SEVENTEEN clay figures depicting people involved in the life and martyrdom of St. Pedro Calungsod are on display in the Teatro de San Pedro Gallery at the Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod at the South Road Properties.
The exhibit is one of the activities in honor of the saint’s 10th canonization anniversary.
The clay figures were created by Msgr. Agustin Ancajas of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Ancajas, who is also the event organizer, told reporters during the exhibit’s grand opening on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, that he was inspired to do sculptures that would tell the story of St. Pedro Calungsod differently.
“The story of San Pedro Calungsod is often told through dramas and plays. So, I explored a different way through sculpture,” said Ancajas.
Ancajas stated that he first started sculpting one figure in July of last year.
Dubbed “Marianas 1672 Revisited: People in the Mission and Martyrdom of San Pedro Calungsod in Clay,” Ancajas said his exhibit was also his show of devotion to the saint, who has answered many of his prayers.
People can visit the gallery from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m, Mondays to Sundays.
Entrance is free at this time. It will remain open for a month, said Ancajas.
Archbishop Jose Palma spearheaded the exhibit’s official grand opening on Friday.
St. Pedro Calungsod was a Catholic Filipino-Visayan migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for his missionary work in 1672.
On Oct. 21, 2012, exactly 340 years after his death, Calungsod was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.
Calungsod was the second Filipino to be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, following St. Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila.