GOOD FRIDAY PROCESSIONS IN CARCAR & ANGELES CITY
The Santo Intierro of Carcar atop its grand carroza
Woman of the cloth. CLICK TO ENLARGE
This is part of my Semana Santa series where I feature rituals and traditions observed in certain places during this solemn week in the Catholic calendar. Click on the image at the right to check the rest of the articles.
The Good Friday procession is the climax of the day with the carroza of the Santo Intierro, the image of the dead Christ in state, taking center stage. Most of the people follow it. In the old towns around the country, the image used is one of the oldest and storied. Lucban’s is one. Same thing with the spectacular jointed image in Paete with its mystical rite of the dead.
There is a bit of a curiosity on how Filipinos identify so much on the passion and death of the Christ, especially the latter. Good Friday is the most solemn of all days in the Catholic calendar. It is where spectacular rituals and practices, from the flagellations in Infanta and Angeles, crucifixions, and other esoteric rites. In Siquijor and in a town in Bohol, witchdoctors and healers congregate to gather ingredients for their practices as well as recharge their powers. For them, this is the most effective as the Christ is dead. The piety, the mysticism is so great that the resurrection festivities, the most important, pales in comparison.