Devotee looks forward to his 44th
NAILED TO THE CROSS 43 TIMES
IT was March 23, Wednesday. The unassuming, longhaired man was busy massaging the back of a bare-backed man seated on a stool along the sidewalk of A.B. Fernandez Avenue when invited by the weary staff of The PUNCH to look after their own wellness.
Punchman Ding Micua (left) interviews Arthur Cayabyab (right), two days before being nailed to the cross.
He agreed. Unknown to the staffers, Arthur Cayabyab, 54, who lives in Lucao, along Jose de Venecia Highway, is the devotee who had himself nailed to the cross in Dagupan City every Good Friday.
“I’ve done this yearly since 1972 when I was 10 years old and will do it again,” said Cayabyab, father of 6, who makes a living as an ‘arbularyo’ and ‘hilot’, healing people with a sprain or muscle pains.
After working on the muscle and arthritic pains of some of the staff, he sat for a brief interview.
Cayabyab said he will take to the cross once his “Hudio” (referring to the ‘Roman soldiers’ who helped crucify Jesus Christ in Golgotha), arrive from Lingayen and Alaminos.
He said all’s set, particularly the six nails, each measuring six-inches long, which are used on him every Good Friday, are ready after being soaked in alcohol for a year.
Like other would-be personalities, he claimed he has GMA’s Balitang Amianan as well as Bombo Radyo as his chosen partners for the coverage of his reenactment of the agony of Jesus Christ.
Why does he do it? He said he made a vow to do it every year after Jesus Christ appeared to him one night and gave him the power to cure the sick.
He said Jesus wanted him to heal the sick, and that’s exactly what he said he has been doing and is consoled even if he gets a pittance of donation from his patients.
“I feel relieved if I am nailed to the cross. I don’t feel any pain even when the nails are driven to my both palms and feet,” he said in Pangasinan.
Cayabyab said he would not have been an “arbularyo” had he finished his studies in Law at the Saint Louis University in Baguio.
He said he was born in the barrio of Apalek, San Fernando and raised by his grandfather and when boys his age began bullying him, he joined his parents in Dagupan City.
Turning to this writer who complained of a nagging pain in his fingers, he had this to say: “Boil these dried leaves of pandan and pineapple leaves, manong, and once cooled, soak your fingers in the water and the pain will be gone!”
At presstime, Cayabyab is certain he will be nailed again on March 25 his 44th. (Leonardo Micua)
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