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Thursday, January 29, 2004
Magsaysay: Priceless gifts for the Niño
By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
The little King El Señor Santo Niño has a new wardrobe that is fit for the king of heaven and earth that He truly is. The royal regalia has been outfitted for the Sto. Niño by two ardent devotees who honor the Niño in their own special ways.
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The eminent collector of Sto. Niño images, Msgr. Cristobal E. Garcia, best known and best loved as Msgr. Cris has requested the finest seamstresses to cut out a pattern of the flaring cape in royal red velvet and a design of full-blown flowers for bordaderas to embroider painstakingly by hand and in meticulous satin stitch with the 17th century gold thread. Lustrous globes of South sea pearls dangle from the edges of the cape rimmed with gold braid and gold embroidered fleur de lis. Similarly, a white tunic of guipure lace has been heavily embroidered with gold thread over which a silken red band lined with antique gold coins signifying a royal order is prominently displayed.
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The rest of the accoutrements were presented to the Sto. Niño in thanksgiving for many blessings bestowed in the past as well as for a hope and prayer for a special favor from Katherine “Baby” Suzara Freeland. Baby’s gifts to the Niño are as priceless as her devotion is immeasurable. A lapidarist of fame more in America than in her native Cebu, Baby designs jewelry by profession and her love for the Sto. Niño is best expressed by the bejeweled finery she has adorned Him for the fiesta.
Summoning her goldsmiths, diamond cutter and engraver, she tasked them to execute a crown of her own design which her craftsmen translated into a magnificent work of art, and as it turned out, a heartwarming labor of love as well since they refused any pay, their work a humble offering to the Sto. Niñ.o The crown is a 14-karat yellow gold set with precious stones of all shapes and sizes: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethyst, garnets, topaz, pearl and blue zircon; finely hammered gold overlaid with gold sculptured filigree for the boots and hands, the left hand clasping a globe of Australian opal, crystalline, iridescent shifting colors of the rainbow. The other hand holds a scepter of golden red hollowed out in the center to hold precious scrolls of petitions. Precious and priceless gifts for the Niño wrought with love.
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Shortly before the fiesta, Msgr. Cris with security guards in tow, carried the royal regalia to the Basilica and into the Sanctum Sanctorum where he installed the Niño’s attire. I can only imagine the smile on the cherubic face of Msgr. Cris and the look of love in his eyes as he gazed at the Holy Child Jesus in all His resplendent glory. The accompanying picture taken by well-known photographer, Jon Unson, should give us all an intimate look at the Little King.
A penchant for jewelry in her youth stimulated Baby Suzara to develop her natural talent for design, which flamed into passion when she met and married David R. Freeland, Jr. who has been designing and creating turquoise beads in his native Arizona since he was 14. The combined artistry of the couple produced jewelry of such exciting designs and superfine workmanship, it did not take long for the rich and famous from exclusive enclaves in America, patrons from Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and Hollywood celebrities like Sharon Stone and Goldie Hawn to have their pendants, bracelets, rings, lapel pins and necklaces custom made (to order) from David Freeland Jr. A showbiz personality, Stevel Segal, called on Baby to design a pendant for him, a cross was what he specified because he dreamed he was a monk in a monastery. Mrs. Freeland came up with a design so exquisite, a mosaic of opalescent rays, radiating from a huge “parauvi”- a gem more rare and more expensive than diamonds found only in South America, Mr. Segal was so pleased with it, he requested that the mold be destroyed so that his cross would be the only one of its kind.
(January 29, 2004 issue)
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