Passiontide

Lent is the season of prayer, penance and sacrificial acts before Easter Sunday. Its purpose is to better prepare the faithful for the glorious celebration of Christ’s Resurrection on Easter and dispose them for a more fruitful reception of the graces that Christ merited by His Passion and Death.

It begins on Ash Wednesday where followers receive ashen crosses on their foreheads as a sign of repentance and a symbolic reminder that we came from dust and to dust we shall return. The ashes used were gathered from the palm fronds of the previous year’s Palm Sunday. We know that Palm Sunday is the day that commemorates Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover. He was welcomed by great crowds that lined the streets while waving palm branches. Traditional Catholic Filipino families adorn their front door with the blessed palm fronds that are predominantly woven and folded into overlapping bows known as palaspas. It remains affixed the entire year and is only replaced with a fresh frond on the next Palm Sunday. It is believed to be an amulet that prevents evil spirits from entering the home. However, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) would like to dispel this myth by stating that the palaspas “is a symbol of welcoming Christ into our hearts and our lives”.

The most common celebration of Lent occurs during the Paschal Triduum, which are the three days before Easter. It begins today, Holy Thursday or Huwebes Santo, a commemoration of the day Jesus performed the Washing of the Feet followed by the Last Supper with the 12 Disciples. This is also where Jesus gave the commandment or mandatum in Latin, to love one another just as He has loved us. This became the source of the name Maundy Thursday. It is also today that the popular tradition of Visita Iglesia is observed which involves visiting 7 churches in one night.

Good Friday or Biyernes Santo commemorates Christ’s death on the cross. The day is honored with solemn processions and the Way of the Cross. In some parts of the country, processions include devotees that self-flagellate and are nailed to a cross as acts of penance; while some areas practice the Pasyon, a recitation of the bible verses describing the Passion of Christ or a re-enactment of the Passion through a play called the Senakulo. The province of Marinduque celebrates the Moriones Festival during the entire week of Lent and is highlighted by penitents dressed as Roman soldiers with helmets or morions.

 Black Saturday or Sabado de Gloria falls on the eve of Easter. Black is a liturgical color that symbolizes mourning and is used to express grief at the death of the Savior. The day commemorates Christ lying in the tomb where we are called to reflect on His Passion and Death in anticipation of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

During this time, preparations are also made for the Easter Vigil, which traditionally begins between sunset of Black Saturday and sunrise of Easter Sunday. The vigil resembles the Blessed Mother, John the Beloved and the other apostles who stood vigil outside Jesus’ tomb in mourning. Despite uncertainty, the apostles remained steadfast to the promise of Resurrection and our salvation.

Our country needs that same faith when faced with matters of despair and sorrow. Together we can keep in our prayers this Lenten season, the casualties of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, those that are still feeling the after-effects of Ondoy and those who are suffering not only in our nation, but also across the globe. We join St. Marie Eugenie of Jesus in her prayer that we may live in “a society where no one is oppressed by another, where all live in the freedom won by Jesus Christ”.