Intersecting Paths: Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics and Filipino Ganda in the Poón and Traslación

This article explores the convergence between Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological aesthetics and the Filipino concept of ganda (beauty), applying the correlation to the Black Nazarene devotion. Building on Balthasar's account of beauty as the union of form (Gestalt) and splendor, revealed supremely in the Incarnation and Cross, the author identifies two points of convergence with Filipino sensibility: the harmony, order, and simplicity (kaayusan, payak) that Filipinos associate with ganda, and the paradoxical beauty disclosed in Christ's kenotic self-emptying. These convergences are then traced in the Poón (the sacred image of Jesús Nazareno) and the annual Traslación procession, arguing that Filipino popular devotion embodies a lived, incarnational theological aesthetics that resonates with and enriches Balthasar's largely European framework.