The Gutierrez altar wood sculptures

The altar backdrop was bare and Fr. Ignacio Blanco, cmf (IHM parish priest from 1976 to 1982) wanted a mural painting to enliven the altar's background.

However, the painter who would later be conferred the National Artist Award, quoted a hefty amount for his fee which was beyond IHMP's finances.

Fr. Blanco's option was to invite Fr. Segundo Gutierrez, cmf a noted Claretian sculptor from Breto de la Ribiera, Zamora, Spain to come and carve the altar center pieces from Philippine hardwood namely:

The Risen Christ, the 30-feet Cross and the Tabernacle

Looming over the altar is a 7-feet icon of the Risen Christ descending from a 30-feet wooden Cross.

This is a very distinctive and imposing portrayal of the Resurrection where a bare-chested triumphant Risen Christ with only a `wrap-around' covering His loins is shown seemingly floating downward from a 30-feet cross, the vertical bar of which is shaped like a 30-degree triangle. From afar, the Cross looks like a sword.

`Only in the IHMP church' is such an image found merging the mystery of the Crucifixion and Resurrection in one edifying visual display!

ABS-CBN's Channel 2 TV station discovered to its great delight, this unique IHMP altar backdrop during the 1998 Philippine Centennial and since then the IHMP Church has been its favorite location for the wedding scenes of its `tele-novela' dramas/.

Sculptor Gutierrez used a Claretian priest, Fr. Domingo Garcia as his model for the figure of Christ. Last heard of, Fr. Garcia has left the priesthood and now lives happily in Toronto, Canada with a Filipina wife.

Domingo P. Garcia

Etched on the wooden Tabernacle is a frieze depicting the dawn of Christianity in the Philippines. A ship with a cross on its fore is landing on an island, a nipa hut with three coco palms a-swaying in the wind!

All of these icons were carved by Fr. Gutierrrez, out of choice narra logs from Peñablanca, Cagayan (my hometown) which were his personal pick.

Work on the three altar center pieces was a labor of love at the hot, steamy and dingy church basement, now the Bulwagang Claret.

It took more than two months for Fr. Gutierrez to finish the project in time for the installation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the patroness of the parish on May 27, 1977.

The icon of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a Filipina

There are so many striking features in the Gutierrez sculpture of the Blessed Mother that makes this icon a rarity.

First, this 16-feet wooden icon of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) was carved from a whole narra log, the size of which you can find only in the deep jungle fastnesses of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Cagayan!

Second, the sculpture is `Pilipinang Pilipina', slim and so demure.

To appreciate the image fully, it must be seen from a very short distance.

This Filipina Immaculate Heart of Mary icon is what antique `santo' fanciers call "imagen detallada" meaning; the image is sculpted with garments on, in fine detail.

This is differentiated from an "imagen mannequin" where the image's fine garments and accessories are changed from time to time depending on the occasion.

In the Gutierrez sculpture, Our Lady is wearing a `patadyong' with butterfly sleeves. Her skirt with a floral design is topped by a striped `tapis' with tassels.

On her `alampay' and sash are inscribed "Ave Maria Philippines Populi" and "Mater et Spes".

Gutierrez's models for Our Lady's IHM icon were two teenage girls, Yvette Nora who is now a housewife living in the USA and Cynthia Nuval Ambrosio, daughter of retired Commander Leonardo and Dean Beulah Nuval. Cynthia is now a successful corporate lawyer in Makati.

Third, the Gutierrez sculpture has the Blessed Mother holding her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, lifting it up in a gesture of offering her Heart to the Lord!

All images and icons of the IHM which I have come across, have Her left hand or both hands pointing to or calling attention to her Immaculate Heart `exposed on her chest'!

In Mary's Immaculate Heart, Gutierrez etched the names of Fr. Blanco and the Claretian priests living in the parish house at that time.

Also inscribed in Mary's Heart is the name of a parishioner John Saret, a young altar boy and son of Mon and Ligaya `Guy' Saret.

"John was about 6-years old when I organized the IHMP altar boys," Guy Saret recalls, "and you could barely see him when he is behind the altar", she adds.

The young John Saret was fascinated by the work of Fr. Gutierrez. After classes and even on weekends John would drop by to watch Fr. Gutierrez do his thing.

John and Fr. Gutierrez became friends although they could hardly communicate with each other. John did not know a word of Spanish while Fr. Gutierrez could not speak English.

They communicated through sign language or by ""I Jane, you Tarzan" style.

"Fr. Gutierrez became very close to us", recounts John's mother, Guy Saret "we used to invite him to the house for dinner on weekends."

"We found it difficult to converse with him, but somehow we managed to make him feel he was `family', to us" she added.

John Saret is now a married man. He is a body-builder and manages a physical fitness gym near Sulo Hotel. He also helps run his family's other businesses.

John Saret is indeed a lucky guy!

We only live once and we may not pass this way again. And so we leave this writing as a legacy to the present generation and to future generations by making them aware of these precious gems which make the IHMP so unique … by making them realize that this parish is a wonderful place to live-out a Christian life despite the inadequacies of our leaders and our lack of commitment sometimes.

But these shortcomings can be easily overcome if we move together hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder with faith in ourselves and by the blessing of God; the IHMP will finally evolve into a `loving and caring community', a community that is `vibrant and ever committed to the mission of Jesus'.