THIS year, there will be no crowd-drawing bloody crucifixions and hooded flagellants along highways and inner roads.
The cities of San Fernando and Angeles will not hold their traditional Good Friday crucifixion re-enactments as a measure against the spread of the dreaded Covid- 19.
In Angeles, Mayor Carmelo Lazatin, Jr. wrote Barangay Lourdes Northwest chair Andres Tan saying that the local government has decided to cancel “all public events for this year’s Lenten season, including Siete Palabras on Good Friday, April 10, 2020.”
The barangay annually hosts actual crucifixions as highlight of the re-enactment of Jesus Christ’s last hours before His death on the cross.
Even in famous Barangay San Pedro Cutud here, where a makeshift Golgotha attracts tens of thousands to witness true-to-life crucifixions, no blood will be shed this Good Friday.
In an interview with SunStar Pampanga, 59-year-old Ruben Enaje, who had himself actually nailed on a wooden cross for 25 years up to last year, said he would abstain from being nailed on the cross on April 10 as a measure against the spread of Covid-19.
“I suppose flagellants would also not engage in their bloody practices because open wounds just make them more vulnerable to Covid-19,” he said.
Enaje, who had vowed to be nailed on crosses for 27 years as a form of thanksgiving for divine favors that saved his life, as well as those of his wife and a son, said he would skip crucifixion this year but complete his vow if conditions permit in the next two years.
However, he he plans to just carry a heavy cross from his home in San Pedro Cutud to the Golgotha area, a distance of about 1.7 kilometers, where he would pray before going home.
City of San Fernando tourism officer chief Ching Pangilinan said Mayor Edwin Santiago is yet to officially ban crowd-luring Holy Week observances in his city, but that he is expected to do this soon.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged “social distancing” and avoidance of crowds as a measure against the spread of Covid-19.
Also in reaction to the threat of Covid-19, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has also asked Catholics to receive Communion only in the hand, to refrain from holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer and to regularly clean out holy water fonts.
Last Ash Wednesday, priests administered holy ashes by sprinkling them on the head, instead of marking the ashes as cross on the forehead.
The CBCP also sent every parish an obligatory prayer to be recited “after Communion, kneeling down,” asking God to protect people from “the 2019 N-coronavirus that has claimed lives and has affected many.”
Parishes were also told to observe specific actions during Mass, such as receiving the Eucharist by the hand rather than by the tongue, and the use of cloths over screens of the confessionals. (Ding Cervantes/SunStar Pampanga)