By Luis Gorgonio 

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES around the world mark the Holy Week based on what is prescribed in the Roman Catholic Church’s tradition, especially the rites specified in the Roman Sacramentary.

While being faithful to the rubrics, Filipinos, however, have found ways in enriching the tradition by coming up with unique practices that highlight the various facets of the Lenten activities.

Filipino Church officials neither ban nor encourage these popular practices (folk religiosity) that have emerged in various places of the country.

The Pabasa, which could run for days, is the 24-hour singing or chanting of the Passion of Christ based on various accounts in the Scriptures. This is usually done by a family in thanksgiving for the blessings it has received, or as a way of asking favor. This may either be done by family members or by hired Pasyon singers who take turns in chanting the story of the suffering and death of Jesus.

Black Nazarene devotion. On Good Friday, male devotees of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, would bring the statue out for a procession along narrow streets and alleys of the district. Believers consider this centuries-old black statue of the crucified Jesus as miraculous.

Sinakulo (Senakulo) is a Lenten play, usually done in verses, that portrays the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. In cities in Metro Manila, this maybe played on stage, inside the Church, or on the streets.

Flagellation is a popular practice usually done by men in the provinces during Good Friday. To atone for their sins, they strip from the waist up and whip their backs with ropes tipped with sharp broken pieces of glass. Fresh blood oozes from their lacerated backs as they walk barefoot on the pavement under the scorching noonday sun.

Visita Iglesia (Church visit) is a popular practice in Manila and some neighboring cities and provinces where believers visit as many churches as they can, on foot, during Good Friday. They do so in fulfillment of a vow (panata), or in thanksgiving for the blessings they received during the year.

Way of the Cross (Via Cruces) is a practice on Good Friday where believers visit the 14 stations of the cross representing Christ’s way in Calvary. In some places, like the Grotto of Lourdes in Novaliches, Quezon City, the stations of the cross are carved out in tortuous way up a hill where believers can have a taste of Golgotha.

Salubong (the encounter of Mary, mother of Jesus, and the risen Christ) is a practice done before dawn of Easter Sunday. The faithful dramatize the meeting that begins with the procession of the statue of the risen Lord and the image of the Blessed Virgin from separate points. During the meeting, Mary’s black veil, symbolizing sorrow, will be lifted by an angel. During the procession, the women accompany the image of Mary and the men escort the statue of the risen Christ.

Real-life crucifixion has become a tourist attraction in San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando, Pampanga. The Church does not approve of the practice, but it has not stopped people from doing it.

Other practices in the provinces:

The Moriones Festival in Marinduque is part of the Easter celebration in Marinduque that reenacts the chase of Longinus by Roman soldiers (Moriones). In a story on the Gospel of St. John, Loginus was the Roman soldier who speared the side of the crucified Jesus. The blood that oozed from the wound hit the blind eye of Longinus and restored his sight. The soldier became a believer resulting in his persecution and beheading.

In some places, the effigy of Judas is torched or blasted in public plazas for people to see during Easter.

Superstitious rituals in some places in the Visayas and Mindanao also accompany the observance of the Holy Week.

- Parents would tell their children to jump as high as they could at dawn of Easter Sunday to grow tall.

- People would take extra caution not to get a wound or a cut on Good Friday because it won’t heal.

- People shouldn’t take a bath on Good Friday because the water is not good for health.

In an article titled “Holy Week in the Philippines,” Quiling Secusana said that in Western Visayas, traditional healers or Herbolarios go for a hunt for amulets or “anting-anting” on Good Friday.

These and more local practices and rituals make the observance of the Holy Week in the Philippines unique and colorful.

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One Response to “Filipino practices during the Holy Week”

• 1
  David B Katague
  August 20th, 2008 12:26

  I enjoy reading your website and blog on the Moriones Festival. I was born in Iloilo, but married a marinduquena and studied in US. My dream as an adopted Marinduqueno is to see Marinduque become a worldwide tourist destination not only during Easter week but also whole year round to compete with Boracay now crowded and too commercialized. Marinduque has also beautiful white beaches, caves, hot springs, snorkeling/diving sites, mountains to explore and of course its proximity to Manila. Our current problem is air transportation services which has been cancelled since last year. Anyway, there is rumor it will be resume this October, 2008.
  My other e-Mail is: tagajaro@comcast.net since I was born in Jaro.

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