Holy Week

Holy Week is a significant religious festival in the Philippines. It is popularly known by the Filipinos as Semana Santa or Mahal na Araw. The holy week starts on Palm Sunday (Linggo ng Palaspas) wherein devotees carry palms to be blessed by the priest. This celebration is actually taken from the Gospel reading. It tells the story about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem where he was welcomed by people waving palms and laying their cloaks on the ground to serve as a carpet for his donkey to walk upon. Throughout the week, the Pabasa or Pasyon is being celebrated. It is a chant that tells of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

A popular tradition is the Church Visit or Visita Iglesia, which usually involves going to 7 different churches to visit the exposed blessed sacrament after it is placed in the Altar. This is celebrated on Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday, you will see churches flocked with church-goers everyday during the holy week. There are also street processions, a prayer vigil with the sector's main sacred statue. There will be a stage play of the passion of Christ as well, this is called Senakulo. On Holy Saturday known locally as Black Saturday or Sabado de Gloria has the traditional silence and solemnity from the previous day. Preparations are made for the Easter Vigil to be celebrated that evening. The Easter Sunday morning is marked with joyous celebration. The celebration will finish with a dawn procession of two different directions towards the church. This procession is popularly known as Salubong. It is actually the meeting of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin.

The importance of celebrating the Holy Week is dedicated in observance of one of the most significant yearly events in the world of Christianity. This is the last week in the 40 days of Lent prior to our celebration of Easter Sunday.

It is the time that families bond together to commemorate Christ's life, remembering Christ's passion and resurrection. This is also a popular time for other people to take a vacation and beat the heat and humidity of the spring season.

But what really is the significance of the Season of Lent to all of us? Is it going to the beaches and resorts, a trip to a foreign land or to indulge oneself top a lot of sumptuous and delicious food during out of town parties?

Being a product of a Catholic school and coming from a solid Roman Catholic family, Holy Week is the time for reflection and genuflection. For a lot of Filipinos, Holy Week is the time for prayer and sacrifice to wash away our sins and asks for forgiveness. It is a time when they relive the passion and death of Christ which led to our salvation. It is time when the church reminds us to relive the passion and death of Christ which led to our salvation, and also to renew and to strengthen our Christian faith.