Top 7 Holy Week Traditions in the Philippines 2018

We start off our countdown with Salubong, the Easter Sunday dawn celebration which marks the end of Holy Week. Literally meaning to meet or receive someone, the ritual involves separate processions for the images of the Risen Christ and the Virgin Mary and having them meet in a stage put up especially for the occasion. A young girl dressed in an angel costume lifts the veil of the Virgin Mary, and pomp and pageantry ensue once it is revealed that Christ has risen from the dead. After the procession, participants go to church to attend Easter Sunday Mass.

Holy Week wouldn’t be complete without seeing a procession or two. Though there are some parishes which do Palm Sunday processions, these usually start on Maundy Thursday, during which processions for the Passion of the Christ is held. On Good Friday, a popular procession is the Santo Entierro (Holy Interment). For this tradition, the statue of the dead Jesus Christ is carried around town followed by the statues of St. Peter, St. John the Evangelist, the Virgin Mary, and other characters which figure in the story of Christ’s passion.

If you hear people chanting during Holy Week, it’s likely because they are doing Pabasa ng Pasyon (Reading of the Passion) which lands at number five. This tradition originated from Spanish priests’ penchant for chanting which Filipinos incorporated into their own customs. Today, people still chant the epic poem which tells about the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since a Pabasa can last anywhere from 12 hours to three days, it’s also an opportunity to reflect on Christ’s life and atone for one’s sins.

Another popular Lenten tradition is praying the Stations of the Cross. Also called Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way), it is a devotion where one remembers Jesus’s last few moments on Earth before he died. The practice stems way back to 334 AD when pilgrims visiting the Holy Land put up signposts to mark spots where important events of Christ’s passion took place.

Today, almost every Catholic church have markers for the Stations of the Cross inside the building or out in the garden. Meditating on the stations allow the faithful to walk in Jesus’s shoes and empathize with his suffering.

Taking the third spot in our poll is fasting and abstinence. Fasting means lessening one’s food intake, while abstinence is avoiding something you like to do. Catholics over 14 are expected to stay away from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent. Abstinence can also take the form of a personal sacrifice, such as giving up one’s favorite food or certain activities. Catholics aged 18 to 59 are also obliged to fast on the same days. They are allowed to eat one full meal and two smaller meals.

Another Lenten tradition that Filipinos look forward to is the senakulo or passion play. It derives its name from the Latin word cenaculum, which means a dining room which references the place where the Last Supper was held. This local community play highlights the events leading up to Christ’s death on the cross. In the Philippines, the oldest senakulo was staged in 1904 in Barrio Dayap, Cainta, Rizal. The senakulo is still practiced up to today, most notable of which is the Moriones Festival of Marinduque.

And the number one Holy Week tradition is Visita Iglesia (Church Visit). Commonly done on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, this involves visiting seven different churches and praying the Stations of the Cross. With the number of beautiful old churches to visit around the country, going on a Visita Iglesia can also enrich one’s appreciation of history and culture. In fact, to encourage faith-based travel, the Department of Tourism will be opening up seven chapels in Intramuros this Holy Week to allow people to go on a Visita Iglesia in the Walled City.