At summertime, designers are expected to unveil their swimwear collections to entice vacationers in what should be a period to “repent” or “reflect”. But the Holy Week, apparently, has become a season for revelry.
Bucking this “trend” is esteemed designer Barge Ramos, who is coming out with a collection of rosaries instead of swimsuits, board shorts or beach bags.
“It just came to my mind to create rosaries for the Lenten season, with the goal of being able to finish 40 rosaries, in memory of the 40 days and nights of fasting of our Lord Jesus before His Passion,” Ramos shares.
“I’ve always had a close affinity with the Rosary since I was young. I was born on the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and I guess having been brought up at Ateneo de Manila from grade school to college, the Jesuits did a good job of instilling in me a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary, the Rosary, Jesus and the Holy Guardian Angel. Attending daily Mass at the Ateneo came naturally and, even now, as much as I can, I try to catch the 6 pm Mass at Malate Church,” the genial designer says.
According to religious tradition, Our Lady is known to have 117 titles. But when she appeared at Fatima, she said: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” Catholic.org also asserts that “Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest, said: ‘The Rosary is the weapon; Saint Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is—Pray the Rosary; Saint Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy, on just the Hail Mary; Saint John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a Rosary in his hand; and ‘The Rosary is the scourge of the devil’—Pope Adrian VI.”
The concept of the Rosary, as pious devotees say, was given to Saint Dominic in an apparition of the Mother Mary in 1214 in the church of Prouille, or The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille, in Languedoc, France, and this apparition was given the title “The Lady of the Rosary”.
In 1569, the Dominican Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices to officially establish the devotion to the Rosary in the Catholic Church. As per “The Rosary”, in The Catholic Encyclopedia: “From the 16th to the early 20th century, the structure of the Rosary remained essentially unchanged. There were 15 mysteries [Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious], one for each of the 15 decades. In the 20th century the addition of the Fatima Prayer to the end of each decade became more common. There were no other changes until 2002 when John Paul II instituted five optional new Luminous Mysteries.”
A rosary has five-decades containing five groups of 10 beads (a decade), with additional large beads before each decade. “Choosing beads, crucifixes and rosary medals and assembling them requires some creativity, while, at the same time, respecting tradition. Much like what I do when creating designs on the Barong Tagalog. One has to respect and keep an eye on tradition, but, at the same time, design something new, as if it were being created for the very first time,” Ramos explains.
He says he enjoys going around searching for components for rosaries. He ventures to Divisoria, Glorietta and Greenhills for beads. The Saint Benedict Rosary medals and crosses he buys from Saint Paul stores in Gateway, Makati and Pasay, and at a Liturgical Vestment store near San Marcelino Street in Malate.
More than jewelry, Ramos’s unique, eye-catching rosaries are worn as a sign of faith and deep devotion. “Most of the rosaries have been bought by friends and relatives. There are also some inquiries from friends abroad. I’m still searching for good quality Swarovski beads. Years ago someone gifted me with a beautiful rosary made of Swarovskis; I’m also searching for simple wooden beads, which I combine with Agate stones. In Iloilo I bought a rosary made of bamboo beads,” he says.
Ramos is the president of The Angel Society and is close friends with the Benedictine monk Dom Martin Hizon-Gomez, the former couturier Gang Gomez who now makes liturgical vestments.
“The journey in faith never stops. As I get older, I pray for discernment to be able to do the Father’s will for me. It is not always easy and, more often, one has to swim against the tide. But there are always blessings, consolations and little surprises along the way,” Ramos reflects. “Somehow holding on to a beautiful Rosary makes it easier to pray and meditate on the Mysteries of the rosary. As they say, it’s like holding on to the hands of the Blessed Mother Mary.”