MARCH-APRIL

Holy Week Being the only Christian nation in Asia, the Philippines naturally celebrates the passion and death of Jesus Christ in a grand manner. Here are the major celebrations related to the Holy Week:

 

• Senaculos or passion plays used to be performed in many small towns and villages in the provinces.
• Salubong is the reenactment of the meeting between the Risen Christ and His sorrowful mother (Mary). It is staged on Easter morning in front of churches.
• Moriones Festival is a unique Lenten spectacle, held in Marinduque, an island at the southern end of Luzon.Morion means ?mask? or ?visor,? which is the top part of the medieval Roman armor, covering the face. It is this mask, carved from dapdap wood, that is the focal point of the Moriones celebration. The Moriones are the masked and costumed penitents who roam the streets during the Holy Week in the guise of barbaric Roman soldiers. The costumed ritual is a reenactment of the Legend of Longinus, the Roman centurion who drove his spear into the side of Jesus Christ, as He hung from the cross. The climax of the festival is the pugutan or beheading ceremony, held at noon of Easter Sunday.