Happy Birthday, Sister Veny Valdez Rotor: "Religious-Outside-the-Wall" (Article in Progress)

Happy Birthday, Sister Veny Valdez Rotor:

"Religious-Outside-the-Wall"

In loving memory of Sister Veneranda Valdez Rotor, OFS

1939-2022

1. Freedom with Nature

Windmills at Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Sr Veny and neice, Anna.

Camera, camera everywhere.
Fault not and beware;
Wear a Janus mask, its brighter side
To trust and to abide.

It's the third eye of modern man;
To see even the unseen,
Real images or just imagery,
And those behind the scene.

But don't let privacy die in vain,
If you must, be it a cause,
The lens more powerful than sword,
Like pen its last recourse.

2. Meditative Life at the Family Home Garden

Alokon (Alleaenthus glaber) is a favorite Ilocano vegetable.

Markus and Mackie stroll among heritage trees

with their Lola Veny+.

Two-layer bunch of banana is indeed a bountiful harvest.

Meet me in the shade of trees,

by the waterfall and garden pond;

among loyal friends of nature,

where silence the sweetest sound.

Heritage trees of generations -

past, present, and future -

living monument of kinship,

bridge of memory and diary.

3. "Nature, Nature on the Wall,

A Beautiful Life to Recall.”

Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

“Humans love the art of make-believe,
Scenic Nature painted on the wall,
Once empty and forgotten now alive,
Bringing in friends to the call.”

Sor Veny V Rotor and Ms Helen I Nolasco (in red) pose before a mural

painted by the author. Sor Veny was the author's sister, the eldest of

three siblings of the late Matias Rotor and Enriqueta Valdez..

“Sitting on the rock, reaching for the sky,
All day if you wish with no one asking why.”

“Grace is something in the spirit to share,
That grows the more we love and care.”

Sor Veny left, led house guest on a short walk at the botanical garden.

What makes a house green
other than the color green;
but a verdant garden scene
happy and healthy to live in.

Stairway connects art gallery and library.

Stairway connects
the past and the present,
man and his Creator,
events current and future,
known and unknown
now and hereafter.

Sor Veny Rotor (right) explained to house guest some modern

paintings at the gallery, among them are her works.

Modern art
Impressionism to surrealism,
Dali, Matisse, Picasso to blame;
Avant-garde and graffiti, the same;
Please roll back to realism.

Sor Veny V Rotor and Ms Helen I Nolasco (in red), house guest 2020
Living with Nature Center Rotor Residence
San Vicente Ilocos Sur ~

4. "There is always the last of a distinct breed,"

Sr Veny with her cousins: Fe, former UP professor; Sister Trinidad, a Paulinian sister; and Cely, retired teacher. All are Rotors from San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

NOTE: Last photo circa 2000, only Fe lives today.

"We are not alone. We may be of different races, but God has placed us so that we journey on the same path." (James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans.)

5. Apo Resurreccion at Home

“Gaze at life in Me the second time”

Prayer is a universal element of Human Nature. It comes in many ways irrespective of creed and culture. It is ingrained in the rationality of the human being, emanating from a deep source which we cannot fully grasp. It is by believing in something beyond our comprehension that undermines our ignorance, arguably but true, as a unifying factor of humanity.

Sor Veny (foreground) led a short prayer before the

Resurrection at her family's residence,

Message of the Resurrection

Apo Resureccion
How many times do we die and live again?
When we fall down and rise,
we fail and succeed,
when we are blind and see,
deaf and hear,
sin and atone,
hate and love,
love and care,
ad infinitum.

"Touch Me now that I am risen,
with your mind, heart and soul,
for you have chosen the path
of life with Heaven its goal."- avr

Manang Veny (center) leads prayer

"Redeemer of our postmodern world,
we come to You, our Recourse
to find peace and accord
on life’s rugged course."- avr

“The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.” - Robert Flatt.

“The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.” - Basil C. Hume

Note: Apo Resurreccion (Ilk) is a wooden icon of the resurrected Christ which has withstood the ravages of typhoons, earthquakes and the atrocities of the Second World War at the author's family residence. Prayers are offered by quests who visit the place, which is gradually being developed into a Living with Nature Center cum Botanical Garden, in San Vicente Ilocos Sur.

6. Hometown
San Vicente Ferrer church through the years
Archdiocese Shrine of Nueva Segovia

NOTE: April 5 is the Feast Day of San Vicente Ferrer, patron saint of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. Town fiesta celebration in held on the last Tuesday of the month - April 30, 2024. In 1795, it was the installation of the seat of municipality and the church , and Bo. Tuanong became San Vicente de Ferrer . Don Pedro de Leon was the first parish priest and he was believed as the initiator of the construction of the church of San Vicente.

Old photo of the 17th century church. This is how the façade looked like when I was in the elementary, just after the war . WWII spared the church from serious damage.

The church and municipality were named after Saint Vincent Ferrer, whose winged statue was found inside a box entangled in fishing nets. The fishermen consulted this matter to the friars in Villa Fernandina (now Vigan), who identified the person depicted by the statue. The statue was carried to the town's center, where a church was built. From then on, the town formerly known as Tuanong (sometimes called Taonan) became San Vicente.

In 1795, it was the initiation of the seat of municipality and the church and Bo. Tuanong became San Vicente de Ferrer. Don Pedro de Leon was the first parish priest and he was believed as the initiator of the construction of the Church of San Vicente.

St Vincent Ferrer, patron saint of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

I've been away for almost a lifetime:
from childhood, the golden years down,
to the diamond years - and now I'm back
to my birthplace, to my home town.

The old church, landmark of time past,
of events local, and far, far beyond;
I've taken part in both - and in between,
my church in changing colors I found.

Changing colors still like the rainbow,
Sad and happy, lonely yet solemn,
the essence of faith true and abiding,
way beyond the tomb without end. ~

For many years the church assumed this color and color design