SUBSCRIBEPalm Sunday in Paete, 2
…continued from Palm Sunday in Paete, 1
A loudspeaker blares off from above and the people looking up sees the priest and his sacristans perched on a balcony. They head closer and a prayer starts. In a few moments, the priest initiates the blessing. The palaspas (palm fronds) are raised up, moved, swayed as people try to jostle to come closer. This is done about three times as those from the back moves in while the people at the center moves out to give them the opportunity to have thier palms blessed. The priest then steps down, the crowd goes back to their cordoned off places and in a few minutes the procession will start.
The carroza, pulled by several men starts while the frenzy of middle aged and old women lay down their tapis to pave the way for the procession. The young girls in white paces forward, strewing the cut multcolored foils along the way. Their faces serious, trying not to smile as if it would be a sin as they let out a melody, a song of osanna.
Tags: heritage, laguna, paete, semana santa
Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday, the biblical blessing of the palms marks Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem is also the start of the most solemn and significant celebration of Lent where from Sunday to the next Sunday the passion, death and resurrection of the much revered Christ is observed by Catholics worldwide. While the activity of the day is done in all Catholic parishes, I was in Paete since after the blessing, the ritual pagsusuob starts with the procession of the image from the church to the recamadero’s (caretaker) house where after a few days later the ritual proper is done.
Holy Week or Semana Santa came early this year with Palm Sunday, ironically, falling on April Fool’s Day. NOthing pranky about it, however, but, just like last year, I was kept busy with my annual Lenten photodocumentary.
