Pains and Colours of Holy Week

The Philippines is the prime destination for religious Catholic traditions during Holy Week. Aside from the Pabasa, a poetical narration of the life story of Jesus Christ narrated on an out of tune song done everywhere except few regions in Mindanao, almost every province has their respective versions of the Holy Week celebration. The week long vacation traditionally intended for personal reflections and soul searching has become an excuse to bond and relax. The younger crowd takes advantage of the time to hit the beach, meet up with friends and party, while some prefer trips to other countries.

However, no matter how time changes the meaning of Holy Week for Filipinos, traditional religious rituals did not disappear and are still very much practiced in the country. Although these rituals have taken a more festive rather than solemn forms to attract a bigger number of foreign and local tourists, most still argues that indeed, these rituals are still meant for cleansing oneself of sins and honoring Jesus Christ for his sacrifices for human beings.

Two provinces in the Philippines stand out from the rest because of their unique celebrations of the Holy Week especially the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Tourists flock to these provinces to witness the celebrations, more curious of the rituals than joining the spirit of Lent.

Moriones Festival in Marinduque

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This tiny island in Southern Tagalog is oftentimes called the heart of the Philippines because of its location in the center of the map. The heart-shaped island is home to a mere 217,000 residents and is made up of only six towns but famous for its mystical Elephant Island and the three islets called Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar.

Marinduque is a very rural province, laid back throughout the year with the exception of Holy Week when the province welcomes a big number of tourists who travels here for the Moriones Festival. The people of Marinduque takes pride for the most colorful celebration of the Lenten season with a week long festivitiesthat includes parades of Roman soldiers impersonators wearing colorful masks and costumes, Senakulo, Pabasa ng Pasyon in every municipality, flagellants, fairs and night bazaars, and these days, even nightly concerts.

The celebration starts on Palm Sundays where hundreds of residents go to the church to have young coconut leaves blessed which they would keep throughout the year. As early as Monday, MorionsorRoman soldiers will be littering the streets of Boac and Mogpog, delightingthe locals and visitors and scaringlittlechildren. Most of them are commissioned by the municipal halls and get incentives for participating.
The Moriones costume and the masks are made of materials like capiz, hard wood, metal and clothe, sewn, carved and stitch together laboriously by local craftsmen. Most of these costumes has been with its owners for more than a decade and taken care like precious jewelries. An original mask costs around P3000 or more because of its quality, materials and longevity. Morion is derived from the Latin word which means mask or helmet.