Color portrait of Dona Catalina
At last, the first color portrait of Dona Catalina Santos (1655 - 1727) has been made. It was done by the daughter of my mom's friend.
Dona Catalina stands as a forgotten, but unbowed heroine, who fought for Cebu, the Philippines, Spain and the Catholic Church. She may have fought Moro pirates in the past, but now fights alongside her husband Alejandro (1643 - 1701) and Fray Julian Bermejo (1777 - 1851) against the modernist and corrupt West which removed Christ and devotes itself to secularism. While the Disney Princesses have a hundred thousand fans here in my country, Catalina's fans are only a small remnant who are ready to defend the faith. Catalina's few fans remind me of the Catholic Church reduced to a remnant while the Novus Ordo is praised everywhere.
Catalina was born in Mandawi (now Mandaue) on November 25, 1655 and was named in honor of Catherine of Alexandria. She was trained by Jesuits and wanted to donate money to the Church for the salvation of souls. She was introduced to Alejandro, a noble man of San Nicolas town in Cebu by her confessor. In 1670, she alongside her husband defeated Moro pirates and shortly got married after. She had 7 children including Luis, named in honor of St. Louis IX (1671 - 1735), who was a soldier who fought against the Moros in Mindanao and served in Mexico (Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Peru and Argentina (Viceroyalty of Peru) and her daughter Josefina (1673 - 1764) who was a single spinster.
Her husband died of poisoning in September 1701 in a house in Opon (now Mactan) and she continued her husband's legacy. She died Jan. 19, 1727 at 72 years old.
May she be a shining example to every Catholic, especially Filipinos, especially that heroes like her are rarely discussed, and traditionalist Catholicism is not in the mainstream in Filipino daily life.
The original portrait of Catalina on charcoal black and white was commissioned by Antonio Rubi on July 7, 2026 and was drawn by Michael Francisco, based on a drawing called ''Ophelia'' by animator Aaron Blaise. The author believed she is more than a Disney Princess inspired character and that she was a forgotten mythological or historical figure. He is also have said to see the face on the portrait move. The portrait depicts Catalina at 21, but he saw the face mature into that of a 30 year old. He believes that there is something mystical about it. The portrait is much closer to Catalina's facial features.
The second portrait is the color portrait, commissioned July 17, 2026 in order to promote her legacy. It was done by the daughter of the author's mom. The author has done also some pencil drawings of Alejandro and Catalina's story which will be published in a future date.
