The true essence of Santacruzan
Girls have a lot of fantasies—beginning from our young and naïve days when we dream of becoming fairies or mermaids or wishing to be as beautiful and sexy as Barbie until we grow a bit older and dream of meeting our own Ken in real life. Then that dream to be the most ravishing bride comes afterwards. Indeed, a girl’s fancy world includes all whimsical illusions and fantasies and influences what a young woman would turn out in the future.
When I was younger, I was fortunate to experience glamorous affairs such as being a flower girl in several wedding entourages, joining beauty pageants when I was six (being the cutest and youngest contestant), being a Salubong angel who lifted the black veil from the face of the image of the Blessed Mother during the ritual recreates the imagined first meeting of Jesus and Mary after the resurrection, and joining the barangay Santacruzan held every May. Although one of my childhood dreams which is to join Eat Bulaga’s Little Miss Philippines TV contest did not happen, I can pretty much say that I am indeed lucky to have experienced all of these.
The yearly Santacuzan is the pageant on the last day of the Flores de Mayo, the month-long festival in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is held in honor of Helena of Constantinople (known as Reyna Elena) and Constantine the Great who found the True Cross in Jerusalem. Its observance in May probably stems from the old Galician date for Roodmas, which was abolished when Pope John XXIII combined it with the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross every September.
Flores is the Spanish word for "flowers." Thus, Flores de Mayo means “flowers of May” and Flores de Maria “flowers of Mary” also refers to “alay” or offering. The whole Flower Festival is celebrated in the month of May in honor of the Virgin Mary.
According to filipino.com, “this custom and celebration started after the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and after the publication circa 1867 of Mariano Sevilla's translation of the devotional Flores de Maria or Mariquit na Bulaclac na sa Pagninilaynilay sa Buong Buan nang Mayo ay Inihahandog nang manga Devoto cay Maria Santisima (The Flowers of Mary or the Beautiful Flowers that in the Meditations During the Whole Month of May are Offered by Devotees to Mary the Holiest).”
Several years ago, the traditional ritual of Santacruzan held along the streets of the Poblacion in every town gradually vanished. In our barangay, it has been more than three decades since the last Sanacruzan where they allowed older and married women to participate in the grand parade. The holding of this traditional affair in modern venues such as malls has also helped revive the old customs injecting new elements and “pakulo” by choosing the most beautiful participants just like in beauty contests. The extravagant and intricate Filipiniana ball gowns have also become an avenue for local designers to showcase their collections, and yearly, the healthy competition has also motivated these young and talented designers to design more flamboyant and elaborate Santacruzan frocks.
However, I have also noticed that while it is one of the highly anticipated festivities in May, it has become a competition and a pageant altogether I feel that the true essence of this tradition is not celebrated. To me, it is now a showdown of the biggest and grandest gowns made by local designers. While the grand Santacruzan parade also becomes a platform for our homegrown talents to showcase their gown designs, it has lost the sanctity of venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I would still love to see the Santracruzan to be held in barangays and parishes, for the true essence of this festivity is in honor of Mama Mary. I hope that our local executives down to the level of the village chiefs can revive this tradition so that young girls in their communities can get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the Flores de Mayo.
There are a lot of ways how to conduct this parade through the benevolent support of generous people starting from gown rentals, make-up artists, florists, and local industries. With their resources and contributions, this festive tradition can be continued and kept alive in our communities.