108/365: Good Friday Scenes Around The City

19th of April

As we head to our annual observance of Vicita Iglesia we are expecting to see different ways of Filipino traditions during the observance of Holy Week.

These scenes are not new to me. I grew up exposed to these kind of observance from my provincial home town and I am hoping that someday I will be able to share them on this blog on a well-written article and how these observance has something to do with my growing up. 

It’s kind of amuse me that every year I still see this observance in the busy city.  Let me share them with you though this photo talk.  Please bear with the photos quality as I randomly took them using a digital camera while on a moving vehicle.

The carrying of heavy wooden cross and the whipping at the back with an open wound is the common act of self-flagellation that I normally see every year.  This is the first time that I witnessed the hooded barefoot devotees walk with their hands in a sitting position and they are walking in the same speed of the other devotees who are doing their rites walking with their foot in the scourging heat of the sun.  As I watched them I found it as as tough and difficult as the other act of self-flagellation.

Most of the churches we visited are getting ready with the images of the saints they will be using for the procession on the night of Good Friday.

As we reached Tagaytay City we were trapped in heavy traffic particularly on the roads leading to the retreat houses and convents.

The solemn place of the Pink Sisters Convent and Monastery were flocked by people observing the “Passion of Christ”.

It was amusing to see though that when we reached the highland’s commercial area, the place is abuzz with normal business operations.  You won’t even feel that it was Good Friday there.  It was an exact opposite scene versus the city proper where almost all business and commercial establishments are closed. 

In the Catholic observance the culmination of the observance of Good Friday is the procession of saints images in the early evening of the same day.  Huge images of saints commemorating from Jesus entry to Nazareth, to crucifixion to his death in Calvary are being paraded in almost every town.  The main image of which is the “Santo Intierro”  or the dead Christ.

The photos were taken from Parañaque City at the start of the procession when all the images were headed out from the church yard. It automatically brought me to the memory of the time I was attending this same procession back in my provincial home.

The Santo Intierro

What bothers me while watching the procession was when I saw a bunch of teenage girls wearing heavy make up on their faces.  They really came prepared for the procession with their candles on their hands complete with the round card board to protect their hands from being burned from the melted candles while on the procession.  But what annoyed me most to the point of almost screaming at them is that they were wearing SHORT SHORTS (modernly called as “pekpek shorts”).

I restrained myself from taking their photos with their scandalous shorts or calling their attention.   I just prayed…  Jesus Mary and Joseph!