Semana Santa (or Holy Week) is one of the most important and meaningful weeks in Marikina especially to the Catholics. This is observed to commemorate the death and sacrifice of our dear Lord, Jesus Christ, for the entire mankind This is started with Palm Sunday (or Linggo ng Palaspas) until Black Saturday (Sabado de Glorya). I may not be the best person to present you this article because I am not Catholic, but living in Marikina made me exposed to this kind of events. It someone molded me into the kind of person that I am now.
Holy Week is observed in so many different ways:
The Pasyon is a Philippine epic narrative of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is chanted during the Lenten Season and quite a popular Filipino Catholic devotion.
Penitensiya is a self-flagellation ritual done by the Catholics. This is done mostly by men, Half naked men would march the streets and whip their backs until blood comes out, which is believed to cleanse their sin and cure them from illness.
The Prusisyon ng mga Santo is my favorite. It is the procession of more than 80 carrozas with religious images through the streets. Not that many cities have that many carrozas as much as we do and we must be proud of this. It shows the saints and Bible figures whose lives were touched and changed by our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Pasko ng Pagkabuhay (or Easter Sunday) ends the Holy Week with joyous celebration. It is another procession which re-enacts the imaged reunion of the Christ and his mother after his Resurrection. Statues of the Risen Christ and the Virgin Mary are borne in two separate processions that meet at a designated area, usually right in front of the church.
It is a colorful religious event that everyone should see. Lenten Season in Marikina is truly one of a kind. We Marikenos might be different in religion and in faith. But we all believe that there is only one Christ who sacrificed and gave his life to all of us. We should do our part and thank him for what he did.
1 comments:
I commend the author of this blog for coming up with this article despite being not Catholic. Indeed, Marikina is gaining popularity for our Holy Week processions. For a small city, we boast of 6 or 7 different long Holy Week processions which are all being further sustained and improved throughout the years, with special mention to new generation Santo caretakers and enthusiasts. I am sharing my photostream of this year's Holy Week processions in OLA, Calumpang and Aglipay www.flickr.com/photos/fritzrinaldimd/
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