Holy Week Rosario

I am not particularly religious, nor do I identify with any particular religion. But I have been interested in how the different cultures I have visited celebrate their faith. And the fact that here in Rosario most of my best friends are intimately involved in the church has led me to become active in the Easter proceedings.

All in all, during Holy Week, I spent over 25 hours at formal church masses or events, notwithstanding the many hours chatting with friends as they made preparations for the week at the church. I also sang hymns in waray-waray, the local language, in the choir during the Saturday Easter Vigil (only possible due to the lyrics being shown through PowerPoint).

It is not an exaggeration to say that this one-week represented more church than I have attended in my past 10 years of life. But the fact that I was raised Catholic gives me a point of comparison between Easter celebrations in America and in the Philippines. To say the least, Catholicism in the Philippines is much more devout, as you can see below:

Father Roni blesses palms brought by the parishioners during Palm Sunday mass.

The Barracks Boys spent most of the week at the church, either practicing in the choir or preparing for their Stations of the Cross (Passion of the Christ) reenactment.

Holy Week began in earnest on Holy Thursday, with an afternoon mass from 4pm to 7pm featuring the introduction of the twelve apostles. Each year, the same twelve men, chosen by previous parish priests, participate in all of the religious events during Holy Week. If one man leaves, the current priest chooses his replacement.

During this mass, the men, dressed with sashes each labeled with the Spanish name of a true apostle, joined Father on the alter. During the mass, Father Roni washed the feet of each man. At the end of the mass, they marched around the perimeter of the church with a Holy Sacrament meant to symbolize the suffering of Jesus Christ.

The sacrament was placed in a case on one side of the church, and different community groups were assigned hour-long time slots in keeping vigil over the sacrament until midnight. I joined the choir for the last hour.

Following mass, the apostles were led to a house where they enjoyed their Last Supper with Father Roni. The food was plentiful, and featured unleavened bread.

The choir, led by Elmer on guitar, serenaded the Last Supper with church hymns just outside the door.

Holy Friday kicked off with a gathering for the Seven Last Words of Jesus at 1pm. Seven local men and women were selected by Father Roni and given one of the Last Words. Each person then spoke about their own personal experiences related to these words. Several of my friends, including my counterpart Bobi (speaking above), were among those selected.

During the mass that followed, Father Roni introduced the crucifix as if for the first time. Note that the crucifix and religious symbols at the front of the church were actually covered up for the mass. The crucifix was then brought into the aisle, where parishioners took turns kissing it.

Closing out the mass was a funeral procession for Jesus throughout the town. The apostles carried an actual casket featuring a replica body of Jesus Christ. This concluded 6 hours at the church.

Other religious symbols were pushed along as part of the procession, including this statue of Jesus bearing the cross and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Elmer and members of the choir marched in the back of the procession singing church hymns.

We woke early Saturday morning at 4am for a reenactment by the choir group of the 14 Stations of the Cross (The Passion of the Christ). I will detail this activity in a separate post.

The Easter Vigil mass on Saturday, which lasted from 6pm to 10pm, began in darkness. A bonfire outside the church was used to light parishioners’ candles before proceeding inside. Many readings from the bible and hymns sung by the choir formed the bulk of the mass. When the readings reached the time when Jesus was resurrected, Elmer played an incredibly joyous song on the piano, the lights on the church were lit, and the apostles turned over their black sashes, revealing various colors on the other side. Holy Water was then blessed using the Easter candle, a baby was baptized, and Easter bread was blessed and handed out to each parishioner. (Photo Credit: Aida)

Not much sleep again that night, as Easter mass was held at 4am. This mass began with a procession of a statue representing the resurrected Jesus and another statue of the Virgin Mary. The two statues met at this enclosure, where children, dressed as angels, rained feathers down on them. This was to represent the first meeting of the mother and the son in heaven.

Following the mass, men at the church roasted a pig (a traditional food known locally as ‘lechon’). A large number of the community of Rosario then took trucks and motorcycles to a beach in a nearby municipality for a party, sponsored largely by the church, celebrating Easter together.

We enjoyed a potluck lunch featuring a variety of dishes, mostly involving pork. Unfortunately, heavy rain, which has persisted almost daily over the past month, despite this being their ‘dry season’, marred the day.

There was eventually a clearing in the weather, during which time games, including an Easter egg hunt and a ‘longest line’ competition (pictured above) were held for the kids.

And naturally, there was plenty of rum and brandy to go around while we enjoyed our time chatting and joking around. And as for myself, moving from table to table socializing, shots were available in copious amounts. But the cohesiveness of the community and the friends I’ve gotten to know over the past month and a half made it a damn enjoyable day.