There are more than a dozen Malous and Marilous in local entertainment. Some have inserted the letter H to their names. Adding H to nicknames became a trend among the young in the early 1970s and that fad never went away. Noemi, for instance, became Noehmi. Anything to distinguish them from other namesakes. The baptismal names of majority of these Malous and Marilous are Maria Lourdes — in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose feast day was marked last 11 February. That day, all roads led to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Kanlaon and N. S. Amoranto Streets in Quezon City.
The original Lourdes Church was located in Intramuros. It was built by the Capuchins around 1892. During the pre-war era, it became a popular church for chic weddings since it wasn’t too big and was relatively new.
Sadly, the original Lourdes Church was one of the structures that was razed to the ground during the Battle for Manila. A new church was built in honor of the Virgin of Lourdes after Liberation — yes, the one in its present Quezon City location.
Fortunately, the Lourdes statue — the loveliest among Marian images in the country — survived the war. It is the same icon still venerated today at the Lourdes Shrine. More than a hundred years old, the statue had to be touched up some time ago since the original paint had long chipped off.
The devotion of Filipino Catholics to the Virgin of Lourdes, who appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in France in 1858, became widespread in the 1920s. Every Saturday, every rabid Marian devotee went to the Lourdes Church wearing a white frock with a blue sash cinched around the waist – which was how the Virgin appeared to Bernadette.
Around that time, Maria Lourdes also became a popular name for girls. That explains why there are so many Malous and Marilous in the country — even in show business. In LVN Pictures, there was a Lourdes Medel, one of the most beautiful actresses in the studio lot.
Jackie Lou Blanco was named Jacqueline Lourdes because she was born on 11 February 1964. Multi-media personality Lourd de Veyra was also named in honor of the Virgin because he was born on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes, incidentally, is pronounced “lordz” in American. In France, the S at the end is silent like most, if not all, French words.
Other than learning the correct pronunciation of the name Lourdes, it is also imperative for Filipino filmmakers to be familiar with the history of the Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes in the Philippines. The first image of the Virgin of Lourdes in the Philippines was sculpted — a commissioned work by the Capuchins — only in September 1892. Period films set during the early part of the Spanish colonization, therefore, shouldn’t include the image of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna will always be an important Filipino movie because of its epic scope — and the fact that it brought moviegoers back in droves to cinemas in 2015. Unfortunately, it will never be considered a great film for two reasons: First, it is peppered with historical inaccuracies. And then, it has a lot of production design mistakes, particularly with religious iconography.
The story of Heneral Luna covers the start of the Fil-American War that began in 1899. Around that time, churches in the Philippines still didn’t have statues of the Virgin of Lourdes — except, of course, those owned by the Capuchin friars. And they only had two.
But in Heneral Luna, Lourdes images were all over the film. What’s even horrifying is the fact that the movie also included statues of Our Lady of Fatima. But the Virgin of Fatima didn’t appear to the shepherds Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta in Coimbra in Portugal until 13 May 1917.
The same mistake was repeated in the GMA hit series Maria Clara at Ibarra, the story of which went back to the Spanish era. Images of Our Lady of Lourdes were in the courtyard of convents and even in private altars.
Is this nitpicking? No. In stories set in the past, production design is very important. Every detail of the props and location should be accurate. The production design mistakes in Heneral Luna and Maria Clara at Ibarra could have been avoided had proper research been made prior to filming.
The devotion to the Virgin of Lourdes in the Philippines also made an impact on landscape architecture. By the second half of the 20th century, most middle class homes had grottos in the garden — with the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes enshrined inside a niche made of rocks.
In 2006, Regal Films released a movie about reincarnation that included scenes set during Spanish times. It starred Iza Calzado and Dingdong Dantes. As usual, it had a production design error: There was a grotto shown at the end of the film! Again, there was no devotion yet to the Virgin of Lourdes in the Philippines that time.
Modern houses in the Philippines today do not have grottos anymore. For one, the fad in architecture these days is to go minimalist. A grotto simply will not go well with a sleek, neat and polished slate finish of a home exterior.
A large chunk of Filipinos have also turned born-again Christians. By renouncing their Catholic faith, born-again Christians have to destroy religious icons. There will be no need for a grotto anymore.
Around the 1970s, some Filipinos also started adhering to this strange superstitious belief about having a grotto in the yard. While Filipino Lourdes devotees continued praying to the Virgin for miraculous cures, there came this belief that having a grotto is bad luck or “malas.” Bank officers until the 1980s actually observed that most repossessed homes had grottos in the garden.
Religious images should be given special places in the home. Maybe it is not a good idea to expose a Marian statue to the elements — like the sun and the rain.
Grottos may be vanishing from Pinoy homes, but the Lourdes devotion continues to flourish. During the Saturday novenas at the Lourdes Church in N.S. Amoranto, only the elderly women still wear the white dress with the blue sash. But the youngsters are still there — in T-shirts and jeans. Every shirt though has the picture of the Virgin of Lourdes embossed on it.
And during the most recent Lourdes fiesta, devotees from all over the country attended mass that was held practically every hour. Even Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, who was raised a Protestant, was there during the high mass at noon.
Devotees still flock to this Quezon City church even days after the fiesta because the observance of the Lourdes apparition remains the biggest Marian feast in February as per the Catholic calendar. The devotion to the Virgin of Lourdes is already part of Philippine history. And in showbiz, too. After all, there are still a number of Malous and Marilous still active in the local entertainment profession.
Malous (or Malus) and Marilous in Phl show business
Marilou Diaz-Abaya — National Artist for Film and Broadcast Art
Malou Santos — Executive producer for ABS-CBN and Star Cinema
Malou de Guzman — Actress
Mhalou Crisologo — Actress and Executive Producer
Malou Choa-Fagar — Former SVP of TAPE, Inc. and current head of PTV-4
Malu Sevilla — TV and Film Director
Maluh Maglutac — Former host of the variety show, Kumpletos Rekados
Malou de la Fuente — Original cast member of Chicks to Chicks
Marilou Sadiua — Former beauty queen and actress
Marilou Destreza — Former actress
Marilou Bendigo — Mutya ng Pilipinas and leading lady to action stars
Marilou Munoz — Former actress
Marilou Ver — Former fashion model and actress
Marilou Benitez — Former TV actress
Malu Barry — Singer and actress