Yearly holy week traditional parade occurs in Baliuag, Bulacan (PHOTOS)

IN PHOTOS: Yearly #holyweek2017 traditional parade from St. Augustine Parish at Baliuag, Bulacan with 170 participating "karo". (April 12) #pananalig2017 (photos taken by Allyana Almonte)

Purple Season: Suffering, Mourning and Reigning

Purple Season: Suffering, Mourning and Reigning

Lent briefly explained

People are often intrigued with the origin of things and events. The beginning of Lent may be known to only a few. Here are eight facts relating to the season of Lent.

1. Baptism

The key to understanding the meaning of Lent.A special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation of the celebration of Easter. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican Council II stated, "The two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent — the recalling of baptism or the preparation for it, and penance — should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis.

2. Spring

The word Lent itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words lencten, meaning "Spring," and lenctentid, which literally means not only "Springtide" but also was the word for "March," the month in which the majority of Lent falls.

3. Council of Nicea

The earliest mention of Lent in the history of the Church comes from the council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The council of Nicaea is best known for the profession of faith – the ‘Nicene Creed’ – which is still recited in most parishes every Sunday immediately after the sermon. However, the council also issued twenty canons of a practical nature, dealing with various aspects of church life, and the fifth of these canons speaks of Lent.

4. Ash Wednesday

This marks the beginning of Lent. This emphasizes our mortality and our need for ongoing repentance. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

5. 40 Days

Being mentioned in the Scriptures for 146 times, 40 days [and 40 nights]  has always had special spiritual significance regarding preparation. It was also a symbol of the  period of testing, probation and trial. Also coming from the fifth canon of Nicea is the length of time that was adopted in imitation of the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert at the beginning of his public ministry.

6.  Fasting 

This requires a Catholic to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal in quantity. The rules of fasting varied. First, some areas of the Church abstained from all forms of meat and animal products, while others made exceptions for food like fish. Second, the general rule was for a person to have one meal a day, in the evening or at 3 p.m.

7. Abstinence

Abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, every Friday during Lent and good Friday.

8.  Pillars of Lent

Prayer
Fasting
Alms giving

An info graphic about Lenten Season

Sources: catholiceducation.org

                christianitytoday.com

                thinkingfaith.org

Sacrificial Lambs in the Heat of the Sun

Sacrificial Lambs in the heat of the sun:

Repentance, the significance of Flagellation

It may be both brutal and humiliating but it was always considered a spiritual act.

The country have always practiced the tradition of Penitensya during holy week.  Penitensya is where people would flagellate their selves and even wound themselves or carry a cross, some would even allow themselves to be crucified as well.

They would do it publicly, Public penance as it is called. As if it is to discipline who they are because we all are sinners. With this act they are interpreting the pain and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But is it really that necessary and significant to re-enact this kind of suffering?

                                                  

Public Penance

Repentance, it is the concept behind all of it. As sinners, we all desire to be forgiven, especially by our Heavenly Father. Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Sacrament of Penance is what consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

Sin before all else is an offense against God, a rupture of Communion with him. And only God forgives sins. (www.vatican.va) The Sacrament of Penance is therefore a sacrament of forgiveness, a sacred act of being reconciled with the Heavenly Father.

A part in the Passion play during Holy Week. 

Self - flagellation may be grotesque but for devout Filipino Catholics it is a form of discipline. They do it to punish their selves for being a sinner, for having sinned, everything for our Lord Jesus' suffering.

It may be defined as the beating or whipping of skin, often on the back drawing blood.

Expression of guilt and remorse for the suffering of Christ.

A widespread practice in the Catholic faith.

Even the late Pope John Paul II, now a saint would whip himself and even Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Josemaria Escriva which is known for having a reputation of secrecy is also observing this practice.

Corporal Mortification, as they term it is regularly practiced by Opus Dei; a startling aspect for those outside their group. It is a spiritual and unnatural practice of causing pain to oneself through bodily injury. Many of the practices of corporal mortification were at one time more regularly practiced within the Church.

However, due to modern psychology and thinking, the practices which inflict pain are sometimes considered to be counterproductive to one's spiritual development, as they can easily lead to pride and an unhealthy attitude toward one's body. (odan.org/corporal_mortification)

Catholic historian, Professor Michael Walsh says that this has been done up to the 1960s but is 'uncommon' today. It is acted out for symbolic purposes during penitential processions as a reminder that Christ was whipped before crucifixion.

But for others, self - flagellation is a more private expression of their faith. Professor Lewis Ayres, a Catholic theologian says that Early Christians believed that the notion of bodily penance allowed control of the body and emotions in order to focus more fully on worshiping God.

According to him, part of a good life is remorse and remorse can be shown through physical suffering.

Pope John Paul II was a firm believer in the New Testament tradition of suffering, a consistent theological historical position that a good life is simply preparation for death and life everlasting to follow, he says.

Early  Christians believe that the body is sinful, evil, dangerous, needed to be controlled. But such practices are not healthy yet we try to cope up with and understand why such are common tradition.

Faith is somehow vast to be explained. It may as well be bleak; mysterious and confusing. But there are those who hold onto it, gripped it with their entire body and soul and that we must understand for that may be the essence of their existence.

 Good Friday " Santo Entierro "

 photo by: Christian Condecido

Ang Biyernes Santo ay isang banal na araw na ipinagdiriwang ng mga Kristiyano tuwing Biyernes bago sumapit ang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay. Isa itong natatanging araw dahil inaalala nito si Hesus. Naniniwala ang lahat ng mga Kristiyano na namatay si Hesukristo sa krus para sa mga kasalanan ng mundo, kaya tinatawag itong "Mabuting" Biyernes. 

Nangyari ang kaganapan mga malapit sa dalawang libong taon na ang nakararaan sa Kalbaryo, malápit sa Herusalem, at tinatawag na krusipiksiyon ang pagpapako sa krus ni Hesus. Kalimitang isinasagawa ang mga natatanging mga serbisyo ng pananalangin sa araw na ito na may mga pagbása ng pangyayari o salaysay sa Mabuting Balita hinggil sa mga kaganapang humahantong sa pagpapako sa krus. Sinasabi ng pangunahing mga simbahang Kristiyano na isang kusang kilos ang krusipiksiyon ni Kristo, na ginawa ni Hesus para sa mga nananalig sa kaniya, at dahil dito kasama ang muling pagkabuhay o resureksiyon niya sa ikatlong araw nagapi ang kamatayan.

Ginugunita tuwing Biyernes santo ang pagpuprusisyon sa labi ng ating Panginoon upang ipakita sa mamamayan na namatay at muling mabubuhay ang ating Panginoon, Dito sa larawang pinapakita o isinasabuhay ang mga kaganapan sa panahon ng ating Panginoong Hesukristo, kasama ang labing tatlong apostoles na siyang bubuhat ng Santo Enterro. Ano nga ba ang Santo Entierro, ang Santo Entierro ang labi ng ating Panginoon kung saan hinihimlay sa isang simbahan upang bantayan hanggang sa mag Linggo ng Pagkabuhay kung saan pinagdiriwang ang muling pagkabuhay niya, Kilala rin ang araw na yon sa Easter Sunday kung saan mayroong Easter Egg hunt.

Tuwing Biyernes santo rin maraming kaganapan at paniniwala ang nagaganap, nariyang ang pagbabawal kumain ng karne, pati na rin ang sinabi ng matatanda na bawal makipagtalik sa araw na iyon sa kadahilanang namatay si Kristo,at gumagambala ang mga masasamang elemento. Dahil nga sa bawal kumain ng Karne at araw ng pagdadalamhati maraming establishment ang sarado.

The Price of Love

He poured out his life unto death.

- Isaiah 53:12 -

Our daughter burst into tears as we waved goodbye to my parents. After visiting us in England, they were starting their long journey back to their home in the US. “I don’t want them to go,” she said. As I comforted her, my husband remarked, “I’m afraid that’s the price of love.”

We might feel the pain of being separated from loved ones, but Jesus felt the ultimate separation when He paid the price of love on the cross. He, who was both human and God, fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy 700 years after Isaiah gave it when He “bore the sin of many” (Isa. 53:12). In this chapter we see rich pointers to Jesus being the suffering Servant, such as when He was “pierced for our transgressions” (v. 5), which happened when He was nailed to the cross and when one of the soldiers pierced His side (John 19:34), and that “by his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).

Because of love, Jesus came to earth and was born a baby. Because of love, He received the abuse of the teachers of the law, the crowds, and the soldiers. Because of love, He suffered and died to be the perfect sacrifice, standing in our place before the Father. We live because of love.  — Amy Boucher Pye

Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, have mercy on us, and help us to extend mercy and love to others. Show us how we might share Your love with others today.

And then you Laugh

God has made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him

we might become the righteousness of God.

- 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 -

Noise. Vibration. Pressure. Fireball. Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield used these words to describe being launched into space. As the rocket release toward the International Space Station, the weight of gravity and increase breathing became difficult. Just when he thought he would pass out, The fiery rocket made a breakthrough into weightlessness. Instead of lapsing into unconsciousness, he broke into laughter.

His description made me think of the days leading to my mother's death. The heaviness of life kept increasing until she no longer had the strength to breathe. She was then released from her pain and broke free into the "weightlessness" of heaven. I like to think of her laughing when she took her first breath in Jesus' presence.

On the Friday, we called "good", something similar happened to him. God placed on Him the weight of the entire world's breath. Then He said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." [Luke 23:46] After being suffocated by our sin, Jesus received back from God the life entrusted to Him now and lives were sin and death have no power. All who trust Christ will one day join him, and I wonder if we'll look back and laugh at this life. - Julie Ackerman Link

Father in Heaven, words can not describe our gratitude for Your Son Jesus, who bore the weight of our sins. Thank You that to be absent from this body with its heavy burdens is to be present with you forever.

Holy Week and the state of traffic

Everyone knows that in the Philippines, the state of traffic is absolutely horrifying. Add to the equation that us Filipinos love holidays and we considerably have lots of them. Now, those two combined, makes a good recipe of frustration and inconvenience to most motorists.

The Christmas season, “Undas”, and the Holy Week or “Semana Santa” are all celebrated here in the Philippines. During these holidays, people mostly travel back home or out-of-town, thus making the state of traffic heavier than usual.

That is why during the season of “Semana Santa”, authorities and concerned groups conduct road guidance to help ease the adverse effects of road blockage, made heavier during the peak days that people travel for the holidays.

Now here in Bulacan, there’s this place infamous for its traffic that seems to be always at its worst: the Bocaue exit/Sta.Maria border. For the Holy Week 2017, The Archives visited the said area to check on its road state.

8:30 in the morning of Holy Wednesday, there was visibly an underwhelming state of traffic in the area. This surprised even Mary Joy Salazar, a resident of Cubao, coming to visit Bustos, Bulacan for the holidays.

“Isang oras na ako naghihintay dito, e. Akala ko sobrang trapik, kaya inagahan ko talaga ang punta. Ngayon hinihintay ko ‘yong kasamahan kong galing Pampanga. Nagulat talaga ko kasi akala ko mata-trapik ako,” said Salazar.

Even Mariano Sobrecarey, a barker of UV Express vans in the area thought that the traffic could be much worse. After dealing with it almost every day, Sobrecarey was already prepared for the heaviest of traffic jams.

“Pangkaraniwan na kasi talagang trapik riyan. Daming intersection kasi rito e. Tapos masikip talaga ang kalsada. From Bocaue to Sta.Maria matrapik talaga, dati sa Balagtas, e. Tapos di pa marunong yong mga nagta-trapik dito, mga baguhan. Kaya baka sa mga susunod na araw pa, do’n talaga yong dagsa ng trapik,” stated Sobrecarey.

“Based do’n sa mga past experience ko ‘pag nag-o-out-of-town kami tuwing Semana Santa, yes, lumalala ang traffic kasi nga umuuwi sa kani-kanilang probinsya ang mga tao. Same din siya pabalik, madalas mas heavy pa nga. I think ngayong gabi start na siya, pero mas malala bukas,” Jardine Corpuz, a resident of Pulong Buhangin, Sta.Maria, shared.

Heavy traffic is also expected in other Bulacan areas like Tabang in Guiguinto, Kapitangan in Paombong, and Balagtas, this Semana Santa.