By: Joe Sprite

Last Thursday was St. Peter's Day. All people in Jagna went to the sea on picnics. The tide was high, the winds were blustery and the waves were strong. Only dedicated idiots like we, reveled in the area. Others sought protected spots away from the wind. The weather improved in the afternoon. There were a few fights but only egos were bruised.

There had been questions why Jagna go bathing in the sea during St. Peter's Day. In other places they go picnicking in June 24 the feast day of St. John . There could be an explanation to that. San Pedro is a fisherman recruited no less than Jesus to be his disciple. As such, he became the patron saint of fishermen. However, he was commissioned by Jesus to be fishers of men so he resigned as a fisherman and became an apostle.

On the other hand, the saint associated with water was St. John the Baptist. He went about Palestine baptizing people with water. There had been many versions of his baptism. Some say, he merely poured a handful of water over the head. Others say he did his baptism by immersion. That means, he led the candidate for baptism into the water and submerged his whole body.

Religious pictures portray that San Juan stood with Jesus waist deep in the river Jordan and poured a handful of river water over His head. Whether he dunked Jesus under water, tradition does not say. Maybe that was in another picture. They waded into the Jordan fully clothed, they did not intent to go swimming. If they did, that was in another picture.

There is a raging controversy as to whether baptism is by pouring or by immersion. We are inclined to believe in pouring. Palestine or Israel is a desert country. If baptism must be by immersion, it must be done in the river and the only river of note in the area is Jordan . But what about those in the desert? They have to provide themselves with tubs for immersion. Water in the desert is a precious commodity. They made a compromise, those near the river may be dunked and those in the desert may be sprinkled.

Since baptism involves water, we Filipinos whose forte is improvisation, douse passersby with water in spite of objections. This prompts the recipient to take a bath. Johnists do that but Peterists go swimming in the sea since St. Peter was once a fisherman. But St. Peter the Apostle was not considered the patron saint of fishermen.

The patron saint of fishermen in the Mediterranean is St. Elmo our local Sant' Elmo. This has been corrupted into Santelmo. St Elmo is associated with St Peter Gonzales a Spanish Dominican priest. During storms the saint sent his sign to sailors that he watches over them and this sign is that eerie fire seen when no fires could be expected. Although Mediterranean sailors take comfort on those signs our local sailors dread them saying that they are souls of those who were previously lost at sea. Actually this phenomenon is an electrical discharge brought about by the action of wind and moisture,