoted to María Santísima, published in 1867. By comparing the texts, it can be seen that this work is a translation of the prayer book of the Italian Jesuit Alfonso Muzzarelli entitled “Il Messe di Maggio consacrato a Maria Santisima” (The Month of May dedicated to Maria Santisima”) first published in 1785. Flores de Maria was given official recognition in the month of May by Pope Pius VII in 1815 and 1822 in the Raccolta of Indulgences. It follows 31 days of meditation on different themes such as the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola that must be prayed for a month as a preparation for the catechism of young people for First Communion held during the feasts of Corpus Christi or Sacred Heart of Jesus in June.
But, it is stated in the prints of Flores de María ó Mariquit na Bulaclac that this library was first prayed as a private devotion in May 1865 in the Parish of Bulakan, which brought about its first recognition in the Tagalog language in the country. Although a large part of this work is a translation, Padre Sevilla’s original contribution to this library was the inclusion of dalits, short Filipino poems sung by travelers. As a popular tradition in Bulakan, the inclusion of these song poems in Mariquit na Bulaclac by Padre Sevilla cannot be denied. This is also where the first order of flower offerings can be seen: 1.) First Song, 2.) Rosary, 3.) Litany of Loreto, 4.) Second Song, 5.) Flower Lottery Drawing, 6.) Dalit and Flower Offering, 7.) Meditation, 8.) Example, 9.) Offering, 10.) Jaculatoria, and 11.) offering the heart to Mary on the first day of June.
It took two years before it was formally published as an official document by order of Don Simon Ramirez, then Secretary of Archbishop Martinez on March 18, 1867. It followed the published prayer book of the Augustinian Friar Fray Raymundo Lozano the Mes de María in the Bisaya language. The form of this library is different because it did not follow the order of days in Muzzarelli’s work but a daily meditation according to the titles of the Litany of Loreto. But, the Flores de Mayo devotion brought by Sevilla’s prayer book was very well known which was used to introduce this work to parishes and schools in Katagalugan. Also in 1865 it is said that the organization “Hijas de Maria” was established in the Parish of Bulakan which was formed by Father Sevilla. Apart from this group, it became a practice to spread this work by the “Hijas de Maria” organizations of the Vincentians, the Sodality of Mary of the Jesuit Fathers, and the Legion of Mary, which were also under the guidance of the Vincentians .
From this emerged the traditions of “bulaklan” or the dancing of young people on the way to the altar to offer candles and flowers to the Blessed Virgin. Each flower became a sign of the youth’s good deeds for one day. The “panapos” or the last day of May or the 31st brought the decoration and procession of the Sagalas that can be seen in the parishes of Bulacan, especially in Bulakan and Hagonoy where Father Sevilla was active, became popular. In recognition of this unique contribution of Father Sevilla, we greatly honor what is considered the “Father of the Flores de Maria tradition” in the Philippines, who is valued by the Diocese of Malolos for the constant reminders of the Board regarding the Cultural Heritage of the Church of the Diocesan Commission of Liturgy.
**Excerpts from the research of Bro. Ivan Panganiban, S.Th.L.-M.A. in his thesis “The Begiinning and Development of the Flores de Mayo Marian Devotion in Bulacan and the Contributions of Fr. Mariano Villena Sevilla: A Historico-Theological Study“ sa Faculty of Sacred Theology – Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila (2022).
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