May is the month during which many cities celebrate their fiestas and festivals. In the barrios, fiestas used to rival each one in terms of grandeur and splendor. Now because of hard times, celebrations are still held, though with less fanfare and sumptuousness. Urban cities hold festivals differently than those in the barrios; they are held with more fashion and style. Now that it’s one year before election time, fiestas are tinged with political campaigns. In rice-planting and crop-growing communities, May is the month when farmers look forward to a bountiful harvest, followed by brief periods of pleasure and plenty (“piesta na naman!”, as the Filipino saying goes). Because of the recent “untimely” storms, many rice fields expected to yield harvest soon, were flooded and millions worth of crops were destroyed. Increasingly, farmers now have to contend with climate change and its ill effects.
Still, true to the innate religiosity of our kababayans, through good and bad times, they never forget to honor their patron saints. Despite the hard times, fiestas continue to be a Filipino way of life, a unique gathering of families and friends where thanksgiving for life and its blessings are expressed. Let me put it this way, if we lose our fiestas, we lose our identity as Filipinos.
Three major fiestas are commemorated during the whole month of May, the Antipolo Pilgrimage, Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan. The Antipolo Pilgrimage describes the devotion of Filipinos to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. It was believed that the Virgin of Antipolo accompanied the galleon ships for five consecutive round trips from Manila to Acapulco. On her maiden voyage to Acapulco, aboard the galleon ship San Diego, it was said that the Virgin performed a miracle by “calming the seas when a storm threatened to sink the ship”. Hence, the Virgin was given the name “Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage”. Few people remember that the whole Christendom celebrates the month of May in special devotion to the Virgin Mary. “Flores de Mayo” (Flowers of May) is the flower festival where beautiful flowers are offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each of the 31 days of May is supposed to commemorate one of Mary’s virtues. Each day, children, especially, come for afternoon catechism and para-liturgical services highlighted by a floral offering to our Blessed Mother. These afternoon festivities culminate in an elaborate procession to the Church called Santacruzan.
The passing of the month will not be complete without practically all cities and barrios throughout the country holding the “Santacruzan”. It is one of the most colorful May-time festivals in the Philippines, considered to be the “Queen of Filipino Festivals”, which depicts the finding of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena, mother of Constantine, the Great. Unlike the usual images of saints paraded in most local pageantries, this procession portrays 17 biblical and historical characters, among them, the Marian, with nine representatives of the nine titles of the Virgin Mary, including two of my favorites, Rosa Mystica (Mystic Rose), who carries a bouquet of roses and Reyna de las Flores (Queen of Flowers), the reason why Flores de Mayo is so often confused to be the same festival as the Santacruzan. The 18th character, the Reina Elena, dramatizes the historic role of Queen Helena, the legendary founder of the true Cross, represented by the small cross she carries. She is escorted by her son, Constantine. Traditionally, for the Santacruzan to be more exciting, the chosen Reina Elena is kept a secret until the day of the parade to surprise the people. Hence, this is the reason why, over the years, beauty queens and well-known personalities have come to portray the role. Recently, church officials warned the faithful against homosexuals who participate in Santacruzan parades, compromising the sanctity of the religious practices, eliciting pride and false glory in the process. The religious tradition is seemingly lost; instead the procession has increasingly become a venue to advance political and commercial interests, and even used for fund-raising and beauty competition.
Traditions may have been changed to fit the times and trend. Be they grandiose and majestic, simple or devoid of opulence, may our fiestas continue to exude the spirit of tradition and heritage essential to the expression of our faith and not be lost to oblivion and wordliness. We must never tire of saying how old traditions used to be. We owe it to our children and the generations after us.