Leo and I spent the last four days at Tagaytay with his family. It was great to just relax and do nothing except eat, marathon CSI, eat, sleep. We went to Tagaytay Highlands to attend the masses/holy week rites on Maundy Thursday and attended the Salubong last night as well. As Highlands was not actually a parish, their Salubong was not as a big deal as regular parishes would have them do.
Salubong is where the images of Mama Mary and Jesus meet at the church entrance and little children dressed as angels pull the black veil covering Mama Mary's face and shower the images with flowers. The images are then placed at the altar and all the cloths covering all the images are removed as a symbol that Jesus has resurrected from the dead. This is usually held during Easter Eve or at the dawn of Easter Day.
Anyway, probably the best place to spend Holy Week that I've been to was Marinduque's Moriones Festival. It's when men dress as soldiers and wear masks like that of the old Spanish soldiers. They go around town wearing these masks and on Good Friday, they play their part to the hilt when they escort Jesus to the crucifixion. They also regularly hold the Senakulo--which is a reenactment of the last few days of Jesus on earth.
We were there for 2 or 3 consecutive years and if I remember it correctly, it was when my maternal grandfather was still alive. My aunt's husband is from that place so we would visit them and stay for the festival. We had fun going around town and I especially had fun biking around the towns. I think I lose weight while I'm there due to the biking that I do.
One of these days, I would want to go back to that place. Being an island, it's a place where life is slow and relaxed. A place where one can just take a break from the fast-paced life of the city and find oneself.
Happy Easter everyone!
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