|
Sunday, March 23, 2008
'Salubong' ends Lent
PAMPANGA -- A striking contrast to the pain, gore, agony, and self-sacrifice of the Holy Week is the much-awaited Easter Sunday.
Roman Catholics of the country commemorate this climax of the Lenten tradition with a cacophony of angels that flew in most churches and makeshift convergence points at dawn Sunday, marking the end to mourning and the start of the promise of salvation.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Easter Sunday signals the end of the 40-day, highlighted by the Salubong, a popular Christian tradition of the meeting between the risen Christ and His mother.
"The ritual brings men and women meeting in a designated convergence point, usually a makeshift stage for the angels. The men follow the risen Christ and the women follow Mary," said Glenn Emmanuel Canlas, a religious enthusiast and "santo collector."
The procession is a solemn rite observed by the young and old.
In Virgen de los Remedios Parish in Sta. Rita town, the procession proceeds silently. The group of men and women would start on the opposite far ends of the barrio.
The convergence point would be in the center of the barrio in a makeshift stage, six to eight feet high and decorated with cotton clouds to represent heaven with angels.
Only the carroza of the Blessed Mother, still covered in a black veil called pandung, is lighted.
The risen Christ's carroza, which is in total darkness, would only light up when the two carrozas meet at the assigned convergence point.
At this point the stage would also light up "revealing the glory of the heaven" and with a semblance of angels, who are small children hand picked from the old families of the town.
The rite is observed at 3:00 a.m. on Sunday to provide the needed darkness.
"The event gives you goose bumps and the solemnity of it all only reaffirms your faith," said Vicitacion Valencia, who has been witnessing the event for as long as she could remember.
When the two carrozas meet in front of the heavenly stage of angels, silence is still observed.
One angel would then sing an old Kapampangan song, which is unique in the town, on the promise of resurrection and remove the black veil from the head of the Blessed Mother using a long pole.
When this is all done, the crowds burst in merriment along with the town band and angels singing halleluiahs amid showers of petals and rice grains.
In Guagua town, to provide a more dramatic effect, the angel is hoisted on a crane and suspended in mid air as if descending from heaven. The angel is then lowered to remove the veil.
"For us Salubong has a far deeper meaning. It is the fulfillment of a promise and the gift of a new life," Fr. Jess Manabat said.
Religious scholars place Easter as one of the oldest of all Christian festivals.
Aside from Pampanga, towns in Cebu, Angono in Rizal, Naga City in Bicol, Dinalupihan in Bataan, and Marinduque have also been said to have elaborate Salubong rites.
Manabat said Salubong is a manifestation of Christ's presence in Christian life and the important role that the Blessed Mother plays.
Some towns also hold the Salubong tradition during Black Saturday at 10:00 in the evening.
There is also the Silab Hudas, which as written in the Bible, that Judas Iscariot upon seeing Jesus condemned, was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. But they will not accept the money. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3)
Some Kapampangangs, however, believe that Judas committed the act on a Bangar tree whose flowers absorbed his foul sins, thus explaining why the tree's flowers emit pungent odor.
The tree is colloquially called as Atut Hudas (Fart of Judas), which blooms in summer and, incidentally, every Lenten season.
Here, people burn Judas' epigy with firecrackers with the climax of a scramble for the money that would fall from the epigy. The money paid to him by the Pharisees to betray Christ and was later used to buy the potters' field, a burial place for foreigners (Ian Ocampo Flora/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (March 23, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Waterfall leaps claim 2 lives