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!
5 comments:
Happy Easter, Sunshine! Glad you had a great Holy Week :) Have a great week ahead.
Happy Easter Shine, funnily enough I was just telling my dinner guests last night about the pinoy tradition you just mentioned here--Virgin Mary and the angel etc.
By the way, if you're really into forensics (CSI etc), you should watch "Waking the dead" or "Silent witness" both BBC productions. They are soooo real and believable, great acting too.
all my life ive never witnessed a salubong, hehehe... we were planning on experiencing it this easter, but we were so sleepy. pramis, next year :)
Yes, I remember those times in Marinduque - fun and exciting as well as the ferry trip . I was home EaSTER Day doing stuff around the house. Happy Easter to all!
I also could not forget that experience when we were stranded in Marinduque going back home to Manila. When a ferry was available and boarded, we were packed like sardines for 12 hours. I think I could not do that anymore. It was great fun that time anyway. Tito Dan was with us the first time we went there if I remember it right. Happy Easter!!!!
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