Reflections on Holy Week traditions
BY EVANGELINE C. DE VERA

Karos in the capital town of Kalibo, Aklan during the Good Friday procession in observance of the weeklong Semana Santa / PHOTO BY BOY RYAN ZABAL

Observance of Holy Week is one of the most significant religious rites in the Philippines, if not the cornerstone of the Catholic faith. To the Filipino, Holy Week means taking stock of one’s personal relationship with God, and reflect on the sacrifices of his son Jesus Christ on the cross.
While some of the faithful escape to secluded beach resorts or other getaways to spend time with family and relax during this season, many still choose to tread the ways of our ancestors, who carried on the traditions taught by our Spanish conquerors. During this period, the faithful are encouraged to pray and meditate and abstain from worldly pleasures as a sign of penance.
Among others, Filipinos practice the rite of celebrating Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday, which falls 40 days before Easter Sunday. The culmination of Lent starts during the Holy Week.
Lent opens with the celebration of Palm Sunday – sometimes referred to as Passion Sunday – which is characterized by the waving in church of the "palaspas" or decorated palm fronds to be blessed by the priest. This tradition traces its roots to the events leading to the last days of Jesus Christ as he entered Jerusalem to accomplish his Paschal Mystery – his own Death and Resurrection.
Other rites or traditions honored and observed by Filipinos are the "Visita Iglesia," or the visit to the Blessed Sacrament and on seven churches where devotees offer prayers on each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, which depict the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.
In the early days, the Spanish also taught the pagan Filipino about Jesus Christ through the Cenaculo, a Lenten play that depicted the events in the New Testament related to the life, suffering and death of Jesus.
The Cenaculo is traditionally performed on a proscenium-type stage with painted cloth or paper backdrops that are called telon. It takes at least eight nights - from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday - to present the play. Christ is presented traditionally as meek and masochistic, submitting lamblike to his fate in obedience to authority.
Another form of penance is the holding of the Street Cenaculo where the people are walking with the procession. People near the church wait eagerly to witness the reenactment. Locals act as Roman soldiers with their menacingly painted masks and armors, pounding on doors to search for Jesus.

Most anticipated among the episodes are the judgment of Jesus, the Crucifixion and His Seven Last Words. Spectators may range from devotees to the merely curious.
One of the most common practices during Holy Week was the reading of the "Pasyon," or the "Pabasa." Usually sung a capella after a certain tune, the pasyon is a verse narrative of the life and suffering of Jesus, structured in five-line stanzas, with each line containing eight syllables.
The Pabasa is commonly sung staring Holy Monday, where people gather around the reader of the pasyon to listen and reflect. This rite is usually practiced by many a faithful as their vow or "panata."
The washing of the feet is another religious rite observed by the Filipino, signifying the humility with which Jesus washed the feet of his apostles. This practice is usually done on Maundy Thursday, after the priest’s homily after the reading of the Gospel.
Meanwhile, the Filipino tradition of crucifixion and self-flagellation, or self-scouring, are still being done especially in the provinces and in some areas in Metro Manila. Although the Catholic Church does not encourage this extreme type of penance, many still continue to brave the excruciating pain that goes with every strike of their whip to remember the ordeals of Christ and to atone for their sins.

In following the last painful events in the life of Christ, these people feel a closer connection with their religion and their God, and a feeling of ease or forgiveness for their sins. The Catholics believe that this means that mortification or self-inflicted acts of pain will end the disease of the soul.
In the province of Pampanga, the crucifixion ceremony during Good Friday is still strongly being practiced. Followers are either tied to the crosses or are actually nailed there.

However, they are not left on the cross to die, as was the case during the olden times, with participants believing that they have been cleansed of their sins upon experiencing the pain suffered by Jesus.
Easter Sunday marks the end of the Lenten season, and is believed to be the most important religious fest of the Filipino Catholics, being the foundation of the Christian faith. Easter remembers the risen Christ, resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion and establishes him as the Son of God.