April 1 to April 8, 2012 Mahal na Araw (Holy Week)

For nine days, every evening, the town hears the broadcast of prayers and singing as a small band of people walk the streets praying. Ate Norma is usually one of them. Anyone who wants to participate just joins the slow procession as it winds through town. Some of the men pull the broadcast system along on it's wheeled cart.  After each evening's processional, Ate returns home for supper, then leaves again for what is called Magbasa  (The Reading). A biblically based book of the history of the Christian faith is read in Gregorian chant.  One family or another opens their home for this. One evening it was our next-door neighbors and I went over to join them. They had a feast fit for an elegant wedding. The singers took breaks now and then to eat and visit before returning to the reading. Most readings are of a section of the book, lasting several hours, but sometimes the entire book is read uninteruppted and that takes about 24 hours. Our town had that entire reading with a man's voice the dominant part alternating with women's parts. That was done on Friday on a balcony overlooking our church square and broadcast over the town. 

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week and there is a grand reenactment of Christ and the Apostles walking into the joyous crowds of Jerusalem amid the crowd waving palm fronds.

 

Then the angels emerge and present their part. These are only half the angels. The other half are boys and they are in the background at this moment.

Then came Sinakolo (Passion Play) and it was very well done which means, of course, that it was disturbing.

Child watching Christ's crusifixion.

 The subdued mood of the crowd continued as we left the square to go to our homes to eat lunch. That evening we gathered again for another procession. This one is still centered on Christ in the tomb but all the statues of saints are decorated and carried along in recognition of their presence among us- the Communion of Saints.

My favorite, Saint Peter- keys in his right hand, rooster on his left. The crowd was about 2 blocks long.

 Finally, Saturday evening comes and with it the growing sense of relief and anticipation. Pagbabasbas ng Apoy at Tubig (Celebration of Fire and Water) began in the courtyard with a big bonfire, from which the crowd lit their candles. One by one, slowly and then exponentially, candle flames spring up. The church is in absolute darkness and the priest leads the silent crowd, holding their candles,  into the darkness. The candlelight gradually illuminates the church and from the outside I began to see the stained glass windows light up and show their pictures. As the priest begins the mass the lights are turned on.
Mass took over 2 hours and we then had the glorious celebration of the resurrection. The climax of this was when Mary's veil of mourning is lifted by two angels.

Beneath the angels are men bearing the statue of Mary, who is clothed in black. The angels very gradually lift the veil as songs are sung by everyone.

Lent is usually an internal, reflective, somber time for me. This year was different, as I scurried from one event to another and took pictures. I was recording mentally and on film other peoples observance. It is as though I was watching myself, watching them. The sense of peace and relaxation on Sunday was the same, I noticed, but it was without any evidence of Easter Bunny, baskets, painted eggs or pastel colors. And for my family, especially, this marked the closing of the intensely full 5 weeks they've had.