Holy Week in the Philippines
When I was searching many articles about the Holy Week in the Philippines, I came across in the Wikipidia, the Free Encyclopedia that fairly mentions the Philippines on Holy week throughout the world. It made me think that our commemoration of Jesus' sacrifices and His miraculous resurrection is very much remarkable and known to the world. We celebrate Holy Week with passion that even until this generation many Filipinos believe in their "Panata" that helps them through their lives to survive, get cured when ill and strengthen that faith for a lifetime. It's just that faith has more than its sanctity for the lives of Filipinos.
Philippines
In this largely Roman Catholic nation, Holy Week, known as Semana Santa, is treated as one of the most important religious festivals of the entire year. At Mass on Palm Sunday, Catholics carry "palaspas" or palm leaves to be blessed by the priest. Many Filipinos bring home the palm leaves after the Mass and place these above their front doors or their windows, believing that doing so can ward off evil spirits. Holy Monday marks the beginning of the Pabasa (literally, reading) or Pasyon, the marathon chanting of the story of Jesus' life, passion, and death, which continues day and night, for as long as two straight days. A popular Holy Thursday tradition is the Bisita Iglesia (Church Visit), which involves visiting several Churches at which the faithful would pray the Stations of the Cross. The last Mass before Easter is also celebrated on Holy Thursday, usually including a reenactment of the Washing of the Feet of the Apostles; this Mass is followed by the procession of the Blessed Sacrament before it is taken to the Altar of Repose. Good Friday in the Philippines is commemorated with street processions, the Way of the Cross, the commemoraton of Jesus' Seven last words (Siete Palabras) and a Passion play called the Sinakulo. In some communities (most famously in the province of Pampanga), the processions include devotees who self-flagellate and sometimes even have themselves nailed to crosses as expressions of penance. After three o'clock in the afternoon of Good Friday (the time at which Jesus is traditionally believed to have died), noise is discouraged, bathing is proscribed and the faithful are urged to keep a solemn and prayerful disposition through Black Saturday. Easter morning is marked with joyous celebration, the first being the dawn Salubong, wherein large statues of Jesus and Mary are brought in procession together to meet, imagining the first reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after Jesus' Resurrection. This is followed by the joyous Easter Mass. (Wikipidia)
Posted in: All About Faith on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at at 12:33 AM
