The Devil Triumphant: Don Simeon Bernardo's Grave 1

in #philippines5 years ago (edited)

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http://mymalabon.blogspot.com/2010/10/

Here's something I wrote a long time ago and didn't know exactly what to do with. Happy Halloween/All Saints/All Souls, everyone.

In the municipal cemetery of the City of Malabon in the Philippines is a statue of the devil standing over St. Michael. Michael lies struggling but crushed beneath the triumphant Lucifer, who is pointing his trident on Michael's neck in a threatening gesture. (The trident has long since been stolen. Fuck grave robbers.)

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https://www.lakadpilipinas.com/2012/10/tugatog-city-demon-of-malabon-cemetery.html

On both sides of the statue are two rectangular plates. The one on the left narrates a conversation between the two angels (written by the renowned Tagalog poet Lope K. Santos). Lucifer the devil berates Michael for the "bulaan hambog," pretentious prick, that he is to think that he and his God were still the rulers of this world when humans by their actions evidently worship him, Lucifer. Michael then pleads, not to God but to humanity to aid him in his struggle against the devil by turning to God and shunning evil.

The plate on the right is a bas relief showing Adam and Eve in the garden eating the forbidden fruit. It's a picture of calm and tranquility which, in its place beside the statue, in its location in the middle of a graveyard, still comes across as morbid and dreadful. It shows how it all began.

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http://johnrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/when-devil-wins.html

The statue of "The Demon of Malabon Cemetery" itself has been placed in a steel cage since the 1970s. The rumor is that every night, the devil comes alive and spreads all manner of terror and evil on anyone who strays near the tomb it is located. It's also said that the statue feeds on the souls of the victims. It used to be smaller but has since grown to its current size.