I enjoy coming across family stories and finding their names contained in the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project database. After all, these are the stories of our people, resilience and faith.
The first time I came across the story of Magdalena and Francisco Ogo and the ifil cross was when I read the 1995 book I Manfåyi: Who’s Who in Chamorro History (Hale-ta Series Volume I). I recently came across the same story in the September 1965 edition of the Pacific Profiles, published by the late Antonio “Tony” Manibusan Palomo. For those of you from Yoña, you probably have heard of this story before.
The ifil cross was and continues to remain of significant value to many of the people of Yoña because many pray before the cross for many reasons. Some stories of answered prayers included prayers for family members to get better from illnesses, bountiful harvests from farming and fishing, help in finding lost animals, and some just for plain old luck. The cross also became an important part of the Santa Cruz Chapel and nobenas.
A very brief part of the ifil cross story goes like this…
There once was a lady known as Magdalena “Patas” that owned an ifil cross. After she passed away sometime in 1910 a man named Mariano Rodriguez became the caretaker of the ifil cross. After Mariano’s passing, Francisco and Magdalena Sarmiento Ogo took the cross into their home and became the safe-keepers of the cross until the Chapel of Santa Cruz was built. By 1959, on land that was at one time owned by the Ogo family, Jose Blas had built the original Chapel of Santa Cruz, which then became the home of the ifil cross.
To this very day (at least since 1995, the year the I Manfåyi book was published) the descendants of Magdalena and Francisco Ogo continue the tradition of the annual Santa Cruz nobena that typically ends on the 3rd of May. However, the ifil cross remains at the site of the old Santa Cruz Chapel and family members are still trying to have the ifil cross moved to the site of the current Santa Cruz Chapel.
References:
____. 1965. Great-Great Grandmother Ogo. Pacific Profiles, September, Volume III, No. 7. Antonio “Tony” Palomo: Agana, Guam.
____. 1995. I Manfayi: Who’s Who in Chamorro History (Hale’ta Series), Volume I, pg 47. Dr. Katherine B. Aguon and The Political Status Coordinating Commission. Hagatna, Guam.
